• Definitions
• Academic Calendar
• Academic English
• Academic Misconduct
• Articulation
• Enrolment in Concurrent Studies
• Grades
• Level and Credit Points
• Modes of Study
• Module Certificates and Statements of Attainment
• Module Coding and Staging
• Module Names
• Preparatory Modules
• Upgrading
• Worksheets and Readers

Also see:

• Academic Governance
• Assessment information
• Assignment Extensions Policy
• Deferring or Withdrawing from Modules or Courses
• Philosophy of Education
• Plagiarism Policy
• Recognition of Prior Learning
• Streams of Study (see Course Information)

Academic Calendar   (Top)

• Ordinary:
  The College year begins with Orientation/ Commencement Week in February.
  Table 1 (below) illustrates Tabor College’s academic calendar. The academic year comprises 28 weeks divided into two equal semesters of 14 weeks each. Each semester has 14 teaching weeks which excludes a mid-semester break of 2 weeks. The Timetable and Calendar lists specific dates for the current college year, copies are also available from the College.
  
  Current Tabor College policy is that all award related programs are offered solely on a face-to-face basis. “Full-time” denotes face-to-face classes over the academic semester. Full-time classes are conducted on:

  • weekdays daytime;
  • weekdays evening;
  • weekend intensives (which are usually Saturday sessions from 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM, separated by mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and lunchtime breaks); and
  • Summer and Winter Schools.
     

• Summer and Winter Schools:
  Tabor College provides annual month-long summer (February) and winter (July) schools that are conducted on an intensive basis. These schools provide students with an opportunity in which to:

  1. accelerate progression (module to the Principal’s approval) where this is feasible and within the individual capacity of the student, plus the availability of College re-sources;
  2. obtain remedial assistance in instances where they encounter difficulties in particular modules or modular topics;
  3. repeat a previously failed module and rejoin the cohort;

  Generally, unless the Principal grants special approval, a student may complete only one module per school.

Academic English   (Top)

With regard to undergraduate students, College policy encourages faculty members to prescribe their own requirements for the submission of assignments. Tuition is provided one-to-one where this is necessary and the availability of resources permits. (A very small number of students may occasionally be requested to complete a NSW TAFE program in English [e.g. 4907 Cert-IV: English for Academic Purposes - Certificate IV] to improve their erudition and eloquence.)

For a guide on academic writing, students are referred to Morley-Warner, T (2000): Academic Writing is …: A guide to writing in a university con-text, Centre for Research and Education in the Arts (CREA), UTS Printing Service, Sydney.
 

Academic Misconduct   (Top)

In submitting assignments and other academic work, students must declare that the contents are their original work and that all ideas and sources are acknowledged and accurately cited and referenced. Considering adverse implications that may later arise for the exercise of responsibilities in pastoral care and leadership if students are found to have been involved in academic misconduct, the College views allegations of examination cheating, collusion, dishonest plagiarism, academic fraudulence, and other forms of misconduct very seriously. Refer to the College's Exclusion Policy and Plagiarism Policy for specific details.
 

Articulation   (Top)

The word "Articulation" is used here to refer to the formal process of transferring or upgrading from one course or award to another. For example, converting a Certificate award to a Diploma, or a Degree to a post-graduate award.

Articulation is the process of evaluating courses to determine whether coursework completed at one institution will meet the requirements at another institution for the purposes of admission, transferable units, general education or major preparation. It is this process that ensures that the classes you take at in a course at Tabor College NSW will be credited toward your bachelor's degree requirements when you enter another College or a university. Click here to find more about Articulation.

Enrolment in Concurrent Studies   (Top)

Subject to the approval of the Faculty Executive, the College’s academic policy allows students to enrol concurrently in approved cognate programs of other recognized Australian or overseas higher education institutions on condition that:

• successfully completed concurrent study contributes no higher than 20 percent towards the total number of credit points that students require to graduate from their respective programs;

• students applying for approval must demonstrate that the proposed concurrent studies will enhance and complement the objects and content of the College programs in which they enrol;

• approvals to engage in concurrent studies must also comply with any special relevant policy or rule which may govern the relevant programs.

(Note the Admission with Advanced Standing Policy that provides that students whom the Faculty Executive approves to pursue concurrent studies in programs of other institutions may not apply for more than 30 percent of advanced standing.)
 

Grades   (Top)

Student performance per modular unit (especially in academic-related studies) is normally graded according to a six-point descending scale:

Levels and Credit Points   (Top)

Tabor College’s system of levels is does not correspond to systems of levels used in many other colleges or Higher Education Providers. In Tabor College’s system of levels, modules in most of the College’s Certificate I and Certificate II courses are level 1 modules; modules in the College’s Certificate III, Certificate IV and Diploma courses are level 2 modules; modules in the College’s Bachelor degree courses are level 3 modules.

A more detailed description of the College’s system of levels is given on the page: Levels and Credit Points. 
 

MODES OF STUDY    (Top)

Tabor College’s programs are delivered only in face-to-face mode and mainly on full-time and part-time bases. The full-time bachelor degree is normally completed in three academic years (or six years part-time); the diploma in two academic years full-time study (or four years part-time); Certificates 1 and 3 in six academic months full-time study (or one year part-time) and Certificates 2 and 4 in one academic year full time (or two years part-time).

Where the Faculty Executive approves of a special exemptions on compelling grounds, students may be permitted to pursue studies for a longer period, provided their programs can be completed in a total period of no more than 10 academic years. To apply for exemption, students are required to complete a Study Extension Form, available from the Registrar, and submit it to the Registrar for Faculty approval. The Registrar will let the student know whether their application has been approved.

Because of demand, some modules included in this handbook may not be available at Tabor College NSW. Also timetabling difficulties may mean a student is unable to attend classes when they have been scheduled. To address these situations Tabor College NSW has arrangements with Tabor College Adelaide, who offer similar programs, to offer some modules through Cross Institutional Study through the Distance Education Department operated by Tabor College Adelaide. Students wishing further information should speak to the Registrar.

Module Certificates & Statements of Attainment   (Top)

An individual may elect to study one or more modules that are part of an accredited course without completing the full course. Such an individual will not qualify for an accredited award, but will be entitled to receive a Module Certificate for each module successfully completed and a formal Statement of Attainment listing all the modules so completed. These modules can subsequently be credited towards an accredited award at the appropriate level. If an individual enrols for classes but not for assessment in a module (i.e. audits a module) he/she will only be able to receive a Certificate of Attendance, not a Module Certificate or a Statement of Attainment.

100-199 modules are foundational and do not have prerequisites;
200-299 modules normally have prerequisites and build on "100" modules;
300-399 modules normally have "200" modules as prerequisites;
400-499 modules are taken normally in the fourth year of a course or in a graduate course and have "300" modules or equivalent as prerequisites;
500-599 modules are normally taken in the fifth year of academic study, as part of a postgraduate course;

Within each program or stream, the third and fourth digits are a guide to module content. A fifth digit following a decimal point may be used to indicate the level of a module.
Thus, code 1101.3 can be interpreted as follows:

1101.3 = Theology program,
1101.3 = stage 1,
1101.3 = foundational Christian Studies,
1101.3 = level 3 (see below).

Thus, the four digits before, and the digit after, the decimal point fully identify a module. When referring to a module within a particular course, however, the first four digits alone may be used, since the course determines the level of the module (e.g. all bachelor courses include only level 3 modules).