ACEM Policy on Education Product Partnerships

P1026 v1

The purpose of this policy is to outline the way in which ACEM commits to education product development and delivery partnerships with external organisations, associations and suppliers.

This policy outlines the terms for:

1. licencing agreements
2. co-development agreements.
3. supplier and vendor agreements
4. strategic alliances, and;
5. collaborative agreements.

SCOPE

The scope of this policy and the types of education products include the following:

• A course, workshop or event
• An online module
• An educational policy, guideline, framework or publication.
• An educational technology application, tool or system
• An assessment tool, framework or methodology.
• A research study, activity or venture that includes the development or use of educational content.
• A combination of some/all of the above as a hybrid and/or multi-faceted education product.

2. Terminology

ACEM/the College

means the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

College member

means a person admitted as a member of the College pursuant to the provisions of the ACEM Constitution and associated regulations.

Governing body

means the ACEM Board, the Council of Advocacy, Practice and Partnerships (CAPP), or the Council of Education (COE).

Trainee

means an individual enrolled in an ACEM training program.

As a not-for-profit organisation, ACEM engages with partners to further the organisation and profession and to deliver products and services for ACEM members, trainees, SIMGs and the College has a whole. This policy relates to education product development and delivery as education is core to ACEM’s activity as a Specialist Medical College.

Engaging with partners allows ACEM to:

• strengthen education, training and professional and organisational standards by benchmarking and working with peer colleges, regulators, and international bodies.
• enhance product and offering quality, reach and timely delivery through shared co-design shared expertise, and wider access to expanded environments.
• keep ACEM contemporary through exposure to innovation, research, and emerging practices via academic, industry, and health system partners.
• improve consistency of standards across jurisdictions by utilizing partners to ensure equity of access to education.
• support evidence-based policy and practice through research partnerships that inform guidelines, curricula, and professional standards.
• enhance member engagement and value by creating education products and opportunities with associated networking, collaboration and leadership development.
• improve sustainability and resilience by sharing resources, reducing duplication, and enabling ongoing efficient change.

4. Partnership Types

4.1 Licensing Agreements

ACEM licenses its education product to a partner and retains full ownership of all intellectual property. The partner pays a licensing fee agreed by individual contract and ACEM retains quality assurance rights and the ability to monitor the delivery of the education.

4.2 Co-development Partnerships

ACEM and a partner jointly create a new educational product. The partner may provide capability, resources or facilities for the education product. Intellectual property created during the partnership remains with ACEM and a partner receives agreed benefits that could be financial or non-financial.

ACEM retains quality assurance rights of the education product with or without the partner.

4.3 Supplier and Vendor Partnerships

ACEM contracts an external organisation as a partner to create or deliver an education service or product to ACEM's specification. All deliverables created, including associated intellectual property, are owned by ACEM. The partner is engaged through a procurement process in alignment with ACEM Purchasing and Procurement Guidelines.

4.4 Strategic Alliances

ACEM creates or leverages an existing collaborative relationship with another body to advance shared goals in partnership. There is either a contract or memorandum of understanding developed for the duration or development and/or delivery and in most instances, neither party assumes financial risk on behalf of the other. Intellectual property may reside with ACEM or the strategic alliance partner.

4.5 Collaborative Delivery

ACEM collaborates with a partner organisation to develop, deliver or approve and confirm an ACEM endorsement of an education product. Whilst the product and the intellectual property reside with the partner, ACEM requires either financial or non-financial benefit. Financial benefit could be in the form of royalty or profit-share. Non-financial could be in the form of complimentary access to the education product by license arrangement or other agreed benefits to ACEM in order to offset the ACEM investment.

4.6 CPD Activity Providers

ACEM approves CPD activities for the purposes of the ACEM CPD program. As part of this process, ACEM maintains an online library of approved CPD activities and approved CPD activity provider partners who are entitled to use the ‘ACEM CPD approved’ logo for promotional purposes. Depending on the CPD Provider status, a fee for approval is incurred. ACEM only approves the educational content of the specific activity and not the organisation as a whole. ACEM’s approval does not guarantee the quality of delivery. Further details of the approval are included in the Policy on CPD Activity Approval.

5.1 Partnerships must be reviewed and approved by the relevant ACEM Entity as per the Policy on College Entities, or individual as per the ACEM Delegations Policy.

5.2 Products will be considered in alignment with ACEM Standards and Advocacy policies and position statements, Training Program Curricula, CPD Frameworks and Standards and other relevant policies relating to education and event design and delivery.

5.3 Product and partnership proposals will be considered in relation to protecting the resources and investment of ACEM both with respect to financial investment (e.g. staffing, technology, governance) and the time invested by volunteering ACEM Contributing Members.

5.4 Product and partnership proposals require a full proposal relating to financial and non-financial opportunities and risks for ACEM.

5.5 Partners will be provided with guidance for each specific agreement that outlines entitlements such as:

5.5.1 The way in which partners can present themselves in terms of a type of partnership (in alignment with Section 4).

5.5.2 The forums and manner in which ACEM partners can engage with ACEM entities or leadership.

5.5.3 The use of the ACEM Logo, if appropriate.

5.5.4 Advertising and promotion entitlements through ACEM Channels, if appropriate.