Be trained as a safe, competent and skilful Professional Supervisor

The Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision is a four-unit award, designed to be completed in a single calendar year. One unit will be undertaken in each of trimesters one and two, with an additional unit spanning across both trimesters. During these two trimesters, students are rigorously taught the knowledge, skills and attitudes required as a Professional Supervisor, as well as being supported in their own formation and identify.

Having covered the theory, issues, and ethics of supervision, a final practical unit will be taken in trimester three. The purpose of this unit is to provide real-life, skill-development for the student, while being supervised by an experienced practitioner.

Over the course of the year, students will explore the challenges, roles, tasks, models, skills and identity of a Professional Supervisor.

They will also explore issues pertaining to professional best practice, self-care, ethical discernment, community standards and legal expectations, alongside a range of churchbased practices which may be problematic. In so doing graduate supervisors will be well-placed to guide their supervisees towards effectiveness, to limit risk, to enhance vocation and to uphold the church’s standing in the community.

The Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision is the entry point for the Master of Professional Supervision.

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Course Information

Course: Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision (GradCertPSupervision)
Accrediting Body: Sydney College of Divinity
Australian Quality Framework Level: AQF 8
School: Stirling School of Community Care

Number of Units: 4 units/ 36 credit points (CP)
Study Mode: Online (with facilitated learning opportunities)
Course Duration: 0.5 years full-time or up to 2 years part-time

Course Plan

Units:

4 core units
/ C8170 Fundamental Principles of Professional Supervision
/ C8175 Professional Supervision Practicum
/ P8172 Practice of Professional Supervision
/ P8105 Issues and Ethics in Professional Practice

Schedules

Unit Descriptions

Course Details

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements:

All students must have:

A Bachelor of Ministry, Theology, Social Work, Social Science, Counselling or Psychology, or equivalent qualifications, and
at least five years of active professional experience within a helping profession, and
a recommendation from their employer, professional association, or ordaining body for their participation in this training.

English Proficiency:

Applicants whose entry qualifications were obtained in an institution where English is not the language of instruction normally require a minimum IELTS (or equivalent) score of 7.0 in all bands of the test.

Course Outcomes

Graduates will have added advanced knowledge and skills in supervisory leadership to their theological education to enhance their work in the religious sector.

Knowledge

Graduates will have:

- specialised theoretical and technical knowledge related to the practice of professional supervision to aid in the development of high quality, ethical and safe practitioners in ministry, community work and allied people helping professions,
- an advanced understanding of the principles of inquiry and methods applicable to supervision theory and their application to real-world professional practice.

Skills

Graduates will demonstrate advanced cognitive, technical and communication skills in leadership within a ministry-related body of knowledge, so that they are able independently to:

- analyse critically, evaluate, and apply information to complete a range of activities associated with supervision in a ministry-related context;
- analyse, generate and provide solutions to complex problems to guide the effective supervision of employees or volunteers in a religious, non-profit, community organisation;
- transmit knowledge, skills and ideas through coherent and sustained leadership to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Applications of Knowledge and Skills

Graduates will have the ability to:

- apply knowledge and skills in a way that demonstrates autonomy, well-developed judgment, adaptability and responsibility for effective supervision in religious, non-profit, and/or community-focused enterprises.

Find expanded acacemic outcomes and regulations in the SCD Handbook.

Credit

Ministry Placement

We want our students to be doers, not just hearers. Most ACOM units have 30 hours of placement built into the requirements (noted in unit demand hour tally). Student vocational placement provides an opportunity to link academic work into practice through a process of instruction (online readings, facilitations and other learning activities), action (localised ministry) and reflection (thinking about your practice to understand how to improve it). The process of instruction-action-reflection continues across all of our units.

Vocational placement requires students to engage with a supervisor. This helps you integrate what you are learning into your place of practice. Students will be required to identify a local supervisor in their environment (e.g. a church, school, chaplaincy or welfare organisation). The supervisor will assist you as you reflect on your learning.

If you are uncertain if your unit of interests will require placement, please discuss with your SEM.

Spiritual Formation

Spiritual Formation is foundational to who we are. For ACOM, the learning process is not simply intellectual - it is about spiritual transformation. We care about the individual you are becoming and here’s why: we know that healthy, sustainable and effective graduates will be well grounded spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially.

Each ACOM course gives students the opportunity to study our Spiritual Formation units either as core or electives. Refer to your course plan to discover how our formation units can be incorporated into your study, or read more about the Spiritual Formation process.

Fees

Students can pay their fees upfront or access the Australian Government’s Fee-HELP system.

Fee-Help is a Commonwealth loan scheme that assists eligible students to defer all or part of their higher education tuition fees. Students wishing to utilise Fee-HELP should apply during admission, or contact registrar@acom.edu.au. To read more about Fee-HELP and check your eligibility go to https://www.studyassist.gov.au/.

2023 Graduate Level Fees

Applicable to courses studied at the Australian Quality Framework level 8-9 (AQF8-9 Graduate Level). This includes ACOM courses; all Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas, and Masters Degree. Note that the Supervised Ministry unit is a considered to be a standard unit. Students registering into Supervised Ministry will incur the standard unit fee as listed above.

2023	Audit for Future Credit (Upfront Only)	Standard Unit (9 Credit Points)	Double Unit (18 Credit Points)
Standard Unit	$450	$2690	$5380
Spiritual Formation Unit	$800	$3290	N/A
Research Units	N/A	$2990	$5980

Students holding a pension card and paying their fees upfront may be eligible for a $200 pension discount per standard 9CP unit at the relevant level of study.

To apply for a pension discount simply contact ACOM and provide a current copy of your pension card. Once your eligibility has been confirmed by staff, register for units making a note of your pension discount.

Key Dates

2023 Key Dates

Note the following definitions:
Census Date: Last date to withdraw from a unit without financial penalty.
Academic Penalty Date: Last date to withdraw from a unit without academic penalty. If a student withdraws from a unit between the Census Date and the Academic Penalty Date, the unit will appear on their transcript with a withdrawn grade.

Check below for the key dates associated with your trimester of study. Note that registering or withdrawing outside of the key dates could incur incidental fees.

2023	Trimester 1	Trimester 2	Trimester 3	Spiritual Formation (Year Long)	Summer 2023-2024
Unit Registration Deadline		30/4/2023	6/8/2023	29/1/2023	5/11/2023
Start Date	20/2/2023	29/5/2023	4/9/2023	20/2/2023	4/12/2023
Census Date	13/3/2023	19/6/2023	25/9/2023	17/4/2023	25/12/2023
Academic Penalty Date	2/4/2023	9/7/2023	15/10/2023	9/7/2023	7/1/2024
End Date	14/5/2023	20/8/2023	26/11/2023	26/11/2023	11/2/2024

Future Pathways

Studying with ACOM

Study Load and Demand Hours

Students can choose to study part-time or full-time. ACOM operates on a trimester basis, with formation and other select units, being taken over the course of the full year. A full-time load is considered six to nine units, which is usually two to three units per trimester, with one year-long unit. A part-time load is usually three to four units per year.

Each 9 credit point unit requires 143 demand hours of study. The demand hours represents the number of hours needed to meet all the requirements of the unit, including reading, researching and writing assignments and essays, and supervised fieldwork (see Student Handbook for hour breakdown).

For each unit we recommend that you allocate approximately 10-12 hours for study per week (with more required during peak assessment periods).

Computer Requirements

The Study Process

Students Apply and are admitted to their course, which are made up of both core and elective units. All new students are required to complete Student Orientation, which involves both signing up for a Student Orientation Session, and taking part in a Student Orientation module through the online learning platform.

All students have access to personalised support through a dedicated Student Engagement Manager (or SEM). Our awesome team of SEMs bring a personal connection and listening ear to students who are spread the length and breadth of the country. SEMs work closely with each student to provide tailored academic and pastoral support, cheering them on every step of their learning journey. Read more about our Personalised Support.

A variety of units will be on offer each trimester for students to view on the unit schedules, and register in for study. All of our courses are flexible for students to choose their units and load according to their time commitments, interests and courseplans.

All students study 'online' through our online Learning Platform: Moodle. This is where all study materials, unit information, assessments and learning activities can be found. However, each unit may have a variety of study options available that are found on the schedules, and selected at the point of registration. These include Facilitated or not Facilitated options.

Run by experienced leaders, educators, and practitioners in their fields of study, facilitations are an opportunity for students to learn alongside others in a dynamic environment of enquiry and exploration. Facilitations can be scheduled in regular classes, or events run over individual or consecutive days.

The following will be found scheduled next to units to advise what options you can choose:

Option	Type	Description
In Person: Facilitation	Learning with Others	In Person facilitations provide a physical space to strengthen skills by gathering like-minded local individuals together to learn and network together. These events can be run in a variety of locations across Australia and are run according to local time-zones.
Online: Facilitation	Learning with Others	Online facilitations provide flexible learning options for students nationwide, by giving them the ability to interact with facilitators and learners from across Australia from their devices. These events are run digitally on Zoom in AEST time-zone (or AEDT during daylight savings).
Online: No Facilitation	Integrated Learning Activities	ACOM is committed to ensuring students have the greatest flexibility to study at their own pace in their own place. To enable this all units scheduled in a trimester can be studied online via our digital learning platform. Students who choose this option will be provided with a series of Integrated Learning Activities designed to help them integrate what they are learning into life and ministry practice. These Integrated Learning Activities are available to all students to engage with, however only students who have selected the online Integrated Learning Activities study option are required to complete all activities to successfully pass the unit.

For more student information see:

Student Handbook
Student Policies

Assignments

ACOM assessments are essay based and do not usually involve exams. Units may include online quizzes and practical assessments that are completed in your ministry setting. Assessment dates are clearly published on our Learning Platform (Moodle) and all tasks must be submitted to pass the unit.

Required readings are provided for students with online library access for further research. ACOM is continuously improving its digital library of learning resources. We have thousands of specialist books, articles and journals available to our students through our copyright licensing arrangements. Useful for both research and personal study, our students have access to over 100,000 e-books and journals on the Bible, leadership, pastoral care, theology and more. To read more go to our Digital Learning Systems.

Some units may require the student to purchase textbook(s), so please check the textbook lists on the schedules or at the point of registration.

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