Academic Board Course Approval & Management Procedures

Late Changes

Definition

A late change is a made after the publication (i.e. ‘go-live’) of the Handbook for the coming or current year. Late changes are, except in exceptional circumstances, changes to subjects rather than courses and are generally discouraged because students rely on the information provided in the Handbook to plan their study. Late changes to courses must be made through the major change process.

The late change procedure is subject to DEEWR requirements that must be observed by the University, such as the need for Ministerial notification or approval of subject details.

The Academic Board has agreed that some late changes may be approved by the faculties/graduate schools under delegated authority from the Board. Other late changes require the approval of the Academic Board.

Changes to Breadth Tracks

Changes to breadth tracks, unless involving changes as named in section 2 below, may be made under delegated authority.

Late Changes Requiring DEEWR Approval

Regardless of whether they may be approved under delegated authority, by the Academic Board, or by other channels such as Finance or Admissions, some late changes may still require the additional approval of DEEWR before they can be implemented because they have compliance implications for the University. In particular, changes that may disadvantage students and are reported to DEEWR
within two months of the subject commencement require DEEWR approval. This includes changes resulting in:

Faculties and graduate schools considering changing any of these attributes are advised to consult with Student Management Services.

1 Late Changes Under Delegated Authority

1A LATE CHANGES MADE UNDER DELEGATED AUTHORITY – ANY SUBJECT

The following late changes can be made under delegated authority by faculties/graduate schools to any subject up to two weeks before the start of teaching. Faculties/graduate schools are responsible for advising students of the change(s).

  1. Change of coordinator
  2. Change of configuration of contact hours (e.g. 1-hour lecture and 2-hour tutorial per week, replaced by a 3-hour workshop per week), as long as the overall contact hours are not increased or reduced.
  3. Minor (largely editorial) change to content description (overview), as long as the context or content is not substantially changed.
  4. Change of textbook
  5. Offering of an additional elective subject (if the subject is new, the New Subject Proposal is required)
  6. Offering of a subject previously suspended
  7. An additional offering of a subject
  8. Change of name, providing that there is no existing subject with the same name
1B LATE CHANGES MADE UNDER DELEGATED AUTHORITY – ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

The following changes may be made to elective subjects under delegated authority (in addition to those listed at 1A), provided that:

  1. Suspension/cancellation if fewer than 10 students are enrolled.
  2. Suspension/cancellation if academic staff are not available.
  3. Change in semester of offer.
  4. Change in delivery (eg. to intensive delivery)
  5. Change to prerequisites
  6. Major change to content description (overview). (Where this may affect discipline groups Student Management services must be notified)
  7. Change in detail of assessment tasks, provided that there is no lessening or increase in the amount of assessment

Process for submitting changes under delegated authority

Where a faculty or graduate school makes a late change under delegated authority, the late change is submitted by a nominated faculty contact via the designated web form, using the Late Change form or the New Subject Proposal form, as appropriate.

Where multiple late changes of the same type made under delegated authority are required (e.g. changing subject coordinators for multiple subjects), faculties/graduate schools should complete the Delegated Authority Bulk Subject Changes form. (Please note: this form is not compatible with Internet Explorer and should be accessed via another web browser, such as Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome. This form is managed by the Student System. Any queries about the form or requests for changes to the form should be directed to the Student System.)

Changes made under delegated authority must be reported in course reports.

2. Late Changes Requiring Academic Board Approval

Approvals for late changes requested after one week prior to the commencement of semester in which the subject is being offered will not be granted.

2A LATE CHANGES REQUIRING ACADEMIC BOARD APPROVAL – ANY SUBJECT

The following late changes require the approval of the President of the Academic Board:

  1. Any change that occurs less than two weeks before the subject commences
  2. Change in points value
  3. Change in subject level
  4. Change in mode of delivery to distance or on-campus
  5. Changes to assessment, other than detail of assessment for elective subjects, as detailed at 1B 7, above
  6. Suspension/Cancellation of an elective subject if it means that a student pursuing an elective or breadth sequence or cluster has no alternative subject to take
2B LATE CHANGES REQUIRING ACADEMIC BOARD APPROVAL – COMPULSORY & UNIVERSITY BREADTH SUBJECT
  1. Suspension/Cancellation
  2. Substitution of alternative subject
  3. Change in semester of offer
  4. Change to prerequisites
  5. Major change to content description (overview)
  6. Any change in assessment tasks
2C LATE CHANGES TO COURSE REQUIREMENTS OR STRUCTURES

Any late change to course requirement or structure that would normally count as a major change must be approved by the President of the Academic Board.

Process for submitting late changes requiring Academic Board Approval

The faculty/graduate school must complete a subject Late Change Proposal and email it to the Secretary, Academic Programs Committee (APC) at late-change@unimelb.edu.au.

The late change process involves the following steps:

Timeline

Late changes must be made at least two weeks before the start of semester. Late changes requested after one week prior to the commencement of semester in which the subject is being offered will not be approved.

Forms

Major changes necessarily require a major change form. In addition, it may require some or all of the forms listed below.

LATE CHANGES MADE UNDER DELEGATED AUTHORITY
LATE CHANGES REQUIRING ACADEMIC APPROVAL

 

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