Academic Safety Net Guideline TP1

Step

Action

1.1

JCU has considered the impact of COVID-19 on students and made changes to its usual process under the Student Results Policy and the Finalisation and Publication of Student Results Procedure.  These changes include:

1. All FAIL results (except X results and fail results due to Academic   Misconduct) will be converted to a WD (Withdrawn) and will not count towards   any student’s GPA or be recorded on the student’s official academic record;
2. Student’s receiving a WD result will be charged for that subject.  Students who wish to apply for a refund or   remission of their fees must follow the usual process in the Student Fee Payments and Refunds Policy;
3. A Non-GPA system will be implemented for students enrolled in   foundational year subjects (level 1 and 2 coded subjects), and
4. Students in advanced level subjects (level 3 and higher-level coded   subjects) will have the option to have all Passing subject results converted   to the Non-GPA system.

1.2

For Subjects undertaken during the ASN Term there is a waiver of:

1. WF - Fail (withdrew after the prescribed last date for withdrawal   without academic penalty);
2. N – Fail;
3. U - Unsatisfactory (failed to reach a passing level in an ungraded   subject); and

These results will be changed to WD (withdrawn without academic penalty) where a student has completed at least 80% of subject assessments.

1.3

A result of X awarded under the Student Results Policy will remain on a student’s official academic record and will not convert to a WD.

1.4

A result of N (fail) recorded due to an outcome decision under the Academic Misconduct Procedure will be recorded on a student’s official academic record and will not convert to a WD.

Step

Action

2.1

During the ASN Term, students in Level 1 and 2 Coded subjects can apply for a Letter of Advice - Indicative GPA (Letter of Advice), where:

1. the student is transferring/applying to another course after the ASN   Term; or
2. the student is taking an exit award; or
3. the student is part of an international study abroad program.

The Letter of Advice is not a final result and the student has no right of review under the Review and Appeal of a Final Subject Result Procedure.

The Letter of Advice will not lapse or expire but will be subject to JCU’s published policies on admission and credit.

2.2

Students will be directed to a student form online to apply for a Letter of Advice within 10 university working days after the results publication date

2.3

A Letter of Advice cannot be provided to a student until all results have been finalised for the teaching period.  The online form cannot be completed until this condition is met.

2.4

On submission, a form will be sent to the College that owns the subject. The form directs the College Academic Services Staff to enter the indicative result for the subject.  Once all indicative results are entered, the form is sent to the Examinations Team

2.5

The Examinations Team finalise the form and generate the template Letter of Advice for the student.   The student is emailed a Letter of Advice within 5 University working days, which is stored as a System Issued Document in SMS.

2.6

The Letter of Advice will include an Indicative GPA in numerical form.  The Letter of Advice will not include a separate result for each subject undertaken by the student during the ASN Term.  If a student believes their GPA is incorrect, based on results appearing LearnJCU, then they will be directed to their Subject Coordinator under clause 2 of the  Review of Assessment and Access to Examination Scripts and Materials Procedure to seek feedback or a review of individual assessment pieces.

2.7

The Letter of Advice will invite the students to provide Feedback or direct students to the Student Review and Appeals Procedure (General) if the student feels the process was not undertaken in a procedurally fair manner.  A student does not have a right to appeal the impact of the Academic Safety Net on their results.  A student can provide feedback or make a complaint under the Student Complaints Management Policy and Procedures.

2.8

Study Abroad students are awarded results from subjects studied during the ASN Term. Due to this requirement all Study Abroad student subjects will be sent to the College Academic Services teams. The Examinations team will provide individual Colleges with a spreadsheet listing the Study Abroad students for that College.  The Colleges will provide the Examinations Team with updated results for these students.

The results will be sent to the Examinations team for uploading into SMS as a change of result. Once all results have been entered, an official academic record will be created in SMS and uploaded into eQuals for overseas institutions requirements.

Step

Action

3.1

Students enrolled in Level 3 and higher-level coded subjects can apply to have all passing results converted to a Satisfactory result for the study period undertaken during the ASN Term.  That application must be made within 10 University working days of the later of the results publication date or the date the student receives their final result for the subject.

3.2

Students must meet with their Academic Advisor or Course Coordinator in the first instance to understand the ramifications of this request.

3.3

The Change of Result form will provide notification that once the results have been converted, they cannot be reversed to the original result type. By submitting this form, students are consenting to the conversion of their results.

3.4

Students electing to take this option will complete a Change of Result Form (hyperlink) which is sent to the Examinations team for processing.

3.5

The Examinations team will then update the student’s results in SMS and send an email to the student to confirm the change has been made.  The relevant Academic Services Team will be cc’d in to the response email to the student.  A student comment will be loaded into SMS to reflect the student has requested the change.

Policy Sponsor

Deputy Vice Chancellor Students

Version no

20-1

Date for next Major Review

Nil – will expire 30 November 2020

Version

Approval date

Implementation date

Details

Author

20-1

30 June 2020

30 June 2020

Guideline established

Manager, Student Facing Policy and Deputy Director, Student Services

Keywords

COVID-19, Academic Safety Net, GPA, converting results