Managing the Institutional Relationship

On this page:

• Quality Code
• Annual Institutional Monitoring
• ARC Institutional Review Visits
• Affiliated Research Centre Conference 
• Fees
• Brand Guidelines
• ARC programme business calendar

The Affiliated Research Centre (ARC) model allows approved research institutions to ‘host’ research students to study locally, supported and supervised through the ARC.  Students are registered for an Open University research degree and Open University procedures for student progress and assessment are followed. 

Quality Code

The Open University as the awarding institution is responsible at all times for the academic standards and quality of student experience within the partner institution, though some operational aspects are delegated to local management.  Local ARC arrangements are subject to Open University approval, monitoring and review in accordance with the Quality Assurance Agency’s (QAA) UK Quality Code for Higher Education (2018) which sets the standards and describes good practice for research degree programmes.

It is the responsibility of the ARC’s senior management, to ensure that it is operating a programme that aligns with the indicators set out in Chapter B11 of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education (2018) and it respects and complies with the principles of collaborative provision set out in the code. As the ARC research degree coordinator, you have a key role in advising the senior management in your ARC of requirements, managing the operation of the research degree programme in your ARC, and the interface with The Open University.

Annual Institutional Monitoring

We will ask you to complete an Annual Institutional Monitoring report on the operation of your programme every year to cover the period 1 August–31 July.  We will also ask you to update your QAA Mapping document for your ARC and provide supporting documents in support of recommendations previously identified which have been updated in the last year.

We analyse the annual institutional monitoring reports in detail and send you feedback in December. If an annual institutional monitoring report raises concerns, Research Degrees Committee may request that an ARC institutional review visit is undertaken.

ARC Institutional Review Visits

Following institutional approval as an ARC, we will visit you every three years to review the research degree arrangements, or more often if the Research Degrees Committee requests it. The purpose of the institutional review visit is to ensure that your research degree programme continues to satisfy the indicators set out in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education (2018), to identify areas of good practice and to advise on any areas for development. We ask you to confirm the agenda and the participants, and to send us your updated document mapping the ARC’s research degree arrangements against Chapter B11 of the Quality Code, and other programme documentation prior to our visit.

The institutional review team, which normally consists of an academic and an administrative reviewer, writes a report of its findings for approval by the Research Degrees Committee. On the basis of the report, the Research Degrees Committee will either

• Confirm continuing ARC status
• Confirm continuing ARC status with recommendations
• Depending on the nature and extent of the recommendations, the Research Degrees Committee may decide to cease accepting new student registrations from the Affiliated Research Centre until evidence has been received that all the recommendations arising from the review have been satisfactorily addressed.
• Confirm withdrawal of ARC status

Provided that your Affiliated Research Centre has Open University registered research degree students, following an institutional review visit, the Open University will issue a new ARC agreement (legal contract) or an extension of the existing ARC agreement, which sets out the respective responsibilities of your ARC and The Open University for the period up to the next ARC institutional review visit. Should there be undue delay in concluding the ARC agreement, we reserve the right to cease accepting new student registrations from your Affiliated Research Centre until such time as the ARC agreement is concluded.

Affiliated Research Centre Conference

We invite our ARC colleagues to The Open University campus at Walton Hall every two years in May to participate in the ARC conference. This is a great opportunity for ARC colleagues to meet each other, share ideas and good practice, and to meet academic and administrative staff from The Open University involved in research and research degrees.

Fees

ARC programme business calendar

The ARC programme business calendar gives information about reporting deadlines, and committee meetings that consider ARC institutional documents and student registration documents.  Please use it to plan your own internal ARC institutional and student schedules.