Awards Policy

1. Purpose

To ensure that:

• awards issued to students meet the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) for qualifications and statements of attainment and
• official academic advice and awards outside of the AQF 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 When issuing AQF qualifications and statements of attainment, CIT will comply with all requirements and regulations of:

1. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
2. Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and
3. Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA)

3.2 CIT Education Services are responsible for issuing all awards and official academic advice on behalf of CIT, including non-AQF awards such as competency cards, specialisation statements, trade papers and other advice for particular licensing purposes.

3.3 The student must have their Unique Student Identifier (USI) recorded in the CIT student administration system (Banner) prior to the issuance of any VET qualification or certification, unless a USI exemption is in place.

3.4 Official academic advice, derived from a Banner report, may be sought at any time. Where a Banner report is unavailable the advice will be compiled on a record of results and signed by the Chief Executive Officer or Executive Director, Education and Training Services.

3.5 Students may use student self-service at any time to see an unofficial transcript of their studies and view their progress.

3.6 Once recorded on the CIT Student Information Management System (Banner) that a student has completed an AQF qualification, a CIT Testamur will be issued within 30 days. This may take longer however, if additional sign-off is required, such as employer sign-off for Australian Apprentices.

3.7 Issuing of certification:

1. All Testamurs, Statements of Attainment and other certification will be issued electronically through the secure platform, My eQuals.
2. Hard copy certification will be provided on request.
3. Higher education programs will be issued automatically both electronically and with a hard copy.
4. Hard copies of testamurs or transcripts for any other group must be approved by Director, CIT Education Services.

3.8 Superseded qualifications:

1. Issuance of a superseded training package qualification or VET accredited course that has been removed from CIT scope of registration may be approved by the Director, Education Services in accordance with ASQA Guidelines.
2. Where a student has completed a superseded qualification following a change to completions, the qualification may be issued if the qualification packaging rules had been met prior to its removal from CIT scope.

3.9 Replacement awards:

1. A print copy of an award will be replaced if the original document has been lost, destroyed or damaged, or if the recipient provides evidence of having legally changed their name.
2. Electronic versions of awards may also be provided through My eQuals where possible.
3. Replacement Statements of Attainment and Records of Results will be provided through My eQuals where possible.
4. It may not be possible to replace some non-AQF programs.
5. CIT reserves the right to refuse to issue a replacement document, or to request additional supporting documentation, if potential misuse of the documents is suspected.

3.10 Posthumous issuing of awards and official academic advice will occur with the approval of the College Director.

3.11 CIT may revoke any AQF qualification which was later found to have been incorrectly issued by CIT or fraudulently achieved by the student.

3.12 A student has the right to have any decision not to issue an award reviewed.

3.13 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 Director, Education Services.

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

5. Definitions

All terminology used in this policy is consistent with definitions in the CIT Definitions of Terms. Below is a quick guide to some terms and acronyms used in this policy:

6. Policy Contact Officer

Director, Education Services.

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

7. Procedures

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