Ask - /faq/2949/

The University of Melbourne Student Union (Advocacy Service) can assist in the Course Academic Progress process. If you are seeking help with preparing for the committee meeting, or wish to appeal an outcome you have received, you can contact them for advice.

The Advocacy Service also coordinates the Peer Support Program during this time, so in most cases there will be a volunteer available to support you at your hearing if you need it. For more information visit their site.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the issues affecting your performance, and the strategies you intend to implement, or the support you require, to prevent further fails. In more serious cases, a discussion may also cover your continued enrolment at the University.

The role of the committee is not to punish you, but to establish whether you have the capacity to finish your course and to assist you with strategies for improvement.

Meetings are approximately 20 minutes long. The committee will comprise of three senior members of academic staff, and a member of staff from Academic Services. If invited to attend a meeting, you will be introduced to all members and given an opportunity to state your case.

In considering your circumstances, the committee will take into account typical factors which might contribute to a student's unsatisfactory performance, such as:

• personal difficulties, including those which stem from family or close relationships
• lack of development of study skills and sound work practices
• practical difficulties such as ill-health, financial burdens, and excessive load of part-time employment
• distress which accompanies events such as bereavement, serious personal problems, etc.

In determining the likelihood of your future success, the committee will seek some evidence, or commitment from you, that your difficulties have been or will be overcome.

If you are invited and unable to attend a meeting, you should still provide a written submission, as the committee will make a decision regarding your enrolment in your absence based on the information they have available. Consequently, you need ensure that you provide as much detail as possible to assist the committee in making their decision.

After your meeting, the committee will make a decision regarding your enrolment. Formal notification of the outcome will be sent to your University email address within three business days of the CAPC meeting . A CAPC may:

• recommend actions to increase your chances of academic success; or
• apply restrictions or conditions to your enrolment or subject selection; or
• suspend your enrolment for a finite period of time; or
• terminate your enrolment in your course.

In cases of substantial or repeated failure, where you are unable to demonstrate that your circumstances and performance can be improved, the committee may terminate your enrolment in your course.

Appeals to the Academic Secretary

Students can lodge an appeal with the Academic Secretary within 20 working days of receiving their outcome.

Students can lodge an appeal on the following grounds:

• a procedural irregularity has occurred (which may include that the student has not received a fair hearing in all the circumstances);
• there is new information that could not reasonably have been provided at the time of the original decision, and that would probably have affected the decision of the CAPC or any penalty imposed;
• the decision was manifestly wrong; and/or
• the penalty imposed was manifestly excessive, inappropriate or not available in the circumstances

It is not grounds for an appeal if a student has been detrimentally affected by a failure to read and/or act upon notice or correspondence from the University regarding their unsatisfactory progress.

Points restrictions are not usually upheld, as the Academic Board supports a reduction of load as a standard strategy for achieving academic success in the subsequent semester.

Before lodging an appeal, it is important to read Academic Board's information on student appeals and to contact the Student Union Advocacy Service.

Appeals to the Victorian Ombudsman

If your appeal to the Academic Board is unsuccessful, but you believe that the University has made an unfair decision, you can submit a complaint to the Victorian Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman is independent and impartial, and provides a free service. You can request a review by the Ombudsman online or in writing.

If your enrolment was terminated by the Academic Board and you wish to return to study, you must demonstrate academic rehabilitation. This means you need to prove that the circumstances affecting your study at the time of termination no longer apply.

To demonstrate academic rehabilitation you must successfully complete between two (for a course of 100 credit points) and four tertiary level subjects (for a course 200 points or more) in a related discipline to that of the course being studied. The subjects can be completed at any tertiary-level institution. 

The subjects must:

• be completed in one calendar year; and
• achieve an average result of at least 70% with no fails.

When CAP (Community Access Program) is used for the purpose of academic rehabilitation the subjects cannot be credited towards the degree which the student is intending to resume.

Students applying for readmission are subject to the usual competitive process and must have the permission of the Faculty Dean to return to study. Students work with the relevant admissions area on securing Faculty Dean approval after they submit their application, but before their offer is made.