ACU's OPM partnership

An OPM partnership provides ACU with opportunities to:

• expand our reach domestically
• launch new online courses quickly
• provide high-touch, industry-aligned learning design
• share risk and investment through co-investment in marketing and infrastructure
• leverage specialist expertise in online learning and recruitment.

It also supports revenue diversification and sustainability in a changing higher education environment.

• Computer Science (Bachelor of Computer Science; Vertical Double in Computer and Data Science)
• Data Science (Master/Grad Cert)
• Data Analytics (Grad Cert)
• Artificial Intelligence (Master/Grad Cert)
• Cybersecurity (Master/Grad Cert)
• Information Technology (Master/Grad Cert/Bachelor)
• Mental Health Nursing (Master/Grad Dip/Grad Cert)
• Mental Health (Master/Grad Dip/Grad Cert)
• Digital Health (Master/Grad Dip/Grad Cert)

Quality is maintained through:

• ACU governance processes (Including Faculty Board, CAQC, Academic Board and other course monitoring structures)
• stage-gate approvals for unit design, development and delivery
• compliance with TEQSA standards and ACU policies
• embedded quality rubrics and accessibility standards
• partnership governance through Joint Management Committee oversight, reporting against defined performance metrics.

Student will have access to:

• flexible, fully online, asynchronous study options
• industry-connected curriculum and authentic assessments
• dedicated support including orientation, enrolment support, success coaching, and wellbeing referrals
• access to ACU’s academic and non-academic services (where not supplied by the partner).

An OPM partnership includes features that reduce risk and support scalable delivery, including funding of:

• marketing upfront
• student success coaches, enrolment advisors and equivalent Ask ACU resources
• student recruitment activities
• learning design and Canvas shell creation support.

This enables ACU to widen access to courses that may currently be limited to specific campuses and delivery modes.

ACU is currently working towards a Term 3, 2026 go-live, with a target date of 20 July 2026.

You can do so via this tracker. Access is restricted to faculty governance, academic leads, and functional leadership.

Risepoint will create marketing assets for partnership programs, aligned to ACU brand guidelines, with ACU retaining approval rights.

Lead handling includes agreed rules to manage attribution, transfer criteria, privacy and security compliance, and avoiding duplication between systems.

Applicants apply via ACU FlexiDirect, with Risepoint able to monitor progress and assist with document collection (view-only access).

Risepoint supports pre-enrolment and early study experiences through additional communications, online orientation, and proactive engagement, with ACU-branded materials.

Risepoint uses Canvas analytics to monitor engagement and identifies risk indicators such as login patterns, assessment participation and engagement flags.

They also provide proactive outreach and retention activity across key points in the term, aligned with ACU’s standard processes.

Enquiries follow AskACU principles (resolve or refer via ServiceNow), while formal complaints and appeals are managed under ACU processes and policies.

Referrals are raised via ServiceNow to ACU services, including Access & Disability, Careers & Employability, Counselling, Student Advocacy, Medical Centres, Academic Skills, PASS, Legal Services, First Peoples, 24/7 study support, AI Peer Mentor, and the Mental Health Support Line. All interactions and case notes must be captured in ServiceNow.

Risepoint staff require controlled access to deliver services, with segmentation and restrictions in Banner, ServiceNow, Canvas, FlexiDirect, and Argos – supported by one-way reporting and view-only access where relevant. Data access is limited to the OPM cohort, and student interactions must be recorded in ServiceNow.

Unit development follows a structured lifecycle (Design → Develop → Produce → Go-live → Post–go-live) with stage-gate approvals and defined roles. ACU retains academic authority and approvals; Risepoint provides learning design support, production, technical QA and LMS build.

Quality assurance is embedded throughout development and aligned to ACU frameworks and industry standards. Accessibility is aligned to WCAG 2.2 and ACU style guides. AI use must be approved, transparent, and aligned to ACU academic integrity requirements.

ACU manages all formal withdrawals and changes to enrolment status, in line with policy and student administration processes:

• Unit withdrawals are initiated by students via Student Connect or ServiceNow and processed by ACU. Risepoint is then notified via Argos and the student’s CRM status is updated.
• Course withdrawals follow a similar process, with Banner auto-transacting after five days.
• Involuntary withdrawals (for policy reasons or misconduct) are handled by ACU, with Risepoint notified for record-keeping.

ACU remains responsible for meeting all formal reporting requirements under the Support for Students Policy. Reporting is completed using de-identified data and handled in accordance with privacy standards.

To support quality assurance and continuous improvement:

• Complaints (both informal and formal) are tracked by category and frequency, with quarterly reviews to identify trends and improvement opportunities.
• ACU and Risepoint hold quarterly governance and quality assurance meetings to review performance, compliance obligations, and continuous improvement actions.