Requirements for all degrees
Satisfaction of requirements as determined by academic staff, including attendance, communicated to students through the Sydney College of the Arts Handbook, unit of study outlines, other written notifications and/or verbally through tutorials or seminars. All requirements must be met in order to be eligible for an assessment.
Assessment criteria for all degrees
The following criteria will be assessable from a student’s attendance, participation and responsiveness to the unit of study and to tutorial direction, their essays, studio work and other unit of study work, and from tutorial and seminar team discussion. They are applicable to studio-based learning and to theory units of study.
1. Competence
The development and application of practical and intellectual competency and skills appropriate to the unit of study.
2. Development
Students are expected to develop the ability to initiate and realise their own objectives for studio practice and theory work within the requirements of the unit of study and their developing knowledge of its historical and theoretical context. Students are expected to improve their abilities, competency and understanding through a semester, and in successive semesters.
3. Critical Awareness
Students are expected to develop a critical awareness and knowledge of the unit of study and the ability to objectively evaluate their own work, select appropriate methods and materials and to formulate and evaluate ideas/methods.
4. Commitment
Commitment and self-motivation are important to a student’s successful study in the unit of study. The level of commitment to study in the academic program is reflected in:
the development of self motivation applied to individual, group or assignment-based work;
the degree of participation in all units of study including group work, project submissions, essays and discussions;
the development of a consistent work pattern; and
the regularity and punctuality of attendance and submissions.
5. Innovation
Innovative and imaginative thinking, appropriate to the unit of study, is a measure of the quality of ideas underlying a student’s work and of development in their studies.
Late Submissions: Special Considerations and Essay and Project Extensions
Essay and Project extensions
Extensions will only be granted in serious circumstances. This is usually for illness and exceptional unforeseen circumstances occurring in the week prior to the due date.
Application for an extension must be submitted to lecturing staff on an official SCA form (available from Student Administration) before the due date of the essay.
Extensions are given for a week only (five working days) after the due date, except in very exceptional circumstances.
Essays/projects submitted after the extension date and late essays/projects submitted without extensions will have one mark deducted from the original mark for each working day that the essay/project is late.
Essays/projects submitted after two weeks (ten working days) from the extension or due date will be marked on a “pass” or “fail” basis and without comments.
Essays/projects submitted after three weeks (fifteen working days) from the extension or due date will not be assessed and will receive an Absent Fail grade.
Special Consideration due to illness or misadventure
Students who feel that their academic performance will be adversely affected by serious illness or misadventure can seek special consideration. Although it is impossible to outline in advance all the circumstances that would lead to decisions to allow latitude in submitting assignments or attending assessment reviews, it should be noted that only well-attested serious illness or misadventure during a semester or occurring at the time of assessment will warrant special consideration. Occasional brief or trivial illness would not normally be regarded as sufficient to explain an absence or a poor performance. The exact nature of misadventure will vary, but serious illness or death of a close family member, particularly at the time of assessment, would clearly warrant consideration.
Applying for Special Consideration
Students requesting Special Consideration should be given the Application for Special Consideration Due to Serious Illness or Misadventure form to complete. Students can collect the form from the Student Administration Office or download from http://www.usyd.edu.au/studentcentre/exams/spec_con.shtml. This form should be submitted to the student administration as soon as practicable and certainly within one week from the end of the period for which consideration is sought.
When the form is complete students should present the original application with a completed Professional Practitioners Certificate, or in the case of misadventure, with other appropriate documentation to Student Administration.
The Professional Practitioner Certificate is supplied with the special consideration form and should be completed by a registered medical practitioner, or counsellor for a student whose work during a teaching period or whose performance in an assessment task, including examinations, has been affected by illness or misadventure. Certificates signed by family members are not acceptable.
Students will be notified via their University emails of the decision on the application within ten working days after lodgement of the application.
Academic Honesty
Acknowledgement Of Sources
Essays should be accompanied by appropriate documentation in the form of footnotes and a bibliography, which acknowledge all sources and references used in the development of your argument. This includes:
a) The use of quotation marks and specific referencing for all quotes
b) Citation of the source of all arguments
c) Acknowledgement of your reference when closely paraphrasing another person’s work
Plagiarism
The University takes plagiarism very seriously. It is your responsibility to avoid any suggestion that plagiarism may have taken place. Please refer to the important guidelines for acknowledgement of sources outlined in Sydney College of the Arts: Guidelines For the Preparation and Presentation of Academic Writing (available for purchase in Student Administration and on the University Website) and to the SCA handbook. The University of Sydney Academic Board resolution: Academic Honesty in Coursework can also be viewed on the university’s intranet at http://www.usyd.edu.au/policy.
A university workshop – Quoting, Summarising and Paraphrasing Evidence (3hrs) is offered regularly free of charge by the Learning Centre on main campus. You are encouraged to attend if you would like help with appropriate referencing. The unit helps students to understand and use evidence for their own specific writing purposes, to identify differences between quoting and reporting and to practice language strategies to help avoid plagiarism.
You may also consult the relevant section on the WriteSite.