• Section 1 - Background and Purpose
• Section 3 - Policy Statement
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Section 5 - Definitions

Section 1 - Background and Purpose

(1) The purpose of this Policy is to articulate La Trobe’s Graduate Capabilities (GCs).

(2) GCs are interdisciplinary skills, knowledge and abilities that equip students to live and work in a rapidly changing and complex world. They are desirable and transferable attributes sought by employers.

(3) The La Trobe GCs are provided in Schedule A - La Trobe Graduate Capabilities.

(4) The GCs encapsulate for both students and the wider community the defining characteristics of a La Trobe graduate and describe a set of characteristics that are designed to be transferable beyond the disciplinary context in which they have been developed.

(5) The GCs provide a broad framework and are intended to be interpreted and defined more precisely in the context of each academic discipline or course.

(6) Through the GCs, students will develop the essential prerequisite skills for Global Citizenship, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Thinking.

(7) While GCs are embedded in the curriculum, they are also developed within the wider La Trobe student experience.

Section 2 - Scope

(8) This Policy applies to undergraduate and postgraduate coursework award courses, higher education diplomas and associate degrees.

(9) This Policy does not apply to higher degrees by research or their coursework components which are managed under the provisions of the Graduate Research Course Management Policy.

Section 3 - Policy Statement

(10) La Trobe will provide all students with the opportunities and feedback required to develop and demonstrate achievement of the GCs.

(11) University award courses and assessment tasks will ensure that graduates have achieved Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) that address the La Trobe GCs, in addition to the requirements of the relevant academic discipline or profession, and any professional accreditation requirements.

(12) GCs must be explicitly and progressively developed through constructive alignment of CILOs, Subject Intended Learning Outcomes (SILOs) and associated assessments.

(13) The integration of the description of GCs into courses, subjects and related assessment will ensure that students who are eligible to graduate have achieved the La Trobe GCs.

(14) Teaching, learning and assessment of the La Trobe GCs will be assured through the course and subject approval, monitoring and review processes, and the monitoring of student learning experiences through student feedback mechanisms.

Section 4 - Procedures

(15) When developing a new course or reviewing an existing course, Course Coordinators will:

1. Ensure the GCs are:
   1. embedded in CILOs; and
   2. progressively developed throughout the course;
2. Undertake course mapping that demonstrates alignment between course and SILOs; and
3. Undertake ongoing monitoring and responsibility for student achievement of the GCs in their course.

(16) When developing a new subject or reviewing an existing subject, Subject Coordinators will:

1. Confer with the Course Coordinator to identify the GCs to be developed within the Subject;
2. Ensure each of the GCs identified is addressed in the SILOs, explicitly assessed and included in the marking criteria for the assessment task;
3. Ensure that the GCs are constructively aligned with CILOs, SILOs and assessment activities;
4. Inform students explicitly about GCs embedded in the Subject:
   1. at the commencement of the Subject;
   2. on the Subject entry in the Learning Management System (LMS) and Subject Learning Guide; and
   3. in assessment tasks that assess the GCs.

Section 5 - Definitions

(17) For the purpose of this Policy and Procedure:

1. Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): Brief statements defining the knowledge, skills and dispositions that a student should have attained and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a course of study.
2. Subject: A unit of study within a course.
3. Subject Intended Learning Outcomes (SILOs): Brief statements defining the knowledge, skills and dispositions that a student should have attained and can reliably demonstrate at by the end of a subject.