Enrolment Policy

Fact box

Policy owner: Chair, Quality Assurance Committee
Policy category: Academic: Academic Administration
Policy status: Approved
Approval body: Academic Board
Endorsement body: Quality Assurance Committee
Related policies:
- Admissions Policy
- Education Agent Management Policy
Last amended: 21st June 2024
Relevant HESF: Part A, 1, 2

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to outline subject or unit enrolment guidelines at Alphacrucis University College (AC) including student processes and minimum class sizes.

Scope

All HE and VET courses
All campuses

Policy

It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the specific requirements of the course for which they apply and/or in which they are enrolled and to select subjects or units that satisfy these requirements.

To help students in this process AC arranges an enrolment period (either on campus or online) prior to commencement of each semester, during which time:

students are able to discuss their choices with Student Experience, State Directors and/or faculty;
students complete their enrolment through AC’s Student Gateway, selecting the subjects or units they will be undertaking during the next semester (making sure that they follow the course sequence including the pre-requisites, major/minor requirements as outlined in degree’s governing stipulations and Course Handbooks).

For the purpose of enrolment:

a student, who is a candidate for an award, shall be regarded as full-time or part-time;
for HE courses, where a domestic student is enrolled in 30 or more credit points in a semester period, the candidate shall be designated as a full-time student; otherwise they shall be designated part-time. International students are required to maintain enrolment at 40 credit points per semester, except where a reduced study load has been formally approved.

Minimum Class Enrolment

AC will endeavour to run all subjects, units and courses as advertised. However, provision of particular subjects, units or courses is dependent on resources and staff being available. In this case:

Should enrolments in a subject, irrespective of delivery mode, fall below 10 students it will be subject to review and may be cancelled.
In the case of a subject cancellation, either AC Refund Policies will assure student fee return, or students may take up the offer of an alternative subject (as directed by the Program Director (or equivalent)).
Notwithstanding this requirement for minimum class enrolment, subjects should be timetabled to enable combined delivery (streaming lectures to multiple locations) wherever possible. This could involve mixed mode delivery which is a combination of streamed or pre-recorded lectures (where available) with live/synchronous tutorials.
If a subject is being co-delivered across two AQF levels, overall enrolments must meet or exceed the minimum.
Only after following the procedures below, a class below this minimum enrolment number may be delivered when:
- It is essential for student course progression; or
- No other course was available for the student in the academic period; or
- The class has broader strategic value which can be demonstrated; or
- The relevant course/location is in a development phase; and
- Every effort has been taken to ensure the sustainable use of faculty/sessional time.

Auditing, non-award and miscellaneous subject enrolment

Alternative subject enrolments at AC may take the following forms:

"Audit students” are those who attend classes with no obligation to participate in the assessment. No credit points are awarded for audited subjects and no FEE-Help is available.
"Non-award subject" is part of a “non-award course” (e.g. an enabling course, preparatory course) which does not lead to a formal award but may be counted as credit towards an award course in some cases. The student is not provided with FEE-Help.

Withdrawal from a subject enrolment

Withdrawal of a subject enrolment shall:

be permitted prior to or on census date without academic penalty or financial penalty. A withdrawal is not listed on a student's formal transcript.

Withdrawal of a subject enrolment after the census date:

will attract the academic penalty of a Withdrawal Fail ("WF") grade or Not Yet Competent ("NYC") grade;
will attract a financial penalty; usually the full tuition fee;
unless a "Late Withdrawal" due to Special Circumstances has been approved via the Student Affairs Committee.

A Late Withdrawal (LW) will not be listed on a student's formal transcript as an LW. Special circumstances are those that are:

beyond the student's control; and
did not make their full impact on the student until or after the census date; and
were such that it made it impracticable for the student to complete their subject(s) or unit(s) requirements.

Please note, special circumstances do not include a lack of knowledge or understanding of the census dates or AC's enrolment and withdrawal processes. Census date information is available on the AC website. Also, if a student withdraws from a subject or unit after the census date because they have changed their mind about studying, the student will attract the academic penalty and is not eligible for a refund of fees.

Responsible for implementation

Registry

Key stakeholders

All staff and students

Procedures

Enrolment Procedure

Subject or unit enrolment occurs under the direction of the Student Experience Department through the following:

six to eight weeks before the commencement of the term the Student Experience Department will make available all enrolment documents compiled from the award timetables;
students will be informed that enrolments are open and/or of a specific enrolment period;
students are usually required to enrol two weeks before the commencement of term and/or intensive;
enrolments are entered into the Student Management System checking that the student has satisfied the pre-requisite requirements and/or has not received exemption for that subject or unit;
for HE, a student cannot be enrolled in the same subject a third time (see Exclusion from Subject or Course Policy).

Students wanting to change their enrolment in a specific subject after enrolment must submit an Amend Enrolment form request online via the Student Gateway.

Enrolment Amendment requests submitted on or before the relevant census date will result in the subject/unit being removed from the student’s academic record. In cases where upfront tuition fees for the subject(s)/unit(s) in question had already been paid, students may apply for a refund in accordance with AC’s Refund Policy.
Enrolment Amendment requests submitted after the relevant census date but before the subject/unit end date will result in a WF/NYC on the student’s academic record.

Procedure for a Late Withdrawal from a subject

To apply for a Late Withdrawal based on special circumstances, a student must submit a Student Affairs Committee Application and include documentation which satisfies the Special Circumstances criteria. Applications without supporting documentation will not be considered. If approved the student can apply for a refund in accordance with AC’s Refund Policy. If the application was made on or before the relevant teaching period’s end date and is rejected, the student will receive a WF or NYC grade on their transcript and will not be eligible for a refund. However, if the application was made after the relevant teaching period’s end date and is rejected, the subject(s)’/unit(s)’ final grade displayed on the student’s transcript will remain unchanged and they will not be eligible for a refund. Student complaints regarding Late Withdrawal decisions are processed using the AC grievance and appeals procedures.

Procedure for approval for class delivery below minimum enrolment numbers

To obtain approval to deliver a class below minimum enrolment numbers, the following procedures must be implemented:

The Program Director (or equivalent) has consulted with the relevant State Director and has approval of the Head of School and/or Deputy Vice President Faculty; and
The Program Director (or equivalent) and/or Faculty has informed the Vice President Operations