Special Consideration

If your studies have, or will, suffer because of a serious illness or misadventure, you may ask your Faculty to give you Special Consideration. An outline of the procedures along with yours, the Faculty’s and the University’s responsibilities can be found on the Student Centre website.

Broadly speaking, serious illness is one, which prohibits you from working at your normal level for more than one week. ‘Misadventure’ refers to situations, which are out of your control such as injury to yourself or the serious illness of a family member. Special consideration is used in one-off situations. If you are subject to a long-term disability, illness or injury which affects your ability to complete work or attend classes, please contact Disability Services to find out how they can help you.

Applying for Special Consideration

You submit a Special Consideration form. The form is available from your Faculty Office, or from the Student Centre (Carslaw), or from the Counselling Services. The form explains what information is needed and where to lodge it. It may also be downloaded from the Student Centre website.

Special Consideration Policy

The Counselling Service is committed to providing psychological care with equity of access and opportunity for all students of the University. We aim to assist local students manage and respond to a variety of adverse experiences that can occur in the course of student life. The International Student Support Unit (ISSU) provides similar support to all international students (phone 93514749).

All Counsellors at the University of Sydney Counselling Service are Registered Psychologists. As registered Health Professionals, standards of professional practice require that Professional Practitioner Certificates are issued on the grounds of “misadventure” only when:

The presenting situation meets the criteria for “misadventure” AND

1. Students are clients of the Counselling Service, and are working with the service to acquire the skills to help them achieve their personal and academic goals.

2. Students not known to the Counselling Service who experience a serious incident of a private and confidential nature which has only recently occurred and who are able to supply supporting documentation to verify their situation. Otherwise, supporting documentation can be attached to a Statutory Declaration form if required.

If a registered medical practitioner or counsellor external to the University is aware of your circumstances they may be able to assist with the provision of Professional Practitioner Certificates.

Please note:
“Misadventure” refers only to serious and exceptional situations that are out of your control (for example: could not have been either predicted or planned around). There are many adverse events such as the breakdown of a relationship, financial concerns or work or family commitments, which, while very distressing, may not fulfil the criteria for misadventure. If you are experiencing life stressors such as these, you might be able to negotiate informal extensions for assessment tasks with tutors or lecturers.

If you have experienced a difficult or adverse situation that does not meet the Academic Board University of Sydney criteria for Misadventure Special Consideration, the Counsellors cannot issue a Professional Practitioner Certificate. Counsellors can offer psychological assistance to help you manage and cope with the situation that may have interfered with your academic work.

Please note you may not need to obtain a Professional Practitioner Certificate:
In cases of loss or bereavement:

• Faculties will generally accept a copy of a death notice or certificate as sufficient documentation should you require special consideration for an assessment task.
• Please feel most welcome to attend an appointment at the Counselling Service if you would like emotional and psychological support to assist you in coping with your loss.

For cases of misadventure due to criminal/legal events:

• Faculties will generally accept police reports in these circumstances.
• Please feel most welcome to attend an appointment at the Counselling Service if you would like emotional and psychological support to assist with managing your experience.

University Policy

Academic Board Resolution: Assessment and Examination of Coursework 9 December 2004

The University policy on Special Consideration is contained in the Academic Board Resolutions: Assessment and Examination of Coursework document. An excerpt is provided below for your information. We would especially highlight points 5.4.1.6 and 5.4.1.7 regarding the responsibilities of students to seek requests for extensions for assessment tasks PRIOR to their due date.

Academic Board Resolution: Assessment and Examination of Coursework 9 December 2004 p. 25

5.4 Serious illness or misadventure
5.4.1 It should be noted that only well-attested serious illness or misadventure during a semester or occurring at the time of an examination will warrant special consideration for academic performance. Occasional brief or trivial illness would not normally be regarded as sufficient to explain an absence or a poor performance and students are discouraged from submitting certificates for absences totalling less than one week, although frequently recurrent short absences would need documentation. While it is important to ask for a medical certificate for serious illness of longer than a few days duration at the time of the first visit, there is no need to submit it unless the illness becomes prolonged or further frequent absences are required. The exact nature of misadventure will vary, but serious illness or death of a close family member, particularly at the time of the examinations, would clearly warrant consideration.

Special Consideration will NOT be given in the following instances:

5.4.1.1 occasional brief or trivial illness of a one or two week duration that occur one week or more before an assessment is due or an examination undertaken;

5.4.1.2 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;

5.4.1.3 employment where the request for special consideration is made less than four weeks
before the date of the assessment;

5.4.1.4 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);

5.4.1.5 adequate standards of documentation and processes have not been met;

5.4.1.6 requests for extensions for assignments made after the assignment is due or an assessment has taken place (except where the circumstances prevented earlier provision; no special consideration requests shall be processed if submitted more than one week after the assessment);

5.4.1.7 the supporting documentation post-dates the period for which special consideration was sought;

5.4.1.8 the performance of the student was equivalent or superior to that demonstrated in other assessments in the unit of study; and they 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;

5.4.1.9 computer-related problems, except where a police report is provided indicating that
burglary or calamity has resulted in the loss of both 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).

5.4.1.10 Jury Service, Military Service, National Sporting, religious or cultural commitments and other unforeseen events are not dealt with under this policy as they are not instances of illness or misadventure. A separate policy regarding such matters is currently under development.

Students who, because of serious illness or misadventure, are prevented from attending classes for prolonged periods should seek an interview with the relevant Sub-Dean. 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 enrolments. Assistance can be sought from the International Office.

Confidentiality

The Counsellor cannot give any information about you to your Faculty (or anyone else) without your written consent. Other staff of the University cannot find out what you said to the Counsellor, or how the Counsellor assessed your situation, or even whether you have been to counselling, unless you decide to disclose these matters. The University Counselling Service adheres to standard professional guidelines on confidentiality, which direct that confidentiality may be breached if a person appears to be a danger to themselves or someone else.

So ... talk to a Counsellor if you are having study problems preferably before you get into strife with your Faculty!

The role of the Counsellor in Show Cause:

If you do not make 'satisfactory progress' you will be asked to Show Cause. This is where your Faculty has determined that you have not made adequate progress and asks you to show why you should be permitted to re-enrol for the next semester. Faculties determine 'Show Cause' submissions made by students. This can be a stressful situation. You will be asked to explain why you have not made satisfactory progress and what steps you will take to rectify the situation. SRC runs workshops and gives advice on Show Cause.

Clarifying exactly where things went wrong isn’t always easy. For example, a particular issue may feel unmanageable, or, perhaps you understand the issue but were too embarrassed to ask for help or felt you should have been able to cope alone. If this is the case, consider speaking with a Counsellor. The role of the Counselling Service in Show Cause is to provide documentation if appropriate i.e. they have access to information sufficient for making an informed professional opinion and or they can help the student address any issue which has affected the students ability to work. Specifically, the Counsellor's may:

1. Help students clarify the issues. This may involve discussion of what information the student could be submitting. Counsellors may comment on letters or submissions prepared by students;
2. Give information about how to take steps to address the reasons your ability to study was affected
3. Refer to the appropriate service e.g., SRC, SUPRA, the Student Centre, and Faculty staff;
4. Provide counselling for particular issues, where necessary.
5. Provide a form, which indicates that the student has had an attendance at the counselling service for advice.
6. Provide a professional opinion for those who will be making the decision on the student's application, where appropriate.

Student Appeals

The Students Appeals body determines appeals of Faculty decisions to exclude students. SRC or SUPRA may have an advocacy role for the student.

The Secretariat and Student Affairs website provides information on Students at Risk, Plagiarism, Student Discipline and Student appeals against academic decisions - http://www.usyd.edu.au/secretariat/students/