What is it? An Early Warning Letter is a letter from your faculty to warn you that you have/or are on track to: • Fail a core unit twice • Fail more than 50% of your enrolment for the year • Fail to meet the terms & conditions imposed by a previous Academic Progress Committee (APC)
What this means? This letter means that if you continue to struggle with your grades, you may enter into the APC process unless you can improve &/or put steps in place to improve your academic progress. What is an Academic Progress Committee? An Academic Progress Committee is made up of a panel of members (academics, admin support & a student representative) who review your case in a hearing and make a decision to either:
Allow you to continue your studies as normal as they believe you’ve ‘fixed the problem’
Allow you to continue but with conditions, as they are concerned about your situation. For example the committee may set a condition that you only take on 1 unit per semester as they believe you’d benefit from a reduced workload in order to succeed
Exclude you from the course, faculty or university for a set period of time, where you cannot apply for your position again until you have shown some form of ‘academic rehabilitation’ and a set time period has passed (usually 12 months)
What should I do? Review your situation.
Do you understand the units you are enrolled in?
Are you having problems with the topic/s?
Are you struggling with the work load?
Are you working too much?
Are there external factors (i.e. illness, family, living arrangements etc) impacting on your ability to study?
Are you burnt out?
See if you can reduce any unnecessary stress factors or take steps to ensure you are still able to dedicate the necessary time to study.
Review your priorities.
There may be other factors affecting you that are outside of your control which means that you may not be focused on your studies at the moment. This can happen and it’s not the end of the world. Maybe you could consider deferring your studies for a little while, or if necessary withdraw from a unit to reduce your workload or even withdraw from your course. It may seem harsh but think about it, you are paying a lot of money to be studying, so why go into debt for a fail or for problems etc
What can be done? SPEAK WITH A GIPPSLAND STUDENT RIGHTS OFFICER (SRO) SRO’s can assist you in identifying the problem, some possible solutions, discuss your options with you &/or refer you to the appropriate support service.
Call or visit MUGZOO Central (opposite the café) 0351 226 248
Speaking with your lecturer is a good start if you are having problems with a particular topic/unit. They understand your workload and the expectations on you, and they can help you determine what problems you are having with the course and help you work out possible solutions.
If you are struggling with things like studying, writing reports or referencing, a Language Skills Adviser can help you either in a drop in session or via an appointment. Sebastian Borutta & Margot Porter 0351 226 165 Caitilin Punshon 0351 226 166 Drop in sessions in the library:
Monday 12-1pm
Tuesday 12-2pm
Wednesday 3-4pm
Thursday 9-10am
Friday 10-11am
Or for online support resources see http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/
Visit the library more often. Read the prescribed readers, textbooks, articles and recommended readings/articles. Do past exams.
If you are struggling with personal factors, you may benefit from speaking with a counselor. To make an appointment call 0351 226 425 or visit HWD opposite the student lounge. Health Wellbeing and Development (HWD) is available for you and can help you with:
