ACU has signed a contract with its chosen Online Program Management (OPM) provider, Risepoint, and is now moving into the implementation stage of the online education partnership.
This partnership supports ACU’s Vision 2033 priorities, including expanding the university’s reach in STEMM and strengthening resilience for the future.
The first programs in the partnership will launch in emerging tech and health, with a phased go-live currently planned for Term 3, 2026.
An Online Program Management provider partners with universities to support the delivery of online programs. OPMs bring specialist expertise in areas such as:
At ACU, the OPM will complement, not replace our work. Academic quality, Catholic identity, and brand integrity remain firmly under ACU’s authority.
This partnership will help ACU:
It is a phased approach, with performance checkpoints to ensure strong financial, operational, and mission safeguards as the partnership grows.
The Risepoint partnership is intended to support growth in ACU’s online student cohort by strengthening the University’s ability to attract and support students studying online.
While ACU has an established online offering, the partnership provides additional capability in areas such as targeted domestic marketing, student recruitment at scale, and specialised online program support. This is particularly relevant for new and emerging disciplines, where ACU may not currently be a primary destination for prospective students.
By combining ACU’s academic strengths and existing online delivery models with specialist recruitment and marketing capability, the partnership is designed to increase enrolments in selected programs and extend ACU’s reach to new student segments across Australia.
The model also enables ACU to test and grow online offerings in a structured way, with shared investment and defined governance, while maintaining full control over academic quality, admissions, and student outcomes.
The initial offerings focus on emerging technology and health.
The partnership applies to a defined set of programs, for a domestic student cohort. Decisions about which courses are included are made through ACU’s academic planning and governance processes. Any future expansion will be considered in a phased manner, based on demand and alignment to ACU’s strategic priorities, alongside existing ACU Online and other delivery models.
Quality is maintained through:
Student will have access to:
The Risepoint partnership provides access to new markets, supporting ACU’s expansion into STEM and growth of the ACU Online brand. Risepoint provides a student recruitment and retention focus, complementing the personalised learning support provided through ACU Online. All students enrolling in Risepoint-supported courses are ACU Online students, and the partnership contributes to the future development of ACU Online.
ACU Online is a core delivery model, with the partnership providing targeted additional capability for selected programs. This approach works alongside existing ACU capabilities, supporting delivery in priority areas while maintaining ACU’s academic leadership and building on prior investment in ACU Online.
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 ServiceNow, Canvas, FlexiDirect, and Argos – supported by one-way reporting and view-only access where relevant. Data access is limited to the cohorts of students in courses supported by Risepoint, and student interactions must be recorded in ServiceNow. Access is role-based and aligned with ACU privacy, security and governance requirements. Risepoint staff are provided access only to the information necessary to support their role, with all activity operating within ACU systems and controls.
Student data is used solely for educational and support purposes, consistent with ACU policies. ACU retains oversight of data access and use, ensuring compliance with privacy obligations.
Reporting and system processes also support visibility of student cohorts, enabling ACU to distinguish between delivery models and monitor activity and outcomes across the partnership.
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 quality assurance, and LMS build.
Unit leaders retain oversight and remain accountable for academic content and quality, with learning design support provided through the partnership, as appropriate to the program.
Workload allocation continues to be managed through existing faculty processes, according to the Academic Workload Allocation Policy and the Academic Roles and Responsibilities Policy (see National Unit Leader and Online Learning Facilitator descriptions).
As the partnership is implemented, processes and timelines will continue to be refined to align with ACU’s existing delivery models, supporting a consistent and sustainable approach to unit development over time.
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:
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:
Financial arrangements for the Risepoint partnership are managed through contractual agreements and ACU governance processes. These arrangements support shared investment in areas such as course development, marketing and delivery.
Detailed financial terms are managed in line with university policy and are not publicly disclosed. ACU retains oversight of financial performance and ensures alignment with its strategic and operational objectives.
Students enrol in programs based on their delivery model. This means ACU students do not enrol in Risepoint-supported units.
Risepoint was selected through a formal procurement and due diligence process conducted in line with ACU policies, governance requirements, and delegated approval processes. The assessment considered capability, experience in online program delivery and student recruitment, financial and operational capacity, alignment with ACU's strategic objectives, and the ability to support a high-quality student experience consistent with ACU's mission and values.
ACU is aware that the OPM sector has attracted scrutiny in recent years, including concerns about recruitment practices, revenue-share incentives, and the influence of commercial partners on academic decisions. These issues were considered explicitly as part of due diligence and risk assessment. The partnership has been structured so that ACU retains decision-making authority over academic quality, curriculum, admissions standards, and student support, with governance and oversight mechanisms in place to monitor partner conduct against these standards.
ACU remains accountable for the academic and student experience of all programs delivered under the partnership. The arrangement is being implemented in phases, with structured review points to ensure it operates consistently with ACU's values and delivers value for students and the university.
The partnership operates under a multi-layer governance framework that clearly separates academic authority from partnership and operational governance, while establishing defined oversight and escalation pathways.
Academic governance remains fully within ACU’s existing structures. All programs delivered through the partnership are subject to standard course approval, quality assurance, and review processes, including Faculty Board, CAQC, Academic Board, and Course Monitoring Committees. ACU retains full authority over curriculum, academic standards, admissions criteria, assessment, and student outcomes, consistent with institutional policy and regulatory obligations.
Partnership governance is structured across multiple layers. The Program Steering Group (PSG) provides strategic oversight and decision-making, while the Joint Management Committee (JMC), co-chaired by the Deputy Provost, provides joint oversight of partnership performance, relationship management, and operational integrity. The JMC monitors agreed performance metrics (e.g. enrolment, retention, student experience) and reviews delivery against service levels and contractual obligations, supported by formal artefacts such as SOPs, SLAs, and shared reporting frameworks.
Operational delivery is executed by ACU and Risepoint through defined service responsibilities and escalation pathways set out in standard operating procedures and service models. The JMC provides oversight of this delivery rather than direct management of day-to-day operations.
Academic matters remain within ACU governance by design. Where partnership discussions raise academic issues, these are considered within established academic governance processes rather than determined by partnership forums.
The governance model incorporates defined escalation pathways and structured review points, including reporting through governance bodies and formal review of committee terms of reference, ensuring clarity of accountability and continuous oversight of risks and performance.
Students enrolled through the Risepoint partnership are ACU students. They are enrolled in ACU courses, taught by ACU academics, and receive the same qualifications as students in any other ACU delivery model. ACU retains responsibility for academic teaching, assessment, standards and student outcomes.
The support model for Risepoint-supported programs is designed for online delivery at scale. It includes structured enrolment guidance, proactive engagement during study, and retention-focused support, delivered against ACU-set standards for response times, academic support, and student outcomes.
ACU sets the framework for student experience across all delivery models and monitors engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes across cohorts to support quality and continuous improvement.
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