Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Student's special con got rejected by Katherine

This is what happens to students every semester when they apply for Special consideration each semester. This friend of mine is not alone in this. This is my friend's story:
What happened?
" I was in a car accident and my close friend had just died and I was hospitalised. We had gone to a party which involved drinking and my friend who was an ex uni student drank quite a lot of alcohol and needed to drive. He had just been excluded from uni and was a little suicidal. I had no way of getting home because I didn't know anyone else beside this friend and I had no money for a cab ride home.  It was two weeks before my exam and I had severe injuries from the accident. I could not hand in my special consideration application. I had to fill out a form on Special consideration."
" Because of my friend's death, the police were involved. Hence there was a police report".
" I had gotten the doctor to tick severe on the form"

At the time of applying for Special consideration
" I did not know that there was a free counselling service for all students at RMIT. Hence I did not go. Nor did I know that there was a DLU."
"RMIT's services are not well promoted"
" I did not know that I needed all of these extra documents. I thought that I only just needed a medical report."
" There is a time limit of 48 hours after the exam or before the exam".
" As I was "at risk" I was worried about being kicked out from uni as I was doing the same subject twice and needed Special consideration for that subject".
" In the end my special consideration got denied. I had suffered extra stress which led me to fail my exams and I was kicked out of uni."
" I tried to appeal my assesment but to no avail. As this was an Internet based subject I could not see my exam. I tried to ask the coordinator but he was never available"

Advice for applying for Special consideration and University
" I ended up going to Deakin University as I live close to Deakin. Many of my other friends attended Deakin and told me that they were student friendly"
" Check the Universities policies on assesment before you even apply to that uni as how they treat their students matters. How the Uni spends your money matters to you. How they also spend the extra $263 matters to you too."
" Getting the special consideration makes all the difference between failing and passing so make sure that you get it and if need be complain to the uni. But don't leave everything to the last minute and get a student rights officer to help you".
" Get involved in your Union. They are there to support you in times of need".
"Write a cover letter if need be".

A little birdy told me that RMIT is about to change their policies yet again. It will become harder for students to apply for special consideration if need be and you might need a health plan and be registered with the DLU to apply. If that is the case RMIT is undermining the rights of students and their privacy.

Maybe you should reconsider getting Special consideration. But if you do need speak to the Student Union and get some advice before applying. Don't leave it till the last minute.

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