How do institutional practices for course design and review address areas of need in higher education

Universities are under stress and pressures to critically evaluate and reform curriculum and the way learning and teaching are implemented. Tensions appear to exist among the external pressures, the organisational structure of universities and their daily operations that are often conflicted and appear to work against coherence and depth in courses. In this study, the course design and approval process of Regional University was examined in light of four areas of need identified in the higher education literature to determine the extent to which the organisational structures (policies, regulations and guidance to course developers) reflect these. It is argued that knowledge about such a process is of considerable value for quality institutional practice in the sector.