Monash University Handbook 2011

Glossary of terms used

Areas of study

Areas of study is a collective term used for the range of 'building blocks' used to create sequential study in a discipline within some courses. This commonly includes majors, minors, sequences, specialisations and branches. Areas of study may be outlined within the 'structure' and/or 'requirements' field of a course entry or within the areas of study section of the Handbook.

Course structure and requirements

Each course offered by Monash University has an associated structure and set of formal academic course requirements. These are stated in the Handbook under the 'structure' and ‘requirements’ subheadings for the course. Other requirements such as compulsory clinical placements or other practica may also be stated under other headings in a course entry.

Students will not have completed the course until they have successfully completed all the units and other requirements that are stated in the Handbook entry for that course in the year in which they commenced their studies, or in any subsequent year's Handbook where permitted. It is a student's responsibility to satisfy themselves, in consultation with the relevant faculty, that they are undertaking the appropriate units in order to complete all of the requirements for their course of study.

Courses and awards

A course is the accumulation of units, according to a set of rules, that leads to the award of a qualification. Normally, students are only enrolled in one course at any time, although some courses, such as an undergraduate diploma studied in conjunction with a bachelors degree, are an exception. 

Credit points

Courses and units at Monash University are described in terms of ‘credit points’, or ‘points’ for short. The normal full-time study load for most courses is 48 points per academic year, or 24 points in each of the first and second semesters. Most units are a multiple of 6 points in value (eg 6, 12, 24), although there are some exceptions.

Full-time and part-time study

The normal enrolment for students undertaking full-time study is 24 points in both of first and second semesters (ie 48 points per academic year). Full-time students must enrol in at least 36 points of units in any academic year, although international students are normally required to enrol in 24 points in each semester (in accordance with their visa obligations). Students who enrol in units offered in the summer semester should not normally undertake more than 18 points of studies over that period. Where permitted, students are strongly advised to adjust the number of units undertaken in any semester according to their individual needs and circumstances.

Most courses at Monash University can be undertaken by either full-time or part-time study, or a combination of both. Where this does not apply, it will be indicated in the course entry in the handbook by the qualifier ‘F/T only’ or 'full-time only' or ‘P/T only’ or 'part-time only'.

Responsibility for unit choice

While course advisers will endeavour to give every possible assistance and advice concerning unit choice, the onus is on the student to ensure that the units selected meet degree regulations and requirements. This is not the faculty's or University's responsibility and neither takes responsibility for error in unit selection or enrolment by a student.

Semesters

The academic year at Monash University is divided into three main semesters; semester one, semester two and summer semester, however there are a number of other teaching periods depending on the course or unit being studied. Most students undertake their studies during first and second semester. These are each 12 weeks in duration, and in general they run from late February to late May and mid July to mid October respectively (see principal dates for each year). In addition, new-to-Monash students are required to attend Orientation Week in semester one. The summer semester takes several forms, depending on the unit being offered, but typically it is taught within the period from December to February.

Study modes

Monash University offers courses in a variety of study modes. These include ‘on-campus’ group teaching and a variety of forms of ‘off-campus’ delivery. Studies undertaken in ‘multimode’ combine these two approaches. These modes are designed to provide flexibility for students with different needs and expectations. The study modes available are listed in the course and unit entries in the handbooks. Some 'on-campus' courses allow students to study a number of 'off-campus' units.

Units

A unit is the basic component in which a student will enrol to undertake study in a particular course. Most undergraduate courses expect that full-time students will enrol in eight 6-point units per academic year, although there are exceptions. Postgraduate coursework students may be required to enrol in some units with higher values. Typically, each 6-points requires an average total study workload (including classes, assigned work and private study) of 12 hours per week for 12 weeks, or 156 hours in total.