Deferrals

Deferral Policy

This policy and procedure details how Strategix manages student requests for deferrals. A deferral request can be made to Strategix to either delay the commencement of a course or put on hold a course which is already in progress.

Deferral Duration

The duration of a deferral of studies is a maximum of 12 months for a domestic student or 6 months for an international student. If student requires a longer duration, Strategix may assess the case and determine the best cause of action with the student. In cases where the maximum deferral duration is not long enough, the student may be advised to withdraw from the course.

The period of deferral will not be included in attendance monitoring calculations.

Deferral Applications

Students can apply for a deferral based on compassionate and compelling circumstances. These are circumstances which are beyond the control of the student and will have an adverse impact on their well-being and course progress. Where practical, a student must apply at least 14 days prior to the requested deferral start date.

Compassionate and compelling circumstances may include, but are not limited to:

• Serious illness or injury, where a medical certificate states that the student was unable to attend classes

• Bereavement of close family members such as parents or grandparents (where possible, a death certificate should be provided)

• Major political upheaval or natural disaster in the home country requiring emergency travel and this has impacted on the student’s studies

• A traumatic experience, which could include:

  • Involvement in or witnessing a serious accident

  • Witnessing or being the victim of a serious crime, and this has impacted the student (these cases should be supported by police or psychologists’ reports).

• Where Strategix was unable to offer a prerequisite unit, or the student has failed a prerequisite unit and therefore faces a shortage of relevant units for which they are eligible to enrol.

Applications must be submitted using the Deferral Application Form and include supporting evidence. Click below for guidance around supporting evidence.

Strategix will assess each application on its individual merits. Decisions are made within 10 working days of submission, unless additional information or supporting documents are required, in which the student will be notified and will be afforded time to obtain anything further. Students must make sure their fees/payments are up to date as it may affect their application process.

Students are required to participate in and attend their course as normal until a decision has been made on their application.

If Strategix was to deny a deferral request, students have a right to appeal the decision. While the appeal is in process, the student is required to continue to attend the course as normal. International students will not be reported during the appeal process. Appeals are processed as per Complaints, Appeals and Consumer Protection Policy and Procedure.

International Student Information

Strategix will notify the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) through PRISMS of any change to the conditions of a student’s enrolment. A deferment may affect a student’s visa. A visa may be cancelled if the deferral:

• Is due to the conduct of the student

• Is for reasons other than compassionate or compelling circumstances

• The compassionate or compelling circumstances which warranted the deferral cease to exist

• Is based on fraudulent evidence or documents given to Strategix by the student.

International students intending to cancel their enrolment in order to transfer provider must refer to International Student Transfer Policy.

Procedure:

Submitting Application

The deferral process is initiated by through the Deferral Application Form. All applications must include as much information as possible and supporting evidence, see Appendix 1 for additional guidance.

Assessment of Application

Applications are received and assessed by management within 10 working days. Professional judgement will be used to assess each case on its individual merit. Notes will be kept on the student profile detailing the assessment, reasoning and the decision.

Notification of Outcome

The student will be notified of the decision/outcome of their request within 10 working days from when the request was received by Strategix. The notification will contain the outcome and the reasoning for the decision. A copy of the notification is saved on the student’s profile and if the student is an international student a copy will also get sent to students education agent.

Non-Approvals - If the outcome of the application was not granted the student is provided with an opportunity to appeal the decision as per STG 1.012 - Complaints and Appeals Procedure.

If the appeal results in the decision being overturned the process will continue as per the approvals below.

Approvals - If the outcome of the application was an approval, the student will be advised if any important information they need to know (i.e. international students may need to contact and inform DIBP or if there is any impact on their student visa). The administrative tasks required by Strategix are completed as per the next step.

Administrative Tasks/Finalise

If granted, the administrative assistant is to update the students profile to reflect the change, by:

• Updating the student status to “Deferred”

• Adding a brief reason for the deferral and the deferral start date in the comment field below the status

• Adding the deferral end date in the “Deferred/Suspended Until” field.

In addition, if the student is an International student the administrative assistant will:

Change the students CoE and issue new CoE to student and agent (if/where required)

Update PRISMS to reflect new CoE.

Related Documents:

• International Prospectus

• International Student Handbook

• Student Handbook

• STG 1.012 - Complaints and Appeals Procedure

• Deferral Application Form

• National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth)

• Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015

• Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 (Cth)

• Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Regulations 2001 (Cth)

• National Code of practice for providers of Education Services for Overseas Students 2018 (Cth)

Standards Reference:

Glossary:

Appendix 1 – Application Guide

Policy:

Students are able to apply for a deferral of their studies. A deferral of studies is available under special circumstances to students who have not yet passed all of their census dates.

Special circumstances may include:

• Medical Reasons e.g. sickness, rehabilitation or treatment

• Family / personal reasons e.g. Death, sickness or other family circumstances that prevent you from being able to study for a prolonged period of time

Deferrals are available for a minimum period of 2 months and a maximum period of 6 months. Students may defer once per qualification. Where circumstances extend beyond this time frame, an academic penalty date extension or withdrawal might be a more suitable option.

Procedure:

Processing Deferrals

After submitting the application students will receive an email within 10 business days detailing the outcome of the request. If the request has been approved the students will also receive a new confirmation of enrolment showing the new Unit of Study dates and census dates.

Student completes Deferral Application form. Template to be sent from aXcelerate

 Or direct link to Deferral application form: https://strategixtraining.wufoo.eu/forms/x11t3bnl0sf0h9l/

1. All completed Deferral applications are received to formsubmissions@strategix.edu 

   1. Application is assessed and outcome is emailed to the student via the Deferral Application Outcome template

Example:

• If not approved, the student will be withdrawn and will need to re-enrol when they intend to continue. 

• If approved, the student will have recorded the new date in the students’ enrolment details.

The deferred until date is recorded in the students enrolment details

The enrolment status is changed to deferred

All future Unit of Study related dates need to be changed - See formula below.

Note: If the student has not completed previous or current Units of Study, extra time should be provided for completing these subjects first upon return.
Refer to Update UOS DATES section for details on how to calculate and update UOS dates in Xcelerate. 

(Current date + X number of months of approved deferral). 

(Current date + X number of months of approved deferral + X number of months for incomplete subjects). 

For example, if a student defers after their UOS 1 date, but before their UOS 2 census date, their UOS 2 and UOS 3 dates needs to be pushed out for the approved deferral time + plus the additional time to complete UOS 1 subjects not yet complete.

These dates need to align with a scheduled Unit of Study commencement, census and end date e.g. any Monday for Online enrolments or a scheduled Monday or Wednesday intake for on campus.

If the student currently has access to subjects, the end date of these subjects will be changed to the day the deferral is processed. This prevents the student from being able to access any of the course work during the deferral period.

If the student is on a payment plan, this needs to be paused in Debit Success.

1. Log into Debit Success and search for student 

2. Scheduled Payments tab

3. Suspensions

4. Add Suspension 

5. Start Date: 
   End Date:
   Charge For Suspension: $0.00
   Reason for Suspension: Deferral

The deferral application and outcome should be recorded in an axcelerate note and contact message. 

Deferral Report

Each Monday, the SLOs are sent an email - “Deferrals enrolments concluding this week” with a link to a report which shows all students whose deferral has ended within the last week. If there are no students in the report it will show an error message and you will be unable to download the report.

The SLO is to check the students as per the End of Deferral instructions.

End of Deferral

On the Sunday before the Deferred Until date, an email will be automatically sent to the student notifying them that their deferral period is concluding. The email is as per below (please note the date is not highlighted in the email, only in the screenshot below):

A report will be emailed to the SLO’s notifying them that a student is approaching the end of their deferral period. Upon receipt of this email, an SLO will need to:

1. Change the enrolment status from Deferred back to In Progress

2. Update any subject end dates for subjects that were paused during the deferral period to give eLearning access

3. Remove the "deferred until" date in the enrolment details

4. Double check that fees and census dates are correct

5. Ensure that the student's class is on the support calendar

6. Send a Progression Form to the student if a previous progression form has a status of deferred. Refer to Issuing interim progression forms e.g. after returning from deferral or re-enrolment

7. The student must indicate continuing on the new progression form

8. On question 2, select “Yes, I have resumed my studies after having previously deferred or withdrawn from the course” and

9. On question 2a, record the date that they recommenced their studies. 

Contact the student to welcome them back, add note to aXcelerate profile of the call. If there is no answer, email details - template is on the College- Student Support Email Templates Google Doc. + include the above need to complete progression form.

• Motivate them to return back to class or book in a tutorial

• Confirm for direct debit payments to re-commence (if applicable)

1. Log into Debit Success and search for student 

2. Scheduled Payments tab

3. Suspensions

4. Check end date - Edit if required 

5. Check and calculate next payment date 

Follow up should be set. If the student does not re-engage, a cancellation warning needs to be sent at least 28 days prior to the next census date. 

Standards Reference:

The following procedure is developed referencing the below:

Contributor/s:

The following person/s were consulted and involved in the process of developing this document: