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 Board is a committee of the Council and
the principal academic body of the University.
- academic 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.
- admission:
- the process by which a person received
a formal offer, from the Registrar on behalf of the University,
to enrol in a particular academic year for a particular course or
particular subject, which has been formally accepted by that person,
whether by ordinary admission, alternative entry or miscellaneous
admission.
- 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, tutorials, 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 James Cook
University.
- block mode:
- subjects offered via block mode are of six weeks duration
or less and may be taught either on campus or off campus. Attendance
is required at block teaching sessions which may be held on or off
campus. Block mode subjects (of less than six weeks duration) are
assigned to a semester for the purpose of calculating students’ study
load. Block mode subjects starting on or before 31 May are classified
as Semester 1 subjects and those starting on or after 1 June are
classified as Semester 2 subjects.
- 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.
- certificate:
- an award of the University at Certificate, Graduate
Certificate or Postgraduate Certificate level.
- certified copy:
- a photocopy of an original document which has
been certified by a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations,
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.
- cross-institutional 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 a 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.
- 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, together with any credit transfers in accordance
with the relevant requirements, will fulfil the prescribed requirements
for a particular award.
- credit transfer:
- as a consequence of study successfully completed
at this or 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.
- deferred enrolment:
- the approved postponement of study for
a specified period prior to the first enrolment in a
course.
- degree:
- an award of the University at Bachelor, Master or Doctoral
level.
- diploma:
- an award of the University at Diploma, Advanced Diploma,
Graduate Diploma or Postgraduate Diploma level.
- 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.
- dissertation:
- a substantive description of the research undertaken
for the purpose of obtaining a coursework higher degree (research
component less than two-thirds of the degree requirements) together
with any associated material that is also subject to
examination.
- 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 as prescribed
by the requirements of the course and credited towards that
award.
- enrolment:
- the process by which an applicant, having
been made a written offer of admission for a particular course,
selects the appropriate subjects 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
Identification 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.
- external mode:
- subjects offered via external mode are offered via flexible
delivery and require no on-campus attendance. Flexible delivery
may incorporate the delivery of teaching material wholly or in part
via the Internet, print material or CD Rom.
- faculty:
- the organisation of several schools into
an academic area responsible for the administration of
courses.
- field trip:
- involves a student’s travel to and work at a place or places away from the University; and
- relates to, and is a requirement for a course being undertaken by the student at the University; and
- is carried out under the general control of a University staff member.
- an activity which:
- 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.
- honours degree:
- an undergraduate award at a higher level of study which
may contain a high level of research.
- inadmissible combinations:
- two or more subjects with substantially
overlapping content where enrolment in and credit for may be given
in respect of a single subject and only once towards the same
course.
- internal mode:
- subjects offered via internal mode are taught on campus
during the normal teaching semester, generally of 13 weeks duration.
Regular attendance is normally required at classes held on
campus.
- joint degree:
- an award involving the combination of two courses of
study.
- 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.
- limited attendance mode:
- subjects offered via limited attendance mode are offered
via flexible delivery and require some on-campus attendance. Flexible
delivery may incorporate the delivery of teaching material wholly
or in part via the Internet, print material or CD
Rom.
- major:
- a sequence or cluster of subjects which
together form a coherent course of study (eg Bachelor of Arts in History;
Bachelor of Science in Ecology). The subjects included in a major
may be from one or more different disciplines.
- Master Schedule of Subjects:
- a list of the subjects offered by
the University in any year, together with their unit value, prerequisites,
inadmissible subjects, and time and mode of
delivery.
- 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:
- refer to the University’s definition of plagiarism on
page 54.
- postgraduate:
- of or pertaining to a course of study undertaken
following completion of a Bachelor or Bachelor with Honours degree,
a diploma or certificate.
- 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.
- re-enrolment:
- (a) continuing students: the process by which students
currently enrolled at the University, complete re-enrolment procedures
for the following year either by pre-enrolment or by submitting
the appropriate form to the Manager, Student Administration by the
due date; (b) returning students: the process by which students
previously enrolled at the University but not enrolled in the current
year, obtain the appropriate forms from the Manager, Student Administration
and submit them by the due date.
- Registrar:
- the member of staff who is Secretary
to the Council of the University and Academic Board, and is therefore
responsible for making prescribed student and academic program related
decisions on behalf of the University as set out in the
handbook.
- returning student:
- a person who has been admitted to the University and
has been previously enrolled for a course, but not in the preceding
year, whose enrolment for that course has neither lapsed nor been
cancelled, and is not a commencing student.
- school:
- a unit of academic organisation within
a faculty, usually containing several disciplines which have related
teaching and research responsibilities.
Note: Note: The College of Music, Visual Arts and Theatre falls within this definition.
- semester:
- a principal teaching period of the academic year, generally
consisting of 13 weeks of teaching, one week of lecture recess and
one week of study vacation followed by an examination period. There
are two semesters: Semester 1 normally runs from late February to
the end of June and Semester 2 from late July to the end of November.
Block mode subjects (of less than six weeks duration) are assigned
to a semester for the purposes of calculating students’ study
load. Block mode subjects starting on or before 31 May are classified as
Semester 1 subjects and those starting on or after 1 June are classified
as Semester 2 subjects.
- show cause:
- the process whereby students, who do not attain a level
of academic achievement prescribed for this purpose by the Academic
Board on the recommendation of the relevant faculty, are required
to submit in writing a statement supporting an application for continued
re-enrolment in that course.
- statement of reasons:
- a written statement submitted by a student to support
an application to re-enrol, when a student has been denied permission
to enrol for a course and/or subject for a period determined
by the Executive Dean.
- 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, continuing student and returning
student.)
- student academic misconduct:
- cheating in an examination;
- plagiarism;
- falsification of research results;
- 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:
- 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 official document signed by the Vice-Chancellor
and the Registrar as confirmation of the conferral of an award,
or the award of a diploma or certificate.
- thesis:
- a substantive description of the research
undertaken for the purpose of obtaining a research degree (research component
more than two-thirds of the degree requirements) together with any
associated material that is also subject to
examination.
- undergraduate:
- of or pertaining to courses of study
offered for a Bachelor degree, Bachelor with Honours 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 record as a “withdrawal
without failure” or as a
“failure”.