The strategic purpose of this qualification is to provide the tertiary-higher, community and business sectors with advanced and comprehensively prepared specialist work-ready professional level curriculum designers and learning, training, development, capacity, education, academic leaders. Recent developments in tertiary-higher education, community and business organisations require advanced and experienced leaders who possess the practice and research-based capabilities to effectively improve the knowledge, knowledge making, social, thinking, practical, technical and interactive skills and personal beliefs, values and attitudes of those who work for or with them.
This qualification can be justified on the grounds it addresses new and more complex and unpredictable challenges in quality standards, accreditation, auditing, self-assessment and evaluation nationally and internationally in diverse tertiary-higher, community and business organisations. The qualification is unique in providing advanced capabilities identified by tertiary-higher education, community and business employers as essential for experienced curriculum designers and learning, training, development, capacity, education, academic leaders, such as: advanced understandings of learning and development strategies, priorities and progressions, specific governance and learning related planning requirements, programme components, scoping, consultation and stakeholder engagement, curriculum design, project management, curriculum design leadership, curriculum design approaches, curriculum design business, advanced programme philosophy, theory and conceptual frameworks, current education-academic quality management systems, and advanced curriculum design research and ethics suited to diverse professional staff including those highly educated and experienced in their specific fields and disciplines.
The qualification is designed for mature and advanced learners with an interest and experience of the learning-teaching sector who wish to move into a high level career as a specialised curriculum designer, and/or professional learning, training, development, capacity, education, academic sector leader. This qualification will contribute to the diverse and complex national and international tertiary-higher, community and business sectors by supporting transformations that increase the effectiveness, quality and quantity of current learning, tertiary-higher education, community and business sectors by quantifiably optimising and accelerating the effectiveness of the learning that can be achieved. The benefactors of this qualification will be the national and international tertiary-higher education and community and business sector organisations and their diverse stakeholders.
Graduates of the programme will achieve an advanced and experienced professional curriculum design and learning-academic leader capable of creating and implementing learning programmes for diverse, complex and high level learners and tertiary-higher, community and business organisations to effect excellence in learning and organisational outcomes.
The strategic purpose of this qualification is to provide the public, private, community and business sectors with advanced, specialised experienced, work-ready professional curriculum designers and learning, training, development, capacity, education, academic leaders capable of optimising and accelerating knowledge, skill and personal characteristics in who work for them to meet rising national and international organisational capability needs.

Graduates with this qualification will achieve and be able to demonstrate the professional knowledge, skills and values to critically manage, lead and innovate in the field of quality higher education (or other) sector curriculum design and quality assurance system development. Over the duration of the programme learners will lead the development and design of an innovative higher education (or other) sector curriculum and associated quality assurance systems.
Graduate Profile:
Graduates will acquire the following personal, interactive and specific attributes:
Personal
* be flexible and innovative
* have a willingness and ability to learn, inquiry and engage in life-long learning
* have a balanced theoretical and practical perspective
* have skills of analysis, synthesis and problem solving
* have research, investigative and practical problem solving skills
* be able to practice, facilitate, and lead safely and ethically
* be prepared for advanced professional practice and leadership
* have integrity and equity orientation
* have an understanding of the principles of partnership inherent in the Treaty of Waitangi and be able to ensure that their professional practice is reflective of these principles
Interactive
* be able to effectively lead and facilitate and mentor teams; evaluate and solve problems in individual, pair, and team settings
* be empathetic and sensitive to gender, ability, age, ethnicity, and other forms of difference
* be able to demonstrate effective oral, practical and written skills with a wide range of audiences
* positively and constructively evaluate and critique their own performance, and that of others
* provide a professional higher education curriculum design and quality assurance system leader role model that emphasises effective and ethical practice
Programme Specific
* have knowledge of the significance and purpose of quality higher education (or other sector) programme and quality assurance system design
* have the knowledge, and skills, to scope, consult, engage, plan and design components in an education programme, for a range of learners
* have the knowledge, and skills, to scope, plan and design and develop components in a quality assurance system, for a range of settings
* have knowledge of and be able to apply appropriately selected and related facilitation, assessment and moderation approaches during a higher education (or other sector)curriculum design
* be able to professionally manage, monitor and report on curriculum design and quality assurance projects
* critically evaluate and develop a range of educational quality assurance methodologies and approaches
* critically evaluate and develop a range of educational design methodologies and approaches
* have the knowledge and skills to professionally facilitate and lead curriculum design and quality assurance projects
* be able to critically evaluate a range of different curriculum design and educational quality assurance methodologies and approaches
* have the knowledge, skills, and values to appropriately initiate, design, develop, implement, and evaluate higher education (or other sector) programmes for a range of learners in a range of settings
* have the knowledge, skills, and values to appropriately initiate, design, develop, implement, and evaluate higher education ( or other sector) quality assurance system for a range of academic settings
* have knowledge of and be able to apply appropriate evaluative criteria to higher education (or other sector) curriculum design, facilitation, quality assurance and leadership activities
* have a professional understanding of the value and utility of research, philosophy, theory, concepts and ethics in relation to higher education (or other sector)curriculum design and quality assurance
* have advanced knowledge and skills in curriculum design and quality assurance leadership

Postgraduate Certificate, postgraduate diploma or masters' qualification in a related field.

Applicants must hold a formal teaching qualification (Certificate in Tertiary Teaching, Teaching Diploma or Degree) or equivalent, and have at least 2 years teaching experience in a higher education or other setting. Applicants for whom English is not their first language will also be required to have achieved Academic IELTS 6 or equivalent with no band score below 5.5 in one test event. All applicants will be required to submit an application form, current curriculum vitae and write a statement about their professional goals and rationale for seeking entry into the programme. All learners wishing to enter the programme will undergo a conversation to discuss their interest in the programme. Applicants without a formal adult teaching qualification may enter this programme post successful completion of a prescribed preliminary paper 100, Adult Learning Theories, Approaches and Practices.