Polytechnic lobbies for course’s return

Press, 15 February 1989, Page 6

Polytechnic lobbies for course’s return

Christchurch Polytechnic hopes it will be able to offer the National Diploma in Accounting again in 1990.

Students began the two year course last year but accreditation was withdrawn at the end of the year. Some of the students have moved to Nelson Polytechnic, and some have enrolled in correspondence.

Accreditation is controlled by the Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards (A.A.V.A.).

The associate director of Christchurch Polytechnic, Ms Shona Butterfield, said the criteria used by the national accreditation team was not clearly stated.

“The most just outcome now is for the course to

be reinstated for 1990,” she said.

The Polytechnic Council has decided to write to the Minister of Education setting out the process that A.A.V.A. followed, and asking that the accreditation visit this year be made in time to allow planning for 1990.

The council also expressed serious concern to A.A.V.A. about the way in-

which the accreditation process had been done so far, and requested that the authority undertake a review of the process as quickly as possible and before it visited again. Problems noted by the polytechnic about the accreditation included a lack of clarity about standards and lack of consistency between visits.

Ms Butterfield said the authority had presented inadequate documentation about its decisions, so they were difficult to challenge. A lack of commitment was evident in the visiting team, in that members left early, did not check facts, and made subjective comments, Ms Butterfield said.

The authority has still communicated only a recommendation to the polytechnic, not a decision. This will not be made until next month. But Ms Butterfield said the polytechnic obviously could not allow the course to begin when it could not guarantee students that the course would be accredited.