Request for Proposal: Australian Command and Staff College Academic Services

The Australian Command and Staff College (ACSC) provides post graduate level study for the Australian Defence Force and International Military Officers.

The ACSC seeks to develop the professional qualities of students so that they can operate successfully in an environment of increasing complexity and uncertainty. The aim of the course is to prepare selected career military officers, including some international officers, for leadership and/or staff appointments at a senior level within Defence and government. To support this aim the core objectives of the course are for students to be able to:

1.lead a joint staff planning team to develop and execute operational plans in joint, Defence and interdepartmental frameworks;

2.lead a Service (Navy, Army or Air Force) staff planning team to develop and execute single Service specific plans;

3.lead a staff specialist team in a specific operational or management area; and

4.analyse national, regional and global strategic issues to be able to contextualise problems and appreciate the contemporary operating environment that is faced by government.To be able to achieve these objectives students must be able to develop effective solutions to problems through the application of critical thinking and analysis; communicate effectively in written and oral work; analyse and reflect on their own leadership style; and understand the organisation and management of Defence and the ADF.

Curriculum.

The current ACSC curriculum is broken into the following five modules that are delivered sequentially over the academic year.

1.Foundation Studies Module.This module lays the intellectual foundation for the entire course, and is designed to deliver the education that underpins success on the course and skills required of a middle management leader within government. The module focuses on communications and critical thinking skills, leadership and ethics, media awareness and Australian Defence management processes.

2.Single Service Studies Module. This module comprises the Service specific areas of study to broaden and deepen students’ knowledge to allow them to become masters of their core expertise.

3.Strategic Studies Module. This module encompasses the international environment, national power and the conduct of military operations. While it covers military strategy, it also reviews the economic, political, social and other factors that provide the essential context for military thinking and military operations. The module focuses on politics, use of force, and the Australian strategic environment. This study is supported by students touring a near neighbour to confirm their analysis of the region.

4.Joint Operations Studies Module.The capstone element of the course, this module prepares students to lead a staff planning team to develop and execute military plans as part of a whole of government approach, in a complex, contemporary environment.

5.Elective Studies Module.This module comprises eight separate elective areas of study. Students are invited to select one of the following elective subjects early in the academic year to prepare them for their first appointment post the course:

a.Complex Planning and Operations.

b.Strategic Logistics.

c.Counterinsurgency Studies.

d.Expeditionary Operations.

e.Security Studies – Global.

f.Security Studies – Regional.

g.Public Sector Management.

h.Human Resource Management.

This modulised curriculum has been designed as a series of intensive, postgraduate level short courses that are delivered discretely over a number of weeks. The intensity and focus of the course workload is considerably higher than a standard university curriculum in order to gain a post graduate qualification in one year.

ACSC Qualifications.Graduation from the ACSC culminates in the award of a number of Service and academic postgraduate qualifications, and the opportunity to articulate those academic qualifications to university Master level. The Masters level work is normally completed post the ACSC year, though some students do complete their Master’s level work whilst at ACSC and there is intent to permit more students to achieve this outcome. The academic qualifications depending on the modules and electives undertaken are currently as follows:

1.ACSC Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma in the fields of Management in Defence Studies or Strategy in Defence Studies (both accredited by the ACT Accreditation and Registration Council); and/or

2.Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma in Defence Studies (currently from the UNSW@ADFA); and/or

3.Master of Arts in Strategy and Policy, or Master of Arts in Strategy and Management, (currently from the UNSW@ADFA),on completion of three further units of study after completion of the ACSC year; and/or

4.Graduate Certificate in Maritime Studies from the University of Wollongong for Navy Single Service Module students, which can be articulated into a Master of Maritime Studies through completion of a research paper.

Student Body.The course is currently a full-time attendance course of 45 weeks duration commencing in late January and completing in early December at the Australian Defence College (ADC) at Weston Creek ACT. Three one-week leave periods are included throughout the year. The student body consists of usually 180 students each year (25 Navy, 60 Army, 35 Air Force, 10 Australian Public Servants, and 50 Overseas students).

Future contract

The ACSC is requesting proposals from academic service providers who would like to work with the College to provide quality education at the post graduate level to prepare students for leadership and management appointments at a senior level within Defence and government. The successful provider will work in a formal partnership with the College under the control of the Commandant ACSC to design, deliver and assess a curriculum that develops future leaders and strategic level thinkers, policy makers and managers. The common thread throughout the curriculum will be the themes contained in the most recent Defence White Paper.

The aim of this curriculum would be to enable students to graduate with a robust postgraduate qualification from the service provider institution within the year. A key component of that qualification will be the accreditation of appropriate elements of the military delivered single Service and joint operations modules of the course. These two modules are designed to meet respective heads of Service and Chief of Joint Operations requirements, and represent 20 weeks of the overall year. The service provider will be expected to provide the option to students of an extension to a Masters level qualification that could be completed within a year at ACSC with additional course work.

To support the curriculum and College reputation as a centre of excellence for military education in the region the service provider staff would be expected to conduct research into relevant military and security topics to ensure students are exposed to new ideas and concepts. Some research on specific topics, for which enabling funding would be allocated, would be requested by Commandant ACSC and relate in the main to themes contained in the Defence White Paper.

Staffing. The service provider would be expected to provide on campus an academic head to support the Commandant ACSC in providing overall direction and guidance to the delivery and long term development of the curriculum. The academic head would have particular responsibility for delivering the Foundation Studies (eg: thinking, communication, leadership etc), Military Environment (eg: use of force, politics, evolution of Australian Defence Policy, contemporary operating environment etc), Strategic Policy (global and regional security, Defence and National security policy making and planning etc) and organisational Management modules of the curriculum. The academic head would work closely with an appropriately qualified Directors of Navy, Land and Air on the delivery and refinement of the Service and joint operations modules to meet accreditation requirements. This work will also include including the current elective units into the main curriculum.

This structure is expected to be supported by suitably qualified staff to provide continuous academic support for the curriculum throughout the year, promote much closer integration of the academic and professional military dimensions, provide clear and consistent support to the Commandant ACSC on future curriculum development, accreditation, and promote research in related areas. It is expected that the service provider will work with an appropriately qualified military Director of Curriculum Assessment to continuously review the delivered content and design relevant future curricula in order to best prepare the students for the challenges they will face in a complex world.

Contractual Requirement

It is intended that the Request for Tender will be published late in 2010 and will include the following:Prior to Commencement program delivery in 2012, the service provider will:

1.Establish on site facilities to support the delivery of the 2012 curriculum.

2.Collaborate with and provide advice to the ACSC in the selection of and preparation of content for the curriculum.

3.Design, develop and accredit identified modules to deliver agreed content within the course framework such that a robust postgraduate qualification at the Master’s level can be gained by course members undertaking the full ACSC program and any necessary additional academic work within the same year.

4.Prepare and present all module material, which must be made available through the existing Open Student Network.

5.Commence research in requested topics for delivery from 2013.

From January 2012 to December 2021 the service provider will:

1.Deliver the agreed modules in accordance with the curriculum including:

a.preparation and provision of course materials;

b.assessment of students;

c.issuing of statements of attainment, and completed academic qualifications;

d.reporting of outcomes to the Commonwealth;

e.provide onsite curriculum and administrative support to Commandant ACSC, staff and students;

f.participate in an annual content and curriculum review to be conducted by the Commandant ACSC and where the requirement is identified, adapt course content and support materials to meet the changing needs of the Commonwealth; and

g.where requested changes would affect accreditation of programs, provide quotes for the conduct of course development and accreditation.

Request for Proposal

Interested academic service providers are requested to submit a proposal that must include an overview of the provider’s capability to deliver the required academic services and support the proposed staffing plan. This overview may also include optional proposals:

1.To package a post graduate program in Maritime Studies for Navy Single Service.

2. To package the ACSC post graduate program as a Masters in Military Studies.