Section 3 — Course and subject requirements

3.1 Availability of courses and places

3.1.1 Courses of study are made available by the University under the authority of the Council and Academic Board, pursuant to the UTS Act and By-law.

3.1.2 The University will publish details of approved courses of study in the UTS: Handbook and other official publications of the University from time to time. Such publication does not constitute an offer or undertaking of the availability of any course at any particular time.

3.1.3 The University reserves the right not to make offers of admission to any course for either a specific or indeterminate period of time.

3.1.4 The University reserves the right to phase out, discontinue, review or vary courses, arrangements for courses or staff allocations at any time without notice.

3.1.5 Available places in courses are limited and also subject to the availability of resources, facilities, staff and supervisors. It may not be possible to make offers of admission to all applicants who satisfy the requirements for admission. Where this is the case, the University will take reasonable measures to ensure that admission is made on the basis of academic merit, comparative aptitude and such other criteria as are approved and published from time to time.

3.2 General course requirements

3.2.1 Academic Board will approve in principle the languages other than English in which coursework programs of the University may be offered. Where a course has been approved for delivery in a language other than English, course and subject information and other relevant information as prescribed by the Provost will be provided in the language approved for delivery of the course.

3.2.2 Course requirements, including admissions standards, course structures, inherent requirements and arrangements for courses, are published in the UTS: Handbook and are authoritative as at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to phase out, discontinue, review or vary course requirements, admissions standards and arrangements for courses at any time.

3.2.3 Course and subject information provided to students and prospective students by faculties and other academic units of the University will be consistent with and, wherever possible, cross referenced to and linked online to the course and subject information published in the UTS: Handbook.

3.2.4 Each subject, and the associated details about it to be included in the official publications of the University, must be approved by the relevant Faculty Board before publication of those details takes place.

3.2.5 In addition to, or as part of, specific course and subject requirements, the Provost or the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) may approve mandatory training as part of the University’s role in supporting students to develop further awareness or technical training, enhance literacy and numeracy proficiency, or to manage student safety and health.

3.2.6 Mandatory training approved under Rule 3.2.5 may be considered a progression requirement for all students or identified student cohorts and subject to Section 10 of the Student Rules.

3.3 Legislative requirements

3.3.1 Special conditions may need to be specified in respect of certain courses offered by the University because of legislative requirements.

3.3.2 For students undertaking an internship that involves direct contact with people under the age of 18, the following conditions will apply:

(1) all students admitted to these courses must complete required declarations and have required personal information checked by government authorities;

(2) eligibility for commencement and continuing participation in these courses is determined on the basis of information obtained through these checks;

(3) the provision of inaccurate or unsatisfactory information, the receipt of unsatisfactory information or the refusal to undergo these checks may result in withdrawal of an offer of admission to that course and/or cancellation of enrolment.

3.4 Internship requirements

3.4.1 A number of courses offered by the University require students to undertake internships or internship-like experiences (hereafter internships) in line with the requirements and definitions outlined in these rules and the Internships Management Policy.

3.4.2 The University and the provider of the internship must follow the provisions outlined in the Internships Management Policy.

3.4.3 While undertaking an internship, a student may be summarily excluded from facilities and/or from participation in activities in accordance with Rule 16.9.

3.4.4 If, while undertaking an internship, a student is summarily excluded from facilities and/or from participation in activities then under Rule 16.9 the relevant circumstance or incident may be referred to the Director, Governance Support Unit as an allegation of student misconduct; or referred to the Vice-Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor’s nominee to be handled under Rule 2.1.9; or dealt with under Rule 3.4.5.

3.4.5 If a student is identified as not ready to proceed with an internship, or it has been determined that the student does not meet relevant suitability requirements to proceed with or continue the required internship, the student may be unable to complete the course requirements. The following process will apply:

(1) The Responsible Academic Officer, in consultation with the external supervisor (if any), will assess whether a student is ready to proceed with or is suitable to continue, any part of the required internship on its scheduled commencement, and the Responsible Academic Officer may defer or reschedule the student’s participation;

(2) The Responsible Academic Officer must advise the student and the Dean in writing of the decision within three working days of making it.

3.4.6 Where the deferral of a student’s participation in any part of the required internship would have the effect of preventing the student from continuing their course the Responsible Academic Officer, with the agreement of the Dean, will refer the matter, with an appropriate recommendation, to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students), who will take action and make a decision as deemed appropriate. A decision may be made that a student is unsuited for further internships and where necessary, their enrolment will be withdrawn.

The withdrawal of a student’s enrolment will take effect from when:

(a) a student does not lodge an appeal under Rule 3.4.8 — the date on which the deadline to lodge the appeal passed (taking into account any extensions granted under Rule 3.4.10); or

(b) a student lodges, but subsequently withdraws an appeal under Rule 3.4.11 — the date on which the appeal was withdrawn; or

(c) an appeal lodged by a student is referred to the Internships Appeals Committee under Rule 3.4.13 and the Committee dismisses the appeal under Rule 17.7.2(4) — the date on which the student is notified of the Committee’s decision.

3.4.7 The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) must notify the student in writing of any decision he or she makes within three working days of making it.

3.4.8 A student may appeal to the Internships Appeals Committee against any decision made by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) pursuant to Rule 3.4.6 (refer Rules 3.4.9 to 3.4.15).

3.4.9 An appeal must be in writing, specify and substantiate the grounds of the appeal (refer Rule 3.4.12) and be lodged with the Director, Governance Support Unit within 20 working days of the date of notification of the decision.

3.4.10 A student may request an extension of time in which to lodge an appeal under Rule 3.4.8. The request must be made in writing to the Director, Governance Support Unit within 15 working days of the date on which the student was notified of the decision of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students). The decision to grant an extension, and the length of the extension, is at the discretion of the Director, Governance Support Unit.

3.4.11 At any stage of the appeal process, a student may withdraw their appeal by advising the Director, Governance Support Unit in writing.

3.4.12 The grounds for appeal are:

(1) procedural irregularities in the decision-making process of a type and to an extent that are likely to have had a significant negative impact on the decision;

(2) mitigating circumstances, that directly and significantly affected the student’s performance and were not known at the time of making the decision. The mitigating circumstances need to be of a type and to an extent that make it likely that the student could complete the internship in the future and must be supported by documentary evidence;

(3) the decision was based on factual errors of such magnitude as to invalidate the decision; and/or

(4) the conclusion as to the student’s suitability for further internship placement was manifestly unreasonable, taking account of all the circumstances of the matter and the relevant professional standards and practices.

3.4.13 The Director, Governance Support Unit will refer the student’s appeal to the Internships Appeals Committee, constituted under Rule 17.3, for consideration and decision. The student will be given the opportunity to address the Committee in person.

3.4.14 Where the Internships Appeals Committee dismisses an appeal lodged by a student under Rule 3.4.8, the student’s enrolment will be withdrawn.

3.4.15 Where the Internships Appeals Committee upholds, in full or in part, an appeal lodged by a student under Rule 3.4.8, the faculty will contact the student to advise the next steps with respect to the student’s enrolment.

3.5 Professional requirements

3.5.1 A number of courses offered by the University require students to obtain suitable concurrent professional experience as one of the courses inherent requirements. In these courses progression beyond the first year is normally dependent on the student being in suitable employment. In special cases, consideration will be given to experience obtained prior to admission to a course.

3.5.2 Where students have not satisfied the required professional requirements prescribed for the particular course within the time limits for completion, or as otherwise specified for that course, the matter will be considered in the first instance by the relevant Responsible Academic Officer for an appropriate recommendation to the Dean who will take action and make a decision as deemed appropriate. The decision may include that the student’s enrolment will be withdrawn.

3.5.3 The Dean must notify the student in writing of any decision made within three working days of making it.

3.5.4 The Dean’s decision is final and there is no appeal.

3.6 Changes to courses

3.6.1 Academic Board and Executive Committee of Academic Board have authority to approve the phasing out, discontinuation, revision or variation of an existing course.

3.6.2 When Academic Board or Executive Committee of Academic Board exercises its authority under Rule 3.6.1, it must ensure that the approved course documentation:

(1) states the reasons necessitating such a change;

(2) in the case of a revision of a course structure:

        (a) specifies the revised course structure;

        (b) states whether students shall be given the option to complete the existing version of the course or shall be obliged to transfer to the revised version of the course;

        (c) in the case where students are given the option to complete the existing version of the course specifies the time period in which students must complete the course in accordance with the existing course structure;

(3) in the case of the phasing out and discontinuation of a course, specifies the period for which students enrolled in the course will be able to continue their studies through a phasing out period in accordance with the existing course structure.

3.6.3 Faculty Boards have the authority to approve changes to a course once a course has been accredited by Academic Board or Executive Committee of Academic Board, in accordance with the relevant faculty’s curriculum changes approval processes (refer Course Approval Policy), except for the following types of course changes which must be approved by Academic Board or Executive Committee of Academic Board:

(1) courses that involve an external partner, an offshore course, or a new offshore location for an existing course;

(2) the introduction of a new language version of an approved onshore course offered in languages other than English (LOTE); or

(3) changes to the total credit point value of a course.

3.6.4 If a student is required to undertake a revised version of a course, the relevant Responsible Academic Officer, in consultation with the student, must provide transitional arrangements for the student which will satisfy the requirements of the revised version of the course. Details of these arrangements must be provided to the Director, Student Administration who shall ensure that they are recorded and the University shall use these arrangements as the basis for determining the student’s academic progress and completion of course requirements.

3.6.5 If a student who is enrolled in a course that has been approved for discontinuation does not complete the course within the approved phasing out period, the relevant Responsible Academic Officer will provide advice to the student on alternative arrangements that the student may wish to pursue at the University or elsewhere.

3.7 Subject requirements

3.7.1 Faculty Boards have authority to approve subjects and changes to subjects in faculty offered courses.

3.7.2 Deans have authority to approve processes for approval of subject information provided to students in line with the Subject Information Procedure.

3.7.3 Deans, Responsible Academic Officers or Subject Coordinators (as appropriate) shall ensure that enrolled students have access to subject information consistent with the UTS: Handbook for that subject by the deadline approved by the Provost and published online for the relevant teaching session.

3.7.4 If it becomes necessary after teaching has commenced for the University to change major subject and/or assessment requirements, the change shall:

(1) be reasonable in all the circumstances;

(2) be submitted to the Responsible Academic Officer, who shall determine requests from Subject Coordinators to change assessment requirements for a subject after the first week of the teaching period;

(3) be confirmed in writing by the Subject Coordinator to all students enrolled in that subject.

3.7.5 For all UTS subjects, the credit point value must be a whole number and must be delivered in a single teaching period (as defined in Schedule 1), noting that teaching periods do not include the completion of related administrative matters (including finalisation of grades and appeals or internships (also called professional practice placements) that extend beyond a teaching period).

3.7.6 In determining the credit point value for each subject, faculties will take account of the total student workload (in the form of the various teaching and learning requirements) of the subject, including all online and face-to-face participation, projects, essays, independent and library study, preparation for class, collaborative work and any other teaching/learning strategies appropriate to the given discipline or subject.

3.8 Attendance and/or participation requirements

3.8.1 If there are any attendance and/or participation requirements for a subject, they must be prescribed in the relevant subject information provided to students.

3.8.2 If a student does not satisfy the prescribed attendance and/or participation requirements for a subject, the Responsible Academic Officer may:

(1) refuse permission for the student to be considered for assessment;

(2) refuse permission for the student to attempt an assessment task;

(3) refuse permission for the student to undertake an examination in that subject;

(4) record a final result of ‘Fail’ for the student’s enrolment in that subject.

3.8.3 If a student is prevented from meeting prescribed attendance or participation requirements as a result of illness or other circumstances beyond the student’s reasonable control, the student may lodge an application for special consideration under Rule 8.3 for consideration of alternative arrangements.

3.8.4 Where appropriate, the Responsible Academic Officer in consultation with the Subject Coordinator may approve suitable alternative arrangements.

3.8.5 Approval of alternative arrangements for attendance and/or participation does not imply exemption from payment of any fees or charges, nor does it imply exemption from, or concessions relating to, assessment or examinations. Alternative arrangements will be subject to normal assessment grading.

3.9 Retention of students’ work

3.9.1 The University reserves the right to retain the original or one copy of any work executed and/or submitted by a student as part of the course including, but not limited to, drawings, models, designs, plans and specifications, essays, programs, reports and theses, for any of the purposes designated in Rule 3.9.2. Such retention is not to affect any copyright or other intellectual property right that may exist in the student’s work.

3.9.2 An item of a student’s work may be retained by the University for any internal or external purpose including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) evaluation, assessment and/or marking;

(2) teaching case study material;

(3) review of final assessment results (pursuant to Rule 8.6);

(4) checking for plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, either by the student submitting the work or by any other student;

(5) student misconduct proceedings (pursuant to Section 16 Student misconduct and appeals);

(6) where otherwise necessary to satisfy the University’s quality assurance requirements;

(7) accreditation, quality assurance and external examination;

(8) exhibition, publication, promotions (subject to the University’s Intellectual Property Policy);

(9) where otherwise necessary to protect the legal interests and obligations of the University.

3.9.3 In cases where the University exercises, or wishes to exercise, its right under Rules 3.9.2(2) or 3.9.2(8), the student shall be given sufficient notice and the opportunity to consent or object to such use of the student’s work. Notice to the student is deemed sufficient whether contained in the subject information or by way of an individual written notice if it provides notice of the intended period of retention of the student’s work; notice of the specific Rule 3.9.2 purpose, or purposes, for which the work may be retained; notice and details of any particular exhibition, publication or promotion; and the opportunity and mechanism to consent or object to the use of the student’s work.

3.9.4 In cases where a student objects to the retention of an item of work for any purpose, and the University still wishes to exercise its right to retain the work, the student’s objection shall be referred to the Responsible Academic Officer or Dean of the relevant faculty for resolution.

3.9.5 Except in the case of examination scripts or other work identified by the relevant faculty from time to time, the University will make available the student’s work for return to the student when it is no longer required for the purposes of Rule 3.9.3, and will provide a reasonable opportunity to the student to collect the work.