Definitions
Some terms used in this Handbook may be unfamiliar to new students. The explanations listed here relate to these terms as they are used by James Cook University.
- Academic Board:
- the main academic committee of the University.
- academic misconduct:
- cheating in an examination;
- presenting another person’s work for assessment as if it were one’s own, or other forms of plagiarism;
- falsification of research results;
- collusion;
- falsification of an academic record;
- other conduct not included in the above which in the opinion of the Chair of the Academic Board reasonably represents Academic Misconduct.
- any improper action taken by a student
to gain an advantage when having academic work assessed.
- Students are referred to the University’s policy
on Student Academic Misconduct.
- Academic Misconduct includes:
- academic transcript/record:
- an official statement, issued by authority
of the Registrar, of a student’s results obtained at the
University and showing any credit granted for prior study.
- academic year:
- the period beginning on the first Monday
of the first semester of a calendar year and ending on the Sunday preceding
the corresponding Monday of the next calendar year.
- adjudicator:
- an additional assessor appointed to examine
academic work where consensus has not been reached between the examiners.
The adjudicator is frequently external to the University.
- admitted:
- in respect of any person, that a formal
offer, by the Registrar on behalf of the University, to enrol in
a particular academic year for a particular course or particular
subject, has been formally accepted by that person.
- assessment:
- includes all forms of assignments
and examinations set as part of a program of study. Assessment exercises may
be in the form of essays, project
reports, laboratory reports, practical work, field trip reports,
artistic or
creative performances, teaching
practice, placements, semester tests or examinations etc.
- assignment:
- a piece of academic work to be completed
by a student and submitted for assessment.
- award:
- a degree, diploma or certificate contained
in the list of approved Awards of the University.
- candidate:
- a person enrolled for an Award of the
University who is pursuing a course of study in accordance with
the Requirements which apply for the Award.
- certified copy:
- a photocopy of an original document which
has been certified by a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Oaths,
Police Officer or staff member of a tertiary institution, as a true
copy of the original document sighted by the certifier. The certification
must be original; photocopies or facsimiles of certified copies
are not acceptable.
- Chancellor:
- the person who presides at meetings of
the University Council, and at graduation ceremonies.
- collusion:
- applies when a student knowingly allows
his or her work to
be used by another student without acknowledgment of the source
of the work.
- complementary enrolment
- a student enrolled for an Award course at the University is granted approval to undertake subjects at another tertiary education institution for credit towards the James Cook University Award.
- a student undertaking a course at another tertiary institution is approved to undertake units offered at James Cook University for credit to the student’s course at the other institution.
- (also referred to as Cross-Institutional
Enrolment): the procedure by which:
- commencing student:
- a person who has been admitted and enrolled
for the first time at the University for a course and whose enrolment
for that course has neither lapsed nor been cancelled.
- continuing student:
- a person who has been admitted to the
University and has been enrolled for a course, whose enrolment for
that course has neither lapsed nor been cancelled, and is not a commencing
student.
- Council:
- the governing body of the University.
- course:
- a combination of subjects the successful
completion of which, in accordance with the relevant Requirements,
will fulfil the prescribed requirements for a particular Award.
- deferred enrolment:
- the approved postponement of study for
a specified period prior to the first enrolment in a course.
- discipline:
- a major area of study capable of being
identified and of being systematically developed in undergraduate
and graduate university courses, e.g. English, Geography.
- EFTSU
- (equivalent full-time student unit):
a value representing the student load for a subject or part of a
subject expressed as a proportion of the workload for a standard
annual enrolment for a student undertaking a full year of study
in a particular year of a particular course.
- elective:
- a subject which is not part of the core
subjects of an award, but which may be undertaken and credited towards
the course. The number and type of electives a student may include
is prescribed by the requirements of that award.
- enrolment:
- the process by which an applicant, having
been made a written Offer of Admission for a particular course,
chooses the subjects which
he/she wishes to study within that course for that year
or semester, has the program approved by the appropriate officer(s),
pays the appropriate fees and is issued a Student Card. Enrolment must
be completed at a time specified by the University.
- examination:
- a formal assessment by the University
of the level of attainment in a particular component of a subject
or a complete subject. Examinations are
normally written but may be oral or practical. Such examinations
are conducted by the University in accordance with the
Examination Requirements.
- Executive Dean:
- the academic officer responsible for
the provision of academic and management leadership in all aspects
of a faculty’s activities.
- faculty:
- the organisation of several schools into
an academic area responsible for the administration of courses.
- flexible delivery:
- an alternative to on-campus study. Forms
of flexible delivery studies include: external or distance studies;
combination of external study with on-campus workshops; intensive
block studies; electronic transfer, e.g. CD ROM, video conferencing.
- full-time student:
- a student who has enrolled for 18 or
more units in one academic year. A normal full-time load is 24 units
spread over an academic year. A student enrolled for 9 or more units
in a single semester may be classified as full-time for that semester.
- graduand:
- a candidate who has fulfilled the requirements
of an Award but has not yet had the Award conferred.
- graduate:
- a person who has had an Award conferred
following the completion of a defined course of study.
- HECS:
- Higher Education Contribution Scheme.
- higher degree:
- an award at Master or Doctoral level.
- inadmissible subjects:
- two or more subjects with substantially
overlapping academic content. Credit towards the same course may
be given for only one such subject.
- lecturer-in-charge:
- the academic staff member who is either
solely responsible for the assessment in a subject, if he or she
is the only person involved in teaching, or who is responsible for
the coordination of assessment in the subject if more than one staff
member is involved in teaching.
- Master Schedule of Subjects:
- a list of the subjects offered by
the University in
any year, the unit value of subjects, and showing prerequisites,
inadmissible subjects, and time and mode of offering.
- Masters degree by coursework:
- a Masters degree in which more than one-third
of the student load for the course is required as coursework and
less than two-thirds of the load is required as research.
- Masters degree by research:
- a Masters degree in which at least two-thirds
of the student load for the course is required as research work
and not more than one-third is required as coursework.
- miscellaneous student:
- a candidate enrolled in one or more subjects
but not in a course leading to an Award.
- part-time student:
- a student who has enrolled for fewer
than 18 units in one academic year. A student enrolled for fewer
than 9 units in a single semester may be classified as part-time
for that semester.
- plagiarism:
- paraphrasing the work of another person;
- directly copying any part of the work of another person;
- summarising the work of another person;
- using or developing an idea or theme derived from the work of another person;
- using experimental results obtained from the work of another person; and
- in the case of collaborative projects, falsely representing the individual contributions of the collaborating students where such distinction is necessary.
- defined as using another person’s
work without acknowledgment. The phrase “using another
person’s work” includes:
- postgraduate:
- study undertaken following completion
of a Bachelor or Bachelor with Honours degree.
- pre-enrolment:
- the process whereby continuing students can complete
re-enrolment procedures for the following year, prior to sitting
end-of-year examinations.
- prerequisite:
- a subject which must be successfully
completed before a specific subsequent subject can be studied.
- program:
- a specialised scheme of study within
a degree.
- quota:
- a limit set by the University on the number
of students who may be admitted to a course or subject in a particular
year.
- Registrar:
- the member of staff holding the position
of Registrar. Many of the duties of the Registrar are delegated
to others.
- school:
- a unit of academic organisation within
a faculty, usually containing several disciplines which have related teaching
and research responsibilities.
- strand:
- a sequence or cluster of subjects which
together form a coherent course of study (e.g. Bachelor of Arts
in History; Bachelor of Science in Ecology). The subjects included
in a strand may be from one or more different disciplines.
- student:
- a person who has been admitted to the
University and has enrolled for a course or a subject, and whose enrolment
for that course or for that subject has not lapsed or been cancelled. (See
also commencing student and continuing student.)
- student load:
- student load is expressed in EFTSU (equivalent
full-time student unit) values.
- subject:
- a discrete portion of a course, identified
by a code, title and unit value.
- termination:
- the cancellation by the University of
a student’s enrolment.
- testamur:
- the certificate signed by the Vice-Chancellor
and the Registrar presented to a graduate, usually by the Chancellor, as
confirmation of the conferral of an Award.
- thesis:
- a substantive description of the research
undertaken for the purpose of obtaining an Award, together with
any associated material that is also subject to examination.
- transfer credit:
- as a consequence of study successfully
completed at another approved tertiary institution, or in recognition
of prior learning, credit may be granted towards an Award of the University.
This may be unspecified credit or for specified subjects.
- undergraduate:
- of or pertaining to courses of study
offered for a Bachelor degree, Diploma or Certificate.
- unit value of subject:
- a measure of workload; three or four
unit subjects represent the normal value of a subject at the University
although multiples of three or four unit subjects are possible. A
three unit subject represents 25% of a full-time student’s
normal workload during a semester. Each subject is awarded a unit
value by the appropriate faculty.
- Vice-Chancellor:
- the chief executive officer of the University.
- withdrawal:
- the formal cessation by a student of
enrolment from a subject or course. Depending upon the timing, the withdrawal
may appear on an Academic Transcript as a “withdrawal without failure” or
as a “failure”.