Guide to policies and procedures of the faculty

Academic policies and procedures

These regulations are extracted from the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying Protocols and apply to students enrolled in all of the programs offered by the Faculty.

The program regulations complement the University academic regulations and should be read in conjunction with those regulations. For a complete listing of the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying academic policies, regulations and procedures, students should consult the Faculty Protocols.

The following regulations apply to all programs:

Exemptions, credit and advanced standing

• Claims for exemption may be made either on the basis of equivalent study in a tertiary institution or, where appropriate, on the basis of work performed by the student whilst employed in the workforce.

• Studies completed within a period of five years prior to the date of the student's confirmation of enrolment in the program will be accepted as the basis for claims for exemption in courses of programs offered by the Faculty. Studies completed more than five years prior to the date of the student's confirmation of enrolment in the program may be accepted as the basis for claims for exemption particularly when supported by appropriate industrial experience.

• Claims may be made for either:

  • exemption from studying an individual course or courses (Exemption)

  • exemption from studying a block of courses, normally one or more complete levels of the program (Block Exemption), or

  • credit in a program based on successful completion of USQ courses as part of another program that has not resulted in the conferring of an award.

  
  

• Exemptions granted on the basis of claims for block exemption from certain level(s) of a program may not be transferred to any other program offered by the Faculty or the University.

• The examiner of the course shall normally determine the outcome of claims for credit(s) in individual courses. The Head of Discipline or Associate Head of Discipline responsible for the program will normally determine the outcome of claims for credit in blocks of courses.

• Exemptions are granted on the basis that it is the student's responsibility to familiarise themselves with the objectives and content of the courses involved, and to ensure that their knowledge and skills are commensurate with students who have recently successfully completed the course(s). Students are not obliged to accept the exemptions that are offered if they consider that they do not possess the appropriate knowledge and skills.

Program Regulations

Progression of students shall be on a course basis, subject to the following regulations:

• except with the written approval of the Associate Dean (Academic Operations), a student shall only be permitted to enrol in courses whose combined value does not exceed six units per term

• except with written approval of the Associate Dean (Academic Operations), an on-campus student enrolled in a degree program shall not be permitted to enrol in any one year, in courses from more than two consecutive levels of a program

• except with the written approval of the Associate Dean (Academic Operations), a student awarded a Fail grade in any core or major course of a program at the conclusion of the academic year, must re-enrol in that course in the following academic year

• except with the written approval of the Associate Dean (Academic Operations), a student may not enrol in a course for which there is a specified pre-requisite course in which the student has received a Fail grade or has never enrolled

• except with the written approval of the Associate Dean (Academic Operations), a student may not enrol in a course for which there is a specified co-requisite course unless the student has previously enrolled or is currently enrolled in the co-requisite course

• it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their enrolment is correct and conforms to regulation

• students studying on-campus will normally undertake all courses in which they are enrolled by this mode of study; students studying externally will normally undertake all courses in which they are enrolled by external study.

Appeals procedure

A student who is concerned about a grade awarded in a course should lodge a 'Student Enquiry - Official Results' form with the Administration Officer (Assessment) within 14 days of the release of official results. This form may be downloaded from the following site, then sent to the Faculty: http://www.usq.edu.au/engsurv/students/studentpolicies/appeals.htm. Alternatively, students may complete the form online and send it via email to the Faculty at engsurv@usq.edu.au for processing.

After the examiner records a response on the enquiry form the Administration Officer (Assessment) will return the form to the student.

A student who is not satisfied with the outcome of the formal enquiry, and who intends to appeal, may lodge a written 'Request for Conciliation' notice with the Secretary of the Appeals Committee for the Faculty. The notice should be lodged within seven days of the student receiving the completed enquiry form. The notice should set out the grounds upon which the appeal will be made.

A senior academic staff member will act as conciliator for the case. If the conciliator believes that a strong case exists, then the conciliator will seek to resolve the matter with the examiner of the course. If the conciliator is uncertain about the likely outcome of an appeal then the student will be advised to lodge a formal appeal.

If the matter is not resolved to the student's satisfaction by the conciliation process, the student may lodge a formal appeal with the Secretary of the Appeals Committee for the Faculty.

An appeal must be lodged within seven days of the student receiving advice on the outcome of the conciliation process. The appeal will be in writing and accompanied by:

• evidence that the student either:

  • has consulted the examiner regarding the grade received for the course or has lodged a formal enquiry concerning the grade, or

  • has consulted the relevant Head of Discipline regarding the grade awarded

  
  

• details of the grounds upon which the appeal is made

• any other supporting evidence

• the appropriate fee.

The Secretary shall convene a meeting of the Appeals Committee for the Faculty, which will be chaired by a senior academic staff member from another Faculty.

The student will be notified of the outcome of the appeal. If the appeal is upheld the fee will be refunded to the student.

For further information please contact the Secretary of the Appeals Committee for the Faculty: