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Education

General University policies and statutes

Students should familiarise themselves with the University’s policies and statutes, particularly the Assessment Statute, the Personal Courses of Study Statute, the Statute on Student Conduct and any statutes relating to the particular qualifications being studied; see the Victoria University Calendar available in hard copy or on the VUW home page.

Student and staff conduct

The Statute on Student Conduct together with the Policy on Staff Conduct ensure that members of the University community are able to work, learn, study and participate in the academic and social aspects of the University’s life in an atmosphere of safety and respect. The Statute on Student Conduct contains information on what conduct is prohibited and what steps are to be taken if there is a complaint. For information about complaint procedures under the Statute on Student Conduct, contact the Facilitator and Disputes Advisor. The Education Coordinator at VUWSA is available to support students through the process. Alternatively, refer to the statute on the VUW policy website.

The Policy on Staff Conduct can be found on the VUW website.

Academic grievances

If you have any academic problems with your course you should talk to the tutor or lecturer concerned; class representatives may be able to help you in this. If you are not satisfied with the result of that meeting, see the Head of School or the relevant Associate Dean; the VUWSA Education Coordinator is available to assist in this process. If, after trying the above channels, you are still unsatisfied, formal grievance procedures can be invoked. These are set out in the Academic Grievance Policy which is published on the VUW website.

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity is about honesty – put simply it means no cheating. All members of the University community are responsible for upholding academic integrity, which means staff and students are expected to behave honestly, fairly and with respect for others at all times.

VUWSA employs an Education Coordinator who deals with academic problems and provides support, advice and advocacy services, as well as organising class representatives and faculty delegates. The Education Office is located on the ground floor, Student Union Building

Plagiarism is a form of cheating which undermines academic integrity. The University defines plagiarism as follows:

The presentation of the work of another person or other persons as if it were ones own, whether intended or not. This includes published or unpublished work, material on the Internet and the work of other students or staff.

It is still plagiarism even if you re-structure the material or present it in your own style or words.

Note: It is however, perfectly acceptable to include the work of others as long as that is acknowledged by appropriate referencing.
Plagiarism is prohibited at Victoria and is not worth the risk. Any enrolled student found guilty of plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary procedures under the Statute on Student Conduct and may be penalized severely. Consequences of being found guilty of plagiarism can include:

  • an oral or written warning
  • cancellation of your mark for an assessment or a fail grade for the course
  • percentage reduction of your mark.
  • suspension from the course or the University.

Find out more about plagiarism, and how to avoid it, on the University’s website

Postgraduate Student Resources

Please find attached the Minimum Resources 2006 Agreement signed by the Post Graduate Students Association PGSA & Victoria University. The agreement outlines the minimum requirements applying to all PhD students and to students writing a Master’s thesis as defined in the Master’s Thesis Policy. These minimum requirements will apply pro-rata to half-time students.

Any student who feels their school is not meeting the requirements under the agreement can contact Sandra Crews, Education Coordinator at VUWSA for assistance. Sandra can assist to negotiate minimum resources for PhD & Masters Thesis students. Sandra is a permanent staff member working for PGSA exec members to assist postgrad students to receive the high level of research support the university promises.”

Sandra also assists PhD & Masters thesis students to resolve supervision issues. She provides a confidential support service to students.

Turnitin use:

All courses which make use of Turnitin must inform students prior to the collection of work for assessment. Turnitin is an online plagiarism prevention tool which identifies material that may have been copied from other sources including the Internet, books, journals, periodicals or the work of other students. Turnitin is used to assist academic staff in detecting misreferencing, misquotation, and the inclusion of unattributed material, which may be forms of cheating or plagiarism. At the discretion of the head of School, handwritten work may be copy typed by the School and subject to checking by turnitin. You are strongly advised to check with your tutor or the course coordinator if you are uncertain about how to use and cite material from other sources. Turnitin will retain a copy of submitted materials on behalf of the University for detection of future plagiarism, but access to the full text of submissions will not be made available to any other party.”