Caution
Copyright © Monash University 1996
ISBN 1037-0919
Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
The faculty is a statutory body comprising all full-time members of the teaching staff. The responsibility for making decisions in the faculty lies with the faculty board, which comprises heads of schools, departments and divisions, representatives of the full-time teaching staff, four student members (one graduate and three undergraduate), representatives of other faculties and the library, and members from outside the university representing industry and the engineering profession.
The student members are elected during April each year by students enrolled for the degrees taught by the faculty. Except in certain matters on which it has power to act, the faculty board makes recommendations to the Academic Board and its education committee or, through the Academic Board, to the Council.
Within the framework provided by the degree regulations and any other conditions which may be agreed upon from time to time by the faculty board, the conduct of teaching and research rests with the heads of schools and departments who act in consultation with other members of the schools and departments.
The chief officers of the faculty are the dean and the head of administration. The dean provides academic leadership to the faculty, presides over meetings of the faculty board and its committees and is concerned with staffing and finance. The head of administration is responsible for the administration of the faculty with a particular concern for matters relating to university statutes and faculty regulations and the provision of advice on policy to faculty board and its related committees. The head of administration, together with the school executive officer at Caulfield and the faculty administrative officers, are available to attend to the needs of both undergraduate and postgraduate students within the faculty.
Of the more recently commenced courses, the Bachelor of Computer Science and Engineering course received provisional IEAust recognition in 1993 and full accreditation is expected in 1995. The Bachelor of Environmental Engineering course has been designed to meet the accreditation requirements of the IEAust and has applied for preliminary accreditation in 1995 (the first year in which the course has been offered). The Bachelor of Engineering Studies course at Gippsland has been designed to allow graduates to complete a further year of full-time on-campus study to obtain a Bachelor of Engineering degree which will entitle them to professional membership of the IEAust. The Bachelor of Engineering (Electronic and Computer Engineering) at Gippsland has received provisional accreditation from the Institution of Engineers, Australia and will be submitted for recognition to the Australian Computer Society.
The Bachelor of Technology (Advanced Manufacturing Technology) has received preliminary assessment for recognition of its graduates as affiliate members of the IEAust and full recognition is expected in 1995; the Bachelor of Technology (Computer Studies) course has been developed for recognition as above, and will be submitted for preliminary assessment in 1995.
The aim of the distance education program is to provide students with the necessary resources to complete a major part of their course work off-campus. This involves the provision of (a) course material especially designed for independent study; (b) opportunities for effective lecturerstudent and studentstudent interaction; (c) access to any necessary facilities, eg library, computer, audio-visual material etc.
In 1996, Monash plans to offer the following Gippsland engineering courses by distance education: Diploma of Engineering (Industrial Management); Bachelor of Engineering (Civil, Electronic and Computer, Electro-Mechanical and Mechanical) (only 75 per cent of the course is available through distance education studies); Bachelor of Engineering/Bachelor of Business (75 per cent of the engineering content and all of the business content is available through distance education studies); Bachelor of Engineering Studies; Graduate Certificates in a variety of engineering streams; Graduate Diploma of Engineering Maintenance Management.
Inquiries regarding applications should be directed to student administration at the Gippsland campus.
Information about tertiary entrance requirements and prerequisites for admission to the faculty's courses may be obtained from the faculty office or the school administration offices.
At Caulfield, Clayton and Gippsland, students who are offered a place in a course will, after receiving their enrolment forms, report to the faculty or school enrolment area to enrol. Course information will be available at this time so that students understand the course structure and enrol accordingly. Students should ensure that all steps of enrolment are completed, including receiving a Monash student identity card.
Re-enrolling students (Caulfield and Clayton schools only) are those who have attended the university in a previous year and are not enrolling for the first time. Such students are sent information about re-enrolment in October and are required to re-enrol in December in their intended program for the following year.
The onus is upon the student to provide to the school executive officer (Caulfield), head of administration (Clayton) or head of school (Gippsland), full documentation concerning previous studies for which credit is sought together with an academic transcript of results. This should be in the form of handbook subject entries and those sections of the handbook setting out course structure; in some cases course outlines handed out in lectures may provide the same information. This should preferably be done with the initial application for admission or, at the latest, at the time of enrolment. The minimum information required is number of years in course, level of subject in course, subject content and textbooks, number of contact hours and laboratory sessions etc per week, credit weighting of subject (percentage of year represented by subject), and method of assessment (number and length of assignments, number and length of examinations etc).
Credit entitlement is determined in the first instance by the faculty selection committees in consultation where appropriate with representatives of the various departments. The credit is formally granted by the faculty's undergraduate affairs committee at the earliest opportunity.
Students who feel that they have been unfairly treated in the determination of credit entitlement may appeal to an appeals committee comprising, for the engineering degrees at Caulfield, the head of school, the head of the appropriate division or department and the subdean; for the BTech degrees, the head of school, the head of division and the course leader; for the engineering degrees at Clayton, the dean, the associate dean and the subdean; for the engineering degrees at Gippsland, the head of school and the course leader. In each case the appeals committee may be augmented, where appropriate, by a representative of a relevant engineering department or discipline group.
There are two exceptions to this requirement. The first concerns applicants admitted to candidature for an engineering degree, on the basis of a professional qualification obtained in another engineering or non-engineering specialisation, under an approved `conversion course' arrangement leading to the award of a second qualification. Such a conversion program exists at Gippsland, and typically requires completion of forty-eight to ninety-six credit points (one to two years full-time or two to four years part-time study). Many subjects required for completion of this program are available by distance education. Candidates taking distance education subjects should anticipate the need to attend a residential school at Churchill each teaching semester. The second exception relates to people who have completed the three-year Bachelor of Engineering Studies degree at Gippsland and who wish to convert to the Bachelor of Engineering at Gippsland. The conversion program for BEngSt graduates requires a further year of study to be taken full-time at the Gippsland campus.
Students should note that the requirement concerning the minimum number of credit points to be completed on the `home' campus applies also where students are permitted to enrol for subjects offered by another school of engineering within the Faculty of Engineering. For example, a student enrolled in an engineering degree program at Gippsland, who is permitted to enrol for subjects at one of the metropolitan schools of engineering, must still complete subjects to the value of ninety six credit points offered by the Gippsland school.
An overweight enrolment of up to twenty-eight credit points in a semester (twenty-four credit points if a bridging course is included) is permitted.
The faculty believes that full-time enrolment is generally in the best interests of its students, but is well aware of the variety of circumstances which may oblige a student to take a reduced load. Part-time enrolment is allowed, provided the student is aware of the maximum time limit for degree completion stated in the regulations for the relevant course.
Students have access to many computer laboratories connected to a university-wide Ethernet service incorporating Novell servers for these PCs. This network then interconnects to several minicomputers, Unix work stations and supercomputer facilities at the Computer Centre. Connection to the AARNet and the world-wide Internet and its services is readily available. Internet provides remote logins, mail, news, ftp, archie, mosaic, gopher and many other useful facilities including free software in huge quantities. All students and staff have access to these facilities and are encouraged to use them. The school has additional computer resources dedicated to computer interfacing, computer networking, digital signal processing, AutoCad, computer-aided manufacturing and electronic design automation.
The Clayton school acknowledges the great importance of high-level computing skills for the professional engineer. To this end, the school operates a number of computing laboratories in conjunction with the university Computer Centre. These laboratories are open to all engineering students as well as those of the university Computer Centre. In addition to these common facilities, several departments operate their own laboratories.
The school runs a part of the campus-wide Ethernet network consisting of three Novell file servers and a number of UNIX work stations. The school's sub-nets are connected to the university Computer Centre and from there to AARNet and the rest of the world. This provides Internet access, bringing telnet, mail, news, ftp, gopher and all the other Internet services. All students and staff have access to electronic mail and these other services and are encouraged to use them. Undergraduates have access to four laboratory areas in building 60, rooms G14, G15, G18 and G19. These laboratories are open throughout semesters on weekdays from 9 am to 11 pm and on weekends from 9 am to 5 pm. User names may be arranged by contacting the faculty office.
The Gippsland school has two networked PC laboratories, one of which is specially equipped for computer-aided design. Other microcomputer laboratories are available elsewhere on campus. There is a strong emphasis on computing in the engineering course and computer literacy is taught at the beginning of the course. There is a special resource, NETFACE, for distance education students requiring access to main frame computers or to email staff and other students. The campus resources include work stations and other advanced computers and there are high speed links to the central computer facilities at Clayton and through to the Internet. Gippsland Computer Centre staff are available to assist with information and with registration of computer password codes.