This procedure describes the purpose, structure, deadlines and responsibilities for the universityʼs higher education digital handbook, which is the authoritative source for students of courses and units in an academic year.
This procedure applies to all higher education award courses (including higher degree by research) and units, and to non-award enabling and foundation courses.
- Federation University Australia Act 2010
- The Tertiary Education Quality and StandardsAgency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act)
- Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021
The Handbook is the authoritative source of course and unit requirements for students. For course requirements, students refer to the handbook entry for the year they commenced enrolment in a course, unless otherwise instructed by the CLXO. For unit requirements, students refer to the handbook entry for the specific year they enroll in the unit.
| Term | Definition |
| ACPC | Academic Course Portfolio Committee, responsible for business decisions related to the higher education course portfolio. |
| Award course | A course of study/research leading to the granting of an official award or qualification of the University that is listed on the Universityʼs Higher Education Current Award Courses register. A course contains subsidiary elements referred to as units. |
| CLXO | Chief Learner Experience Officer, responsible for the Learner Experience portfolio which has end-to-end responsibility for the journey of students from promotion to application and graduation. |
| Curriculum centre | The Universityʼs approved records management system for curriculum records. |
| Enabling course | A non-award course that prepares and enables domestic students, on completion, to undertake a higher education award course. It does not include a course that, in itself, leads to a higher education or VET award, or that the Minister determines is not an enabling course (HESA Schedule 1 and Ministerial determination). While students may receive credit towards a higher education award course for units undertaken in their enabling course, a course that consists primarily of units that lead to the higher education award that students are preparing to undertake would not be considered an enabling course. Requirements for enabling courses are set out in section 6.7 of the Higher Education Administrative Information for Providers (AIP). |
| Foundation course | A nationally recognised, CRICOS-registered, non-award course that equips international students with the skills for entry into an Australian higher education course. A foundation course provides international students with an academic entry pathway to undergraduate study or its equivalent and must comply with requirements set out in the National Standards for Foundation Programs. |
The digital student handbook is published prior to enrolments opening for the following year. Its publication aligns with the Commonwealth Governmentʼs deadline for publication of the schedule of student contribution amounts, tuition fees, census dates, and EFTSL values for the following year. The following table describes the deadlines for curriculum approval to ensure that the handbook meets the above deadlines and accurately reflects the latest approved offerings. Please refer to the Approval and Maintenance of Higher Education Courses Procedure for further information about the curriculum approval process.
| Curriculum type | Institute Board | Curriculum Committee | Academic Board |
| New course | March | April | May |
| Course amendment | June | July | N/A |
| New unit | June | July | N/A |
| Unit amendment | August | N/A | N/A |
Course and unit requirements must not be changed for the following year after the above deadlines, except for the correction of minor typographical errors.
Corrections and changes outside the above deadlines will only be approved in exceptional circumstances, where there is no detrimental impact on student enrolment or progression, and under the following conditions:
- The Executive Dean of the Institute/Dean of GRS/PVC, VET and Pathways must submit a business case to ACPC for approval to submit a new or amended course or unit to Institute Board outside the approved deadlines.
- ACPC will consider the potential impacts of late approval, including financial implications, accreditation, university portfolios, resourcing, and impacts on staff and students.
- If approved by ACPC, the new/amended curriculum must be submitted to the next Institute Board meeting.
- The date of ACPC approval of the business case must be entered into the curriculum centre record in the approvals field (for courses) or amendment rationale (for units).
| Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
| A | Confirm the structure and content fields to be published in the Handbook | CLXO or nominee |
|
| B | Ensure curriculum centre course and unit data (curriculum design and course rules) is current, has the necessary approvals, and is ready for publication in the handbook | Heads of Discipline |
|
| C | Ensure curriculum centre offering data is ready for publication in the handbook | Curriculum Services |
|
| D | Review handbook entries prior to publication | Curriculum Services |
|
| E | Communicate changes to handbook entries to impacted students | CLXO |
|
- The Chief Learning Experience Officer (as the Approval Authority) is responsible for monitoring the implementation, outcomes and scheduled review of this procedure.
- Manager, Curriculum Services (as the Document Owner) is responsible for maintaining the content of this procedure as delegated by the Approval Authority.
The Federation University Handbook Procedure will be communicated throughout the University via:
- Announcement posts via FedNews and FedEngage and on the ‘Recently Approved Documentsʼ page on the Universityʼs Policy Central website.
| Document title | Location | Responsible officer | Minimum retention period |
| Master set of curriculum records | Curriculum centre | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS/PVC, VET and Pathways. | Permanent |
| Business case for course and unit approvals outside deadlines | The Universityʼs approved records management system | Manager, Curriculum Services | Temporary – destroy when administration use has concluded |
| Handbook | Handbook website | Chief Learner Experience Officer | Permanent |
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