University Medal Awards Procedure

Policy code: CG2034
Policy owner: Director, Strategy, Governance and Office of the Vice-Chancellor
Approval authority: Vice-Chancellor and President
Approval date: 15 April 2026
Next review date: 10 June 2028

Purpose
Scope
Legislative context
Definitions
Actions
1. Identifying potential University Medal recipients
2. Calling for nominations
3. Reviewing, selecting and recommending nominations
4. Notifying others of Council's decision
5. Preparing and presenting the University Medal
Supporting documents
Forms
Responsibility
Promulgation
Implementation
Records management

Purpose

This procedure describes the process by which the Academic Board will receive nominations and make recommendations to the University’s Council for awarding the University Medal. The University Medal is normally conferred and awarded at each graduation period by the Council to recognise outstanding academic achievement.

The Academic Board is responsible for managing the nomination and selection process through the Academic Board Steering Committee. The Committee recommends the proposed recipient/s for the University Medal to the Council for approval.

Scope

This procedure applies to awarding a graduating student whose academic achievement has been outstanding for the duration of their undergraduate studies.

To be eligible for the University Medal the student:

  • must be eligible to graduate having completed the requirements of an undergraduate (Bachelor or Bachelor Honours Degree level) single award, double degree, double award or joint degree at the University and are yet to graduate;
  • must not have received any reported instances of misconduct (academic or general) categorised as medium severity or above nor received a criminal conviction during their enrolment period at Federation University as prescribed in the Student Misconduct Procedure, Academic Integrity Procedure and Student Code of Conduct *; and
  • the student must not have previously been awarded the Federation University Medal.

Note: Requests for special consideration of the above eligibility exemption will be made at the discretion of the Pro Vice-Chancellor of their Institute, and in consultation with the Academic Board Chair.

Council may resolve not to award the University Medal in a particular graduation period, or to award more than one University Medal in any given graduation period. 

Legislative context

  • Federation University Australia Act 2010
  • Federation University Australia Statute 2021
  • Federation University Australia AcademicRegulations 2022

Definitions

Term Definition
AHEGS Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement
Grade Point Average (GPA) a numerical representation of a student’s average academic performance, typically calculated on a 4.0 or 7.0 scale. 
Pro Vice-Chancellor PVC the Pro Vice-Chancellor of an Institute
University Federation University Australia

Other relevant definitions, including a list of the University’s awards, are contained within the University Awards Guidelines.

Actions

1. Identifying potential University Medal recipients

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A Generate a list of eligible graduates. Program Management and Completions
  1. Following request by the Governance team, prepare a list of eligible graduates, who have achieved a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 6.5 or higher in an undergraduate Bachelor or Bachelor Honours degree (including joint and double degrees, and double awards).
  2. Report is provided to the Governance Team at least eight weeks prior to nominations closing. 
  3. Nominations close at least six weeks prior to the start of the relevant graduation period.

2. Calling for nominations

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A Issuing notice to Pro Vice-Chancellors and Associate Deans, Learning and Teaching Governance and Policy
  1. Issue a call for nominations providing:
  • the list of eligible students in their institute.
  • a link to this procedure, which includes the nomination form.
  • notice of the closing date for the receipt of nominations.
B Identify Discipline Institute candidates Associate Deans, Learning and Teaching
  1. Institute Associate Deans Learning and Teaching (ADLTs), will provide the eligible students list to Course Coordinators requesting submission of one eligible student nomination from each Discipline within the Institute.
C GPA requirements

Associate Deans, Learning and Teaching

Course Coordinators
  1. A graduating student who has transferred from another institution should have completed at least half their program at the University. Their GPA will be calculated only on units completed at the University.
  2. In cases where a nominee has been granted academic credit from another institution or another course for part of their undergraduate studies, the institute will ensure the GPA from the recognition of prior learning is still sufficiently high to merit medal consideration.
D   Course Coordinators / Student Registrar
  1. Prior to commencing preparation of the nomination, proposed students must be verified by the Student Registrar as having not received any reported instances of misconduct (academic or general) categorised as medium severity or above nor received a criminal conviction during their enrolment period at Federation University as prescribed in the Student Misconduct Procedure, Academic Integrity Procedure and/or Student Code of Conduct.
E Prepare Discipline nominations Course Coordinators
  1. Course Coordinators may contact the identified student(s) for nomination to seek student input in addressing the following nomination form criteria:
    1. Nominations should be based on a student's academic performance primarily, although not necessarily exclusively, through their GPA. Other academic criteria deemed appropriate with an accompanying explanation will be considered.
    2. Nominations from institutes should address the following criteria:
      • the GPA of the nominee.
      • details of outstanding performance in practical components of the qualification undertaken by the nominee.
      • comments on aspects of academic performance that may not be apparent from the grades obtained by the nominee.
      • details of any professional work related to the qualification undertaken by the nominee either within or outside the University, if applicable.
      • any other relevant information related to the nominee's academic achievement or professional involvement (e.g. prizes, scholarships, community service, student advocacy roles etc.).
    3. In addition, nomination forms must be accompanied by a 150 - 250 word statement from the Course Coordinator outlining the rationale for submitting the student for Institute consideration as the Discipline’s highest performing nominee for awarding of the University Medal. The statement should outline how the nominated student typifies a model Federation University student beyond their academic achievements and aligned with University values.
F Shortlisting of Discipline candidate nominations Pro Vice-Chancellor, or nominee
  1. Institute Boards meet to assess Discipline nominations and endorse ONE candidate to forward to Academic Board Steering Committee.
  2. Under exceptional circumstances, an Institute may request the Chair of Academic Board’s permission to nominate an additional candidate.
  3. Prior to submitting to the Academic Board Steering Committee, the Institute will verify with the Program Management and Completions team that the nominee has qualified, or is soon to qualify for graduation, and appropriate documentation has been completed for graduation. 
  4. The endorsed nomination form must be signed and submitted by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, using the approved nomination form and accompanied by the supporting statement, transcript of results and any additional supporting documentation to Governance and Policy.
G Recognising Discipline student performance Pro Vice-Chancellor
  1. Letter from the Pro Vice-Chancellor to be sent to unsuccessful nominees congratulating them on being recognised as the highest achiever within their discipline within the current graduation period.
H Failure to nominate Pro Vice-Chancellor
  1. Each institute must nominate ONE eligible student for each graduation cycle.
  2. In the event that no eligible students meet the criteria, the Pro Vice-Chancellor must submit a written statement to the Academic Board Chair outlining reason why this has not been achieved.

3. Reviewing, selecting and recommending nominations

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A Assessment of Institute nominations Governance and Policy
  1. After the close of nominations, convene a meeting of the Academic Board Steering Committee to assess the applications received from the institutes.
Academic Board Steering Committee
  1. The Committee will dutifully critique all information submitted to select and endorse a preferred nominee/s for awarding of the University Medal.
B Recommendation to Council

Governance and Policy

University Secretary
  1. Prepare a memorandum presenting the endorsed nominee/s to the University Council (or Governance and Strategy Committee) recommending approval within the stipulated timeframe which may require completion via circulatory resolution.

4. Notifying others of Council's decision

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A Notifying the Institutes Governance and Policy
  1. Provide an extract from the minutes of the Council (or GSC) meeting confirming the decision on the University Medal recipient/s to the Pro Vice-Chancellors, Graduations Coordinator and Comms Team.
B Notifying the nominees Pro Vice-Chancellors
  1. The Institutewill notify the successful recipient of Council's decision and communicate the outcome to relevant staff within the institute.
  2. The institute will notify the Graduations Coordinator when the recipient has been advised of their success.
  3. The University expects that the recipient of the University Medal will attend a graduation ceremony to accept their award. Exception may be made under extraordinary circumstances.
  4. The nominees for the University Medal, even if unsuccessful, will be acknowledged at their graduation ceremony.
C Recognising Institute student performance Chancellor
  1. Letter of recognition addressed from the Chancellor (cc’d to Vice-Chancellor and PVC) to be sent to unsuccessful Institute nominees advising that their AHEGS will be notated with 'Outstanding AcademicAchievement for the Institute of [insert Institute name] in [insert year]'.
D Notifying other staff Governance and Policy
  1. Provide the Corporate Communications Team with the successful nominee’s applications for background information as well as the name and course details of all other nominees. The team will manage publicity of the award and prepare the statements to be read by the Vice-Chancellor to acknowledge the recipient and other nominees at Graduation.
  2. As supported by the PVC’s, commencing from the 2025 Semester 2 Graduations, Order of Proceedings for each ceremony will acknowledge the medal winner(s) as well as any other nominees.
  3. Advise the CLXO Office of unsuccessful nominations and provide details no less than four weeks before the graduation period.
E Notating AHEGS Coordinator TAFE Student Administration
  1. Check that the recipient has responded online to the invitation to graduate and confirm their attendance at the relevant graduation ceremony.
  2. The awarding of the University Medal will be recorded on the student's AHEGS with the words:
    • "[insert student name] has been awarded The University Medal for academic achievement in the [insert course name]. This is the highest academic award that can be bestowed on a graduating student by the University."
  3. The significant achievement of the unsuccessful nominees will be recorded on their AHEGS with the words:
    • "Outstanding Academic Achievement for the Institute of [insert name] in [insert year]."
  4. In the event that a student has already received their AHEGS statement prior to being nominated, they will be offered an amended and reissued statement, at no cost to the student (refer to the Student Awards Procedure).

5. Preparing and presenting the University Medal

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A Safekeeping Governance and Policy
  1. Unpresented University Medals are stored by the Manager, Governance and Policy.
B Meeting design specifications Governance and Policy
  1. The design of the University Medal will be as follows:
    1. Diameter: 70mm
    2. Colour: Silver
    3. Obverse: Full Arms of the University
    4. Reverse: The words to include "For Outstanding Academic Achievement" cast into the bottom half, with the winner's name and the year in which the medal is awarded to be engraved in the centre.
C Preparing for the presentation Manager, Governance and Policy
  1. The Manager, Governance and Policy will coordinate the engraving of the University Medal with the recipient/s name (in the recipient's preferred format as confirmed by the institute).
  2. The year engraved will be the year in which the award is presented at graduation.
  3. Deliver the engraved University Medal to the CLXO Office at least one week prior to the ceremony scheduled for the presentation.
  4. Add the recipient/s name to the University Medal Honour Roll webpage (Optimizely asset) after the awarding ceremony date and submit for review/approval by the Digital Channels and Strategy team.
D Presenting the University Medal  Chancellor
  1. The University Medal is presented by the Chancellor (or nominated Council member) on behalf of the University Council at the relevant graduation ceremony.

Supporting documents

Forms

Forms

Responsibility

  • Vice-Chancellor and President (as the Approval Authority) is responsible for monitoring the implementation, outcomes and scheduled review of this procedure.
  • Director, Strategy, Governance and Office of the Vice-Chancellor (as the Document Owner) is responsible for maintaining the content of this procedure as delegated by the Approval Authority.

Promulgation

The University Medal Awards Procedure will be communicated throughout the University community in the form of:

  1. an Announcement Notice via FedNews website and on the 'Recently Approved Documents' page on the 'Policies, Procedures and Forms at the University' website to alert the University-wide community of the approved Procedure.
  2. notification by email to Pro Vice-Chancellors, Director, Strategy, Governance and Office of the Vice-Chancellor, CLXO, Programs Management and Completions and Corporate Communications.

Implementation

The University Medal Awards Procedure will be implemented throughout the University via notification by email to Pro Vice-Chancellors at the stipulated time each year.

Records management

Document Title Location Responsible Officer Minimum Retention Period
Nomination forms The University's approved records management system Governance and Policy Nomination forms for successful nominees will be kept a minimum of seven years, and unsuccessful for 12-months. Electronic records will be retained in the University's records management system under relevant Academic Board Steering Committee meetings.
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Honorary Awards Procedure 
 Distinguished Professor Procedure


Policy Glossary

Approval Authority: Vice-Chancellor and President Original Issue 11/01/2019
Policy Sponsor: Director, Strategy, Governance and Office of the Vice-Chancellor Current Version: 15/04/2026
CRICOS Provider Number 00103D Review Date: 10/06/2028
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12151 Provider Category: Australian University
RTO Code 4909 Policy Code CG2034