Monash show cause: steps and exclusion appeal deadline

Confirm what your letter says

Your notice is the starting point. Read it carefully, and mark which criterion applies to you. The pages we read say Monash assesses progress as unsatisfactory if you fail 50 per cent or more of your completed credit points, fail the same unit two times or more, exceed the maximum course duration, or do not complete the required credit points within the required time. The 50 per cent criterion does not apply if you fail only a single 6-, 12- or 18-credit point unit in your first review period at Monash.

The pages we read do not state the deadline to respond to a show cause notice. Check your own letter for the date and any hearing details, and confirm the deadline with Monash. If the letter gives a date, work backwards from it when you plan what to prepare. Keep a copy of the notice and any message you send.

Then contact the free help named under Free help: MGA Advocacy service or Student Advocacy & Support (SAS). Ask them to read the notice with you. You do not need to write a new history of past events. Use documents and evidence that already exist and are true.

Build a real explanation

At an Academic Progress Committee hearing, you can submit information in writing and in person to show you can complete your course within the maximum duration. The policy says this can include showing:

• an understanding that your academic performance to date is unsatisfactory;
• an understanding of the factors that have negatively affected your academic progress;
• the actions you have taken to improve your performance;
• the viability of your plan to address the factors affecting your progress.

Use plain language. Say what happened, what you have done, and what you will do next. If you have evidence, use true evidence. Do not change a document, backdate anything, or get a certificate for an illness you did not have. Keep copies of what you submit.

What happens after the hearing

The Academic Progress Committee can:

• allow you to remain enrolled without conditions;
• allow you to remain enrolled with conditions;
• recommend actions for you to take;
• exclude you from your course.

There is no promised result. The committee reviews your academic progress and the information you give in writing and in person.

If the committee sets conditions and new, relevant information becomes available, you can seek a review of those conditions set on your enrolment. The information must not have been previously and reasonably available to you before the conditions were set.

If you are excluded

You must submit an appeal within 20 University working days of the date you received the Notice of Decision to Exclude from the Academic Progress Committee. If you submit after the deadline, attach relevant supporting documentation that helps explain why you are applying late.

The appeal is considered only if a procedural irregularity or new evidence had the potential to alter the committee's decision. You need your own statement explaining why you think there was a procedural irregularity, or why you could not provide the new evidence earlier.

If you were excluded but did not submit evidence or attend an Academic Progress Committee hearing, you do not have a right to appeal. You can apply to the Dean of the managing faculty for reconsideration.

If you are unsure what applies, read your own letter again and speak to MGA Advocacy service or Student Advocacy & Support (SAS) by name.