THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
 
Programs and Awards Statute 2013
 
ACADEMIC PROGRESS RULES 2014
 
I, Professor Ian Young AO, Vice-Chancellor of The Australian National University acting in accordance with subsection 50(3) of the Australian National University Act 1991 and subsection 9.5 of the Vice-Chancellorship Statute 2013 make these Rules for section 8 of the Programs and Awards Statute 2013.
 
Dated: 25 June 2014.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Professor Ian Young AO
VICE-CHANCELLOR
_______________________________________________________________
1       Name of Rules and commencement
1(1)      These Rules are the Academic Progress Rules 2014.
(2)        These Rules commence on 1 July 2014.
2       Interpretation
2(1)      In these Rules:
Academic Progress Committee means a Committee established under rule 13.
award means degree, diploma or certificate offered by the University.
course means a subject of scholarly study taught:
(a)     in a connected series of classes or demonstrations; or
(b)     by means of practical work, including the production by students of essays or theses or case studies or the attendance and participation by students in seminars or workshops.
course code means the unique alphanumeric code used within the University to identify a particular course.
Delegated Authority means a person appointed under rule 3.
enrol includes re-enrol, and enrolment has a corresponding meaning.
equivalent course is any course declared by the relevant Delegated Authority to have a sufficient similarity of content to another course, despite having a different title or different course code.
student means a student who is or was enrolled (as the case requires) in an award program.
(2)        A reference in these Rules to a particular course includes a reference to an equivalent course.
[Note: These Rules apply in relation to both graduate coursework and undergraduate awards.]
3       Delegated Authority: appointment etc
3(1)      An Associate Dean may appoint a person to be a Delegated Authority for the purposes of these Rules and may delegate all or any of the powers and functions of the Associate Dean in these Rules to the Delegated Authority.
4       Delegated Authority: to apply Rules consistently
4(1)      The Delegated Authority must take reasonable steps to ensure that these Rules are applied consistently and fairly within the academic area concerned.
5       Repeated failure in course
5(1)      If a student fails a course twice, the student must apply to obtain the approval of the Delegated Authority before re-enrolling in the course.
[Note: Failure includes N, NCN and WN and takes no account of the award program in which the course is taken.] 
(2)        A Delegated Authority may approve, conditionally approve or refuse to approve a student’s application to re-enrol in a course.
(3)        If the Delegated Authority refuses to approve a student’s application to re-enrol in a course, the Delegated Authority must specify the duration of that refusal.
6       Notice
6(1)      A student to whom subrule 5(1) applies must be advised of the decision in relation to his or her application and of his or her appeal rights.
(2)        Advice under subrule (1) in relation to appeal rights may be given to an individual student or generally and must contain information about to whom the appeal must be made and the address to which the appeal must be sent.
7       Appeal after re-enrolment in course refused
7(1)      A student whose application under subrule 5(1) to re-enrol in a course is refused may appeal to the Associate Dean responsible for the course to determine the matter.
[Note: If a student is refused permission to re-enrol in a compulsory component of an award program, that may effectively terminate the student’s participation in the award program.]
(2)        An appeal must be in writing and must be lodged with the Associate Dean not later than 20 working days after the date on which the notice of refusal was sent to the student, or within any further period that the Associate Dean allows.
(3)        At an appeal, the Associate Dean must consider any statement of the student in relation to the appeal and any other matters that the Associate Dean considers relevant.
(4)        An appeal is to be conducted in such manner as the Associate Dean conducting the appeal determines.
(5)        The Associate Dean may decide the appeal on the material available to the Associate Dean or after an oral hearing, but if the appeal is to be decided after an oral hearing:
              (a)   the student is entitled to appear in person at the hearing; and
              (b)   in default of the appearance of the student at the time and place fixed for the hearing, the hearing may proceed in the absence of the student; and
              (c)   the student is entitled to present to the hearing oral or written statements (whether made by the student or another person); and
              (d)   the student may, in addition to or instead of appearing in person at the appeal, furnish to the hearing a written statement in relation to the appeal (whether made by the student or another person); and
              (e)   the student is entitled to be accompanied at the hearing by another person who may observe the proceedings but not act as an advocate unless expressly invited to do so by the Associate Dean.
[NOTE: See rule 16 in relation to enrolment and attending classes pending decision on appeal.]
(6)        The Associate Dean must decide the appeal, and must notify the student of the decision, within 20 working days after the day on which the appeal is lodged.
8       Grounds for appeal
8(1)      The grounds for an appeal are as follows:
              (a)   severe illness or medical condition (documentary evidence of which must be lodged with the appeal);
              (b)   harshness of the effect of refusing to approve the request to re-enrol in the course;
              (c)   harshness of a decision to exclude a student from a course, the effect of which would be to exclude the student from an award program;
              (d)   special circumstances set out in the appeal.
9       Decision on appeal
9(1)      The Associate Dean may uphold the appeal or dismiss the appeal and, if the Associate Dean upholds the appeal, the Associate Dean may:
              (a)   permit re-enrolment in the course; or
(b)permit re-enrolment in the course conditionally; or
(c)    refuse re-enrolment in the course for a period specified by the Associate Dean.
[Note: If a student is refused permission to re-enrol in a compulsory component of an award program, that may effectively terminate the student’s participation in the program.]
(2)        The decision of the Associate Dean is final.
10     Coursework: failure to maintain satisfactory standard
10(1)    A student undertaking graduate or undergraduate coursework who fails more than 50% of the unit value of the courses attempted in a semester (including a session) of enrolment is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress in his or her graduate or undergraduate coursework, as the case requires, and is regarded as being on probation.
[Note: It is intended that, for this rule, First Semester includes courses taken in Summer and Autumn Sessions and Second Semester includes courses taken in Winter and Spring Sessions.]
(2)        A student undertaking graduate or undergraduate coursework who, for a second or subsequent time, fails more than 50% of the unit value of the courses attempted in a semester (including a session) of enrolment, or fails to meet any of the conditions imposed by an Academic Progress Committee under rule 14 is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress, and may be excluded by the Delegated Authority from enrolling in graduate or undergraduate coursework as the case requires.  
(3)        However, a student in the ANU Medical School must reach a satisfactory standard (within the meaning of the relevant Order made by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor) in all assessment tasks and courses before being permitted to progress to the next level of study.
(4)        A student who is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress in his or her coursework or award program must be notified as soon as practicable, in writing, of that fact.
(5)        To avoid doubt, a course completed in the timeframe for which credit has been granted in the award program does not count as part of the unit value of the courses attempted in the semester.
(6)        A student, or former student, excluded from graduate or undergraduate coursework under subrule 10(2) or 11(1) or paragraph 14(1)(c) may apply for enrolment to undertake coursework after the expiration of the period of exclusion.
11     Coursework: failure to achieve results at specified level
11(1)    A student undertaking graduate or undergraduate coursework who fails to achieve results in the courses in the award program for which he or she has enrolled at the level specified in the Orders for continuation in the award program, is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress in his or her award program and may be excluded from graduate or undergraduate coursework, as the case requires, by the Delegated Authority.
12     Coursework: appeal after exclusion
12(1)    If a student is to be excluded from graduate or undergraduate coursework under subrule 10(2) or rule 11 or from an academic program under subrule 10(3), the student must, as soon as practicable, be given written notice of the exclusion.
(2)        A notice under this rule must set out the right of the student to whom it is addressed to appeal against the decision in writing to the appropriate Academic Progress Committee and tell the student to whom an appeal must be sent.
(3)        The appeal must set out the grounds on which it is made and, in particular, include material demonstrating why the student should be permitted to continue in the coursework or award program, and must be lodged with the person mentioned in subrule (2) not later than 20 working days after the date on which the notification of the exclusion was sent to the student or within such further time that the Academic Progress Committee allows.
(4)        On appeal, if requested by an appellant, the Academic Progress Committee may take account of any non-award enrolment completed by the appellant in the semester (including a session) of enrolment to which subrule 10(1) refers.
(5)        However, success in passing a course as part of a non-award enrolment, even if credit is later granted in connection with a program being undertaken by the student, is not to be regarded as conclusive evidence of the ability of the student to meet the remaining academic requirements of a program.
(6)        If a student appeals to the Academic Progress Committee, the Academic Progress Committee must consider the appeal within 20 working days after the day on which the Academic Progress Committee receives the appeal.
[NOTE: See rule 16 in relation to enrolment and attending classes pending decision on appeal.]
13     Academic Progress Committees
13(1)    There is to be an Academic Progress Committee for the University in relation to graduate coursework, and another in relation to undergraduate coursework, each consisting of the Registrar as Chair and a person (not being a person who was involved in a matter referred to the Committee) appointed by the College Dean of each of the ANU Colleges.
14     Coursework: decision on appeal
14(1)    An Academic Progress Committee may uphold an appeal or dismiss the appeal and, in so doing, may:
              (a)   permit the student to continue to undertake coursework; or
              (b)   permit the student to re-enrol in coursework conditionally; or
              (c)   exclude the student from enrolment in coursework for a period determined by the Committee, being a period of not more than 5 years; or
              (d)   determine that the student transfer to another award program; or
              (e)   determine that the student vary his or her load to take account of the impact of external pressures on his or her academic studies; or
               (f)   require the student to take leave of absence from the award program for a period determined by the Committee; or
              (g)   refer the student to academic and professional staff for advice and support; or
              (h)   determine other strategies as appropriate.
(2)        The decision of the Academic Progress Committee in a particular case is final.
15     Appeal on procedural grounds
15(1)    A student may, within 20 working days after the relevant decision was notified to the student, appeal against a decision made under subrule 10(2), 10(3), 11(1) or 14(1) to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor on procedural grounds only.
(2)        The Deputy Vice-Chancellor may:
              (a)   confirm the decision; or
              (b)   set aside the original decision and refer the matter back to the decision maker to:
                           (i)   reconsider the original decision in light of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s findings; and
                          (ii)   make a new decision.
(3)        In determining an appeal, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor may inform himself or herself as he or she sees fit.
(4)        The decision of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor is final.
16     Enrolment and attending classes pending decision on appeal
16(1)    A student who appeals against a decision not to approve re-enrolment in a course or award program, or a decision that the student be excluded from coursework or an award program may apply to the College Dean to re-enrol in the next semester or session in another course or award program pending the outcome of the appeal.
(2)        However, if an appeal is lodged under these Rules and the student was enrolled before the decision appealed against was made, the student is entitled to remain enrolled pending the outcome of the appeal.
17     Orders
17(1)    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor may make Orders for the purpose of subrules 10(3) and 11(1).
18     Saving
18(1)    The Academic Progress Rules 2013 as amended and in force immediately before the commencement of these Rules, continue to apply to a student for a course to which these Rules would otherwise apply if:
              (a)   before the commencement of these Rules, the student completed work towards that course and elects to be bound by this subrule; and
              (b)   not to do so would affect the student adversely.
19     Application of amending Rules
19(1)    If an amendment is made to these Rules, and that amendment affects a course to which these Rules relate, the amendment does not apply to a student who, before the making of the amendment, has completed any work towards that course unless:
              (a)   the student elects that the amendment apply to the student; or
(b)the responsible Delegated Authority otherwise determines.
20     Repeal
20(1)    The Academic Progress Rules 2013, as amended and in force immediately before the commencement of these Rules, are repealed.