Special Consideration Online Tool User Guide for students Academic Quality Office
Contents Brief overview... 1 Introduction... 1 Who can apply for special consideration?... 1 Overview... 1 Examples of exceptional circumstances... 1 What are the criteria?... 2 How to lodge an application?... 2 Creating a new application... 2 Reasons for your application... 4 Uploading your evidence... 6 How will I know the outcome?... 7 Checking the status of your application... 7 Uploading further evidence... 8 What do the different statuses mean?... 9 Appendix 1 Guiding Principles... 11 Special Consideration of Assessment Guidelines used by the University... 11
Brief overview Introduction Special consideration: the process for students to apply to an examination board for consideration when circumstances beyond their control affect an assessment they are due to submit or have already submitted. The Special Consideration Tool is located within BlackBoard (AUTonline). In order to lodge an application, login to BlackBoard and choose Special Consideration from the top ribbon (see below screenshot). You are then able to complete a New Application through the online form, attach appropriate supporting evidence and be contacted through an email alert about the status of your application. If your assessment is not yet due, it is recommended that you continue to work on your assessment or preparation thereof until your application has been approved. Who can apply for special consideration? Overview You may apply for special consideration for assessment events 1 when exceptional circumstances beyond your control, including illness or injury, seriously affect your physical or mental/emotional ability to: attempt an assessment, or prepare for an assessment, or perform successfully during an assessment, or complete an assessment on or by the due date. Examples of exceptional circumstances are provided below. They do not include: colds or minor illnesses; misreading assessment dates, times or instructions, and arriving late to or missing an assessment as a result; computer problems, including printer problems, unless they relate to an officially notified failure of University equipment. Losing data is not considered to be grounds for granting special consideration. Make sure you have backup copies of all your electronic work. Examples of exceptional circumstances - Personal illness, injury or medical issues relating to yourself or a dependant. - Emotional/mental issues affecting you, such as: o Being involved in or witnessing a traumatic event, such as a motor vehicle or other accident, or significant injury to another person. o Sudden injury to, or illness of a close relative or other significant person. o Being exposed to a fire, earthquake or significant natural disaster. - Death of a close relative or other significant person. - Crime involving violence or loss. - A sporting or cultural commitment representing your country or region, or religious commitment. - Issues relating to clinical placements or other AUT academic commitment. - Any other exceptional circumstances not covered above. 1 The online special consideration tool is not available for theses or dissertations. 1
What are the criteria? To qualify for special consideration, you need to meet the following criteria: - you have been seriously affected by exceptional circumstances beyond your control to attempt an assessment, prepare for an assessment or perform successfully during an assessment - you are lodging your application on or before the due date of the assessment or starting time of the examination (unless applying for impaired performance) - you have appropriate supporting evidence and have supplied this within 5 working days of an application as set out in the table below How to lodge an application? Creating a new application 1) Go to autonline.aut.ac.nz 2) Log into BlackBoard with your AUT username and password 3) Click on Special Consideration on the top ribbon, on the right 4) Click on New Application 2
5) Click on Add an assessment/paper 6) Complete the following details: o Programme Code and Name o Paper Code and Name (that is affected by exceptional circumstances) o Assessment Date, which is the due date or date the assessment takes place o Type of Assessment (dropdown list) NB: If you select Exam (written) a pop-up box will prompt you to complete a declaration of non-disclosure o Assessment No. and/or Title (refer paper Study Guide) o Whether you have submitted/sat the assessment 7) When all details are complete, click on Add 8) If your exceptional circumstances span multiple assessments or multiple papers, add further assessments/papers as required, by clicking on add an assessment/paper again and completing the details. 3
If you have accidentally clicked on add an assessment/paper, but you don t have any further papers/assessments to add, then just leave these details blank. 9) Choose one of the Reasons for Application that is most applicable to your exceptional circumstances, by selecting the appropriate radio button. 10) Provide a brief explanation of the situation in the textbox. Text box to write explanation in Reasons for your application Below is a list of available reasons, including examples and possible sources of evidence: Reason Example Evidence Medical Personal illness, injury or medical issues relating to yourself or a dependant. You must provide a Student Impairment Report or medical certificate completed by a suitably qualified person. If you are unable to see a suitably qualified person within 24 hours of the assessment due date/time, you must attach an explanation for the delay to your application. For applications based on medical reasons, suitably qualified persons include persons registered as medical practitioners, dental surgeons, midwifes and chiropractors, and other appropriate registered health professionals, such as AUT Student Medical Centre registered nurses. Note: colds and minor illnesses are not considered grounds for special consideration you need to be seriously impaired for your application to be approved. 4
Emotional / Mental Bereavement/ Tangihanga Victim of Crime Essential sporting, cultural or religious commitments AUT-related commitment Emotional/mental issues affecting you, such as i. Being involved in or witnessing a traumatic event, such as a motor vehicle or other accident, or significant injury to another person. ii. Sudden injury to, or illness of a close relative or other significant person. iii. Being exposed to a fire, earthquake or significant natural disaster. Death of a close relative or other significant person. Crime involving violence or loss. A sporting or cultural commitment representing your country or region, or religious commitment. Issues relating to clinical placements or other AUT academic commitment. You must provide a Student Impairment Report or medical certificate completed by a suitably qualified person. For applications based on emotional/mental reasons, suitably qualified persons include persons registered as counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, and suitably qualified members of the Student Hub SCA team. Note: stress relating to studies and balancing work/life are not considered grounds for special consideration. You need to be seriously impaired for your application to be approved. You must provide one of the following: Death certificate Death notice from newspaper (usually available online). E.g. This should include your name or family name as proof of relationship. Order of Service from funeral (this can be returned after application has been processed) A letter of support from the officiating chaplain kai karanga, a kaumatua or equivalent You will need to specify your relationship to the deceased. Alternatively, you may provide evidence for Emotional/Mental reasons above. You must provide a Police Incident Report indicating the date of the incident. You must provide an official letter from the relevant sporting or cultural organisation or your coach/cultural or religious leader confirming your selection/commitment and the date(s) you will be unavailable due to the commitment. Applications must be made before the date of the commitment. Support from your paper leader will be requested upon submission of your application. Applications must be made before the date of the commitment. Other Any other exceptional circumstances not covered above. As appropriate. 5
11) Once you have selected the most appropriate category, click on Next at the bottom of the page. Uploading your evidence Once you have hit the Next button, you will be taken to the next screen where you can upload any supporting documents. The below screenshot is an example of a special consideration application for medical reasons. The evidence listed will change depending on your specific circumstances. Please note that for medical or emotional/mental reasons you need to download the Student Impairment Report which is to be completed by a suitably qualified person and emailed/faxed to AUT (contact details are located at the bottom of the Student Impairment Report). To upload a document to your application: 1) Click on Choose File and locate the file on your computer (file type allowed:.docx,.pdf,.txt,.jpg). 2) Click on Open on your file browser. 3) Click on Upload. Note: on this page you can only upload one document to your application. If you have multiple documents, you can either combine these, so they are together in one document, or upload one document here and go to the outcomes screen of your application to upload additional documents (see uploading further evidence in the next section). 4) When finished, read the declaration and click on Submit Application 6
How will I know the outcome? Checking the status of your application You will receive email notification upon successfully lodging your application. You will also receive an email every time your application status changes. Your email alert will not contain the details of current status and only serves as an alert for you to log back into the special consideration tool and check the status and other details. To view the status of your application: - Go to autonline.aut.ac.nz - Log into BlackBoard with your AUT username and password - Click on Special Consideration on the top ribbon, on the right. - Click on Outcomes & Evidence On the Outcomes & Evidence page you can see all your (previous) applications and their status. It is important that you click on the hyperlinked status as further details are likely to have been recorded. 7
Note: The Application Type is allocated based on the details you have provided and will help staff in processing your application. - Click on the hyperlinked status of your application. Under Comments to Students you will find important communication from AUT staff to you. Uploading further evidence Your application record lists the evidence that you have uploaded/provided. You can upload further evidence, by - clicking on Browse - select the relevant file - then click on Upload You can also download the Student Impairment Report from here, which you need to give to a suitably qualified person (if applicable). 8
What do the different statuses mean? Staff have a range of application statuses available when processing your applications. Below is a list of available result statuses, including how these should be interpreted. Results Status Approved (or Approved Extension; Approved Alternative Assessment /Exam; Approved Rescheduled Exam; Approved Other) Approved Aegrotat Explanation of Status Your application has been approved. You may see a revised assessment due date showing, but also click on the Approved status in Results for further information shown in the Comments box. You have been awarded an S grade (Aegrotat Pass). This is a special pass granted on compassionate grounds where certain criteria have been met, meaning you have passed the paper and do not need to sit the exam at a later date. Conditional Approval Cancelled Declined Duplicate Entry Exam Board Meeting Your application has been approved but is conditional upon (usually) appropriate evidence being provided by a specified date. Click on the Conditional Approval status in Results for further information shown in the Comments box. NB: Failure to provide this evidence by the specified date may result in the application being declined (even if you have already completed the work). Your circumstances have changed and you have let the staff know that you no longer want to proceed with your application. Application declined. Click on the Declined status in Results for further information shown in the Comments box. This means that you have submitted multiple extension applications for the same assessment and the duplicated one will be ignored. Your application has been received but requires Exam Board approval and has therefore been forwarded to the next Exam Board meeting (usually at the end of semester) you can click on the Exam Board Meeting status in Results where further comments may be available. 9
Meeting Required Only used by the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences Not Applicable Only one application per paper per semester is allowed without approval by the Programme Leader. If this status appears, it means you have already had one extension in this paper and you will need to speak with your Programme Leader to have this extension approved. Following the Exam Board meeting, your status will be changed to Approved or Declined and an explanation provided in the Comments box. NB: It is your responsibility to contact the Programme Leader for this approval within one week of your application. Failure to do so may result in the extension being declined. You have sat the assessment (or submitted the assessment by the due date). Your application will be considered by the Examination Board when the final overall grade for the paper is available. In the interim, the application will remain Pending. If you pass the paper, your application will become Not Applicable. Pending Pending Evidence Received Your application has been received and is in the process of being actioned, but is awaiting further information (either from yourself or the paper coordinator) You can click on the Pending status in Results to view the Comments box for further information. Your application has been received and is in the process of being actioned, but is awaiting the submission of appropriate evidence by a specified date. Click on the Pending Evidence status in Results to view the Comments box for further information. NB: Failure to provide this evidence by the specified date may result in the application being declined (even if you have already completed the work). Your application has been received, but not yet actioned. 10
Appendix 1 Guiding Principles Special Consideration of Assessment Guidelines used by the University The guiding principles around special consideration are used by staff to determine the outcome of each applications and are as follows: - Students are entitled to fair and equitable treatment across all aspects of their study. Thus they have a right to expect that all aspects of assessment and special consideration by academic staff and examination boards are transparent and consistent with GAR, regardless of which faculty or programme they are enrolled in. - Special consideration is designed to support the individual student in progressing through, and completing, their qualification while maintaining fairness to all students. - Students are entitled to special consideration for medical and compassionate reasons based on illness, injury and exceptional circumstances beyond the student s control. - Alternative assessment is offered, wherever possible, in order to provide the strongest evidence that the student has met the learning outcomes and standards for assessments and for the paper overall. - Decisions on special consideration are based on appropriate evidence. - With respect to the student s condition or circumstances, the judgement of the relevant suitably qualified person will be accepted by the examination board, unless there are compelling reasons for not doing so. - Access to information about a student will be limited on a need to know basis in line with the University s privacy policy and the Privacy Act 1993. - Students have the right to appeal against the final result determined by the examination board under certain conditions listed in the academic calendar. (AUT Calendar, the General Academic Regulations, Part 6) (AUT Calendar, the General Academic Regulations, Part 5) 11