Academic Advice
This section covers information about academic issues that is also available from a number of sources including regular messages in your e-box, your subject outlines, CSU Interact, subject forums, and your lecturers.
Topic List
Important university websites
People important to you
Student Liaison Officer
Subject Coordinator
Marker or Tutor
Course Coordinator
Head of School
Dean of Faculty
Issues important to you
Academic Appeals Advice
Plagiarism and collusion
Online evaluation of subjects
Important university websites
You need to familiarise yourself with the following web sites:
- University Handbook provides information on the university as a whole, your course, staff teaching on your course, and the subjects in your course: http://www.csu.edu.au/handbook/
- Academic Manual covers all matters of academic policy:
- http://www.csu.edu.au/acad_sec/academic-manual/
- University Regulations cover those policies concerning your progression in your course: http://www.csu.edu.au/acad_sec/regulations.htm
- Student Charter sets out expectations from the student and the university perspectives: http://www.csu.edu.au/student/charter/
- Forms used by students: http://www.csu.edu.au/forms/current.htm
It is your responsibility to make yourself aware of the regulations that govern your study.
People important to you
Here is a list of the people likely to be of most importance to you in your early months of study. We suggest you write in the names and contact details of these people but be aware they will change from time to time..
Student Liaison Officer
Each School of the University has a Student Liaison Officer located in the Student Administration Office assigned to deal with administrative queries from students in that School. You can talk to this person about issues relating to re-enrolments, subject and course withdrawal, Grade Pending, Leave of Absence, Review of Grades, HECS, etc. Further details can be found within the Guide to Learning website, in Keeping on Track: Your Student Liaison Officer.
Subject Coordinator
(sometimes called your ‘lecturer’)
For each subject you study, an academic is responsible. He or she is the person who is responsible for assisting you through the subject and awarding your grade. You must ask this person if you need an extension on your assignment, or inform him or her if you need special consideration for some reason. In some cases there may be a campus convenor assigned to assist the subject coordinator. Each of your subject outlines will have the name and contact details for each subject coordinator. Please keep a record of your Subject Coordinators for future reference.
Marker or tutor
Sometimes the work of a subject is divided among staff who may be permanent academic staff or casual employees of the University. A tutor may deliver tutorials and mark some assignments, and for distance students, a marker may do some of the assignment marking. Sometimes the marker or tutor takes on extra responsibilities such as dealing with student queries. The subject coordinator should notify you about these arrangements.
Course Coordinator
This person looks after the course you are studying. He or she monitors your progress through the course and eventually will sign that you are eligible for graduation. You must talk to this person if you have queries about the course as a whole or are not sure about which subjects to enrol in for the following session. Details can be found within the University Handbook. Please keep a record of who your Course Coordinator is for future reference.
Head of School
The Head of School is the manager of the School’s academic staff and is responsible for dealing with many student issues that arise from appeals against grades, plagiarism cases and so on. Details can be found within the University Handbook, with the website provided above. Please keep a record of who your Head of School is for future reference.
Dean of the Faculty
The Dean is the Head of School’s manager and deals with student issues that cannot be resolved at School level. Details can be found within the University Handbook, with the website provided above. Please keep a record of who your Faculty Dean is for future reference.
Issues important to you
What to do if you are struggling with your studies
If you are struggling to meet deadlines firstly consult your subject coordinator, being aware of the following possibilities:
- seeking an extension of time to complete your assignment;
- submitting a special consideration form, if you are coping with unusually difficult circumstances;
- taking leave for a session, before the Census date;
- withdrawing before the Census date, which means you do not waste your fees;
- seeking a Grade Pending at the end of the session, which gives you an extension to complete a final assessment item;
- seeking a supplementary examination.
Appropriate forms can be downloaded at:
You will find information about all of these options in the academic regulations and additional information about Leaving University can be located within the Guide to Learning website, Keeping on Track: Thinking of Leaving? The most important thing is to keep in touch with your subject coordinator, who can only help you if he or she knows you are struggling. You may access counsellors at Student Services to assist with personal problems.
Academic Appeals Advice
CSU students are expected to be familiar with and comply by the rules, regulations, policies and procedures detailed in the CSU Handbook. The handbook is located on the CSU Website: http://www.csu.edu.au/handbook
The Student Support website has academic advice information that can assist students with understanding the procedures that are involved in many of the applications forms and appeals covered in the regulations, such as , special consideration, review of grade, approved withdrawal, student academic misconduct and appealing against exclusion. The regulations are in place to ensure there is a fair playing field for all students. The academic advice will help you to understand both your obligations as a student, and how you can reasonably expect the university to assist you when you experience ill health or misadventure. Please visit the academic advice website.
In most cases you will need to speak to your Subject Co-ordinator or your Student Liaison Officer at Student Administration first about an academic issue, or call Student Services Support Central (1300 734 654) for advice on who to contact.
It is becoming increasingly easy for academic staff to detect instances of plagiarism as they have access to appropriate software to do this. Please make sure you do not even inadvertently commit these offences as academic misconduct penalties can be severe. Please visit the Student Services online guide to avoiding plagiarism at: The University values and relies upon your feedback to enhance the quality of its courses, subjects and teaching, and strongly encourages you to complete online evaluations, namely Online Evaluation of Subjects and, if you have completed a year of study at CSU, the Student Experience Questionnaire. These will take only a few minutes of your time but your feedback is invaluable to the University, its Faculties, Schools, academic and support staff. The University provides a report at the end of every session on data from these online surveys via the University Learning and Teaching website at: You will also be kept informed of how the University has responded to what you have said and what action is to be taken. You will be sent an electronic notification when the relevant online evaluations are available for completion each session. Further details can be found at the Student Evaluation section of the Learning and Teaching website:Plagiarism and Collusion
Online evaluation of subjects and the teaching you receive