Awards and Academic Advice Policy

1. Purpose

To ensure that awards issued to students meet the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) for qualifications and statements of attainment and that awards outside of the AQF and official academic advice are provided in accordance with CIT requirements.

2. Scope

This policy covers all students who have successfully completed all or part of the requirements of a CIT or nationally accredited or recognised program.

3. Principles

3.1 CIT will issue Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) qualifications and statements of attainment in accordance with the requirements of the AQF and ensure compliance with national regulations under Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA).

3.2 CIT Student Records and Graduation, under the direction of the Deputy Chief Executive, are responsible for organising the issuing of all awards including official academic advice that fall outside the AQF such as competency cards, specialisation statements, and other advice for a particular licensing purpose or a collaborative award.

3.3 A CIT Award will be issued to students within 30 days of completion at no cost, unless alternative arrangements have been made. A student is considered to have completed, when a final positive grade is entered on Banner, except Australian Apprentices who are considered complete after the final sign-off is received from the employer.

3.4 Where a superseded training package qualification or VET accredited course falls outside the allowed timeframe, the student will be assessed against the current qualification and transferred into the current qualification unless there is a demonstrable disadvantage to the student, in which case the General Manager Student and Academic Services may approve a student to graduate from the superseded qualification in accordance with ASQA guidelines.

3.5 Where a higher education qualification expires, the student will be assessed against the current qualification and must be transferred into the replacement qualification or else supported to complete a similar qualification at another higher education provider in accordance with TEQSA  Higher Education Threshold Standards.

3.6 CIT will issue Awards and official academic advice posthumously at the request of the deceased student’s Executor, or where no will exists at the request of two immediate family members, or as approved by the Director, CIT Education Services.

3.7 An Award or official academic advice will only be issued to a student who has a USI recorded in the CIT student administration system (Banner) unless the qualification was completed prior to 31 December 2014 or a USI exemption is in place.

3.8 Students who have completed a program will be issued with an Award which identifies that the requirements of the qualification have been completed, at no cost.

3.9 Students who have completed a training program or short course will receive official academic advice at no cost.

3.10 Students who have completed a 'promoted subset of a qualification' will receive official academic advice showing the competencies and modules/units the student has completed against the name of the qualification in which the subset exists. It will not identify whether all the competencies promoted in the subset have been completed.

3.11 Where a qualification description stipulates a defined specialisation, students who have completed these competencies will be issued with a specialisation statement.

3.12 Students completing a ‘promoted subset of a qualification’ must complete a form or contact CIT Student Records & Graduation to initiate the assessment and production of an academic transcript. This request may also be made on behalf of the student from the teaching area.  An academic transcript will be issued at no cost if the teaching College has provided prior information to CIT Student Records & Graduation that this subset has been promoted together.

3.13 Students may also request official academic advice at any time. This may be requested in writing, by telephone or by submitting the online Smartform. All official academic advice will be derived from a report from Banner. Where a Banner report is unavailable the advice will be signed by the Chief Executive Officer or Executive Director, Education and Training Services.

3.14 A qualification of the same name can be issued more than once provided the national identifier is different or a student completes more than one specialisation attached to a qualification.

3.15 A replacement award will only be issued if the recipient provides a statutory declaration that the original has genuinely been lost or destroyed, because the Award has been damaged, the name on the Award is incorrect, or if the recipient provides evidence that they have legally changed their name.

3.16 A replacement Award will not be issued for a short course or training program that was originally awarded prior to 2014, however students will receive a Statement of Attainment or Record of Results if eligible.

3.17 A fee will be charged for replacement of Awards and Academic Transcripts. Refer to website.

3.18 CIT reserves the right to revoke any AQF qualifications, including Awards and/or Official Academic Advice, which were erroneously issued by CIT or where the student was subsequently found to have fraudulently achieved the qualification.

3.19 A student is entitled to seek a review by the ACT Administrative Appeals Tribunal of the Chief Executive Officer’s decision not to issue an Award.

3.20 Academic advice including an award will not be issued for a VET program achieved through 100% Credit Transfer from another RTO unless approved by the General Manager, Student and Academic Services. (note: Credit transfer historically included National Recognition)

3.21 In exceptional circumstances a collaborative award may be developed, but requires the explicit approval of the CIT Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

4. Documentation

Australian Qualifications Framework Second Edition January 2013

Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)

Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015

Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015

CIT Celebration of Graduation

5. Definitions

All terminology used in this policy is consistent with definitions in the CIT Definitions of Terms.

6. Policy Contact Officer

For more information regarding this policy contact Director, Education Services.

Contact CIT Student Services on (02) 6207 3188 or email infoline@cit.edu.au.

7. Procedures

This policy is implemented through the associated procedures. Authority to make changes to the procedures rests with the policy owner.