Bachelor of Arts

• General information
• Objectives
• Admission requirements for the BA
  • Guaranteed-entry levels for fee-liable places in the BA (Caulfield and Clayton only)
  • Monash Orientation Scheme for Aborigines
• Course structure
• Definitions
• Workload
• Time limits
• Arts disciplinary majors and minors in the BA degree
  • Psychology within undergraduate arts degrees
    • Bachelor of Arts degree
    • Bachelor of Arts tagged degrees which accommodate
      psychology as a major
    • Bachelor of Arts tagged degrees - structural limitations
    • Other undergraduate degrees of the faculty
    • Double-degree programs
    • The Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree
• Deans Scholars Program
  • Admission requirements for the Deans Scholars Program
  • Deans Scholars Awards
  • Continuation in the program
• BA (through Open Learning Australia)
  • Further information

General information

Course code: 0002

Objectives

The broad teaching and learning objectives of the Monash BA degree ask of students that they satisfy the requirements of study within the very wide range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and communications offered by the faculty, and of some disciplines offered by other faculties. Students are enjoined to grasp the very special opportunity provided by the BA to open their horizons of understanding and imagination to the many new materials, ideas and values with which they will be confronted.

Admission requirements for the BA

Applicants to the faculty must satisfactorily complete the Victorian Certificate of Education (or its equivalent) by obtaining a study score of at least 25 in English and a study score of at least 20 in any three other VCE studies.
Students applying to the Caulfield, Clayton or Gippsland campuses who have successfully completed any of the following will be deemed to have an ENTER up to 1.0 percentage point higher, to a maximum of four percentage points: Classical Societies and Cultures, Geography, History (any), International Studies, Literature, LOTE (any), Political Studies. Gippsland applicants will be re-ranked based on performance in English and other humanities and social science subjects. Interstate and overseas applicants must complete a qualification regarded as comparable to the VCE.
The Faculty of Arts has one of the most liberal policies regarding the VCE and will accept any approved study to be counted in a student's 'best four' subjects used to calculate the score for university entry. Students in the middle band should note, however, that consideration will be given to performance in English and the best other humanities/social sciences results, and the full range of the applicant's VCE studies and results.
Non-VCE applicants may satisfy the university's minimum entrance requirements by satisfactorily completing two university-level subjects or the satisfactory completion of one year of TAFE study at Certificate 1V or higher.

Guaranteed-entry levels for fee-liable places in the BA (Caulfield and Clayton only)

For the Bachelor of Arts degree, an ENTER of 79.55 will guarantee an offer of a fee-liable place in the first round of the selection process. An ENTER below 79.55 will be assessed in accordance with the number of applicants for the course and with middle-band selection criteria.

Monash Orientation Scheme for Aborigines

The Monash Orientation Scheme for Aborigines (MOSA) aims to accelerate access by Koorie people to university qualifications, thereby increasing Koorie participation in the professions, public service, management and community leadership, and thus contributing to Koorie self-management. It arose initially from the ideas of Koorie people and organisations.
The scheme offers Koorie candidates specific preparation for university study, bridging the educational and cultural gap which frequently exists between Koorie people and other first-year university students.
Classes are held weekdays between 9 am and 5 pm, and MOSA's own teaching staff and its specially designed courses assist candidates to acquire study and communication skills which are essential at university. Candidates who successfully complete the humanities orientation program at appropriate levels and are recommended for provisional matriculation by the MOSA committee will be guaranteed first-year places in the Monash faculties of Arts, Law, or Business and Economics.
For further information, contact the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies on (03) 9905 4200.

Course structure

At the time of going to publication, the Arts faculty was reviewing the structure of the Bachelor of Arts degree for new intake students in the year 2000. The course of study for the Bachelor of Arts will include:

• · an arts major
• · an arts minor
• · a third first-year arts sequence
• · a total of 144 points.

The remaining points may be taken from disciplines in the Faculty of Arts or from disciplines outside the Faculty of Arts (discipline D)*.
Students should consult the document on majors and minors available at the faculty office on any campus or the Arts faculty web page to determine majors and minors available in each discipline. Gippsland students should refer to the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences entry for details on major and minor sequences.
* SEE GENERAL RESTRICTIONS FOLLOWING.

Definitions

The definitions below supplement section two of the regulations and help to define section three of the regulations.

• · A 'discipline' is an area of study offered by a department or centre (note that due to the recent faculty restructure, the common academic organisational unit is now the school, and in many instances references to 'department' are now changed to 'school').
• · A 'sequence' is a first-semester subject which is followed by a related second-semester subject in the same discipline at first-year level.
• · A 'minor' is two years of study in a single discipline.
• · A 'major' is three years of study in a single discipline.
• · A 'prerequisite' is a subject which must be completed before a student is permitted to proceed to a further subject in that discipline.

Workload

A student must complete 144 points in the degree and studies must be taken in three different arts disciplines, in accordance with the structure outlined in the general requirements of the BA degree.
The remaining points may be taken from subjects taught by disciplines of the Faculty of Arts and/or subjects taught by disciplines outside the Faculty of Arts and/or approved alternatives.
If students choose to select any or all of the remaining points from subjects offered by the Arts faculty, these subjects may be selected from the disciplines taken as part of the major, minor or other first-year sequence, except that students may not take more than 24 points at first-year level in any one discipline.
A normal year's work for a full-time student for the pass degree is 48 points, normally eight subjects, and any student wishing to overload must seek permission from the coordinator of undergraduate studies (Clayton campus) or the campus administrator (Berwick, Caulfield, Gippsland or Peninsula). In any event, students will not be permitted to overload more than one subject a semester in second and third year. Over-enrolment in first year is not permitted, except for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts Dean's Scholars Program with permission.
Students would normally be required to undertake two first-year sequences before progressing to a second-year subject. Part-time students requesting to proceed to a second-year subject without two first-year sequences are advised to see the coordinator of undergraduate studies for advice or the relevant campus administrator.
Students wishing to complete more than 144 points must seek permission from the faculty board and in such an event will not be permitted to undertake more than 160 points.

Time limits

The degree is normally taken in not less than three years and not more than eight, including students studying part-time.
Students undertaking summer-semester or accelerated programs must seek permission from the faculty board to complete the degree in less than three years. Applications should be made to the faculty registrar with supporting documentation from the head of school.

Arts disciplinary majors and minors in the BA degree

In the following table the campus names are abbreviated to the first three letters, being: Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland, Malaysia, Peninsula.

Psychology within undergraduate arts degrees

1. That for the purposes of defining the structure of the Bachelor of Arts, psychology be included as an arts discipline.
2. Students studying the Bachelor of Arts degree as part of a double degree program may take psychology as an arts major sequence.
3. Students who enrol in the Diploma in Arts cannot study psychology as an arts discipline.
4. Students who wish to take the additional points required for registration with the Australian Psychological Society may do so in the Bachelor of Arts degree as part of their 'free' credit points.
5. Students who wish to take the additional points required for registration with the Australian Psychological Society may do so in the Bachelor of Arts double degree by overloading and incurring a HECS debt greater than 1 EFTSU.
A detailed explanation of the effect of this on the various degrees follows.

Bachelor of Arts degree

The Bachelor of Arts degree on all campuses permits a major in psychology as an arts discipline (this means that students can also do a major in another discipline offered by another faculty to make up their 'free' points). However, registration with the Australian Psychological Society requires 60 points of psychology and the additional points will be taken from 'free' credit points.

Bachelor of Arts tagged degrees which accommodate
psychology as a major

The BA (Police Studies) and BA (Policy Studies) at Caulfield and the BA (Psychology and Humanities) and BA (Journalism) at the Gippsland campus permit the study of a psychology as an arts discipline but require students to select another arts major.
The BA (International Communication) at the Peninsula campus has compulsory streams in international studies, communication studies and a language. The fourth stream can be taken from subjects offered by other faculties, hence psychology can be studied up to the level of a major.

Bachelor of Arts tagged degrees - structural limitations

The BA (Asian Studies) and the BA (European Studies) permit the study of an arts discipline or a discipline from another faculty (ie psychology) as a minor sequence only.
The BA (Languages) only permits the study a first-year sequence in arts or non-arts discipline (ie psychology).
The BA (Social Sciences) degree permits students to complete a social sciences major. If psychology is selected as the social sciences major, then a second arts major is also required.
The BA (Communications) degree at Gippsland only permits students to study psychology as an arts minor discipline.

Other undergraduate degrees of the faculty

The Bachelor of Communication degree offered in double awards with TAFE diplomas (AssDipArts, DipInfoTech and AdvDipBus) on the Berwick campus allow students to complete a major in psychology.
The Bachelor of Letters degree specifically excludes the study of psychology. The Faculty of Science offers a Graduate Diploma in Psychology for students who have studied a discipline other than psychology in their undergraduate degree while the Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology is for students who have completed a major in psychology.
The rules for the Bachelor of Arts degree do not apply to the Bachelor of Music and the Bachelor of Performing Arts as they have set course structures. It is possible for a limited number of psychology subjects to be undertaken in the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Performing Arts degrees.
Psychology cannot be studied within the Diploma in Arts or the Diploma in Social Science (students should check with the Faculty of Science regarding eligibility for the Diploma in Psychology).
Psychology cannot be studied within the BA (Administrative Studies) at Gippsland or the Bachelor of Social Work (Caulfield).

Double-degree programs

Psychology can be taken as an arts discipline in BA/double-degree programs as a major sequence. However, students requiring additional credit points for registration with the Australian Psychological Society will be required to overload and incur a HECS debt of greater than 1 EFTSU. Students in a BA/BSci who are studying geography and who also are studying psychology must consider geography as part of their Arts component and psychology as part of their Science component.

The Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree

Psychology may be studied as an honours discipline within the Bachelor of Arts (Honours).

Deans Scholars Program

Students are offered the opportunity to plan, in consultation with an academic adviser, personalised courses which differ from the normal Bachelor of Arts degree program in academic depth and scope. The Dean's Scholars Program applies only to the Bachelor of Arts degree - tagged and double degrees are not included in the program. The coordinator of the Dean's Scholars Program will assist students in planning their programs of study and will organise individual mentoring where necessary. The coordinator will also work with students to identify and implement appropriate enrichment activities to enhance academic and personal development.

Admission requirements for the Deans Scholars Program

The normal entry requirement is the satisfactory completion of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or equivalent. Applicants must achieve an ENTER of 93.25 or above to be eligible for selection into the program. In addition, applicants require a study score of at least 40 in English and in any three of Classical Societies and Cultures, Geography, History (any), International Studies, Literature, LOTE (any), Political Studies, Music or Drama.

Deans Scholars Awards

Students selected into the Dean's Scholars Program may be eligible for a Sir John Monash Deans Scholars Award of $6000 per year for a maximum of three years of study, subject to satisfactory academic performance.

Continuation in the program

The performance of Deans Scholars will be evaluated at the end of each year. Students are expected to continue achieving at the same high level at which they entered the program (normally distinction level). Students who are unable to maintain the required level of performance in each year will be transferred to the normal BA degree program. They will retain any credit already awarded but will forfeit a Dean's Scholars Award if they hold one.

BA (through Open Learning Australia)

Registration: Undergraduate office, Clayton campus, telephone (03) 9905 2107 · Initial registration fee: $30
The open access pathway enables students to complete a Monash BA entirely from open learning units. The range of units is normally restricted to those offered through Open Learning Australia (OLA). There are no competitive entry requirements. Students may apply to transfer to the distance education or on-campus BA degree after the successful completion of two units.
Students are required to complete between 20 and 23 units, including a major, minor and a third first-year arts sequence. A major sequence must be selected from the following OLA streams offered by Monash: history/ politics, philosophy, sociology. A minor sequence can be selected from art history, Australian studies, gender studies, Chinese, French, communication and media development, and Spanish.

Further information

Contact an OLA student adviser on telephone (03) 9903 8955, fax (03) 9903 8976, email cls@ola.edu.au or by TTY on (03) 9903 8613.

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