How Advocates Can Help

The USASA Advocates can help you understand academic policies and procedures, advise you as to what is happening, and what to do. Their expert advice and knowledge of processes will help you pursue your student rights.

The Student testimonials on this page can give you an idea of students’ experiences, utilising the service. This page also provides a guide for how Advocates can assist, and what to expect for the procedures of: remarking, resubmissions and appeals against final grades.
 

Student Advocates can help with academic issues beyond those described here- please contact them directly for further information.

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Student Testimonials  

These testimonials were submitted anonymously by students who accessed the USASA Advocacy service.

Advocacy Procedures 

Re-marking

Re-marking is where a second assessor marks the assessment task without any further work. The second assessor is not provided with the details of the student’s original mark.

Stage 1

• Look out for your assessment grades
• Contact USASA Advocacy Service by emailing USASA.Advocate@usasa.sa.edu.au to make an appointment if you believe you have been unfairly or inappropriately marked
• Meet the Student Advocate

Stage 2

• Request for a re-mark of your assessment with your course coordinator within 5 working days of receiving your official grades
• Course Coordinator will notify of either a second assessor will re-mark your work or deny your request within 5 working days of receiving your request
• If your re-mark results in a new grade whether if it’s higher or lower, this becomes your new grade.

Stage 3

• If your Course Coordinator denies your re-mark request, contact your Student Advocate as you can appeal to the Head of School, who is responsible for this course, to review the decision within 5 working days of receiving the outcome from Course Coordinator.
• The Head of School will notify you with a decision to approve or deny your request within 5 working days.
• The Head of School will notify you of the outcome of the re-mark within 10 working days from the day the assessment is re-marked.
• If the Head of School has denies your request, contact your Student Advocate for further advice.

Contact an Advocate by emailing requesting for an appointment to discuss your remarking as soon as possible.

Re-submission

Re-submission is where a student is permitted to revise an assessment task that they have failed to the original assessor within a specified time frame.

Stage 1

• Look out for your assessment grades
• Contact USASA Advocacy Service by emailing USASA.Advocate@usasa.sa.edu.au to make an appointment if you believe you have grounds to request for a re-submission
• Meet the Student Advocate

Stage 2

• A Student, Course Coordinator or an Academic Integrity Officer can initiate a re-submission
• Request for a re-submission within 5 working days of receiving your original task results.
• Course Coordinator will notify of either your request has been granted or denied within 5 working days of receiving your request
• If you pass a re-submission, you will receive a maximum of 50% unless if Course Coordinator allows the full range of marks or if the re-submission is results from an Academic Misconduct where you will be advised on the range of grades you would receive.

Stage 3

• If your Course Coordinator denies your re-submission request, contact your Student Advocate as you can appeal to the Head of School who is responsible for this course to review the decision within 5 working days of receiving the outcome from Course Coordinator
• The Head of School will notify you with a decision to approve or deny your re-submission request within 5 working days
• The Head of School will ask the Course Coordinator to describe assessment task, the due date and the marks available to for the re-submitted work.
• The Course Coordinator will notify student of the outcome of the re-submission within 10 days of receiving the re-submission task.
• If the Head of School denies your re-submission request, contact your Student Advocate for further advice.

Contact an Advocate by emailing requesting for an appointment to discuss your resubmission as soon as possible

Appeal Against Final Grades

Students have the right to appeal against their final grades. The Student Advocate will attend any meetings along your side not only to provide support but to guide you through the policies and procedures of the appeal.

Stage 1

• Look out for your final course grade on your learn online system
• Contact USASA Advocacy Service by emailing USASA.Advocate@usasa.sa.edu.au if you disagree with your final grade and if you believe you have grounds to appeal
• Meet the Student Advocate

Stage 2

• Send the Student Advocate your draft email or letter intended for your Course Coordinator detailing why you disagree with your final grade
• The Student Advocate will provide you with constructive feedback for you to consider before sending this appeal to your Course Coordinator
• The Course Coordinator will notify of the outcome of the review in writing within 10 working days from receiving your appeal against final grade
• If you receive a new grade as an outcome of the review, this becomes your final grade for the course.

Stage 3

• If the appeal is not satisfactory, you can appeal further to the Head of School for the school that is responsible for this course.
• Contact your Student Advocate as soon as possible upon receiving the outcome from Course Coordinator as you have 10 working days to lodge your appeal to the Head of School.
• If lodging your appeal to the Head of School, you will need to provide evidence of the discussion you had with your Course Coordinator, attach any supporting documents, and an explanation on why you believe your grades should be reviewed.
• The review by the Head of School will normally be completed within 10 working days from the lodgement time.
• If you receive a new grade as an outcome of the review, this becomes your final grade for the course.

Stage 4

• If the grade remains unchanged, students are entitled to appeal this outcome with the Pro vice Chancellor of the Division your school falls under using this form within 5 working days of receiving the outcome from the Head of School.
• Contact your Student Advocate who will be able to assist you with this appeal.
• The Pro Vice Chancellor would normally write to you within 10 working days from the lodgement of the appeal. If the review by Pro Vice Chancellor results in a new grade, this will become your final grade for this course.

Stage 5

• If your results remain unchanged, you are able to lodge one final appeal with the assistance of the Student Advocate to the Students Appeals Committee. Contact your Student Advocate who will be able to assist you with this appeal.

Contact an Advocate by emailing requesting for an appointment to discuss your appeal as soon as your grades are released

Note: Students have 10 working days to appeal their final grade with their Course Coordinator from the date the results are released on Learn-Online.