Handbook 1996 : General Information | Search | Help
Enrolment for new students takes place at the beginning of the academic year in February. The letter offering you a place at the University will specify the date by which you must enrol and where to go to enrol. Contact your Faculty Office if you have any questions about enrolment procedures.
There are two enrolment periods for re-enrolling students, one in late December and another in early January. Continuing students will receive advice on when to enrol around the same time as they receive their statement of results.
Most students pare required to submit a course plan of the studies they are intending to take. Course plans are, in effect, applications for selection into subjects. You must have your course approved and be issued an authorised enrolment record before you can enrol.
If you are a new student, you plan your course with the help of a faculty course adviser when you enrol in February. The letter offering you a place at the University will outline the course planning arrangements you are to make.
Continuing students who are re-enrolling in courses where there are elective subjects must submit in September of each year a course plan for the following year. Students who do not pass all their subjects may also be required to re-plan their courses. Course advisers are available to assist with subject selection and completion of course plan forms.
Not all re-enrolling students, however, are required to submit a course plan. Students who are re-enrolling in prescribed courses, that is, courses with set subjects, and who passed all their subjects in the previous year, will automatically be issued an authorised enrolment form for the following year in mid-December after their examination results are posted to them. All students can change their course plans when they re-enrol in December or January. Students who fail a subject or wish to alter their course plans should contact their Faculty Office for advice.
Before you come to enrol, we strongly suggest that you examine carefully the course information in this Handbook so that you are familiar with the course structures and subjects in which you are interested.
The workload of many undergraduate courses is represented using a points system. The normal maximum workload allowed for each year of a course is 100 points.
Where this system applies, each subject has a points value which indicates the overall study time that a student is expected to commit to that subject. Overall study time includes class contact time of all kinds and private study time. As class time varies between different subjects and subject areas, there is no simple relationship between points values for subjects, and the number of hours involved in class contact or independent study.
You should check the relevant faculty course entry information in this Handbook for workload details which apply to studies of interest to you. If you are a full-time student, you should make sure that the subjects you have chosen to do for a particular year level add up to no less than 100 points.
While selection to all undergraduate courses is based primarily upon academic record, the University's Special Admissions Scheme provides another avenue of entry to most courses for students whose education or results may have been affected by difficulties at school or at home. Students eligible for entry under this scheme are generally those who experienced inadequate learning facilities, language or financial difficulties, or other socioeconomic problems during their secondary education (but not during Year 12 only).
Further information about the scheme may be obtained by writing to: The Manager, Schools Liaison, Course and Careers Unit, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3052. Tel: 9344 6686 or 1800 801 662 (toll free for STD callers).
All students enrolling or re-enrolling in higher education courses must contribute towards the cost of their study under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). The only students who are exempt from HECS are Australian and overseas students who pay course fees or those assisted under foreign aid programs.
You pay your HECS fee either at enrolment, with a 25% discount, or through the taxation system when you earn above a set taxable income once you join the workforce. The HECS charge applicable for 1995 will be provided on enrolment and re-enrolment notices.
You are also required to pay a modest Amenities and Service Fee at enrolment. This fee finances the activities of the Student Union and Sports Union.
You are able to get a refund of fees if you withdraw from a course, and possibly if you withdraw from individual subjects, if you do so before 31 March or 31 August. These are dates on which the University is required to supply statistics to the government. All questions regarding the re-imbursement of fees (both HECS and the Amenities and Services Fee) should be directed to the Student Administration Office, First Floor, Raymond Priestley Building.
Should you need help to meet fees or living costs, you could consider applying for assistance through the AUSTUDY Scheme or for a student loan. The AUSTUDY Scheme provides assistance to full-time students in approved courses. Awards are subject to a means test and satisfactory academic progress.
We advise you to go to the Student Financial Aid Office in the first instance, and the officers there will discuss your situation and options with you. They are experts on students' financial difficulties, and can advise on AUSTUDY, obtaining loans, bursaries, unemployment benefits, budgeting etc.
Once you are further advanced in your course, there may be scholarships and prizes for which you are eligible. They are generally awarded on the basis of academic excellence in certain subjects, and often contain some financial reward.
Your eligibility for AUSTUDY is determined on a semester basis. To be eligible for AUSTUDY your HECS loading must normally be at least 0.375 in each semester. If your HECS load is above this limit, you are classified as 'full-time' by AUSTUDY. It is not sufficient that your HECS loading average 0.375 or above over a full year. For example, a first semester loading of 0.3 and a second semester loading of 0.7 would result in the student being ineligible for AUSTUDY in semester 1, on the basis of the 'part-time' workload in that semester. (Note: A semester HECS loading of 0.375 usually equates to 37.5 points. An annual HECS loading of 1.00 usually equates to 100 points).
If your HECS loading falls below 0.375, you will normally cease to be eligible for AUSTUDY and may incur overpayment necessitating repayment to the Australian Government. To avoid this situation, we encourage you to clarify your course load with a Faculty course adviser when selecting subjects and enrolling, or whenever you change the subjects in which you are enrolled.
In certain circumstances students may retain AUSTUDY eligibility despite having a semester HECS loading which falls below 0.375. For further information contact Student Financial Aid in the Student Advisory Service, Ground Floor, Baldwin Spencer Building, or a Faculty course adviser.
Credit for study already completed at tertiary level, or for professional experience relevant to the course, may be granted in certain circumstances.
You may be eligible for credit if any of your previous study or professional experience is:
Faculties specify the maximum credit allowable, and will always try to give eligible students maximum credit for previous relevant study. Each faculty publishes Faculty Credit Guidelines which you can obtain from the Faculty Office.
Where students have previously completed one or more years of a recognised tertiary course, they may be eligible to apply for entry into the second, or a later year of the equivalent course at the University of Melbourne. As application procedures vary for different courses, it is best to contact the Faculty Office for advice. Students who wish to transfer from one course to another within the University, or who wish to resume a course, may apply using an Internal Transfer form which is available from all Faculty Offices, or from the Enquiry Office, Raymond Priestley Building.
If you do not wish to enrol in an entire course, then, under the Community Access Program, you may be able to study individual subjects offered as part of a degree course, and courses provided as part of the Summer School program. The Community Access Program provides members of the general public with access to the wide variety of subjects offered by the University.
You pay a charge to enrol in each subject, but are not considered a formal member of the Student Union unless you pay the Amenities and Services Fee.
The Community Programs Unit, in conjunction with faculties, organises the Summer School which is conducted in January and February of each year. You can obtain details about specific courses and costs from the Community Programs Unit.
This is an option for students who wish to take a subject only offered at another university as part of their University of Melbourne course. For example, if you wanted to study Spanish which is only offered at La Trobe University, you may be able to enrol in this subject at La Trobe on a complementary course basis. You can find out more about complementary course enrolment from your Faculty Office.
Faculties may provide prescribed reading texts in this Handbook. However, you will be given more comprehensive booklists for each subject at the beginning of the academic year. Therefore, we recommend that you do not purchase books until you receive advice from lecturing staff in the departments.
Timetables are available from the Faculty Office.
If you have any enquiries about booklists or timetables, you should contact the relevant department or faculty.
If you feel that you have made a wrong choice of course or subjects, or if some personal circumstances cause you to reconsider your enrolment, we advise you to go to your Faculty Office immediately.
It is possible to change subjects in which you have enrolled, but you must do so within certain time limits. You should be aware of these time limits and the correct procedures for changing subjects, so that your academic record is not adversely affected.
If you withdraw from individual subjects within the first two teaching weeks, you may do so without penalty. There will be no record retained of your enrolment in the subject.
If you wish to withdraw after the first two weeks of teaching, you must have faculty approval. Withdrawal from a subject will not be approved where a student elects not to submit a component of assessment or fails to sit an examination. In such cases, a student may be given a 'fail' result. If you withdraw after the first two weeks of teaching and before any assessment is completed, your academic record will show 'withdrawn' (WD) against the subject concerned.
Subjects may be added within the first two teaching weeks of the semester if you have the approval of the lecturer concerned and the faculty.
Also refer to the section: AUSTUDY Workload Requirements (above).
It is also possible to defer commencing a course until the following year. However, you must apply in writing to the faculty providing the course, prior to the date set for enrolment. Deferments may not be granted for students intending to undertake tertiary studies elsewhere. Contact your Faculty Office for advice.
Leave of absence can be applied for in the event of serious health, financial and personal difficulties or for other good reason. Faculties normally grant up to a maximum of 12 months leave if a student has good reason to be absent from studies and if academic performance is of a standard sufficient to warrant a place in the course being reserved.
Leave is granted on the condition that students undertake to inform the Faculty Office of their intentions to resume their course, one month before the end of the period of leave. Failure to do this is interpreted as termination of the course.
Once you have enrolled in a subject, you must attend all classes (lectures, tutorials, practical work etc), and submit all set assignments. If you do not meet these conditions, you may be excluded from examinations in the subject concerned.
It is important, therefore, to keep informed of the requirements of each subject you undertake. Make sure that you obtain all programs, instructions and guidelines issued by staff.
If you find that you are having difficulties with your studies at any stage, you should talk with academic staff or a Student Adviser in the Faculty Office. You may be eligible to apply to your faculty for special consideration if, for example, you were unable to attend an examination or meet deadlines, or if your academic performance was adversely affected in some way. Applications for special consideration must be made no later than three days after the date for the component of assessment in question.
Special consideration is given when students are adversely affected by illness or circumstances beyond their control. It is not given because of clashes in timetabled lectures, seminars, tutorials or other work. It is your responsibility to ensure that there are no timetable clashes when you plan your subjects at the beginning of each year.
How your work is assessed depends on the course and subjects you are taking. Generally, assessment is made on the basis of assignments, essays, tutorial work, and practical work. There are also formal written examinations at the end of each semester or at the end of the academic year.
Methods of assessment in individual subjects are included in the subject descriptions provided by faculties later in this Handbook.
At the end of each semester, the University will send you the official statement of your results.
There is a standard grading system for all subjects studied at the University.
These are the grades and corresponding ranges of marks:
H1 -- 80 - 100 H2A -- 75 - 79 H2B -- 70 - 74 H3 -- 65 - 69 P -- 50 - 64 N -- 0 - 49
'Unsatisfactory progress' is a term used to describe performance which is not up to the academic standard determined by the faculty.
Students whose year's results are not up the required academic standard, may receive a letter at the end of the year requesting them to appear before the Faculty Progress Committee to discuss their results and any problems that may have affected their results. The focus of the progress committee is positive. Its main concern is to look at the options available for enabling a student to progress at a satisfactory rate. However, in some circumstances, faculties may recommend to the Academic Board that a student's enrolment be terminated because of poor academic progress.
Some faculties offer what they call a 'Student at Risk Program' in the first semester, in which students' results are monitored so that any student considered at risk of failing their year may be given extra assistance.
There are some situations in which students who have not attained an adequate result are offered supplementary assessment. This assessment is usually in the form of a written examination held in the February of the following year.
Supplementary assessment is only available to students who have been deemed eligible for special consideration, unless a faculty has published details of other grounds on which it may be available.
It is not unusual for students to find that they need some extra help with their studies at times. Often these difficulties are associated with study methods and techniques - keeping up with assignments, writing essays, managing time and coping with exam nerves, for example.
The Learning Skills Centre is located at 260 Faraday Street, Carlton, to help students with these and any other study-related problems. You can drop in for a chat, make an appointment for an individual consultation, or meet with groups of students with similar problems. All consultations are free and confidential.
Faculties carry out the general academic administration of the University.
Academic departments grouped within the faculties carry out the teaching for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
Each faculty has a General Manager or equivalent officer whose responsibilities include:
In some faculties, General Managers are assisted by course advisers to provide these services.
Handbook 1996 : General Information | Search | Help Status: Official 1996. Date created: Sep 27 1995 Last modified: Sep 27 1995 Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au Maintained by: ? Copyright © University of Melbourne 1995,1996.