Got the sniffles? and assignments and exams as well?

(Vector Clipart Picture, 2008)

This is a time when you might feel really stretched by your workload. It’s also the season for coughs and colds.

• What do you do if are feeling too crook to sit your exam?
• What do you do if you sit the exam when you are ill and get bad results?

If you are not well enough to write your assignment or sit your exam, don’t!
Instead you need to go to the doctor and get

• medical treatment
  
• a medical certificate that you can use as documentary evidence of your illness.

In a big institution like UniSA there are guidelines that staff and students must follow when it comes to assessment. The rules are there to ensure that everyone has ‘a fair go’ i.e. the same chance of success as each other. But if you are sick it counts as an ‘unexpected and exceptional grounds’ and you can apply for deferred assessment (see Assessment Policies and Procedures 2008, Section 7.3).

Assignments
If you are ill and need an Extension to complete your assignment

• read your Course Information Guide to find out exactly who you need to contact and any instructions you need to follow
  
• contact your Course Coordinator as soon as possible (within 5 working days of the assignment due date)
  
• complete and submit your application for an extension and submit it with your medical certificate (also within 5 working days).

Exams
If you miss your exam due to illness

• contact your Course Coordinator as soon as possible (within 5 working days of the exam)
• complete and submit your application a deferred assessment and submit it with your medical certificate(also within 5 working days).
  

What happens if you attend the exam and then fail?
If you are not well, you sit the exam and do really badly, you need to see a doctor that day and get a medical certificate. You can then apply for Special Consideration: you must do this within 5 working days. If Special Consideration is granted, it may involve sitting a deferred exam, doing a written assignment or something else.

Emailing Course Coordinators

• write in plain English
• do not use SMS text.
  

Keep in mind that your email records your request. Keep it friendly and polite. Also keep a copy. Do not assume the Course Coordinator has seen or received the email, until they have replied and ensure you keep a copy of the reply.

If the extension was agreed to verbally, also send an email confirming the agreed arrangement. Ensure you get a reply and, again, keep a copy.

If Course Coordinators are not replying to your emails you can call them directly and if you are still not able to get through to them, try contacting them through the School office.

wishing you every success,
Helen

Lecturer: Learning Adviser