ANU College of Law
Postgraduate Policy on Attendance

Effective: 1 January 2009

For those graduate courses in law that are offered by face-to-face instruction via lectures or seminars the following policy on attendance has been adopted:

1. For those courses offered in the graduate programs in either intensive or semester-length mode the Postgraduate Studies Committee considers participation in the classes offered to be an important part of the educational experience of graduate study. Accordingly students are expected to attend those classes and Class Rolls will be taken for the purposes of verifying attendance. As courses may be scheduled on either weekdays or the weekends, upon enrolling in a course the college assumes that students have taken into account work, family, religious and all other commitments and are able to attend all advertised lectures or seminars in a course consistent with this policy.

2. Subject to paragraphs 3 and 5, or unless specified differently in the course description, students are required to attend all classes.

3. Recognising that some students face significant work place obligations which may, for example, require work-related travel to be undertaken at short notice, in exceptional circumstances a student may be granted permission by the teacher in consultation with the program/specialisation Convenor or Director, Postgraduate Coursework Program to be absent from some classes, provided:
   
   (a) it does not exceed a maximum of 25% of the classes,
   
   (b) permission is requested in advance of the classes from which the student will be absent, and
   
   (c) the request is supported, where appropriate, by adequate documentation.
   In cases where permission is granted to be absent from some classes, the lecturer may request that the student undertake additional assessable or other non-assessable tasks.

4. Failure to comply with paragraph 2 may result in a student receiving the grade of NCN (non complete fail).

5. (1) Paragraph 2 does not apply to a student enrolled in a course in which a significant amount of teaching is delivered in whole on-line or by other means and this is made clear in the course description and materials.
   
   (2) In such a case the student must substantially comply with any attendance requirement laid down for that course.

6. The normal pressures of work or planned personal trips do not constitute exceptional circumstances for the purpose of paragraph 3 to justify an exemption from full compliance of this policy. Students who have enrolled in courses which are conducted on weekdays are expected to have made appropriate arrangements with their employers for study leave.

7. This policy does not apply to students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

8. This policy will be interpreted and applied consistent with all University policies relating to attendance including that applying in the case of misadventure.

Approved by Board of Studies –Graduate Program in Law meeting No.5/2002 held on 23/10/02 revised 10/12/02; revised Postgraduate Studies Committee (PSC) 10/08/05; revised 26/09/07; revised 13/08/08.