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Advanced Standing Interim Procedure for SCU Sydney Campus

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Section 1 - Preamble

(1) The University is committed to treating all applicants equitably in the assessment of advanced standing. The Advanced Standing and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy authorises:

  1. Course Coordinators and Chairs of School Boards to approve advanced standing; and
  2. the creation of published advanced standing precedents (ASP) based on those decisions.

(2) An ASP represents an advanced standing decision that can be re-applied by admissions staff without further academic approval. Upon their creation, ASPs define how the University will award advanced standing to future applicants with the same prior learning, ensuring equitable, timely and transparent treatment of applications. However, because the ASP database is in its infancy, relatively few ASPs currently exist.

(3) The University has developed these initial Procedures to facilitate the development of ASPs that will support timely, rigorous and equitable assessment of advanced standing applications to be applied within the scope defined below.

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Section 2 - Scope and Purpose

Scope

(4) These procedures apply to international applications for Admission to the following awards delivered at the University's Sydney Campus:

  1. Bachelor of Business ('Accounting', and 'Information Systems');
  2. Master of Professional Accounting; and
  3. Master of Business Administration.

(5) Formal learning qualifications in scope for assessment for advanced standing include accredited Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and other accredited awards delivered by nationally accredited higher education providers, national or state registered training organisations, and off-shore providers delivering qualifications recognised by appropriate Australian authorities (e.g. NOOSR).

Purpose

(6) The purpose of this procedure is to establish processes consistent with both the University's Advanced Standing and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy and the AQF in order to:

  1. provide as many applicants as possible with timely advanced standing decisions to support their enrolment and the development of their study plans;
  2. ensure clarity for applicants with respect to advanced standing decisions;
  3. build a suite of specific and meaningful advanced standing precedents that the University can re-use and to which applicants may be able to refer; and
  4. where possible, and where necessary, enable a conditional offer letter to be issued that includes details of an applicant's advanced standing entitlement within agreed timeframes.
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Section 3 - Definitions

(7) Nil.

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Section 4 - Procedure

(8) The University's Sydney based admissions staff members are responsible for the receipt, admission, assessment and Student One processing of applications for study at SCU's Sydney campus. They are the primary liaison point for all course application enquiries for that campus.

(9) The SCU Sydney based admissions staff member will also be responsible for the following:

  1. assessment of advanced standing applications in accordance with this Procedure;
  2. Student One processing of the applicant's approved advanced standing in accordance with this Procedure;
  3. issue of a conditional offer letter including the advanced standing that the applicant will receive;
  4. issue of a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) once offer conditions have been met; and
  5. Student One processing of the applicant's admission to an SCU course listed at clause (4).

(10) Advanced standing granted in the form of credit must be included in the conditional offer letter issued to international applicants.

(11) Advanced standing applications escalated to and received by Course Coordinators and Chair of School Board as appropriate, are to be assessed expeditiously by those authorised decision makers. Where possible, assessment should be completed within two working days of receipt.

Advanced Standing, Advanced Standing Precedents and Process Variations

(12) Process variations are described below. They distinguish between:

  1. completed Australian qualifications (refer Part A - );
  2. completed international qualifications (equivalencies) (refer Part B - );
  3. incomplete Australian and international qualifications (refer Part C - ).

Part A - Completed Australian Qualifications

(13) Where the applicant presents for advanced standing with an accredited Australian qualification from a registered training organisation or accredited higher education provider, the structured hierarchy of approved advanced standing decisions in this Part A - provides the framework for advice and assessment.

(14) Verification of the qualification is reliant upon the presentation of a certified copy of the applicant's academic record (transcript) from the issuing institution.

(15) The applicant's transcript must be sighted, scanned and uploaded onto the applicant's student record via the Student One Advanced Standing Application Screen.

(16) In the first instance, the existing advanced standing precedent database held in Student One is checked for a suitable pre-approved and course mapped decision, and where a decision precedent exists, it will be applied by the SCU Sydney admissions officer for the current application.

(17) Where an applicable precedent exists, the SCU Sydney admissions officer will issue a conditional offer letter which includes the advanced standing granted in the form of credit that the applicant will receive according to the amount and type prescribed in the decision precedent.

(18) Where no applicable precedent exists, the advanced standing decision is considered non-standard and must be escalated to the Course Co-ordinator.

(19) The applicant must be advised that the Course Co-ordinator may request further documentation before making a decision.

(20) The Course Co-ordinator must examine the name and an overview of the qualification to determine whether it is a cognate qualification, together with the amount of advanced standing for which the applicant may be eligible. In assessing advanced standing applications, the Course Coordinator must refer to the Advanced Standing and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy, and where necessary refer applications to the Chair of School Board (Clauses 24-27).

(21) SCU's credit transfer arrangements and the AQF provide a basis to apply standardised advanced standing decisions qualifications deemed to be cognate as outlined in Appendix A.

(22) Each decision made by the Course Co-ordinator and the Chair of School Board will be recorded as an advanced standing precedent (institution and qualification specific) unless the Course Co-ordinator or Chair of School Board explicitly states otherwise. This will build the number of available precedents for future use and reference.

Part B - Completed International Qualifications

(23) Where a completed qualification from an offshore institution is presented for advanced standing assessment, SCU Sydney Campus admissions staff will determine the qualification's AQF equivalent level using the NOOSR guide.

(24) A certified copy of the applicant's overseas academic transcript must be sighted, scanned and uploaded into the applicant's student record via the Student One Advanced Standing Application screen.

(25) Certified English translations are required for any documents not recorded in English. Where an AQF equivalency is clearly established by NOOSR, the advanced standing decision hierarchy for Australian completed qualifications is used as per Part A - .

(26) Where an applicable precedent exists, the SCU Sydney admissions officer will issue a conditional offer letter which includes the advanced standing that the applicant will receive according to the amount and type prescribed in the decision precedent.

(27) Where no applicable precedent or equivalence exists, the advanced standing decision is considered non-standard and must be escalated to the Course Co-ordinator.

(28) The applicant must be advised that the Course Co-ordinator may request further documentation before making a decision.

(29) The Course Co-ordinator must examine documentation to determine whether it is a cognate qualification, together with the amount of advanced standing for which the applicant may be eligible. In assessing advanced standing applications, the Course Coordinator must refer to the Advanced Standing and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy, and where necessary refer applications to the Chair of School Board (Clauses 24-27).

(30) SCU's credit transfer arrangements and the AQF provide a basis to apply standardised advanced standing decisions qualifications deemed to be cognate as outlined in Appendix A.

(31) Each decision made by the Course Co-ordinator and the Chair of School Board will be recorded as an advanced standing precedent (institution and qualification specific) unless the Course Co-ordinator or Chair of School Board explicitly states otherwise. This will build the number of available precedents for future use and reference.

Part C - Incomplete Qualifications (Australian and Offshore)

(32) Where an incomplete qualification is presented for advanced standing assessment, the decision must be escalated to the Course Co-ordinator.

(33) At a minimum, a certified copy of the applicant's academic transcript must be sighted, scanned and uploaded into the applicant's record via the Student One Advanced Standing Application Screen. Certified English translations are required for any documents not recorded in English.

(34) The applicant must be advised that the Course Co-ordinator may request further documentation before making a decision.

PART D - Quality Assurance

(35) The Chair of Academic Board will review this Procedure on an ongoing basis for 6 months from implementation in order to monitor its implementation and feasibility, and to inform the development of University-wide Procedures.

Process Detail and Issues

PID Description Notes
1 Successful application for admission to course (BBus, MPA, MBA) The SCU Sydney admissions staff member will be the primary liaison point for application enquiries and will be responsible for the receipt and assessment of any applications for study at the SCU Sydney campus. This process step assumes that assessment has been performed and an offer will be made.
2 StudentOne (S1) Student Details Course Application Details Offer Details Expand Study Plan The SCU Sydney admissions staff member will: process the application and offer in S1 using the SCU International procedures; and expand the correct course structure in the S1 Student Study Plan; and consider the applicant's case for advanced standing.
3 Issue conditional offer letter Where no case exists for advanced standing (eg: applicant for MPA has a completed Bachelor of Arts with no accounting industry experience), the application process ends and the conditional offer letter is produced.
4 Student One Student Advanced Standing Application Upload supporting docs Where an applicant has a case for advanced standing, the SCU Sydney admissions staff member will enter an advanced standing application into Student One and upload any supporting documentation.
5 Check existing advanced standing precedents The SCU Sydney admissions staff member will search the precedents stored in Student One to determine whether advanced standing has been pre-approved for the applicant's case.
6 StudentOne Update advanced standing application with approved outcome and apply the approved advanced standing to Student Study Plan The SCU Sydney Admissions Officer will process the advanced standing outcome and update the applicant's study plan. The outcome may be provided via: an advanced standing precedent; or an escalated decision from the course coordinator.
7 Select a precedent decision. Where a case for advanced standing and pre-approved precedent is available the SCU Sydney admissions officer will apply to precedent decision to the current application and issue a conditional offer letter.
8 Student One Update Advanced standing application Notes Field Where an advanced standing decision must be escalated to the Course Co-ordinator, the Student One Application must be updated with any information that may assist the academic (eg: web address of the issuing institution, the NOOSR equivalency reference, a list of available documentation (if not uploaded), the required turn-around time and so forth.
9 Escalate for advanced standing decision and precedent creation The SCU Sydney admissions staff member will contact their nominated escalation point at SCU via CRM to advise that an advanced standing decision is sought for a particular student.
10 Review Advanced Standing Application Notes The SCU escalation point will review the advanced standing application in Student One and verify the case for an escalated decision.
11 Liaise with Course Coordinator to obtain an advanced standing decision The SCU escalation point will liaise with the appropriate Course Co-ordinator to obtain an advanced standing outcome for the student and follow-up/escalate if the decision is not received in the required timeframe.
12 Student One Create advanced standing precedent Update student's advanced standing application notes field Unless explicitly stated otherwise by the Course Co-ordinator, the SCU escalation point will create an advanced standing precedent for the decision in Student One and note the precedent number in the Student's advanced standing application (Student One)
13 StudentOne Update student's Advanced standing application with stand-alone outcome Where a precedent cannot be created for the advanced standing decision, the stand-alone advanced standing outcome for the individual student will be recorded in the student's advanced standing application (Student One) and the notes field will be updated.
14 Advise Sydney Campus of outcome The SCU escalation point will make contact with the SCU Sydney Admissions staff member via CRM to advise the outcome: either an individual advanced standing decision or a precedent that can be applied to the advanced standing application in Student One.