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Students at risk and students making unsatisfactory progress

Introduction

The University of South Australia aims to provide a supportive teaching and learning environment that has as its goal the achievement of students’ own educational outcomes. Students are responsible for their own learning but the University accepts that some students need particular kinds of support to achieve the appropriate level of independence. Where students are not making adequate progress in their studies and are at risk of failing, University policy specifies a process that aims to support students through their difficulties.

This Guide provides information about the relevant University Policy and the actions that are prescribed in it, with specific reference to the roles and responsibilities of academic staff. In particular it considers:

Policy

The relevant policy is Academic Review of Student Progress, Section 11 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual.

The Policy is mainly concerned with the process of Academic Review and the actions arising from a decision to formally designate a student as making ‘unsatisfactory progress’. However, the starting point of the Policy is the much broader position that good teaching will provide support and direction early in the study period. In this way ‘students at risk’ can be identified at a stage when their difficulties can be dealt with informally and developmentally rather than under the formal processes of Academic Review.

‘Students at risk’

In referring to students at risk, the Policy states:

(1) As part of good teaching practice, academic staff will endeavour to identify students at risk as soon as possible and shall make adequate time available for giving advice and assistance to students or recommending that they seek appropriate student and/or academic support..

Monitoring progress in courses and programs, and early intervention where there are issues, is a widely accepted aspect of good teaching practice and consistent with the Code of Good Practice: University Teaching.

There are many reasons students may not be coping with their studies including:

Each of these cases requires particular kinds of support. Some, such as the first and third dot points above, can often be predicted on the basis of the performance of past students. In such cases, the solutions lie, at least in part, in the design of the curriculum and the teaching and learning arrangements. Academic Development staff at Learning and Teaching Unit are available to work with you on developing your curriculum in response to these issues.

Other cases are less predictable and sometimes difficult to discern because they may be seen as temporary aberrations from otherwise good academic performances that will eventually right themselves. Responses to these should be tailored to the needs of the individual and, in the case of personal crises, referred to Learning and Teaching Unit staff with the appropriate professional expertise. For more details see Learning and Teaching Unit Guides such as Responding to distressed students.

Whatever the cause, the sooner you identify students who are not performing well academically, the sooner you can provide, or direct them to, the kinds of support which will assist them. A significant issue is gaining a consistent approach within the program to the kinds of academic performances seen as problematic and how they will be managed. You can then systematically monitor student performance against these agreed criteria, particularly in courses where you anticipate problems.

At the course level one way to do this is to have a piece of assessment (worth about 15%) that is due reasonably early in the study period (week 3 or 4) and to return the marked work with detailed feedback within a very short time frame (one or two weeks). This is useful in a number of ways:

Another indicator of potential risk at the course level is the lack of attendance at tutorials, seminars or studio sessions. Even where such attendance is not compulsory you may want to express concern through email or letter about their lack of attendance and the risk that this creates.

At the program level, you may want to consider a mid study period review of student performance. This would enable you to see any patterns of poor performance across courses and address relevant issues before the student’s academic performance is formally deemed to be unsatisfactory.

‘Students making unsatisfactory progress’

Where students have been identified as making unsatisfactory progress, Section 10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual clearly articulates the University process for managing their continued participation in a course or program. The students are sent a letter indicating:

Working with the Policy

The policy has major implications for all academic staff and it is therefore important that there is a high level of familiarity with it and the Divisional/School processes of implementation. From time to time the appeals process identifies students who have been unreasonably judged to be making unsatisfactory progress. Furthermore, sometimes appeals that would otherwise be denied are upheld because staff have not followed the procedures outlined in the Policy. The processes associated with unsatisfactory progress are time consuming for everyone concerned and a difficult experience for students, and so it is in everyone’s best interest to ensure that any activity concerned with student progress is informed by the Policy.

The intention of the process outlined in the Policy is to be supportive but firm – the University has an obligation to the student concerned but is also accountable to the wider community for the effective use of public funds. The interventions are focussed on supporting students to be independent learners and ultimately to complete their award. Generally, these interventions get progressively more serious – from a recommendation to seek assistance to academic counselling to preclusion from a program – if the student does not improve their performance.

Working with students

It is essential that you treat all personal information you receive about students as confidential. Unsatisfactory academic progress, whatever the reasons, has personal implications and so the processes of managing the actions that come from Academic Review must provide ways for students to fulfil the University requirements without their confidentiality being breached. The restriction on access to information applies to parents, spouses or other relatives of the student. You can see the full details of the relevant policy in Policy A46 Confidentiality of student's personal information.

Where group-counselling sessions are organised for large numbers of students, you need to take into account that some students will not attend because of the embarrassment of being identified publicly as poor performers. In order to ensure all students are appropriately informed you will need to make alternative arrangements for these students. This could be achieved by a combination of means including:

Students often seek out informal advice from lecturing staff and so it is critical that the advice and assistance you provide is informed by, and consistent with, the University policies. In the case of Academic Review, the relevant policy is Section 10 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual.

In particular, the University makes provision for:

These provisions have the potential to significantly affect the outcomes of Academic Review and so it is important that you are familiar with them and that you seek advice when necessary.

Under the Policy, students may be required to formally speak with you about their progress. You are advised to take notes about the discussion and any decisions taken, and to confirm these by writing to the student soon after the meeting. Keep copies of all correspondence including emails and place a hard copy in the student’s file at Campus Central.

Academic counselling

One action from Academic Review is that a student seeks academic counselling from a designated person. The term counselling is used here to mean the discussion of academic matters in relation to the student’s progress. In talking to students about their progress it may become clear that issues such as personal matters, language related learning concerns, career direction or disability are impacting on a student’s capacity to succeed. In these cases students should be referred to the relevant staff of Learning and Teaching Unit on your campus.

Preclusion from a program

At the more serious end of judgements made at Academic Review is preclusion from a program where enrolment in the program will be discontinued, and that re-admission to the program, or to a program at the same level in the same discipline will normally not be considered for two years.

When there has been a decision to preclude a student from a program, there is no formal requirement for the student to engage with academic staff. However, you may find that students seek your advice on how to proceed with their studies despite the serious penalty they have incurred.

For more information see ‘Appealing against preclusion’ (Section 10.5 in Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual)

Furthermore, although the Policy states that students are only denied access to the program for a period of two years, this does not mean that they will be automatically readmitted after that period. Indeed, many students in this situation find it difficult to gain readmission to the program or admission to another program because their low grade point average is not sufficient to win them a place over other applicants.

If their appeal at the Division level is denied, students may appeal to the Student Assessment Appeals Committee of Council. In such cases their enrolment will probably assume that their appeal will be upheld. In these circumstances it is important to be supportive of the student and not to pre-empt the decision of the Committee.

Conclusion

Unsatisfactory progress through a program of study can have many causes and the University seeks to support all students through difficulties they may experience. The early identification of students ‘at risk’ is a major strategy to prevent students from entering the formal process of Academic Review. However, once a student is deemed to be ‘making unsatisfactory progress’, the possible actions range from encouraging and supporting students to take control of their own learning to the serious consequence of preclusion.

Academic staff have a number of significant roles to play in supporting students in and through these difficulties. A thorough knowledge of the relevant policies and their implications is essential.

Relevant policies and useful resources

 

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