Staff Employment and Practice

  1. As a statutorily-defined religious institution, the College recruits faculty and support staff on the basis of their ministry gifting and calling, qualifications, proven ministry experience and character in accordance with the Australian Christian Churches fellowship with which the College is associated.
  2. All staff are expected to perform their duties with competency, integrity and compassion in compliance with the standards outlined in the Staff Code of Conduct and consistent with the College mission and purpose. Any breaches of the requirements will result in disciplinary sanctions. All staff are required to remain conversant with College expectations of their conduct.
  3. The College ensures the ongoing professional development of its faculty and staff (including professional skills and teaching qualifications).
  4. The College complies with the Work Health and Safety standards and other statutory and industrial award agreements as per current legislation, in order to provide a safe working environment for its staff. A review committee has been established to assess risk and safety matters. The Committee consists of College staff, church production staff, church events staff and other church staff.
  5. The College provides an appeals mechanism for staff to ensure equity, due process, natural justice and fair practice.

Staff Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct

All staff members, trainers, lecturers, tutors and contracted workers are required to be familiar with and abide by the Code of Conduct as follows. Any breach will result in disciplinary action by the College leadership (Refer Corporate Policies: Redressing breaches).

1. College Mission
Staff members are required to help realise the vision of Hillsong Church and HC to ‘reach and influence the world by building a large Bible based church;’ and to work towards the mission objective of Hillsong Church and HC to ‘reach and influence the world by changing mindsets and empowering people to lead and impact every sphere of life.’

Staff members are required to model and communicate the philosophy of HC and faithfully represent Hillsong Church and the College and its leadership in all dealings both within and outside Church and College life.

2. Professional/Academic Activities
General
Staff members are required to sign a Staff or Trainer/Lecturer contract. Continue reading “Staff Code of Conduct”

Guest Trainers & Lecturers

Guest Trainers and Lecturers

Guest trainers and lecturers should be selected and invited for their individual expertise and the unique contribution they bring to the training of students where this cannot be provided by current faculty resources. Prior approval must be granted by the relevant stream co-ordinators in accordance with budget requirements. If the person has any national or international status, this can only be at the approval of the Executive Vice President.

Guests are remumerated according to standard adjunct trainer and lecturer pay rates. Faculty or subject co-ordinators should prepare trainers files if these trainers are regular guest trainers (even annually), the normal process for payment applies.

Guests who teach in our vocational programs are required to hold the minimum Enterprise Presenter Skill Set.

Staff & Trainer Files

Staff and Trainer Files

In order to ensure, monitor and maintain the appropriateness of staff and trainers, staffing files are kept for all full and part-time trainers and all adjunct trainers.

These files are initially compiled at the appointment / induction of new staff and trainers, and are updated on an annual basis.

Trainer files are particularly important as they enable us to ensure and demonstrate the appropriateness of the College trainer team. Thus, the trainer file needs to include the following: Continue reading “Staff & Trainer Files”

Staff Induction Process

Staff Induction Process

All new staff are trained through the following process which aims to equip them with both the ethos and practical knowledge and tools that will enable them to make a successful contribution to the College. The Staff Induction Checklist provides greater detail. Each staff member signs this on completion as evidence that they have understood the requirements and systems of the College.

Continue reading “Staff Induction Process”

Code of Practice

Code of Practice

The College Code of Practice covers general principles for operations and management of the College. The Code of Practice is for all staff – academic, support and external staff – as well as students and therefore contains generic information pertinent to all. It is adapted from the Code of Practice in the ‘Provision of International Education and Training Services’ by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. Appropriate changes are made to the Code of Practice, on a regular basis as a result of recommendations by the various review processes the College conducts.

 

Implementation Processes

To ensure that staff and students are conversant with the Code of Practice:

The Code of Practice is distributed to all new staff members as part of the interview and employment process. The Code of Practice is contained in the Staff Code of Conduct and the Trainers and Lecturers Handbook. Continue reading “Code of Practice”

Professional Development

Professional Development

The College advocates lifelong learning and continuous improvement. This begins with the individual development of its leaders. To that end, all staff members are required to improve their professional skills and qualifications.

Support Staff

Training courses are attended or conducted internally as needed in order to equip staff for successful completion of work responsibilities and to progress to the most efficient level of operation.

Faculty

The College is committed to excellence in the delivery of training and in the development of its teaching faculty. All faculty members are required to continuously improve their professional skills and teaching qualifications in the following three areas:

  • Specialist areas of training
  • Vocational Educational Training
  • Industry Experience

Continue reading “Professional Development”

Staff Competencies

Competency of RTO Trainers and Assessors

It is the responsibility of the Academic Dean in conjunction with the Executive Deans to ensure that trainers and assessors are suitably qualified to meet AQF requirements for the courses in which they teach.

All prospective trainers and assessors whether permanent staff or contract, are required to produce a Curriculum Vitae showing current industry experience and vocational competency in the area they will be training/assessing as well as academic transcripts including the Certificate IV Training and Assessment (TAE40116) or equivalent.

Trainers will not be engaged until they have produced sufficient evidence of their qualifications as a condition of their contract.

Continue reading “Staff Competencies”

Staff Recruitment

Recruitment of Staff and Trainers

Recruitment of both academic and support staff is primarily achieved through the personal and professional networks of existing personnel, as well as recommendations from the Executive and Academic Teams, rather than through a formal advertising process. This has proven to be the most efficient and reliable means of sourcing candidates who meet our given selection criteria. The applications of other submitted resumes are also considered, and if appropriate interviews are conducted.

All new staff are to be recruited in accordance with the Hillsong Church recruitment process (Ref: Staff Manual). In addition, trainers must be approved by the College Executive Team.

Selection criteria include: Continue reading “Staff Recruitment”

Organisational Structure

Organisation Structure

The Organisation Structure shows the governance and authority lines for all staff.

College Executive Team

The Executive Team meets on a monthly basis and consists of the following personnel:

  • Executive Vice President – Chair
  • General Manager
  • Executive Deans
  • Academic Dean
  • Student Dean

Purpose:
• Decision-making on final policies
• Vision and strategic planning
• Issues arising from the Academic and Campus Team meetings

Academic Team

The Academic Team consists of:

  • Academic Dean (Chair)
  • Course Implementation Manager
  • Head of Student Services
  • Quality + Purpose

Purpose:
• 
Management of the delivery and assessment of accredited courses according to course documentation, CRICOS and NVR standards and to meet the vocational training outcomes and holistic needs of students
• Monitor progress and development of courses
• Monitor student academic progress

Staff Meetings

These occur monthly and act as a forum for communication of policies and procedures, general operations across the College and reinforcement of culture and ethos. Vision and direction from the Executive Vice President is also given. Attendance is required by all staff – City campus staff by link as a minimum.

Trainers Meetings

Trainers meetings are chaired by the Campus Dean. All campus-based staff are required to attend.

Purpose:
• Pastoral care and follow up of students
• Discussion, implementation and review of all campus operations including such matters as venue, program needs, etc.