The University has a professional/academic relationship with a large number of Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) who accredit or recognise a wide range of University award-bearing and non-award-bearing courses.  In some cases, statutory requirements are in place to enable the University to provide certain types of courses, for example in teacher education for courses leading to Qualified Teacher Status or in health for courses leading to registration as a nurse or physiotherapist.  In addition, a growing number of overseas governmental, regulatory or statutory bodies now maintain oversight of University courses delivered at other locations in collaboration with partner organisations (e.g. the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation for Academic and Vocational Qualifications; the Malaysian Qualifications Agency).  The endorsement of a relevant PSRB is, for many students, a key benefit in choosing to study for an award of Sheffield Hallam University, either onsite or at an overseas location.  Academic staff membership and involvement with PSRBs contributes to the enrichment of the curriculum and the links between theory and professional practice enable students to develop their employability skills.

Management and Oversight of PSRBs

The University’s management and oversight of PSRBs has both faculty and institutional dimensions.  At local level within the faculties, responsibility and regular contact normally sits with a designated academic link / contact for a specific PSRB (and with relevant administrative staff within faculties).  Departmental Boards and Faculty Academic Boards are responsible for maintaining oversight of the accreditation status of courses within their own academic portfolios.

At institutional level, Academic Quality and Standards (AQS) maintains oversight of the accreditation status of the University’s awards on behalf of AQSEC and the Academic Board and keeps a central register of all current accrediting bodies and associated courses.  AQS ensures that accurate information on the accreditation status of individual courses is published in the University prospectus.  AQS faculty teams may also co-ordinate joint validation and accreditation exercises as part of the University’s scheduled validation activity or may support separate review and/or accreditation exercises for individual PSRBs, as required by faculties and departments.

Process Description
♦ Section 8 – Professional, Statutory and or Regulatory Bodies