SCHOOL
OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
ASSESSMENT, ILLNESS AND MISADVENTURE POLICY
The “Who, What, When, and Where”, and any other questions regarding
assessment.
“Assessments are designed to provide feedback on
performance or to establish that students have reached an adequate standard to
proceed or to graduate”. This is the
opening statement of the
The School of Medical Sciences (SBS) is comprised
of the Departments of Anatomy and Histology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases,
Pathology, Pharmacology and Physiology.
We want to make sure that all students in all Units of Study (UoS)
within the
Always remember that these policies are designed to
help cases of genuine need. Falsification of certificates or false
representation of need is a serious breach of University guidelines and can
lead to disciplinary action and/or expulsion from the University.
Any queries regarding this policy can be directed to
the nominated Student Liaison Officer listed in the table below:
|
Department |
Contact person and details |
Location |
|
Anatomy and Histology |
Katherine Wilkinson 9351 2497 kwilkinson@anatomy.usyd.edu.au |
Building Rm S463 |
|
Infectious Diseases and Immunology |
9351 2412 / 9351 4332 Helen Briscoe (Immunology) 9351 3969 / 95656158 |
Rm 676 Rm 424 or Centenary Institute Rm535 |
|
Pathology |
Brett Hambly 9352 3059 |
Rm 557 |
|
Pharmacology |
Nimmi Ramesh 9351 2408 |
Rm211 |
|
Physiology |
Louise Harrison 9351 3478 |
Rm E212 |
·
All
essays and reports for all Units of Study taught by the
·
All
essays and reports should be submitted with an Assignment Cover Sheet to the Student Liaison Officer or a
nominated administrative staff member.
Complete the coversheet before
you come to the office.
·
You
will be issued with a receipt,
signed and stamped by the Student Liaison Officer or a nominated administrative
staff member. Keep this receipt and a
copy of your essay or report in case you need proof of submission in the
future.
·
DO NOT SUBMIT ASSIGNMENTS TO YOUR
LECTURERS OR TUTORS DIRECTLY, because they cannot issue a receipt and you will not have
proof of having submitted them.
·
Under
no circumstances will computer media (a disk) or electronic submission be
accepted. Remember to plan enough time
to print your assignment as well as to write it.
If you have no
legitimate reason (see below for excuses we do not accept) for submitting your
assessments after the due date then your assessment will be dealt with in the
following way:
Your
assessment will be forwarded to the relevant marker and assessed. The final mark awarded will, however, be
multiplied by a relevant factor depending on how many days overdue your
assessment is. For example, if your
assessment is one day overdue the awarded mark will be multiplied by 0.9, two
days late by 0.8, three days late by 0.7, and 4 days late by 0.6. Thus, if the assessment is judged to be worth
18 out of 20 and it was four days late, the final mark awarded will be 10.8 out
of 20 (18 x 0.6).
No
mark will be awarded if the assessment is submitted more than 4 days after the
due date.
In
the case where the due date is other than a Monday, then Saturdays and Sundays
count as normal days and lateness penalties will be incurred. For example, if the due date is Friday and
you submit on Monday (i.e. three days late), then your awarded mark will be multiplied
by 0.7.
All effort will be made by the School to ensure that
illness or misadventure does not affect your academic performance. However, only serious illness or misadventure
will warrant consideration and this must be well attested by applying for
Special Consideration (SCA).
You
should be aware that an application for Special Consideration is a request, and does not guarantee that
consideration will be granted. However,
if you feel that your circumstances are affecting your academic performance follow
the procedures below:
· You must obtain a Special Consideration Application pack (containing
an information sheet, the Application for Special Consideration form, the
Professional Practitioners Certificate and the Academic Judgment Form) from the
Student Information Office of the Faculty of Science or from the Faculty website under ‘Special Consideration’
at http://www.science.usyd.edu.au/fstudent/postgrad/pdf/special_consideration_application_pack.pdf.
NOTE:
Applications for Special Consideration for a Unit of
Study taught by a School or Department within the Faculty of Science must be
submitted to the Faculty of Science, regardless of the Faculty in which you are
enrolled. Applications for a Unit of Study taught by a School or Department in
a different Faculty must be submitted at that Faculty Office, even if you are a
Science student. If you are unsure about where to submit an application,
please contact the Student Information Office of the Faculty of Science.
· You must lodge the original of the
application form and originals of any supporting documentation at the Student
Information Office within 7 days of the date of an exam or assessment (see
below for more specific details). Where it is not possible to obtain original
documentation (e.g. death certificate, police report), submission of a
certified copy will be permitted. All other forms submitted must be originals,
including the Professional Practitioners Certificate (PPC).
NOTE: It is also necessary to
provide a copy of the application and all documentation for each piece of
assessment in which consideration is being sought, to be stamped by the Faculty
and forwarded to the School for assessment (for example, if you are applying
for consideration for three different pieces of assessment, you must submit the
original documentation plus three copies of all documents). The Student Information Office will not make copies of any documentation submitted.
· For consideration due to serious
illness you must
have a registered medical practitioner or counselor complete the Professional
Practitioners Certificate which is attached to the application form. Please
note that only the Professional Practitioner’s Certificate will be accepted in
support of an application for Special Consideration on grounds of serious
illness: MEDICAL CERTIFICATES WILL
NOT BE ACCEPTED. You are strongly advised to ensure that the medical
practitioner completes this certificate on initial consultation by obtaining
the form before the consultation.
· For consideration due to
misadventure, a
Professional Practitioners Certificate or other form of appropriate
documentation (a police report or death certificate, for example) is required
which indicates the likely duration and effect of the misadventure on the
student’s performance.
NOTE: Only the supporting documents
provided at the time of initial application for Special Consideration will be
used to assess the request. It will not be possible to submit further
documentation relating to an initial application once an application has been
lodged with the Student Information Office. Only those circumstances brought to
the attention of staff at the time of lodgment will be taken into consideration
when formulating an academic judgment.
· The Student Information Office will
check the application at time of lodgment to ensure that the forms are complete
and that supporting documentation is adequate and if so, will sign/stamp both
the original application form as well as the
student’s copies to confirm lodgment of the application at the office. Personal information (Name, SID,
Assessment) on all forms must be completed before the forms are accepted at the
Student Information Office; incomplete forms will not be accepted.
· The Student Information
Office will enter the details contained on your application form into the
Special Consideration database, which will be used to monitor the progress of your
application.
· Once the form has been stamped by
the Student Information Office, you must take the stamped and dated application
form and documentation to the nominated Student Liaison Officer (see Table
above) of the Department for which you are seeking special consideration. Your application will be forwarded to the relevant
UoS coordinator for assessment. Please note that this must be done for each
Unit of Study for which consideration is being sought.
·
Your SCA is treated confidentially
and does not in any way disadvantage you.
·
The
Unit of Study Coordinator plus the Head of School/Chair of Discipline or their
nominee will assess the evidence you have provided in your application and make
a decision (referred to as the ‘academic judgment’).
·
The Unit of Study Coordinator and the Head of School (or their
nominee) will evaluate how serious the reasons for Special Consideration are
and how they may have impacted on your performance or attendance.
·
The academic assessors will also determine the result of the
application for Special Consideration in accordance with Faculty guidelines
regarding possible outcomes (see below).
·
The
academic judgment of the application for Special Consideration will be forwarded
to the Faculty office.
·
The
Faculty will send an e-mail to your University e-mail address informing you of
the outcome. It is expected that you will receive a response within fourteen
(14) days of initial application. Please
check your University e-mail account regularly during exam and vacation times
as this is the fastest and most efficient way of contacting you.
THE
ACCEPTANCE OF THE SPECIAL CONSIDERATION AND ANY GRANTING OF EXTENSION AND
RESCHEDULING OF TESTS IS DEPENDENT ON THE QUALITY OF THE EVIDENCE SUBMITTED IN
YOUR APPLICATION.
·
NO
·
If you are sick for less than a week
and there are no assignments due or test scheduled during your absence then you
DO NOT need to submit an SCA.
·
However, frequent absences from tutorials,
seminars and practical classes need to be explained and supported by relevant
documentation (see note below).
·
See the end of the document for
circumstances which we DO NOT
consider and where your SCA will not be accepted.
NOTE: The following is an extract from the The Faculty of Science Handbook 2004, p. 34, and the Faculty
of Science Guidelines for Application for Special Consideration Document
regarding attendance and applies to all UoS in the Faculty of Science:
“Students enrolled in courses and units of study
under the administration of the Faculty of Science are expected to attend a
minimum of 80 per cent of tutorials, seminars and practical sessions etc
associated with those courses or units, unless granted exemption by the Dean or
Head of the relevant department. The Head of Department may set additional
requirements for the minimum number of assessment items such as practical
reports, tutorial papers, seminars, essays, exercises, quizzes etc which must
be completed. On the recommendation of the relevant Head of Department the Dean
may determine that a student fails a unit of study because of inadequate
attendance or insufficient assessment items completed.”
Please note that this policy
extends to attendance as well as assessment; where a Unit of Study has sessions
at which attendance is mandatory (eg laboratory demonstrations), non-attendance
may result in academic penalty or failure of the Unit of Study as determined by
the School.
Unless the School
determines otherwise, this policy permits a student to miss two weeks of
attendance and/or attendance-related assessment without jeopardizing successful
completion of the Unit of Study. If a greater period is missed, the School will
be able to exercise the option of awarding the grade of AF (Absent Fail) for
the given Unit of Study.
If your SCA is not accepted then lateness penalties
for written assignments (as described above) will be applied and the tests will
not be rescheduled.
.
·
A
new due date will be arranged for
the written assignment or a new date
scheduled in the case of a test. The
Student Liaison Officer will contact you with these details.
·
An extension will only be granted for a maximum period equal to
the length of attested impairment (ie, if you were impaired for three days, you
may be granted an extension of up to three days). If the assessment is
completed or submitted within the period of extension, no academic penalty will
be applied to that piece of assessment.
·
If
the written assignment is not received by this new date then lateness penalties
will apply.
·
If
you do not attend a rescheduled test then no further opportunity to re-sit will
be made available.
·
If your SCA is in relation to compulsory classes that cannot be taken
at a different time, and for which a report must be submitted (e.g. a practical
class report), then you may submit a report based upon data collected by fellow
students or provided by teachers. In the
exceptional circumstance where a report cannot be written without attending the
class, then you will be awarded a mark, which is the average of marks obtained
for assignments relating to other classes.
IT IS YOUR RESONSIBILITY
TO FOLLOW THE STEPS ABOVE SO THAT YOU HAVE THE BEST CHANCE TO COMPLETE AND BE
CREDITED FOR THE SEMESTER’S WORK.
IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE UP
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WORK MISSED DURING THE SEMESTER. DO NOT LEAVE EVERYTHING TO THE END WHEN YOU
SHOULD BE STUDYING FOR EXAMS.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS SUBMITTED AT THE END OF
SEMESTER IN RELATION TO ASSESSMENTS DURING THE SEMESTER WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED
What if I am unable to attend
tutorials where group work is assessed?
If you miss
tutorials in which your individual contribution or your contribution within a
group is assessed, YOU SHOULD FIRST EXPLAIN YOUR ABSENCE TO YOUR UoS
COORDINATOR AND APPLY FOR SPECIAL
CONSIDERATION. In these
circumstances you may be able to make up the mark by providing some evidence of
having prepared for the tutorial. The
nature of this alternate assessment should be negotiated with your tutor IN THE
FIRST INSTANCE.
You should
make every reasonable effort to attend the final examination at the scheduled
time. There are, however, several options for you to follow depending on the
severity of the illness/misadventure.
·
Option One
If you feel that you need some medical help, you should do the following:
·
Go
to The University Health Service on the day of the exam before the exam starts.
·
A
doctor will assess you and provide a room for you to sit the exam.
·
Alternately,
see your own doctor and bring a completed Professional Practitioner Certificate
to the University Health Service before the exam starts.
·
The
staff at the University Health Service will arrange for the exam to be
delivered to you at the University Health Service.
·
Option Two If you genuinely cannot attend the exam, you should do the following:
·
See
your doctor immediately – do not wait for a week. Your certificate may not be valid at this
time.
·
Submit
a Special Consideration Application within 7days of the date of the missed
exam, following the procedures above.
·
As
you are not the only one for whom we may need to arrange another assessment, it
is imperative that you contact the relevant Student Liaison Officer or UoS
coordinator immediately.
·
Keep
all original documents.
YOUR SPECIAL CONSIDERATION WILL NOT
BE CONSIDERED IF IT IS SUBMITTED TO US MORE THAN A WEEK AFTER THE ORIGINAL EXAM
DATE.
·
Option Three If you are experiencing chronic illness or misadventure that is
affecting your study continuously throughout the semester, you should do the
following
·
See
your UoSC as soon as you think that your study is being affected.
·
All
effort will be made to help you cope with the assessment deadlines and exam
preparation
·
Your
circumstances must be documented and supported by an SCA.
·
If
at exam time you find you cannot comply fully with the steps in option two then
your case will be considered by the UoS coordinator in consultation with the
Departmental Teaching Committee where necessary.
·
A
decision will be made which is in your best interests.
NOTE: The University makes a clear distinction
between longstanding illness or misadventure which prevent students from
attending classes or completing required work or which seriously interferes
with their capacity to study for long periods, and short-term serious illness
or misadventure that may prevent a well-prepared student from sitting an
examination or completing a particular assignment. Students who, because of
serious illness or misadventure, are prevented from attending classes for
prolonged periods should seek an interview with the relevant Unit of Study
Coordinator. Even if they do not exceed any specified permitted period of
absence, they may need to consider whether their best academic interests are
served by discontinuing with permission from the course until they are able to
resume their studies effectively. International students may need to seek
advice regarding visa requirements prior to making any changes to enrolment.
Assistance can be sought from the International Office.
·
If
the UoS coordinator and HoD (or their nominee) accept your SCA then a time will
be arranged for you to sit for further assessment. Under some circumstances your case may be
referred to the Departmental Teaching Committee for a final decision.
·
This
will take place in the department as soon as possible and usually within a week
of the original date so that all exams can be marked and results processed
before the deadline for result submission to the relevant Faculties.
·
Failure
to attend a further assessment examination would normally result in an “Absent Fail”
in the UoS.
·
Arrangements
for further assessment will be made.
·
In
this case the original exam paper will not be marked and your deferred exam
result will replace it.
IT IS YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTACT THE STUDENT LIAISON OFFICER OR THE UoSC TO FIND OUT
WHETHER YOUR APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL CONSIDERATION HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL (BEFORE
YOU ARE NOTIFIED BY THE FACULTY OFFICE)
·
You
have seven (7) days from the time of notification by the Faculty to make an
appeal against the decision made by the UoSC and the HoD (or their nominee)
(and in some cases the Departmental Teaching Committee).
·
Any
appeals after this time will be rejected.
·
You must submit your appeal in writing to the Projects and
Services Officer at the Faculty of Science (currently Mr Matthew Charet), and
must outline the grounds for appeal with reference to the original application
(including any additional supporting material, if appropriate).
·
The
appeal must be made on the same grounds as the original SCA.
·
The appeal will be considered by the Dean, or their nominee,
within fourteen (14) days of receipt of the appeal and the result communicated
via e-mail to your University e-mail account.
You
are strongly advised not to enroll in subjects, which could result in
substantial timetable clashes, though you are not prevented from doing so. You should be aware, however, that enrolment
in subjects, which produce timetable overlap does not constitute grounds for
special consideration. (See note above regarding minimum attendance).
Misreading
the exam timetable or missing and exam without cause does not constitute
grounds for special consideration or for the right to resit an exam. Please ensure that all dates for exams are
carefully observed and recorded. The
final exam schedule can be located by following links from the
·
Firstly, speak to the UoSC, who will
make every effort to ensure that marks have been recorded and reported
correctly. Approach the UoSC as soon as
possible so the issue can be resolved before the end of the semester.
·
Secondly, the UoSC should be able to
justify clearly to you the reason for the grade.
·
You can request to have the
assessment remarked but you run the risk of the grade being changed to a lower
one if the marker feels the original grade was too high.
·
If your concerns are not resolved at
this stage then you can appeal to the Head of Department who may refer your
case to the Teaching Committee.
·
If the decision is still not to your
satisfaction then an appeal can be made to the Dean of the Faculty.
·
More information on the specific
details of the appeal process can be obtained by following links from the
·
This
list is by no means exhaustive but gives examples of problems that can be
avoided if you plan and think ahead instead of leaving written assignments to
the last minute:
“My computer crashed….”
“My file wouldn’t print…”
“The disc is corrupted….”
“My lab partner had the results…”
“I had to move on the weekend….."
“I couldn’t find the references in the library”
“I had to work on the weekend…”
“I had a cold last week….”
“I had to play football on the weekend…..”
·
We do recognize, however, that real
computer problems may occur. Here are
some suggestions to minimize the impact of these:
·
Make back-ups of your work in
progress on floppy discs or on your hard drive.
·
Keep printed copies of your work in
progress. These can be used to prove
that you are experiencing genuine technical problems.
The following is an extract from the Academic Board
Resolution: Assessment and examination of Coursework (Part 5 – Special
Consideration due to Illness or misadventure (http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/ab/policies/Assess_Exam_Coursework.pdf)
1. Please note that Special
Consideration will not be granted in the following instances:
a)
occasional, brief or trivial illness of a one- or two-day
duration that occur seven (7) days or more before an assessment is due or exam
undertaken;
b)
workloads from other units of study, disciplines and
faculties, except where the request for special consideration is made within
the first three weeks of semester;
c)
employment where the request for special consideration is
made less than four weeks before the date of assessment;
d)
illnesses and misadventures that have prevented students
from acquiring a Pass level of knowledge/skills (including all
illnesses/misadventures resulting in the student missing six weeks or more of
lectures or tutorials);
e)
adequate standards of documentation and processes have not
been met;
f)
requests for extensions made after the assignment is due or
an assessment has taken place (except where the circumstances prevented earlier
submission, no special consideration requests shall be processed if submitted
more than seven (7) days after the assessment is due);
g)
the supporting documentation post-dates the period for which
special consideration is sought;
h)
the performance of the student was equivalent or superior to
that demonstrated in other assessments in the unit of study;
i)
the circumstances pertain to planned commitments, such as
elective surgery, holiday or work, where the student could reasonably be
expected to have scheduled the commitment or their studies to not adversely
affect their studies;
j)
computer-related problems, except where a police report is
provided indicating that burglary or calamity has resulted in the loss of a
computer and backups from the students’ place of residence (NB: it is
assumed that students keep regular back-ups of their work, so theft of a laptop
is not grounds for special consideration).
k)
Jury Service, Military Service, National Sporting and
religious or cultural commitments which prevent a student from attending
scheduled examinations would not normally be considered as cases of misadventure.
Whilst faculties are encouraged to consider significant religious and cultural
events when scheduling examination dates they may make allowances for these
circumstances and consider these applications on a case by case basis. Students
affected by these circumstances should approach the Unit of Study coordinator
or Head of School for advice concerning their continuing enrolment in the Unit
of Study.
This
document is consistent with the Academic Board Resolution:
Assessment and examination of Coursework Part
5 – Special Consideration due to Illness or misadventure (http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/ab/policies/Assess_Exam_Coursework.pdf)
and the Faculty of Science Guidelines for Application for Special Consideration
Document.