Best practice in education agent management: a guide for education providers

Victorian TAFE International (VTI) is an association of TAFE (Technical and Further Education) Institutes in Victoria, Australia that conduct international education. Member institutes provide courses onshore for international students as well as delivering Australian qualifications in other countries. The VTI offers a professional development program for international managers in TAFE and this document is the result of a nine-month collaborative project to produce a best practice guide for member institutes when dealing with Education Agents. The purpose of the guide is to ensure all members have adequate systems in place and to demonstrate the commitment of VTI members to best practice in agent management. The guide summarises the relevant legislation that informs contractual arrangements with Education Agents. It then goes on to list general information regarding the Agents with whom VTI members contract in. It then outlines the VTI recommended risk management system (describing relationships with Agents as either Gold, Silver or Bronze level). This section also provides detailed criteria for assessing Agents at the three key levels of support in the risk management system. The following section covers the quality cycle of engagement with Agents. It includes a table which highlights best practice at each step of the relationship with an Education Agent, from assessing suitability, recruitment, contracting, monitoring performance and finally termination of agreement or the development of a new contract in the continuous improvement cycle.

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