USYD show cause: deadline, letter and appeal steps

Your show cause notification is the document that controls what you do next at USYD. It sets your deadline and tells you what to provide and how to submit through Sydney Student. The pages we read do not state a number of days for a show cause submission, so use the deadline in your own notification rather than a figure from another letter or another university. Read the whole notification before you write. If you are an undergraduate, contact the SRC's Caseworker Help service for advice and support while preparing. If you are a postgraduate, contact SUPRA's Postgraduate Advocacy Service. Contact them while you prepare. Keep a copy of the notification and any documents you submit.

What your show cause letter needs

The letter has two jobs. First, explain the circumstances that affected your study performance. Describe what happened, how it affected your studies and why the circumstances were beyond your control. Second, set out a plan to meet progression requirements. That plan can include the steps you have already taken to resolve the issues, what you will do in future, your plans for unit enrolments next semester and changes such as reducing your study load. Include supporting documents where available. The documents must be true. Do not invent or exaggerate a reason, and do not alter a document. Keep copies of what you send and check that your submission is complete against the requirements in your notification.

What happens after you submit

If the Associate Dean decides you have shown good cause, you can re-enrol without restrictions. If the Associate Dean decides you have not shown good cause, they can allow you to re-enrol with conditions, such as passing a unit of study or limiting the number of credit points you can enrol in within a set time period, or exclude you. The pages we read say exclusion means no re-enrolment in your course for at least four consecutive semesters (two calendar years). If you are allowed to re-enrol and do not meet the academic progression requirements in the next semester, you may be asked to show good cause again.

If you are excluded or disagree with conditions

If you are excluded from your course, or you do not believe the conditions imposed on your re-enrolment are reasonable, you can submit an appeal to your faculty. Your stage 3 exclusion decision notification sets the deadline to submit an application for review; the pages we read give no number of days for exclusions. The application goes through Sydney Student > My studies > Assessments, where you upload your letter and documents. Your application should include details and evidence about the issues affecting your study and your proposed solutions, as per a typical stage 3 response. If you did not originally respond to the show good cause, explain why you did not respond by the due date. If you did respond but the faculty did not accept your submission, give a rebuttal of why you disagree with the faculty's reasons for excluding you. Read the decision notification for the exact deadline and any instructions. Readmission after exclusion is not automatic and is at the discretion of the Associate Dean of the faculty or school.