The Setting the Standard: Establishing TLOs for Tourism, Hospitality and Events Higher Education in Australia website contains material, information and resources gathered as part of an academic standards project funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) in 2013.

 

The project produced a set of nationally agreed upon and clearly articulated threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) for tourism, hospitality and events higher education coursework programs at Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) bachelor (level 7) and coursework master (level 9). It also investigated the appropriate pathway systems to facilitate successful transition from vocational education (VE) to higher education (HE) in pursuit of these TLOs. 

The project team included Paul Whitelaw, project leader (William Angliss Institute), Pierre Benckendorff and Judith Mair (University of Queensland), Michael Gross (University of South Australia), Penny Jose, project manager (Victoria University).  

The project associates included 24 universities, 14 Tertiary and Further Education (TAFE) institutions and 12 private colleges that offer hospitality, tourism and events higher education programs in Australia.  Four major representative industry groups and three government departments were also project associates.

The project built on the work of a 2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) project Building a stronger future: balancing professional and liberal education ideals in tourism and hospitality education. That project looked at the question 'What constitutes a tourism, hospitality or events undergraduate education?' The project mapped the tourism, hospitality and events curriculum space and built a foundation of information from which to begin discussion about curriculum design, content, delivery, academic standards and graduate outcomes.

Australian Business Deans' Council scholar, Mark Freeman, discusses why learning standards are important in Higher Education (5:30). For more information see FAQs.