• Section 1 - Rationale and Scope
• Rationale and Scope
• Section 2 - Principles
• Guiding factors
• Section 3 - Guidelines

Section 1 - Rationale and Scope

Rationale and Scope

(1) Schools disseminate information on unit delivery modes — on-campus (ON) and off-campus (OFF) — based on an assessment of known and assumed factors such as student demand, course accreditation requirements, international student cohort (who must study in on-campus mode), course rules and the University's strategic directions.

(2) However, Schools are subject to the vagaries of student intentions that are not fully known until after the bulk of enrolment activity has finished. It is not until then that Heads of School and Unit Coordinators have accurate data on how many students have enrolled in a unit and in which mode. It is at this point that the School can judge the benefits and disadvantages of closing a unit with low enrolment in one mode and offering it only in the other to bring the total unit enrolment to one that is more cost-effective.

(3) These Guidelines aim to provide advice on the factors and procedures to be undertaken when changing a unit that was scheduled to be offered in two modes to delivery in only one mode.

Section 2 - Principles

Guiding factors

(4) In making a decision to change the delivery mode of a unit after the commencement of the enrolment period, a Head of School in conjunction with the Unit Coordinator should consider the impact of any decision on the following:

1. the cost to the University of maintaining two delivery modes with very few students in one mode;
2. professional registration and/or statutory accreditation issues with students completing units in off- campus mode;
3. the investment made by on-campus students, most of whom relocate to Armidale for ON-campus study;
4. potential impact on scholarship and early-entry students;
5. potential impact on international students due to statutory limits on the amount of OFF-campus mode;
6. potential impact on students' graduation timelines if their remaining enrolment is affected, and
7. the potential impact on any University Partnership arrangements.

Restricted changes

(5) A unit that is a core/mandatory requirement in any course may not be changed to ON mode only. Only elective units may be changed to ON mode only.

(6) Units with mandatory intensive schools are only to be changed from ON to OFF mode if the intensive school is already scheduled during the teaching period. This is to ensure that ON students are not required to incur additional costs by staying for the vacation or inability to gain paid vacation work. Applications to move an intensive school to during the teaching period should be considered only in exceptional circumstances to avoid encumbering the entire unit enrolment in significant changes. This restriction may be relaxed if all ON students volunteer to attend an intensive school during the vacation but students must not be placed under any duress to volunteer.

Section 3 - Guidelines

Changing to OFF mode only

(7) Units offered in dual mode that have an ON enrolment of fewer than six students may be considered for changing to OFF mode only, provided that such change meets statutory requirements on the amount of OFF campus mode for any international students.

(8) The last date for seeking a change to OFF mode only is the final working day of the second week of the teaching period.

(9) Approval must be sought by the Unit Coordinator from the Head of School and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) to change a unit to OFF mode only. The School is required to contact all ON students and consult with them — ideally obtaining their consent if possible but obtaining their views and taking these into account before making a decision.

(10) If there are any international students enrolled in the ON mode, consultation must take place with the English Language Centre and UNE International to ensure statutory compliance is maintained.

(11) Before a decision is made, appropriate liaison is to take place to ensure that sufficient teaching material is readily available for immediate distribution — any delay in availability must be a significant factor in whether to change the unit mode.

(12) The School is required to negotiate some form of compensatory tutorial support for ON students who have been transferred in that unit to the OFF mode of study.

Changing to ON mode only

(13) Units offered in dual mode that have an OFF enrolment of fewer than six students may be considered for changing to on-campus mode only.

(14) The last date for seeking a change to ON mode only is two weeks before the start of the teaching period (this is to minimise any costs arising from the cancellation of pre-paid travel costs to an intensive school and to ensure that OFF students have access to alternative enrolments).

(15) Consent must be sought from the Head of School and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) to change a unit to the ON mode only.

(16) The School is required to contact all OFF mode students and consult with them to check the effect of the change on the anticipated graduation timeline and to counsel the students on alternative choices.

(17) In general, any OFF mode student whose graduation timeline is adversely affected should mean that the unit is not changed. However, this can be relaxed where the anticipated graduation timeline is sufficiently long to allow the changed unit to be completed in a later year.

(18) Generous consideration should be given to allowing OFF mode students Permission to Enrol Elsewhere (PTEE) in alternative units (noting, however, that the timelines for such applications will be inevitably tight).

Notification

(19) After following the guidelines in clauses 7 -18, the School notifies the Academic Program Committee (APC) of the recommendation to either remove an OFF or ON mode of a unit offering.

(20) After approval has been granted from APC, the School notifies the cohort of students of the change.

(21) After approval has been granted from APC, Information Management notifies Enrolment and Progression of the change. Enrolment and Progression liaises with the School as to the enrolment variation required for the cohort of students.