Caution
Copyright © Monash University 1996
ISBN 1320-6222
Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Students intending to proceed to the Diploma in Education should take note of the teacher education entry and the information about the DipEd in the handbook for the Faculty of Education before deciding on their selection of subjects.
Once a student has embarked on a second-year level subject and becomes a later-year student, the general supervision of his or her work becomes the responsibility of the department, or one of the departments, in which a major sequence is being taken or in which the student is enrolled for an honours degree.
Students are advised that, while the faculty will endeavour to give every possible assistance and advice concerning subject choice, the onus is on students to ensure that subjects selected meet degree regulations and requirements. It is therefore recommended that students purchase a copy of this handbook and consult it when seeking information about course and subject-related matters.
For more information on the MUDS program, a confidential appointment or a copy of this guide contact the disability liaison officer on (03) 9905 5704 or TTY (03) 9905 5391 (metropolitan campuses) or on (03) 9902 6794 (Gippsland campus and distance education students).
The faculty's language and learning unit advises students particularly on matters of learning, essay writing, reading and other aspects of their academic work. Students on the Clayton campus can make an appointment by ringing 9905 2263. At Caulfield and Peninsula students have access to the centrally organised language and learning units located on those campuses.
Once a student has been admitted, the faculty does not normally prescribe whether the student shall be full-time or part-time, but students who are unable to attend full-time are advised to plan their courses as far as possible from the outset. They will find it an advantage if they can become full-time students for at least one year of their course.
Most part-time students are able to take time off from their employment to attend some day-time classes and are not unduly restricted in their choice of subjects. Although lectures may be held in the daytime hours, in most subjects tutorials are arranged at all times to suit small groups of students.
Students should be prepared to spend time researching and reading in the library as not all library material is available to be borrowed for home reading.
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, 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 nine to five where 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, and Business and Economics. Candidates who successfully complete the two-year science orientation program and are recommended for provisional matriculation will be guaranteed first-year places in the Monash faculties of Engineering, Medicine and Science. For further information contact the director, Mrs Helen Curzon-Siggers (phone 9905 4206).
A student who passes in at least two first-year sequences will be permitted to take second-year level subjects in the following year. If passes are obtained in fewer than six subjects, it will be necessary for the student to take further first-year level subjects in the following year, and this will mean that it will take the student at least four years to complete the degree.
At the beginning of first semester a student will be enrolled in a tutorial group for each of the subjects chosen at enrolment time. The student will be expected to take part in discussions and submit written work which will normally be marked by the tutors in each chosen subject. In most departments, participation in tutorials and performance of written work are regarded as more important than merely attending lectures. However, it will become apparent to the student that the relative importance of lectures and tutorials varies according to the subject, and that the two methods of teaching complement each other.
Assessment may be based on a student's performance in classwork and assignments throughout the semester or on an end-of-semester examination or on a combination of both.
The faculty's board of examiners will consider the student's performance as a whole before results are published.
Division II passes, and also special (deferred) examinations, may be awarded by the board of examiners. The award of a division II pass permits a student to count the subject towards the degree but not to count that subject as a prerequisite for a later-year subject in the same discipline.
In the Faculty of Arts, division II passes are awarded only in first-year level subjects. They are regarded as special concessions, and in order to qualify for such a concession a student must pass subjects to the value of at least six points in that year. Students are not normally permitted more than one division II pass in their degree course.
Special (deferred) examinations may be granted by the board of examiners to a student who has been prevented by illness or other serious cause from attending all or part of an examination, or whose work during the academic year or whose performance in an examination has been gravely affected by illness or other serious cause.
A student who wishes to apply for a special (deferred) examination should apply in writing. Supporting medical evidence should be submitted on the prescribed form. The application is referred to the dean, who decides whether or not there is a prima facie case for a special examination and undertakes to recommend accordingly to the board of examiners. Special (deferred) examinations may be taken in January or February of the following year, but departments may prefer to make their own arrangements for a special written or oral examination at an earlier date.
Plagiarism occurs when students fail to acknowledge that ideas have been borrowed. Specifically, it occurs when:
(a) phrases and passages are used verbatim without quotation marks and without a reference to the author;
(b) an author's work is paraphrased and presented without a reference;
(c) other students' work is copied;
(d) items of assessment are written in conjunction with other students (without prior permission of the relevant staff member);
(e) a piece of work has already been submitted for assessment in another course.
Plagiarism is an attempt to obtain undeserved academic advantage. Students suspected of plagiarism will be given the opportunity to explain their plagiarism in the company of their tutor and the course coordinator. If the course coordinator believes that plagiarism has occurred, students will normally receive no marks at all for the piece of work concerned. Cases of deliberate plagiarism will be reported to the dean in accordance with faculty policy. Serious or repeated cases may be reported to the University Discipline Committee.
University policy on plagiarism and other forms of cheating is outlined in Part II of Statute 4.1 of the Statutes of the University (Monash University Calendar). Students who are at all uncertain about what is required should consult their tutor.
The following hints will help students avoid plagiarism:
+ students should take accurate notes, distinguishing in these between their own ideas and the ideas of other writers;
+ in notes, as well as essays, quotation marks should be placed around all material that is copied out directly and the source noted;
+ any idea that is not their own should be footnoted by students, even if it is paraphrased or summarised and does not appear in quotation marks;
+ even when receiving advice from fellow students, the final product should be formulated by the student himself or herself.
The procedures are designed to provide for the resolution of problems and complaints quickly and efficiently through appropriate departmental and faculty mechanisms, while protecting the rights of students and staff. All cases of this kind will be treated as confidential. These procedures are provided for cases where the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily through the usual more informal means.
(2) Full-time students (ie those taking three or four subjects in first semester) who fail three or four subjects in first semester and who choose to proceed to second semester studies and do not pass more than 50 per cent of the work attempted in second semester will be liable for exclusion.
(3) Full-time students (ie those taking three or four subjects in both semesters) who do not pass two subjects per semester will be liable for exclusion.
(4) Part-time students (ie those taking one or two subjects per semester) who do not pass at least 50 per cent of the work attempted in a year will be liable for exclusion.
(2) Students taking more than twenty-eight points - any student who does not pass a subject or subjects valued to at least sixteen points will be liable for exclusion.
(1) the only subject attempted is the last subject required for completion of the degree, provided that students who have attempted and failed twice in such a subject should be liable for exclusion; or
(2) the failure is the only subject attempted and is the only failure to date.
Students who, at second or third-year level, attempt and pass only one subject of a points value below the minimum stated shall not be considered liable for exclusion.
In circumstances he or she considers special, the dean may exempt from the exclusion process and permit to re-enrol, students who would otherwise be liable for exclusion, but whose unsatisfactory performance in examinations is clearly attributable to a serious, well-documented medical problem.
Students who are liable for exclusion will be sent a letter from the faculty informing them of this and giving them information about the courses of action available to them. Students are invited to make a written submission to the Exclusions Committee of the faculty, to appear in person before the committee or both. All information supplied to the committee is treated as confidential, but students may also request that information of a particularly private nature be known only to the chairperson of the committee. Students also have the option to make no case, but this precludes such a student from appealing to the Exclusion Appeals Committee of Academic Board against the decision by the faculty committee to exclude that student.
Students have two avenues of appeal against a decision to exclude by the faculty committee. If the student has substantial new evidence which was not available to the committee, he/she may appeal to the dean, who may either affirm or reverse the decision of the committee in the light of the new evidence. Students also may, under the provisions of the Monash University Statute 6.2. - Exclusions for Unsatisfactory Progress, appeal to the Exclusion Appeals Committee of the Academic Board. Students may appeal to the university committee as an alternative to an appeal to the dean (ie where they have no new evidence or where they prefer to take the new evidence directly to the university committee) or in addition to an appeal to the dean (ie where there is no new evidence or where this appeal has been unsuccessful).
Students can seek information and advice about the exclusion process from the course advisers in the faculty. It is not the role of the course advisers to draft submissions for students or to act as an advocate at exclusions committee hearings. This kind of assistance should be sought from the Monash Student Association.
If the matter is not resolved within the period of fourteen days, the matter may be referred by either the student or the head of department or director of centre to the convener of the Committee for Undergraduate Studies (CUGS). The referral will normally be made by the head of department (or centre) who shall notify the student in writing at the time that this step has been taken. At this stage further information may be submitted to the convener of CUGS by either party. The convener of CUGS will attempt to resolve the dispute through conciliation within fourteen days of receiving the referral.
If the matter cannot be resolved by conciliation, it may be referred to an ad hoc committee of CUGS, to be known as the Student Grievance Committee, for arbitration. Material received from either party to the dispute for the consideration of the ad hoc committee shall be made available to all parties before the hearing of the appeal. No member of a department from which a dispute has arisen will be a member of the ad hoc committee. The committee shall make its determination within fourteen days and notify the student and the head of department or director of centre of its decision in writing.
The student or department/centre may lodge an appeal against the committee's determination which shall be heard by the dean.
(2) If this is not successful, students have a right to ask that the matter be reviewed by the associate dean (teaching). A recommendation for the resolution of the matter should be made within fourteen days of the submission being received.
(3) If the associate dean (teaching) is not able to resolve the matter it will be considered by the faculty's Student Grievance Committee. The committee shall finally determine the matter within fourteen days.
Anu inquiries regarding the regulations should be directed to the faculty.