• Section 1 - Purpose and Context
• Section 2 - Definitions
• Section 3 - Policy Statement
• Part A - Graduation
• Conceded Pass Grade
• Applying to Graduate
• Deferring Graduation
• In Absentia Graduation
• Award of Honours
• Appeal Against Level of Honours
• Part B - Academic Excellence
• Graduation with Distinction
• Dean's Medal
• Criteria for Award of Dean's Medal
• Method of Selection
• The Medal
• Method of Award
• University Medal
• Dean's Merit List
• Criteria for Recognition on the Dean's Merit List
• Method of Selection
• Method of Recognition
• Part C - Cumulative Grade Point Average
• Calculation
• Table 1
• Part D - Replacement Testamur
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Section 5 - Guidelines

Section 1 - Purpose and Context

(1) This policy covers matters relating to student graduation.

Section 2 - Definitions

(2) Nil.

Section 3 - Policy Statement

Part A - Graduation

Conceded Pass Grade

(3) Only two Conceded Passes are permitted in any undergraduate award. Conceded Passes are not permitted in any postgraduate coursework award. (Note: the use of the conceded pass grade was discontinued from 1 January 2006, but units completed in 2005 or earlier may have conceded passes).

Applying to Graduate

(4) All undergraduate and postgraduate students must apply to graduate during the last session of their course of study as defined by the relevant rules of the course in which they are enrolled. The deadlines for submission of applications to graduate will be published on the Web for each session. Students must complete the appropriate form available from a Student Centre.

(5) This form must be lodged by the published date at the Student Centre. A receipt will be issued via the Student email account on a weekly basis for the month before the closing date.

(6) Students are reminded that graduation is not an automatic process. Failure to lodge a form or failure to pay any fees or charges owing may result in the graduand not graduating at the next available round of graduation ceremonies.

Deferring Graduation

(7) Students eligible to graduate may defer their graduation ceremony for up to one year.

In Absentia Graduation

(8) Students eligible to graduate may choose to graduate 'in absentia'. Students who elect to graduate 'in absentia' are not permitted to participate in any future ceremony as a 'presentee' for that award.

Award of Honours

(9) The classes of Honours which may be awarded to a candidate who has completed satisfactorily the requirements of a bachelor honours degree shall be:

(10) a. Honours Class I

(11) The requirements will be specified by the College offering the degree.

Appeal Against Level of Honours

(12) See Honours in Bachelor Awards Policy .

Part B - Academic Excellence

Graduation with Distinction

(13) The University of Western Sydney chooses to acknowledge academic excellence in coursework awards.

(14) Graduands may graduate with distinction from undergraduate pass degrees and postgraduate coursework masters degrees (or graduate diploma where no extension to a masters coursework award is available).

(15) Excellence will be measured by Grade Point Average (GPA) calculated from a graduand's performance in the units undertaken while enrolled in the award. See Part C Cumulative Grade Point Average for further information about how the GPA is calculated.

(16) College Education Assessment and Progression Committee will recommend to Academic Senate that those students who have achieved a GPA of 6.000 or above should be awarded their degree "With Distinction".

(17) The Academic Registrar has the authority to determine the eligibility of students to graduate under former UWS Member Rules, subject to this constraint, and the approved policy on graduation. Nothing in this policy statement should act to undermine the discretion of the Academic Registrar to deal with individual matters that present as extraordinary cases of hardship or special circumstances outside the terms of this statement and according to law.

Dean's Medal

(18) The Dean's medal will be awarded yearly to students eligible for awards of ordinary bachelors degrees of three years or four years full-time (or part-time equivalent) duration, or course work masters degrees of one or more years fulltime (or part-time equivalent) duration.

(19) Dean's Medals are not awarded to students taking Bachelors (Honours) degrees. Students who qualify for an honours degree through taking an embedded honours program are not eligible for the Deans Medal.

(20) Students enrolled for double degrees and eligible for awards of the two degrees can be awarded the Dean's Medal for both degrees.

Criteria for Award of Dean's Medal

(21) The following criteria will be applied once per calendar year for the total number of eligible graduating students, in each of the undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts, and who have a cumulative GPA.

(22) To be eligible, as an undergraduate, the student must be a graduand:

(23) a. of a three or four year undergraduate course offered by the College; and

(24) To be eligible, as a postgraduate, the student must be a graduand:

(25) a. of a one to two year postgraduate course work degree offered by the College; and

Method of Selection

(26) At the end of each calendar year, the relevant yearly undergraduate and postgraduate graduation cohorts will be finalised by the Office of the Academic Registrar (OAR) Assessment and Graduation Unit, and two lists will be generated by OAR for each College, showing the top 2% of the relevant undergraduate graduands and the top 2% of the relevant postgraduate graduands based on their GPA.

The Medal

(27) Each medal will be engraved "for Academic Excellence" with the student's name and year of award.

(28) The award of the Dean's Medal will be recorded on the student's academic transcript.

Method of Award

(29) The Executive Dean will write to each student advising they have been awarded the Dean's Medal and that it will be presented at a yearly awards ceremony organised by the College.

University Medal

(30) To be eligible for the University Medal, a candidate must have achieved:

(31) a. Honours Class 1, requiring a cumulative GPA of 6.000 or greater in the units that form the honours degree component of the course; and

(32) Where the honours degree candidate has obtained their ordinary degree at another institution, the candidate's academic transcript will be reviewed by the College Education Assessment and Progression Committee. If the Committee determines that the standard achieved is the equivalent of the University's cumulative GPA of 6.000 or greater, the candidate will be deemed to be eligible.

(33) Recommendations, endorsed by the Executive Dean, and by the College Education Assessment and Progression Committee are received in the Assessment and Graduation Unit and are referred to the Academic Senate for approval.

(34) All documentation relating to recommendations, including College Education Assessment and Progression Committee minutes, must be accompanied by an endorsement from the Executive Dean. The Assessment and Graduation Unit must receive documentation no later than 6 weeks prior to a graduation round for approval by Academic Senate.

Dean's Merit List

(35) The Dean's Merit list will be compiled at the end of each academic year once final grades have been processed. The merit list will contain students who satisfy the following criteria.

Criteria for Recognition on the Dean's Merit List

(36) To be eligible, the student must be enrolled in a course offered by the College.

(37) To be eligible, the student must have completed at least four units or 40 credit points in the current academic year.

(38) Students must be within the top 10% of their overall College cohort but have a GPA of not less than 6.000.

Method of Selection

(39) Once final grades are entered, students' grade point average for the current academic year will be calculated.

(40) The Executive Dean's Unit will generate a list of all students who fall within the top 10% of their course cohort.

Method of Recognition

(41) Students identified as per the above criteria will be sent a letter from the Executive Dean recognising their outstanding achievement.

(42) Letters will be sent within three weeks of grades being finalised.

Part C - Cumulative Grade Point Average

(43) The University of Western Sydney uses a Cumulative Grade Point average (GPA) to measure the academic performance of individual students, in order to acknowledge excellence.

(44) The cumulative GPA will be calculated over the duration of a student's enrolment in a course.

(45) The cumulative GPA is reported on a student's Results Notice at the end of each teaching session and recorded on the Student Record System.

Calculation

(46) Each final Grade is awarded a numerical value as shown in Table 1 below:

Table 1

(47) The following will not be counted in the calculation of GPA:

(48) a. A grade of Satisfactory (S)

(49) Where a student has repeated a unit, both grades will be counted towards the grade point average, and both results will remain on the official academic transcript.

(50) The formula for calculating the GPA is:

(51) The elements of the above GPA formula are:

(52) a. Grade points for specific unit refers to the numerical value allocated to particular grades (e.g. H = 7 see table above);

(53) For example, a student takes four units. Three were 10 credit point units and the student achieved grades worth 7, 6 and 5. One was a 40 credit point unit and the student achieved a grade worth 7. The GPA was worked out as follows:

Part D - Replacement Testamur

(54) Where an original testamur has been lost, damaged or destroyed, or where the recipient's name has changed, a replacement testamur may be issued, if one is requested in a written application. The written application for the replacement, together with appropriate accompanying documentation, must meet the requirements specified in the Associated Information, " Replacement Testamur - Application Details ."

(55) The testamur will indicate it is a replacement by inclusion of the following:

(56) A fee will be charged to cover administrative and certified postage costs associated with providing the replacement testamur.

(57) A graduate issued with a new testamur as a result of a change of name will have all key administrative records held by the University amended to reflect the new name.

Section 4 - Procedures

(58) Nil.

Section 5 - Guidelines

(59) Nil.