James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2001

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

SCHOLARSHIPS AND BURSARIES

The following provisions shall apply to each of the awards listed in the General Information Section of each Student Handbook.

1. An award shall not be made in any year if in the opinion of the recommending authority there is no candidate of sufficient merit to warrant an award.
2. Where there is a fund maintaining the award, the annual value of the award shall be approximately equal to the annual income from the fund.
3. Income from a fund not expended on the award which it maintains shall be added to and become part of the fund.
4. Moneys payable in any year to the holder of an award shall be paid at such times and in such amounts as the Registrar deems appropriate to the circumstances of each case.
5. Where a special provision relating to an award provides for the award to be paid in cash, the Vice-Chancellor may direct that in lieu of cash the award be made in whole or in part in the form of books, instruments or equipment necessary to the awardee’s course to a value approximately equal to the stated amount of the award, unless the terms of any trust or the conditions laid down by the donor of the award expressly provide otherwise.
6. Where an award continues for a period of more than one year and the holder thereof fails, in the opinion of the faculty committee concerned, or of the Standing Committee of the Academic Board where more than one faculty is concerned, to make satisfactory progress in any year of his or her course, the faculty committee or the Standing Committee, as the case may be, may cancel the award or, at its discretion, suspend it for such time or until the conditions are fulfilled as it may determine. Where an award is cancelled pursuant to the provisions of this clause, it may for the remainder of the term for which the original holder would have been entitled to it be awarded to another suitable candidate.
7. If the holder of an award fails to comply with any of these provisions or any provision relating to a particular award or with any conditions imposed under these provisions or the provisions relating to a particular award, the Council may terminate the award or withhold any further emoluments or take such action as it may deem necessary to enforce compliance with the provision or performance of the condition by the holder.

PRIZES

1.  The following provisions shall apply to each of the prizes listed in the General Information section of each Student Faculty Handbook, except in so far as they are inconsistent with any special provisions made below in relation to the prize:

1. The prize shall be awarded annually.
2. Except where a prize is stated to be a fixed sum of money, where a fund supports one prize the prize shall, if stated to be money, be a sum approximately equal to the annual income from the fund and if stated to be books, instruments, or things other than money, shall be such things of a value approximately equal to the income from the fund; and where a fund supports two or more prizes the value of each prize shall be approximately equal to a corresponding share of the annual income.
3. Where a prize is stated to be money the Vice-Chancellor may direct that, in lieu of money, books, instruments or other equipment necessary to the student’s course may be awarded to a value approximately equal to the stated amount of the prize, unless the terms of any trust or the conditions laid down by the donor of the award expressly provided otherwise.
4. Where the prize consists of books or things other than money, the prize shall be selected by the person to whom it is awarded, subject to the approval of the recommending authority or, where the recommending authority is a committee, the executive officer of the committee.
5. A prize shall not be awarded in any year if in the opinion of the recommending authority there is no candidate of sufficient merit to justify its award.
6. Where a prize is awarded subject to the later performance of some condition by the person to whom it is awarded and the requirements relating to the award do not necessitate applications to be lodged, the faculty committee or other authority concerned with making a recommendation in the matter may prepare a list of persons qualified in order of merit and recommend to the Council or other awarding authority that the award be made to the person highest on the list who gives an undertaking to perform the condition. If the Council or other authority approves the recommendation, the award shall be deemed to be made to that person. If before the time arrives for performing the condition that person intimates that he/she no longer intends to perform the condition, the award shall be deemed to have been made to the person next highest on the list who gives the undertaking.
7. A prize may be divided equally among candidates deemed to be of equal merit.
8. Income from the fund not expended on the prize shall be added to and become part of the fund.
9. The special provisions relating to each prize are set out in prize requirements which are approved by Council. In those provisions, paragraph (a) indicates the number of prizes where more than one are awarded under the same name, the authority which awards the prize or prizes, and the authority, if any, which recommends to the awarding authority the person or persons to whom they are to be awarded; paragraph (b) indicates the person or persons to whom the award is to be made, the required qualifications of candidates for each prize, and the basis on which the award is to be made; paragraph (c) states the nature of the prize or its amount where it is a fixed sum of money; and paragraph (d) sets out any other provisions relating to the prize or prizes.

2.  Except where otherwise stated, a person shall not be eligible for a prize unless he/she obtained the qualification on which the prize is awarded within the year, or where the qualification related to two or more years, within such years, immediately preceding the making of the award.

3.  Prizes may be awarded, in accordance with the general provisions contained in these requirements and special provisions set forth in relation to each prize.

STUDENT EQUITY POLICY

The University recognises the value of a diverse student population and is committed to meeting the educational needs of people from all backgrounds and at all stages of their lives. In doing so, the University is particularly committed to the region of tropical Queensland. The Student Equity Policy may be accessed via the University’s web address http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/isls/equity/policy.htm

GRIEVANCES

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The University is committed to maintaining an environment for work and study that is free from sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is behaviour of a sexual nature which is unwelcome, unsolicited and unreciprocated and that it is reasonable for you to regard as offensive, humiliating or intimidating. The range of unwelcome behaviour may be verbal, visual, auditory or physical. It covers material sent by electronic means including computers. In all cases it is both unacceptable and unlawful.

Sexual harassment may be a single incident or a prolonged pattern of behaviour. It may occur among equals — from student to student or staff member to staff member — or it may occur from a staff member to a student or a student to a staff member. It can be initiated by or directed towards a woman or a man.

The University has established procedures to assist any person who has experienced sexual harassment from a staff member or student. Action is taken in accordance with the reasonable requests of the complainant.

RACISM

The University is committed to fostering cultural diversity and to eliminating racial discrimination and harassment. The University aims to achieve an environment in which staff and students can work and study free from all forms of unfavourable distinctions, exclusions and restrictions based on race, colour, descent or ancestry, ethnicity or ethnic origin, nationality, national origin or immigration.

The University has established procedures to assist any person who has experienced racial discrimination or harassment from a staff member or student. Action is taken in accordance with the reasonable requests of the complainant.

COMPLAINT RESOLUTION PROCEDURES

Assistance may be sought under the complaint resolution procedures for cases of discrimination or harassment based on any other attributes included in State or Federal anti-discrimination legislation, such as disability or age.

These procedures are set out in full in the document Policy and Grievance Procedures for Cases of Discrimination and Harassment and are available from the Equity and Staff Development Unit, the Student Association, the Counselling Centre and at the Web site http://www.jcu.edu.au/adm/Policy/index.htm

Enquiries concerning harassment or discrimination based on sex, race, disability or any grounds listed in State or Federal Anti-Discrimination laws and requests for referral to a Discrimination Adviser may be directed to the Equity and Staff Development Unit, Telephone (07) 4781 5016, Facsimile (07) 4781 5240.

All staff and students are responsible for eliminating sexual and racial harassment and discrimination.

PhD AND MASTERS BY RESEARCH CANDIDATES

Information on Grievances: Policy and Procedures for PhD and Masters by Research students can be obtained from the Web site below or from the Research Students’ Office, telephone (07) 4781 4575.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/resint/rsoffice/policy.html

WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

The University Workplace Health and Safety Committee oversees the important work of ensuring optimum health and safety for employees, students and visitors at James Cook University. The Student Association nominates a representative to this committee.

In addition, there are also School Workplace Health and Safety Committees, as well as specialist bodies such as the University Radiation Safety Committee, Diving and Boating Safety Committee and a Biosafety Advisory Committee.

Written information is available from the Safety Coordinator with regard to safety in:

Terrestrial Fieldwork
Diving – contact the University Diving Officer
Pregnancy and work with certain chemicals
Pregnancy and work with ionising radiation
Pregnancy and work requiring immunisation
Pregnancy and work with animals
Pregnancy and work involving heavy manual handling
Field safety handbook for marine biologists.

The Workplace Health and Safety Act imposes obligations not only on employers and organisational management, but also on individuals. Students have a statutory obligation to follow directions specific to safety procedures involved in training and research activities.

Students must meet required dress standards for laboratory and workshop areas and for field trips. Footwear standards are also in place for various buildings and hazardous areas. Failure of any person to follow directions of staff regarding safety matters may result in that person being denied access to facilities.

Each school or building has an assigned Safety Officer. This officer has responsibilities to advise and guide staff and students on health and safety within the School.

Non-sporting accidents at University sites involving personal injury should be reported immediately to your supervisor, or a School Safety Officer, or Health Centre, or the Safety Coordinator. An accident, injury and incident report form should be completed. The forms are available from Safety Officers, Health Centre and the Student Union Welfare Office. Incidents involving serious bodily injury or dangerous events must be reported to the Safety Coordinator immediately for investigaton and formal reporting to the statutory authorities within 24 hours.

Health and safety hazards, and any other safety concerns should in the first instance be taken up with the Student Union representative on the Workplace Health and Safety Committee, reported to a Safety Officer or to the Safety Coordinator.

Safety information is available in the General Safety Manual (copy held by JCU Student Association) and from the “Safety at JCU” button under Information for Students/JCU Students via the JCU Home Page on the Web.

The Safety at JCU web site lists officers associated with the above safety committees, as well as the location of first aid kits and emergency telephone numbers. The University Workplace Health and Safety Coordinator, Leigh Winsor, can be contacted at the Central Services Office on ext. 5418.

RESPONSIBLE PRACTICES IN RESEARCH

Students involved in research studies should participate only in work which conforms to ethical standards and which they are competent to perform. When in doubt, they should seek assistance with their research.

All forms of research fraud, e.g. fabrication and/or falsification of data, plagiarism and misleading ascription of authorship, will be penalised severely by the University.

For further details, refer to the Guidelines for Responsible Practices in Research displayed in the James Cook University Policy and Procedures Manual or from the World Wide Web,

AVCC Web address:

http://www.avcc.edu.au/avcc/pubs/cophd.htm

or JCU Policy and Procedures address

http://www.jcu.edu.au/adm/Policy/avcchd.htm

CONDITIONS FOR USE OF UNIVERSITY COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION FACILITIES

1.  In these conditions unless the contrary intention appears:

“Academic Staff”

means a member of the teaching staff of the University.

“Account”

means a user name or other identifier which, with or without a password, allows a user to access the facilities.

“Authorised”

means having been given approval to use an Account by the Director, Information Technology and Resources (hereafter ITR), or nominee (hereafter Director), a School Representative, a member of Academic Staff, a head of a Section of the University, an official of an Outside User or by the Authorised User of an Account other than a University student.

“Authorised User”

means:

1. any University student who has been allocated an Account or who has been authorised by a member of Academic Staff to use a specific Account allocated to a group of students or to the member of staff
   or
2. any member of staff who has been allocated an Account or who has been authorised to use an Account allocated to another person or to a group of people or to a Section of the University
   or
3. any student of another educational institution authorised by that institution to use an Account allocated to the institution
   or
4. any individual who is an Outside User or who has deposited with the University a sum of money to cover the cost of the initial estimated utilisation of the computer facilities and who has been allocated an Account
   or
5. any employee of an Outside User authorised to use an Account allocated to the Outside User
   or
6. any other person authorised by the Director

and who has not had his/her authorisation revoked under these conditions or by the person who granted the authorisation.

“Category”

means a group of persons belonging to a particular class, e.g. University students, all members of the University, Outside Users, etc.

“Computing Resource”

means any measurable quantity supplied by the facilities including, but not restricted to, central processor time, disk space, data transfers, memory, connect time and stationery.

“School Representative”

means a person appointed as such by a School or a Section of the University or an Outside User whose role is to control use of Computing Resources allocated to his/her School or Section or to the Outside User.

“Disk Area”

means storage space on a disk allocated to an Account.

“Facilities”

means the University’s Central Computing and Communication Facilities which comprise processing equipment and peripheral units managed by ITR together with any workstations owned by the University and connected to the processing equipment in ITR and any other computing equipment deemed by the Director from time to time to be a Central Computing and Communication Facility wherever located.

“Message of the Day”

means information supplied by ITR automatically output on a workstation or in University Bulletins.

“Outside User”

means a person or organisation normally external to the University who has entered into a contract with the University to use the facilities.

“Program Library Catalogue”

means the document so named published from time to time by ITR containing details of programs available to users together with any restrictions on their use.

“Relevant Member of Academic Staff”

means a member of the Academic Staff who is wholly or partly responsible for a subject or subjects in connection with which a student is using the facilities or for which the student is enrolled.

“Section of the University”

means any definable unit within the University including, but not limited to, Schools, the Library, Administration, Administrative Divisions, Administrative Sections or Research Units.

“Staff”

means any person employed by the University.

“System Disk Area”

means any Disk Area which is used to store programs, files or other information which is made available to users generally or to particular categories of user.

“University”

means the James Cook University.

2.  Only Authorised Users may make use of the facilities.

3.  Authorised Users may access the facilities only by using an Account which they have been authorised to use.

4.  No Account may be used by any person other than the Authorised User of the Account except on the authorisation of such Authorised User.

5.  No University student may authorise or permit any other person, whether a University student or not, to use his/her Account for any purpose. The relevant School Representative or any Relevant Member of Academic Staff may use a University student’s Account for any required purpose.

6.  No person may access or attempt to access any program, file or other information stored under another person’s Account unless authorised by these conditions or by the other person to do so.

7.  No student may use any method or technique, to prevent the relevant School Representative or any relevant member of Academic Staff from accessing any program, file or other information stored on the student’s disk area or in any other machine-readable form.

8.  Only users belonging to the appropriate categories may use or attempt to use any items of software to which restricted usage, as indicated in the program library catalogue or in a newsletter published by ITR or in another announcement by ITR applies.

9.  No person may use an Account to undertake work for which a charge or a greater charge should be levied. Specifically:

1. Accounts allocated to students may be used only for purposes related to normal teaching or research activities and only for work related to the School which has allocated the Account or for which that School has given specific approval.
2. Accounts allocated to academic staff may be used only for purposes related to normal teaching or research activities. No such Account may be used for research for which funds to meet the cost of using the facilities have been provided nor for any consulting work nor for any purpose as a result of which the staff member receives a fee additional to his/her University salary.
3. Accounts allocated for University purposes other than normal teaching or research may be used only for the specific activity of the Section of the University to which the Account has been allocated.
4. Accounts allocated to other educational institutions may be used only for the normal teaching, research or internal administrative activities of the institution.
5. Accounts allocated to an Australian or Queensland Government department may be used only for the work of that department or another Australian or Queensland Government department where such latter department has been so authorised by the relevant former department.

10.  No person shall make a copy or attempt to make a copy of any program, file or other information held on a system disk area other than any information provided specifically for the purpose of providing assistance to users or any information for which copying is permitted by means of a statement to that effect in the program library catalogue or in a newsletter or other announcement provided by ITR.

11.  No person shall remove a copy of any program, file or other information from the University without the approval of the owner of the program, file or other information.

12.  No person shall do anything intended to evade the effect of controls on use of the facilities or act in any way designed to be unfair to other users. In this context controls shall include, but not be limited to, any mechanisms designed to limit use of any remote workstations or any computing resource.

13.  No person shall assist any person who is not an Authorised User to gain access to the facilities or to access any workstation or other device connected to the facilities.

14.  No person shall deliberately damage or aid or assist in damaging any of the facilities.

15.  No person may remove from its location any University provided computer stationery other than that which has been used by that person in connection with authorised use of the facilities.

16.  The Director may prohibit any practice considered to be detrimental to the interests of the University, of users generally or of a specific user or users. The prohibition will be published via the Message of the Day, in a newsletter issued by ITR, in University Bulletins and by such other means as are appropriate in the circumstances.

17.  Use of University computing facilities for game playing is prohibited.

18.  Penalties for use of the facilities other than in accordance with the above conditions may be imposed as follows:

1. the Director may suspend the user’s right of access to the facilities for a period not exceeding four weeks and may additionally refer any matter to the Vice-Chancellor to be dealt with under (b) below;
2. the Vice-Chancellor may suspend the user’s right of access to the facilities for such period as the Vice-Chancellor considers appropriate and action may also be taken in respect of University students under the student Discipline Statute or in respect of all persons by prosecution in the appropriate court;
3. where the breach has resulted in the facilities being used for a charge which is less than the charge which would normally have been levied for such use the Director may certify in writing as to the amount of the difference and on service on the user of a copy of the certificate, certified in writing by the Registrar as being a correct copy, that amount shall become a debt payable by the user to the University.

19.  Nothing in these conditions shall prevent the Council of the University from withholding use of the facilities from any person for any period, for any reason or without stating a reason.

CONDITIONS FOR USE OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FACILITIES

1.  Persons entitled to use the library buildings

1.1   Anyone may enter the library buildings and use information resources within the building providing they conform with all rules and policies in force at the time. The Director, Information Services (hereafter referred to as the Director) may limit the rights of those who are neither staff nor students of the University.

2.  Conditions of use of the library buildings

2.1   Anyone on library building premises must comply with any lawful direction from a member of staff.
2.2  Any behaviour, which in the opinion of a member of staff, is likely to cause damage to informatin resources or to cause disturbance or inconvenience to others within the library building is forbidden.
2.3  Information resources may not be taken out of the library buildings unless they have been borrowed through the appropriate loans mechanism.
2.4  Particular policies will be as determined by the Director on the advice of the Academic Support Advisory Committee.

3.  Persons entitled to borrow from the library building

3.1  Staff and students of the University, and others at the discretion of the Director may borrow from the library building.

4.  Conditions of borrowing

4.1  A borrower is the person who borrows information resources from the library building. Borrowers must use their current James Cook University borrowing card.
4.2  A borrower accepts complete responsibility for the care of information resources borrowed and for its return. All information resources must be returned in good condition to the designated place on or before the due date or time indicated. Information resources will be deemed not to have been returned until such time as the transaction has been recorded by library staff.
4.3  A borrower must comply with all borrowing conditions and policies as determined by the Director on the advice of the Academic Support Advisory Committee.
4.4  The Director shall have the power to recall any information resources before the expiration of the period of the loan.

5.  Sanctions

5.1  So long as any borrower has an overdue item, or unpaid charges, amount or fee, the Director may suspend that borrower’s right to borrow from the library building.

6.  Late Return Fee

6.1  Overdue information resources incur a late return fee.
6.2  Recalled information resources must be returned within four working days of the despatch of the recall notice, or they will attract a late return fee.
6.3  The late return fee applies to all borrowers who have overdue items.
6.4  The late return fees will be as determined by the Director on the advice of the Academic Support Advisory Committee.

7.  Appeals

7.1  The Director may vary or waive any late return fee or other charge, or may substitute an alternative sanction, on an appeal in writing to the Director.
7.2  Appeals against policies and practices may be made in writing to the Director.

POLICIES AND CONDITIONS

1.  Use of library facilities

Food or drink (except bottled water) may not be consumed in the library building.

Bags and cases may be taken into the library building.

Mobile phones should be switched off in the library building.

Conversation is not generally permitted but quiet conversation is permitted in designated areas and in service areas.

Clients may not enter non-public areas of the building except by invitation.

Children under 15 within the library building must be supervised and controlled by an adult.

Anyone within the library building must present their books, bags, folders etc. for examination by staff on request.

No equipment brought into the library building may be used in a way that produces noise in a “no conversation” area.

2.  Late return fees

• Late return fees accumulate at the rate of 50 cents per item per day overdue, except for a reserve item.
• When a reserve item becomes overdue a $10 late return fee may be imposed.
• The maximum late return fee per transaction is $10.

3.  Loan Categories

4.  General Conditions

Information resources from the Periodicals, Reference and Special Collections are available for loan only in exceptional circumstances and with the permission of the Director.

Information resources may be renewed three times before they must be sighted by staff.

Students or staff members leaving the University must return all information resources before they do so.

Some borrowers may qualify under more than one category. When one of these categories is the undergraduate category, this category will be applied for information resources borrowed for undergraduate purposes.

Information resources from the Curriculum Collection may be borrowed in addition to the limit specified above by the staff and students.

Information resources purchased from research funds may be retained by the purchaser for the duration of the relevant research.

Special loan conditions may be applied to particular categories of information resources.