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Awards Regulations - Conferral of Aegrotat and Posthumous Awards Procedure

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Section 1 - Purpose / Objectives

(1) The procedure sets the process for the granting and conferral of Victoria University Aegrotat and Posthumous Awards under the Awards Regulations 2013.

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Section 2 - Scope / Application

(2) This procedure applies in the event that a student has been prevented from completing his/her studies, or has completed studies but not yet graduated, due to an incapacitating illness or injury, and or death.

(3) The practice of granting an ungraded examination pass or an award to a student who has been overtaken by illness originated in Britain, and has a long history within the universities of the world. However, such awards are not customarily made indiscriminately. Within Australian Higher Education, a variety of methods have been used to enable students who have fallen short of fulfilment of course requirements to graduate under special circumstances. One such example is the concept of 'Stage Completion by Compensation', which operates within Victoria University; another is the aegrotat award.

(4) The aegrotat award is not customarily granted in Australia on account of illness alone. It is granted posthumously on occasion, where a student has met an untimely death. It is also appropriate in a situation where a student has sustained an incapacitating injury that precludes the completion of an award course.

(5) Posthumous awards, granted under section 5 of the Awards Regulation, are given to students who have completed all the requirements for the award, but have died before conferral has occurred.

(6) In some circumstances, the granting of an award in aegrotat or posthumously provides a mark of distinction which is very well received by both the peers and relatives of a deceased student, and can be an important recognition of the role that the University plays in the lives of those who work and study within it.

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Section 3 - Definitions

(7) Nil

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Section 4 - Policy Statement

(8) Nil

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Section 5 - Procedures

Roles and Responsibilities

Roles	Responsibility
(9) College Responsible for the coordination of the course	a. Initiate the process for consideration of the award b. Seek endorsement from Dean
(10) Research Student Supervisor	a. Initiate the process for consideration of the award b. Seek endorsement from Dean
(11) Manager, Assessment and Completions	a Review submission b. Prepare memo to be sent to Academic Registrar for referral
(12) Dean	a. Endorse, or otherwise, the granting of the posthumous or aegrotat awards (including granting in aegrotat)
(13) Academic Registrar	a. Approve, or otherwise, recommendation for posthumous awards or aegrotat awards

Procedures

Step	Description
(14) Consideration of aegrotat and/or posthumous award	a. The responsible college or supervisor will recommend the conferral of a posthumous award where the student: i. has completed all the requirements for the degree, but ii. has died before the degree has been conferred. b. The responsible college or supervisor will recommend the conferral of an aegrotat award where the student: i. has died or sustained a permanent incapacitating injury or illness that precludes the completion of an award course; ii had satisfactorily completed at least half of the course leading to the award in question; iii had in aggregate been enrolled at the University for at least one academic year; iv results whilst studying at the University were such as to lead to the reasonable conclusion that the student would have successfully completed the course and qualified for the award in question. c. In both cases, it should be confirmed that the conferral of an award will not cause offence or undue distress to the relatives of the deceased, the incapacitated student or to others within the University or the community.
(15) Endorsement of aegrotat and/or posthumous award	a. The responsible college or supervisor will seek endorsement by the relevant Dean.
(16) Submission to request aegrotat and/or posthumous award	a. The responsible college or supervisor will submit a letter to request the granting of aegrotat and/or posthumous award and Application for Graduation# to the Manager, Assessment and Completions. # except the case where a student has applied to graduate, but has died subsequent to the Application for graduation
(17) Review aegrotat and/or posthumous award submission	a. The Manager, Assessment and Completions will review the submission to determine if it meets the criteria in the Awards Regulations 2013 and has the endorsement of the Dean.
(18) Recommendation to approve aegrotat and/or posthumous award	a. The Manager, Assessment and Completions will prepare a memo/letter to be sent to the Principal Officer responsible for Students with a recommendation to grant aegrotat or posthumous award. The Principal Officer for Academic Register forwards the request to the ACR with a recommendation that it be approved.
(19) Approval to grant aegrotat and/or posthumous award	a. The Academic Registrar approves, or otherwise, the award.
(20) Notification and conferral of Award	a. The relatives of the (deceased) student should be invited to receive the award either In Absentia or as a presentation at the appropriate graduation ceremony. In the case of an aegrotat award to a living person, the student should be invited to participate as fully as practicable in the appropriate graduation. b. Wherever possible, posthumous and aegrotat awards should be conferred at the point in time when the student might otherwise have expected to graduate, providing this is within two years of the death of the student. This provides for the sharing of the experience of grief and support between surviving relatives, friends and peers.

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Section 6 - Guidelines

(21) Nil