What Is Special Considerations?
Application Process
Policy/Application Form
Hints and Tips
Who can Help
What Is Special Considerations?
Unfortunately for students significant and unforeseen events occur during your studies and these can impact significantly on your academic preparation and performance. Some of these events include, but are not limited to:
- Illness
- Death of a loved one
- Family crisis
- Traumatic experiences and/or
- Sudden changes to your financial or housing circumstances
Fortunately, the university recognises that such things happen and to account for this, has developed a policy for special considerations by the academic staff at these times. While there is a general policy governing this area, there are also some faculty specific rules and you need to check with your sub/associate-dean or academic student adviser in your faculty. Some of the forms in which Special Considerations can be delivered include: extensions on assignments, deferred examinations, withdrawal from units without academic penalty, eligibility for supplementary examination and consider of your circumstances when marking.
If you find yourself in a situation that you believe will impact on your academic performance then you may very well be eligible for special consideration provisions. Ultimately, it is the Faculty’s decision on whether or not you are eligible to receive special consideration, however it is the role of the Guild Education Office to advocate on your behalf and help you get together the relevant information to pass onto the Faculty.
For more information about Special Consideration please click here
Return to top
Application Process
You can either obtain a copy of the application form and take this to your specials/doctor/counselor etc. and commence the process or you can seek some advice first. The most obvious place to start is with the sub/associate dean or academic student advisor in your faculty. This is the person who will be considering your application and can therefore provide you with advice as to your grounds for the application and any supporting evidence that you may need. You can also discuss your situation with a Guild Education Officer, staff at Student Services or other support staff at the university as they often familiar with the process.
You should lodge your application as soon as you think there may be a problem as retrospective special consideration is very difficult. You can apply anytime prior to the due date/date of exam but you have only three days after the due date/exam date in which to lodge you appeal. If you are still waiting for supporting evidence then you should lodge your appeal and just note on it that you are awaiting additional material and will send it on as soon as you receive it.
Sometimes you are still working through things and find yourself waiting to get into those able to support your application. In these situations you should contact your sub/associate dean or academic student advisor and let them know of your intent to apply and explain the difficulty that you are facing. They can then accept an application past the due time and may also have some ideas of who else you can seek help from.
Most importantly, you need to make sure that you are looking after yourself. So if issues are arising that necessitate you applying for special consideration then you need to look at what has led to this situation and continue with whatever you start as part of this process. This is for your own benefit and also to assist in any further applications. Just say for example that you have experienced an event that has left you feeling quite depressed. You are not able to complete your assignment on time and go to see a counselor at Student Services – as part of this you submit an application for special consideration in the form of an extension to an assignment due date. For your own well-being you should then try and continue with whatever treatment/process you talk about with your counselor. Hopefully, this means that you have everything back in control and need no further special consideration. However, if you are still having difficulties at the time of the exams then you can apply for further considerations. It will be more positively received though if you are being proactive and working through things than if you never sought help past the reporting process the first time you applied.
After you submit an application the sub/associate dean or academic student advisor will consider your application. It may be granted straight away, it may be that further evidence is requested or it may be that your request is rejected (see our appeal section for when it is rejected). It may also be that it is approved but not in the format requested –for example a shorter extension may be approved or deferred examinations rather than a late withdrawal given. If you are not sure about the outcome then it is best to speak to the sub/associate dean or academic student advisor and discuss the outcome. If you are not sure where to go after that point you can refer back to the policy or speak to a Guild Education Officer.
Return to top
Policy/Application Form
The policy (including the application form) can be found here.
A copy of the application form is also provided here:
Appeals Application Form pdf
Return to top
Hints and Tips
- Make yourself familiar not only with policy, but also with any faculty/school specific rules on special considerations
- Where you are already regularly seeing someone about your situation (ie. Doctor, counselor etc) then it is best to get their help with the application and not go to university or guild staff for a one off visit as it is hard to substantiate your application this way
- If you wish to submit an application for special consideration in situations where you have sought the help of someone recognised by the policy (ie. Doctor, counselor, college support officer, religious leader etc) then ask them at the time you are seeing them for a letter/certificate to support your application as this will save you from chasing them up at a later date – better yet, download a copy of the application – take it with you and ask them to complete the relevant section
- Remember that you can apply anytime up to when the due date/date of exam but have only 3 days in which to lodge an application after the due date/exam date
Return to top
Who can Help
There are of course a range of staff within the university to help with appeal matters. In addition to members of the school staff, you can also seek help from the sub-dean/academic student adviser in your faculty, as well as this there are support staff in the colleges and in the Centre for Indigenous Studies who can provide assistance.
The Guild is very keen to support students who are trying to work their way through a very complex policy and particularly as the outcome of appeals can carry so much impact on students. So, the Guild employs Education Officers who can provide you with objective information about your appeal, but who can also assist you with writing your appeal and following up on the appeal process. The Education Officers are also able to attend any meetings with you and to advocate on your behalf. Click here to make contact and/or to find out more about the role of the Education Officers.
|