Information for All Current Students - UG and GEMs
This page contains uselful information about processes, procedures and services that you need to be aware of during your course.
Click on a topic name, from the list below, to take you straight to the link on this page.
Academic Honesty
Deliberate breaches of academic honesty constitute academic misconduct. These breaches include:
- Plagiarism
- Fabrication of data
- Recycling previously submitted material
- Engaging someone else to complete an assessment on your behalf
- Misconduct during supervised assessments
The penalties for academic misconduct may include:
- A mark of zero on the assessment
- A fail grade in the unit of study
- Additional assessment (including an unseen exam)
- Reference of the matter to the University Registrar
Issues concerning breaches of academic honesty may be dealt with either through the process of determining academic results in a unit of study, or, in the most serious cases, by invocation of misconduct procedures.
To assist the clarification and application of honest academic practices students should refer to the University’s policy on Academic Honesty in Coursework
Assessment
Each unit of study outline contains details of the nature and timing of assessments. Students should plan their work to ensure they can complete all assessments on time.
IMPORTANT NOTE: FAILURE TO SUBMIT ALL ASSESSMENTS FOR A UNIT OF STUDY WILL RESULT IN A FAIL GRADE FOR THAT UNIT OF STUDY.
Students must pass all barrier assessments (identified as M= mandatory to pass) in order to obtain a pass in that unit of study.
Students should check their results via MyUni. You cannot progress or graduate if you have unresolved results on your transcript. You should also make sure that you have results for all units of study in which you are enrolled.
Contact the Program Administrator if you have any questions.
Grades
All units of study, except clinical units and professional development units, are graded. The cut-off marks for each grade are:
- HD (High Distinction) 85 -100
- D (Distinction) 75 – 84
- CR (Credit) 65 – 74
- P (Pass) 50 – 64
- F (Fail) Less than 50
PCON (Conditional Pass granted) grades are not awarded in any CSCD units
AF (Absent Fail) grade is awarded if a student does not submit compulsory work and/or fails to attend an examination.
In clinical and professional development units the following grades are used:
- R – Meets Requirements
- F – Fail
UCN - (Unit Continuing) this means that you have not completed the requirements for a clinical, professional development or fieldwork unit of study.
INC - this means you have not completed the requirements for an academic unit of study. All INC results convert to a Fail grade by Week 3 of the following semester.
If you have a UCN or INC grade on your transcript then you will not be eligible to graduate until it is resolved. Check your transcript and follow-up with the unit co-ordinator after each semester.
See the Faculty's website for all policies and procedures related to examinations and assessments.
Assignments
All students should familiarise themselves with the Faculty of Health Sciences' Guidelines for Presentation of Assignments
Assignment Cover Sheets
- All students must use the latest version of the Faculty's Individual and Group Assignment Cover Sheets. They are located on the Faculty of Health Sciences website under Current Students / Forms
- You must complete all of the fields on the form or your submission will be rejected
- You must sign the cover sheet as testimony to the fact that the work attached to it is yours. You cannot delegate this to someone else to sign your name for you
Submission of Speech Pathology Assignments and Clinic Paperwork:
- Make sure you take a copy of everything before you submit it
- Some lecturers will collect assignments in class. If not, they should be submitted either electronically via eLearning or hardcopy via the white assignment box, located in the area outside the Student Window in the Clinic .
- The assignment box is cleared every morning - Monday to Friday - by 7.30am
- Assignments are then date stamped with the previous business day's date, checked off on class lists and given to the relevant lecturer
- Clinic paperwork should be submitted via the Clinic Drop Box (unless otherwise directed by your CE), located in the area outside the Student Window in the Clinic
- The Clinic Drop Box is cleared every morning - Monday to Friday - by 7.30am
- Clinic paperwork is date stamped with the previous business day's date, recorded in a spreadsheet then given to the relevant clinic staff
Collection:
- Some lecturers distribute your assignments back to you in class
- The Program Administrator will email you if the lecturer has given her assignments for distribution back to students. You must collect them within 1 week of getting this email notification
- You can only collect them from (Room S138a) – please do not ask the other office staff. Different collection arrangements will be made when the Program Administrator is on annual leave
- You can collect assignments Mondays to Fridays (during teaching weeks) preferably between 8am and 10am
- Any assignments not collected will be destroyed at the start of the next semester
- Clinic Paperwork is not normally distributed back to students
Penalties and extensions:
- Late assignments will be penalised with 10% of marks deducted for each day it is late (including weekends)
- Students needing an extension must submit the request via email to the lecturer, with appropriate supporting documentation if available or applicable - this must be done prior to the assignment's due date
Clinical Education Requirements
The Faculty has policies and procedures for clinical education. In particular students should be aware of requirements for vaccinations, criminal records checks, first aid certificates, and knowledge of the Privacy Act.
The Faculty has specific policies for withdrawal of students from placements because of unprofessional and unsafe behaviours.
Students should ensure that they are familiar with Faculty policies on clinical education. These are available in the chapter on clinical education in the Faculty Handbook and on the
Faculty website
Vaccinations
The University Health Service provides advice and vaccination services to students. You can phone them on (02)9351 3484 or (02)9351 4095.
CPR and First Aid Certificates
It is a Health Department and University of Sydney requirement that you possess a current, valid CPR Certificate before you attend any on-campus or off-campus clinical, community or fieldwork placements.
- Students must provide evidence of completion of a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) course with an accredited organisation (eg St. John’s Ambulance, Red Cross, Campus Rewards). Completion of CPR training is mandatory before you can enrol in any clinical or fieldwork units of study.
- Year 1 Undergraduate Speech students must submit the original CPR Certificate and a copy to Speech Pathology’s Undergraduate Program Administrator. The Program Administrator will check the original and keep the copy as evidence of meeting the CPR requirement in preparation for Year 2 clinic and community units. This is due in week 16 of Semester 2.
- Year 3 BHS H&S students must submit the original CPR Certificate and a copy to Speech Pathology’s Undergraduate Program Administrator. The Program Administrator will check the original and keep the copy as evidence of meeting the CPR requirement in preparation for their fieldwork placement in Semester 2. This is due by Week 1 of Semester 2.
- Year 1 MSLP students must submit the original CPR Certificate and a copy to Speech Pathology’s Program Administrator. The Program Administrator will check the original and keep the copy as evidence of meeting the CPR requirement in preparation for Year 1 clinic units. This is due by Orientation week of Semester 2 for fulltime students.
- If you have a certified First Aid Certificate - which is valid for 3 years - it is still required by the Health Department and the University of Sydney, that you update the CPR component every 12 months and submit a copy for our records.
- After Year 1 - Annual submission of the original and a copy of the updated CPR certificate must be delivered to Speech Pathology’s Program Administrator. The Program Administrator will check the original and keep the copy as evidence of meeting your ongoing CPR requirement. This is due by week 16 of each Semester 2, but can be handed in any time before that if you renew your CPR certificate earlier in the year. The Program Administrator will send you a reminder when your certificate is due for renewal.
- If you are deferring any of your clinical units when your CPR is due for renewal, you can delay renewing it till you are ready to start clinic again - but notify the Program Administrator of your intentions.
Credit Transfer
General information
Credit is recognition for prior academic achievements. Students enrolled in, or offered admission to a course in the Faculty of Health Sciences may apply for credit. Credit is granted when the appropriate discipline deems that the previous study (in some instances, work experience) is comparable in terms of content, level and duration to units of study within the relevant program. It should be recognised that units of study taught in the Faculty are specifically directed at developing professional skills. Work completed in more generalist degrees (which do not lead to a professional qualification) may not be considered appropriate to meet your needs as a future practitioner. Study completed 10 years prior to application will not be considered for credit.
See the Faculty's website for policies and application procedures.
Email Use
The University will only use your university allocated email account to communicate with you. When contacting university staff, please make sure you use your university account. Always include your full name and student ID when corresponding with University staff.
Please do not link your uni email account to your personal account. If you do anyway, make sure you check and clear emails from that account regularly so that emails from university staff don’t bounce because your personal mailbox is full.
Note that Hotmail accounts are especially prone to problems.
Students must check their university email accounts regularly during semester and during breaks. Parts of your course will include commitments across all weeks of the year and you will be updated about requirements via email.
Enrolment
If you have any concerns about your enrolment you can discuss them with the Program Administrator.
Students are responsible for planning their enrolment and checking their enrolment details. Use MyUni to check that you are enrolled in all the units you should be studying in a semester. See the progression diagrams linked in the feature pane at the top of this page.
If you are enrolled in a unit that you are not actually doing you will receive a Fail grade.
If you complete a unit of study but are not enrolled then you will NOT get a result and will have to enrol in that unit next time it is offered (this could mean a 2 semester wait). You may not be allowed to enrol in any unit for which this unit is a pre-requisite until you have an official result.
You cannot enrol in a unit of study if you failed any of the pre-requisite units of study. The pre-requisites are listed in the Faculty Handbook and are included in your unit outlines.
Failing a unit of study can have a significant impact on your progression through the course, particularly on the clinic and fieldwork units.
If you are a non-standard student (ie. a student who is not following the set progression of units in your degree) then you must become familiar with the units available each semester and their pre-requisites and plan your studies.
Your Enrolment Checklist:
- PRE-REQUISITES: I am aware that it is primarily my responsibility to find out what subjects I can enrol in for this semester and for subsequent semesters, taking into account pre-requisites and assumed knowledge in planning my progression.
I understand that this information is available in the Faculty Handbook.
I understand that I CANNOT enrol in units when I have NOT successfully completed the required pre-requisites - FAILURE IN UNITS OF STUDY: I am aware that the university has policies on academic progression, “show cause” and exclusion and that this information is in the Faculty Handbook
- ASSISTANCE FOR STUDENTS: I know that Student Services are available on this campus and that they can help me with academic and/or other difficulties
- WORKLOAD: I am aware of the advice not to enrol in more than a maximum of 24 credit points per semester
- TIMETABLE CLASHES: I am aware that I should not enrol in units for which there are timetable clashes. I am aware that I should discuss timetable clashes with the Program Administrator
- I am aware that by altering my enrolment from a standard progression I will extend the time taken to complete my degree by one or two semesters
Graduation
Graduation for Faculty of Health Sciences' students is held twice a year:
- April / May for those whose final enrolment was in Semester 2 of the previous year
- November / December for those whose final enrolment was in Semester 1 of the same year
Students must submit an application form for Conferral of Award once they have completed all of the required units; the results have been uploaded to Flexis/myUNI; and they have attained the number of credit points required for that course.
All graduation ceremonies are held in the Great Hall on Camperdown Campus.
The graduation schedule for each calendar year is finalised in mid-November and can be viewed and/or downloaded from the Graduations section.
If you would like to know how the graduation ceremony is conducted, you can download existing versions of the information booklet and Union services pamphlet from the Graduations section.
You will be sent the current version with your graduation invitation package about 3 weeks before your graduation ceremony. Information about hiring a gown is included in the package. You cannot make arrangements to hire your gown until you get your package so please don't hassle Student Central about it.
Honours in Speech Pathology
Honours is a 2 year program. Entry into honours is competitive with a maximum of 7 to 10 places available each year. Students with a distinction average plus are invited to apply for honours during Semester 2 of their second year. Successful applicants enter the honours program in the third year of their program and finish in year four.
An honours information session will be held each year. Students interested in honours can contact the after that session.
Insurance
The University's insurance policy covers all students during their placements and clinic sessions.
This letter can be provided to the organisation who has offered the student work experience or for post graduate students who are collaborating with external organisations on University research.
For more information click here to go to the University's Risk Management web site.
Key to UOS Outlines
University of Sydney Generic Attributes and Competency Based Occupational Standards (CBOS) for speech pathology are both referenced in your unit of study (UOS) outlines.
The Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) and the Master of Speech Language Pathology are accredited by Speech Pathology Australia to qualify graduates to practice as entry level speech pathologists. Accreditation is based on evidence that your assessments provide evidence that you have demonstrated entry level competence against all the units and elements of CBOS. The UOS outlines indicate how individual assessments address the CBOS criteria. The CBOS manual is located on the Speech Pathology Documents eLearning site.
University of Sydney Generic Attributes for students
The assessments in each unit of study are designed to address not only your discipline knowledge and understanding but also address the development of generic attributes that go beyond the disciplinary expertise and technical knowledge and encompass the qualities that equip you for your role in society and the world of work. The generic attributes addressed are:
- Scholarship: An attitude or stance towards knowledge: Graduates of the University will have a scholarly attitude to knowledge and understanding. As Scholars, the University’s graduates will be leaders in the production of new knowledge and understanding through inquiry, critique and synthesis. They will be able to apply their knowledge to solve consequential problems and communicate their knowledge confidently and effectively
- Global Citizenship: An attitude or stance towards the world: Graduates of the University will be Global Citizens, who will aspire to contribute to society in a full and meaningful way through their roles as members of local, national and global communities
- Lifelong Learning: An attitude or stance towards themselves: Graduates of the University will be Lifelong Learners committed to and capable of continuous learning and reflection for the purpose of furthering their understanding of the world and their place in it
Each of these overarching attributes can be understood as a combination of five overlapping clusters of skills and abilities developed in disciplinary contexts.
- Research and Inquiry: Graduates of the University will be able to create new knowledge and understanding through the process of research and inquiry
- Information Literacy: Graduates of the University will be able to use information effectively in a range of contexts
- Personal and Intellectual Autonomy: Graduates of the University will be able to work independently and sustainably, in a way that is informed by openness, curiosity and a desire to meet new challenges
- Ethical, Social and Professional Understanding: Graduates of the University will hold personal values and beliefs consistent with their role as responsible members of local, national, international and professional communities
- Communication: Graduates of the University will use and value communication as a tool for negotiating and creating new understanding, interacting with others, and furthering their own learning
The particular abilities and skills that comprise each of these five clusters of abilities, might be interpreted differently in different disciplines or domains.
Non-discriminatory Language Guidelines
Language and the way it is used are major vehicles for the expression of prejudice and discrimination.
It not only reflects and maintains the discriminatory values and practices of our society, but can also be inaccurate and perpetuate false assumptions and stereotypes.
Non-discriminatory language aims to treat all people equitably and fairly, usually by avoiding certain expressions and selecting others already existing in the language.
See the University's guidelines on the use of non discriminatory language.
Special Consideration
The University's policy document outlines the requirements for Special Consideration. But read on..... the following points are critical:
Special Consideration is the mechanism by which you are exempt from the requirements for assessment that all other students must meet. In order to ensure that students are treated fairly and equally you will only be granted Special Consideration if you meet strict conditions for illness or misadventure.
All applications for Special Consideration must be submitted in writing, together with all relevant supporting documentation to Student Central on Cumberland Campus – you cannot fax or email the application – you can post it
Your application will be considered by a Committee within the Discipline, convened to consider all requests for Special Consideration.
You will be informed by email of the outcome of your request.
Important details for all students:
- Special Consideration may entitle you to sit an exam at a later time. Special Consideration will not allow an adjustment of your mark. Please note that if you apply for Special Consideration for an examination, after you have sat the exam, your first exam paper will be destroyed if your application is approved and you will be required to sit a deferred exam
- you must provide the correct unit name, unit number, date/s and activity / task / assessment that you are applying for
- if you do not supply the University’s Professional Practitioners Certificate (PPC), completed, signed and stamped by your doctor (not you), Student Central will ask you to provide one ASAP. Try and remember to take the PPC with you when you visit the doctor
- if the doctor is a relative of yours they cannot complete the PPC for you. It must be completed by an independent physician
- if you are applying for special consideration for another reason, besides being sick, you must provide adequate documentation to support your application
- you should always notify your Lecturer, Supervisor or CE – as early as possible - regardless of whether you have to apply for Special Consideration or not - if you are unable to attend an exam, a lecture, a meeting, clinic, workshop, tutorial or submit an assignment, etc.
- you only have to apply for special consideration for “compulsory / mandatory / barrier” activities designated as such within your unit of study outlines
- students needing an extension for an assignment, should submit the request via email to the lecturer, with appropriate supporting documentation if available or applicable - this must be done prior to the assignment's due date
- you must apply for Special Consideration as soon as possible and it must be within 7 days (including weekends) of a missed exam, lecture (if compulsory attendance), clinic meeting, clinic session, etc.
- If applying for multiple days - you have 7 days from the first date you are applying for, to lodge your application for missed exams, lectures, clinic tasks, etc –
Procedures for GROUP ASSESSMENTS / ASSIGNMENTS:
If part of a group assignment and one or more members cannot complete their assigned component due to illness or misadventure
The member/s that is sick or absent due to misadventure (as a result, causing the group to miss the date for submission / presentation) must ……
- Notify the other members of the group as early as possible and hand over to them, all work completed as at that date
- Keep all communication / documentation between yourself and the group, related to your inability to complete the assigned component. Including attempts to schedule catch-up meetings – email would be best way to track this
- Notify the lecturer as soon as possible and submit a copy of all work completed as at that date
The rest of the group should……
- Keep all communication / documentation between the above and the group, related to that person’s inability to complete their assigned component. Including attempts to schedule catch-up meetings – email would be best way to track this
- Contact the lecturer as soon a possible and discuss submission options – email is best way to track this
- Keep all communication between the lecturer and the group
- Submit all work completed as at the due date (even if not complete – include copies of communication related to it being incomplete) unless negotiated differently with the lecturer
Student Appeals
A student may appeal against a mark or grade for either a single assessment, or the final assessment for a whole unit of study.
Students are encouraged to consult with their unit of study coordinator in the first instance.
Students should identify their grounds for appeal.
A student may also appeal against an administrative decision.
Consult the Faculty website for procedures and make sure you are aware of the deadlines imposed on the process.
Student Feedback on UOS
At the conclusion of each unit of study, you will have an opportunity to provide the Faculty with written feedback about your experiences and learning.
Please use this opportunity responsibly to assist us in continuing course development and improving course delivery.
Students are requested to complete Unit of Study Evaluation (USE) forms. These are done anonymously. The forms are then sealed in an envelope and sent to the University's Institute for Teaching and Learning for analysis.
The Faculty and the Discipline receive in-depth summaries for each unit.
Unit of study coordinators will provide you with information about how student feedback has been incorporated into the unit of study content and delivery.
Student Services
Student Services provides students with a range of academic and personal support services, such as:
- language and learning skills tuition
- the peer-tutor register
- an advisory service to international students
- services for students with disabilities
- confidential counselling
Further information is available on the FHS website.
Timetables and Clashes
Students will usually be able to access their personal timetable the week before semester starts.
However, you can look up MyUni for lecture times for each of your units much earlier than this. This should enable you to know most of the details of your timetable for the coming semester.
Students are advised that they should not enrol in units for which there will be timetable clash. This may occur if you are non-standard and enrolling in units from different years.
Students who have timetable clashes will not be able to access their timetable on MyUni.
Where to get Course Information
The Faculty of Health Sciences Handbook contains essential information on courses, policies and procedures.