How to appeal against a Special Consideration rejection

behaviour and includes a disability that:
www.rmit.edu.au/counselling
How to appeal against a Special
Consideration rejection
h) presently exists, or
i) p
reviously existed but no longer exists, or
j) may exist in the future; or(k) is imputed to a person.
This also applies to a student who is a relative,
spouse, partner or carer for someone with a disability.
Therefore, the University is legally required to take
reasonable steps to accommodate the effect of a
medical condition on your ability to study.
In theory, non-medical circumstances should
be looked at similarly – what is important is how
they have affected your study. This is why RMIT
provides Special Consideration.
A few last things
If you have an ongoing or long-term illness, you
may wish to apply for an Equitable Assessment
Arrangement. You can get an application form from
http://mams.rmit.edu.au/o2fcsu347cr3.pdf The
form should be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to
your assessment.
RMIT Counselling Service is free for RMIT students.
There can however be a long wait (usally a week) to
get an appointment, but it is strongly recommend
that students go and see them if they are
struggling, lost or need someone to talk to. Their
contact details are listed below.
Fill in the form
Firstly we recommend that you book an
appointment with a Student Rights Officer.
Appealing a Special Consideration rejection can
be complicated and obviously the outcome is very
important as it impacts on your results, chances
to graduate on time and overall experience at
RMIT. That said if you’re up for tackling it on your
own and just need a little direction or want some
information before your appointment this brochure
should have you covered.
Write your letter
How should I prepare my appeal?
Choose your ground of appeal
Under the Special Consideration Policy, your
situation must fall under one of the two grounds for
appeal:
RMIT’s Special Consideration webpage is www.
rmit.edu.au/students/specialconsideration.
•
Important contacts
RUSU Student Rights Officers
T/ 9925 5004
Or
E/ student.rights@rmit.edu.au
•
RMIT Counselling Service
T/ (BH) 9925 4365 (AH) 9925 3999
Disclaimer
The information in this leaflet is a
general guide only. RMIT is a very
complex environment, and there
are often a number of different rules
which apply.
For more student rights information
visit our website: www.su.rmit.edu.
au/student-rights
For Additional Assistance drop into a
Student Union Front Office to speak
with a Student Liaison Officer.
Or, send detailed information
regarding your case to student.
rights@rmit.edu.au
City Higher Ed: Building 8, Level 3
For enquiries call 9925 5004
Tivoli (Business): Building 108, Level 3
If required, an appointment will be
made for you with a Student Rights
Officer
Carlton Campus: Building 57, Level 4
Brunswick: Building 514, Level 2
Bundoora: Building 204, Level 1
Has this leaflet been helpful? Join
the Student Union and join the
fight to improve your rights!
that the university breached section 2 of
the Special Consideration policy. Additional
information about the Special Consideration
Policy is located further on this brochure.
This form is to assist you with
preparing an appeal when your
Special Consideration Application has
been rejected. Appeals are made to
the University Appeals Committee.
You have 10 working days to submit
your appeal after receiving the
rejection email.
Print out an ‘Appeal against special consideration
outcome- University Appeals Committee form’
from http://mams.rmit.edu.au/exdthtemrj6d1.
pdf you can also get a form from the Hub. You
must fill in and submit this form for your appeal to
be considered. Remember if you need additional
help RUSU have Student Rights Officers available,
simply book an appointment.
On page two of the form you are requested to
provide details of your appeal. You should prepare
a detailed letter to attach to your application, as
there is insufficient space on the form to properly
explain an appeal. Remember to write on page
two ‘see attached letter’.
Provide a detailed explanation of the effect your
illness or special circumstances had on your study
and on your assessment/exam. The letter should
be as detailed and specific as possible.
Section 6.1(a) There has been additional
relevant information that was not available at
the time of the application.
It is expected that your assessment result should
generally be a good representation of your ability.
So if your illness caused you to perform more
poorly than you would have at another time, then
the result is not a valid estimate of your ability.
Section 6.1(b) There has been a breach of
University Policy which has had a meaningful
impact on the outcome of the application.
The letter should follow this basic structure:
Section 6.1(a) is often only successful in cases
of misdiagnosis by a doctor. Students tend to
be less successful when appealing under this
ground than under 6.1(b). Here to appeal under
section 6.1(a), you must provide information
which was not in your original application, and
which shows that the impact of your illness/
circumstances was so severe that you could
not do your assessment. You must also say
why the information was not available at the
time of the application.
Section 6.1(b) will usually involve demonstrating
NB: This example is for how to write a letter for an
appeal under Section 6.1(b)
Academic Registrar’s Group, RMIT University
To the University Appeals Committee,
•
My name is ………………............... and I am writing to appeal against the decision regarding my
application for Special Consideration. The decision number is ……….......................….. My student
number is …………………........
I wish to appeal on the ground that there has been a breach of University Policy. The policy which has
been breached is the Special Consideration Policy, section2 (choose a, b or c here).
Submit your appeal by one of the following
means:
1.
Email to: universityappeals@rmit.edu.au
at the Hub on your campus
2.
Hand delivery to: Building 88, Level 8,
440 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne 3000
I note that the University is bound under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 to take reasonable
steps to accommodate the effects of any medical illness on a student’s performance in assessment or
ability to prepare for assessment.
Fax to +61 3 9925 8855
In the next part, write about the diagnosis, the symptoms of your illness and how it specifically affected
your study or exam performance. Also consider the type of assessment you undertook. For example,
if you had to take bathroom breaks during your exam, this would have a greater effect on a long-answer
exam than a multiple choice exam because you would have several breaks in concentration.
The Secretary
On (Insert date) I was diagnosed with……………… and I experienced symptoms such as …………...........
................................................................................................................................
RMIT Melbourne
Mail to:
University Appeals Committee
Academic Registrar’s Group,
GPO Box 2476, Melbourne Vic 3001
This severely affected my study/exam performance on that day because, ………….………………………....
................................................................................................................................
Then what happens?
I also submitted evidence to prove this: ………………………….................................................…………....
................................................................................................................................
Your appeal will be considered by the Academic
Registrar’s Group, who will decide whether your
application satisfies the grounds for appeal.
Therefore, by rejecting my application, a breach of University Policy on special consideration has occurred.
I look forward to your response,
Yours sincerely,
(Your Name)
(Your Student Number)
A more detailed example of how to write a Appeal
Against Special Consideration Outcome letter that
provides examples and hints for appealing under
either section, is available at: www.su.rmit.edu.au/
student-rights.
Evidence
Ask your doctor for a detailed letter explaining
the symptoms of your illness and how they would
have affected your ability to study or perform well
in an exam.
Ask friends and family for letters showing how
your illness or hardship affected you. For instance,
did they notice that you had trouble remembering
things or concentrating?
Include any other evidence that you think will
support your appeal. For instance, phone records
showing that you called your family frequently could
support an argument that you were stressed about
family matters.
Non-medical grounds for appealing against special
consideration can include, but are not limited to,
the following: your car broke down on the way to
an exam, marriage or honeymoon, homelessness,
there was a death in the family or someone close to
you, difficulties with relationships, coming out and/
or domestic violence. It helps to have good quality
documented evidence if you need to apply for
special consideration on these bases.
If you can’t get all your supporting evidence
together within 10 working days of receiving your
Special Consideration rejection email, submit the
letter within 10 days and submit further evidence
within 5 days.
•
Don’t forget to submit your appeal within 10
working days.
•
Address your appeal to:
The Secretary – University Appeals
Committee
If it does, an appeal hearing will be scheduled within
20 working days of the submission of the appeal.
You will be informed by email within 5 working days
of the hearing as to whether your appeal has been
successful. At the hearing there will be a member
of the Academic Board, a member of the academic
staff, a Student Union Council member. You may
be permitted to make a written submission at the
hearing or speak if you wish.
If your application does not satisfy the grounds for
appeal, you will receive an email to say that your
application for an appeal has been denied, along
with reasons for the decision. You may then seek a
review with the Office of the Victorian Ombudsman.
See RMIT Regulation 5.4.4 on the RMIT website
for more detail about the University Appeals
Committee and hearings.
Further policy information
Section 2 – Special Consideration Policy
Eligibility
2.1 Students may apply for Special Consideration
on a range of health or compassionate
grounds where they experience unexpected or
extenuating circumstances during or at end of
a semester which:
a) Prevented them from submitting assessable
task/s, or
b) Prevented them from attending an examination, or
c) Substantially affected their performance in the
above.
2.2 Examples of unexpected or extenuating
circumstances normally considered include:
a) S
erious illness or psychological condition – e.g.
hospital admission, serious injury, severe asthma,
severe anxiety or depression. Does not include
minor symptoms associated with cold, period
pain or hay fever.
b) Loss or bereavement – e.g. death of a close
family member, family/relationship breakdown.
c) h
ardship/trauma – e.g. victim of crime, sudden
loss of income or employment, severe disruption
to domestic arrangements
Be aware that the examples in 2.2 are a guide
only. The Special Consideration form often does
not capture the full effect of the illness or hardship,
which is why it is important to explain the full effect
of your illness in the appeal letter.
The complete Special Consideration
Policy is available at: www.rmit.edu.au/
browse;ID=qkssnx1c5r0y
Disability and how it relates to Special
Consideration
Disability is defined broadly in the Disability
Standards For Education and includes most
medical or psychological conditions.
Disability, in relation to a person, means:
a) total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or
mental functions, or
b) total or partial loss of a part of the body, or
c) the presence of organisms in the body causing
disease or illness, or
d) the presence of organisms in the body capable
of causing disease or illness, or
e) the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of
a part of the person’s body, or
f) a disorder or malfunction that results in the
person learning differently from a person without
the disorder or malfunction, or
g) a disorder, illness or disease that affects a
person’s thought processes, perception of reality,
emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed