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UNIATHENA ORGANISATION & GOVERNANCE

1. UNIATHENA

UniAthena has been established with an objective to fulfil the aspirations of leaners with diverse backgrounds from across the globe to attain internationally accredited qualifications and the professional development programmes delivered in an easily accessible and affordable manner in the form of online learning. UniAthena has legal presence in UAE, UK and US, and all the learners are legally contracted. The entity operates in UAE as UniAthena FZE.

2. VISION

Our vision is to empower people, the privileged and underprivileged, by providing access to higher education that is effective, affordable and flexible without any boundaries.

3. MISSION

To provide access to affordable quality higher education for masses across the globe, we will ensure to develop up-to-date curriculum and deploy the latest technology to develop relevant learning models which are scalable ensuring the accessibility and affordability as the key focus of everything we develop.

4. VALUES

In upholding our vision, we ensure that the following core values are embedded in the development of the UniAthena Learning Platform and the courses and programmes it supports:

  • Accessible – Quality higher education should be accessible to everyone.
  • Affordable – Quality higher education should be affordable for everyone.
  • Accredited – All the qualifications achieved through UniAthena should be accredited and internationally recognized.
  • Flexible – The learner should have the flexibility of time and budget to learn.
  • Stackable –  UniAthena will provide every learner with an option to stack or combine small units into higher education credits toward a degree or diploma.
  • Effective - All courses will be real-world relevant and pragmatic, applicable to situations in the workplace and lives of our learners.

5. CORE PRINICIPLES

5.1 Principle I. Provision of a learning and support environment

Provide a high ethical standard of learning environment. UniAthena will provide a continuous professional development to all its staff¬ members and its students.  UniAthena will develop its own indigenous Learning Management System (LMS), which will provide academic and administrative support to all faculties, administrators and students. The mode of delivery will be online for all  UniAthena programmes.  UniAthena will deliver all its classes in a very user-friendly environment. Good learning resources will be provided, as well as support services for academic and students welfare will be given to all students.  UniAthena will encourage professional development of its staff and students. The staff members will be recruited keeping in mind the qualifications and the experience required to conduct and support all  UniAthena programmes.

There will be total commitment to continuity of teaching, learning and assessment of all programmes. All faculties will ensure correct follow up of all protocols with respect to learning outcomes fulfilment, assessment quality and giving very good experience to all students. Programme curriculum design, delivery of classes, assignments design, assessment feedback will be delivered effectively and efficiently by the respective teaching staff members. There will be regular opportunities given to staff and students to contribute to the academic and other  UniAthena policies, to get a holistic feedback towards contribution of continual improvement.

5.2 Principle II. Independence of institutional ownership and academic authority

UniAthena has an independent and autonomous academic authority. The governance structure of  UniAthena has an independent and autonomous ‘academic decision making’ entity, which is separate from the business structure, and will work with utmost integrity to preserve all the academic quality standards, without any interference from business units. The academic functions of the Institute will be under the Academic Head of UniAthena. The Academic Head will report to the Academic Council for all academic related matters, without any reference to the other business unit structure personnel. All academic development, quality assurance and decision making will be done independent of any commercial development activities. The investors, shareholders or trustees will not exercise direct authority in any academic decision-making activities.

5.3 Principle III. Appropriate academic and administrative structures to support the organisation

UniAthena has a robust academic and administrative structure.  UniAthena organizational structure assigns clear executive, administrative, quality, academic, welfare, finance and HR responsibilities to individuals and groups. The governance structure ensures that the academic and executive control are dealt separately to safeguard institutional sustainability with effective systems for risk management and control. There will be a total commitment to share good practice in teaching, learning and assessment. There will be quality and institutional policies in place to deliver all programmes as per the regulatory framework laid down by the partner institution. Every programme will have a Course Leader, Personal Tutor and a Course Administrator to give full support to the students during the delivery of a programme. The changes, as well as smooth conduct of all programmes will be done through the aegis of committee structures constituted to deliver, assess and implement changes, with adequate representation of staff and students in different committees.

5.4 Principle IV. Robust quality assurance processes as informed by the UK Quality Code

Quality assurance is a continuous improvement process. The academic quality assurance process will be laid down and followed rigorously right from designing the programme content, assignment, assessment practices, resubmission policies, the internal verification process, till the students receiving the feedback and final grades. Smooth monitoring process of all academic activities will be ensured by automating the whole work flow through  UniAthena CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and LMS e-platforms. The responsibility and accountability of implementing all quality procedures will be one of the top priorities of  UniAthena concerned personnel. Regular monitoring, evaluation, reporting of programme performance and action taken will be ensured always. Quality Assurance reviews will be spearheaded by Quality Auditor, who will also report directly to the CEO and Board of Directors. Every programme will be evaluated in its formative, as well as the summative stage. Feedback will be taken from faculties, course administrators, course leaders, personal tutors, as well as students, external examiners and all concerned stakeholders. It will be ensured that quality assurance and control is followed as a continuous improvement process. All UniAthena processes and procedures will take into account the UK Quality Code Expectations, Core Practices, Guiding Principles, and comply with these fully.

5.5 Principle V. Relations with the wider academic community

Relationship with external educational community will be maintained, and  UniAthena will follow all UK national and international standards for the modules it offers, current practices observed in UK higher educational institutes, including maintaining the standard international and national benchmarks. Westford will establish an enduring, robust and meaningful relationship with all educational global community within its sphere of influence. Core focus will be on educational institutes and partners in the middle-east, UK and US, with an objective to expand globally into other regions also. All  Athena Global Education programmes conducted under the aegis of its partner educational institutions will strictly follow the quality standards laid down by the UK higher education pedagogy guidelines. The professional and research activities of staff members should sustain the academic development of the institution. There will also be a constant endeavor of UniAthena to be associated with competent national and international professional bodies to maintain relations with the wider academic community.

6. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

6.1 Governance Board

Governance Board of UniAthena comprises various external experts, including experienced academics, legal and industry representatives. The Board monitors the organisational performance in terms of corporate governance, academic independence, ethics and integrity. It also provides strategic, academic and developmental advice, as well as direction and assistance to the Executive and Academic Councils’ agendas, which are the two higher level councils responsible for overall executive and academic operations of the organisation. Governance Board will also appoint independent auditors to carry out financial and academic audits. These independent bodies will directly report to the Board, the audit reports will be discussed in the Board Meetings and disseminated for advice and action to the Executive and Academic Councils.

Governance Board is constituted with 11 Members as follows:

  • 5 Ex-Offcio Members (Academic Director-Chair of the Board)
  • 6 Industry Experts

The general term of the members is for three years. The board should convene once in 4 months, or on demand as per the requirement.

6.2 Executive Council

The CEO’s Executive is made up of senior leaders from across the organization. The purpose of this council is to provide strategic and operational direction to UniAthena. The CEO retains ultimate executive responsibility for proposing the Strategic Plan and Budget to the Governance Board, and remains accountable for its implementation. The Executive Council should convene 3 times in a year or on as demand basis.

The Executive Council consists of 5 members

  1. CEO (Chair of the Council)
  2. Academic Director
  3. Head of Academic Delivery
  4. Industry Expert
  5. Board Nominated Member

6.3 Academic Council

The Academic Council is the academic authority of UniAthena, responsible for academic strategy, policy, priorities and performance. The Academic Council is responsible for promoting and sustaining the overall academic operations. It oversees the organisation’s academic management, including the curriculum, all aspects of quality and standards associated with the organisation and its academic partners. It has the power to make regulations, including those which (subject to the approval by Governance Board) delegate any of its powers. The Academic Council meetings concentrate on major issues of academic strategy, policy, priority and performance. The Academic Council should convene 3 times in a year or on as demand basis.

Academic Council is constituted with 7 members as follows:

  1. Academic Director (Chair of the Council)
  2. Head of Academic Delivery
  3. Senior Faculty/ Course Leader
  4. Head of Quality Assurance
  5. Quality Auditor
  6. Board Nominated Member
  7. External Member

6.3.1 Academic Committee

The Academic Committee is the academic authority of the UniAthena, responsible for implementation and monitoring of academic policies and procedures. It oversees the organisation’s academic management, including the curriculum development, including all aspects of quality and standards associated with the organisation and its academic partners. The Academic Committee meetings concentrate majorly on academic delivery, curriculum updating, quality assurance, performance and internal audits. It has powers to make sub-committees and delegate its power to deal with the routine functions such as admission decisions, accreditation to prior learning etc. Academic Committee should convene 4 times in a year or on as demand basis.

Academic Committee is constituted with 5 members as follows:

  1. Head of Academic Delivery (Chair)
  2. Faculty Member
  3. Quality Assurance Member
  4. Student Representative
  5. External Member

6.3.2 Student Affairs Committee

The Student Affairs Committee of UniAthena is responsible for looking after the student affairs, which includes student appeals, student grievance and redressal. The Student Affairs Committee meetings concentrate majorly on student issues, appeals, grievance, complaints, career development and opportunities, industry connect, etc. The committee will convene on as need basis within 7 days’ notice period.

Student Affairs Committee is constituted with 5 members as follows:

  1. 1 Course Leader (Chair)
  2. 1 Faculty member
  3. 1 Student Engagement Officer
  4. 1 Student Representative
  5. Nominated Member

6.3.3 Disciplinary Committee

The Disciplinary Committee is responsible for looking into the disciplinary matters which involve staff or students of UniAthena. The Disciplinary Committee meetings concentrate majorly on academic misconduct, infringement of regulations, physical or mental or racial abuse, bullying, etc. The committee will convene on as need basis within 7 days’ notice period.

Disciplinary Committee is constituted with 5 members as follows:

  1. Head of Academic Delivery (Chair)
  2. Faculty Member
  3. Non-Academic Member
  4. Student Representative
  5. Independent Member

6.4.4 Examination Board

Examination Board is the ultimate authority for finalization of marks and grades of all students. The board will look into the student achievements, assessments, internal verification reports, students’ complaints and redressal, academic misconduct, etc. The Examination Board will convene twice a year.

The Examination Board will be constituted with 5 members as follows:

  1. Academic Delivery Head (Chair)
  2. Academic Quality Head
  3. Faculty
  4. Independent Member
  5. External Examiner

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE CHART