Academic Progress (Exclusions) Rights

Continued enrolment in your course depends on passing enough units. At the end of each year, the University examines the marks of students to see if you are passing enough units to eventually get your degree. This is called Academic Progress Review and it is done by the Academic Progress Committee in each faculty.

Make sure the University can contact you at all times and check your e-mail every 2 days
If you do not answer their correspondence, you can be excluded without appeal rights

1. Introduction
2. Responding to the University
3. Academic Progress Committee Hearings
4. If you are excluded
5. International Students
6. Contact Student Rights at your campus for help or more advice

1. Introduction

When the faculty is concerned that you are not passing enough units, they will send you a ‘Notice of Referral’ after results are released and ask you to explain your poor results. In general, you will be asked to explain your situation if you have:

• passed less than fifty percent of your units for the full year (including the previous summer semester, or if you have deferred exams pending);
• failed a core unit you have failed before; or
• not met the requirements of a previous review.

Note that in some faculties if you have deferred exams and have not yet passed 50% of your enrolment you will be advised that you may have to respond if, after your deferred results are released, you have failed more than 50% of your enrolment. It is your responsibility to ensure you respond to the process after your deferred results are released if you find yourself in this situation. If you think this may be the case for you, you should ensure that you start to collect any evidence of mitigating circumstances now, as there will only be limited time after the release of your results.

2. Responding to the University

You will be asked to respond in writing by completing a form and we strongly recommend that you also write a letter explaining your situation in more detail. The Student Rights Officers at your campus can help you to prepare this letter. Your letter should outline:

• why you failed;
• a plan to prevent future failure; and
• why you feel you should be given another opportunity to continue studying at Monash.

Students fail for many reasons. When discussing your reasons, you should think about the following things that commonly affect students. You should review the following issues for 2006 and any other year that you have had bad marks:

• finances, including the nature and hours of paid work;
• family crisis or personal relationship difficulties;
• death of close friends or relatives;
• homesickness or change in living arrangements;
• difficulty adjusting to living in Australia (culture, language, etc)
• health (physical and mental);
• your emotional state;
• your study habits and whether these were adequate and met faculty expectations of you;
• academic matters such as your study and time management skills;
• how many hours spent on uni work each week;
• any specific difficulty in your course for 2006;
• any difficulties in transition to university life if you were a new student in 2006;
• any problems you had during the year that were beyond your control or not expected; and
• the mistakes that you made in managing your degree and your life.

You should include any evidence you have of these matters. If you have failed some units more than once, you should work out and explain why you have had so much trouble with those units. You should then consider how you plan to make things better. This may include:

• changing your paid work habits or getting financial advice;
• speaking to your lecturers and tutors and seeking course advice;
• spending more time on uni assignments and finding ways to study more effectively;
• hiring a private tutor;
• re-organising your life so that you can concentrate on uni;
• letting your parents and / or friends know and getting help from them;
• making sure that you understand all the uni processes for special consideration, enrolment, and all other matters to do with your degree and dealing with any problems as soon as they happen;
• using the university services available to help you such as Language and Learning or Counselling;
• developing a study timetable and sticking to it;
• making friends and forming a study group with classmates;
• studying part time if appropriate (international students are not generally allowed to study part time);
• taking a study break or leave of absence if appropriate (international students can only take breaks in exceptional circumstances); and
• considering what else you can to do to be successful in the future and developing a plan for dealing with any on-going problems.

Make sure that your response is written in formal style with the date, your name, and contact details listed at the top. It should be addressed to:

‘Chair, Faculty Academic Progress Committee, Faculty of _______________’.

In most circumstances the faculties will review letters as the first part of the process. Where they are satisfied that you have identified your problems, know how to fix them and can do so, you will be allowed to re-enol without further action, so writing a detailed letter is a very good idea. The faculties will ask some students to attend a hearing to show they can improve their marks. This is your chance to explain in person why you should be allowed to continue. If you are asked to come to a hearing, contact Student Rights at your campus. Student Rights Officers can help you to prepare for and come with you to the hearing.

3. Academic Progress Committee Hearings

When preparing for a hearing, it is a good idea to have notes, so that you can list the reasons why things went wrong and how you are going to fix them. Bring with you a copy of your original letter and any evidence that will help your case. You should dress smartly for the interview as this is a mark of respect and shows that you understand this to be very serious. Most faculties will tell students the outcome on the day. The committee can decide to:

• let you continue your enrolment;
• let you continue your enrolment with conditions (for example, passing 75% of units in 2007); or
• exclude you from the degree or faculty for 12 months (readmission is not guaranteed- see below).

4. If you are excluded

You have a number of chances to tell the university why you should not be excluded, but you should start thinking about other possible outcomes immediately as it may be too late to apply for enrolment in other universities and courses after you have actually been excluded. Student Rights Officers can advise you of your options and assist you in appealing the APC decision but there are only very limited grounds on which you can appeal, which are:

• new evidence not available at the time of the original hearing;
• procedural irregularity (if the faculty did something they were not meant to or failed to do something they should have)

If you do not appeal or are unsuccessful, you can re-apply to Monash after twelve months. In that time you should take the most relevant other course you can get into. If you do well, you can claim ‘academic rehabilitation’ and argue that these good results will also be shown in your original course.

5. International Students

If you are here on a student visa, you need to make sure you understand what will happen to your visa if you are excluded or if you change courses. Being excluded is likely to result in the cancellation of your visa for three years, so you should seek early advice to ensure you have as many options open to you as possible. Both Monash International Advisers and Student Rights Officers can help you through this process.

6. Contact Student Rights at your campus for help or more advice

Student Rights Officers are employed by the Student Association on your campus to help you. We are independent of the University, so your situation is our priority. We have extensive experience in helping students through this process and are best placed to make sure you get the best possible outcome. The earlier you come and see us, the more we can help you.