1.Director
In the rules in this Chapter, “the Director” shall mean “the Director of the Graduate School of Business”.

2.Admission to Candidature
2.1. This course is available on a fee-paying basis only.

2.2. Applicants for admission to candidature for the degree of Master of Business Administration shall:

(a) have fulfilled all the requirements for admission to a degree or qualification of equivalent standing at this or another university or tertiary institution; or

(b) have completed the Graduate Diploma in Management; or

(c) have completed the Graduate Certificate in Management or any graduate certificate as approved by the Director with a minimum Credit grade average, normally in the first four units completed towards the Graduate Certificate.

2.3. In addition, applicants for admission to candidature must provide evidence of at least three years’ work experience in a field of employment approved by the school on the recommendation of the Director.

2.4. An applicant for candidature shall apply to the Director on the prescribed form.

2.5. Admission to candidature and the date of commencement of candidature shall be determined by the school.

3. Approval of Course of Study
After admission to candidature, a candidate shall have a course of study approved by the school on the recommendation of the Director.

4. Requirements for the Master of Business Administration
4.1. To satisfy the requirements for the Master of Business Administration, a candidate shall complete a program of studies approved by the Director.

4.2. The course work program shall include GSB units to the value of at least 72 credit points. These shall include units to the value of at least 36 credit points, but not more than 54 credit points, from Foundation Units, with the remaining units to be selected from Advanced Units.
Students selecting a major must complete the requirements of that major.

4.3. To satisfy examiners a candidate must achieve a minimum grade of Pass in all units.

4.4. The following units shall qualify towards the degree of Master of Business Administration:

Foundation Units
GSB—701 or 702, 711, 721, 725, 726, 728, 731, 738, 741, 742, 743, 748, 751

Advanced Units
GSB— 625, 628, 641, 642, 644, 652, 653, 656, 657, 671, 672, 673, 674, 680, 691, 692, 695, 696, 703, 707, 714, 717, 722, 723, 724, 732, 734, 736, 737, 739, 740, 745, 747, 749, 750, 781, 782, 791, 792, 793, 797;
GSB 791, 792, 793 or 797 to be taken, with the approval of the Director, in a case where a unit has been specifically devised for a particular candidate or candidates.

4.5. A major is one of the following:

Business Law (GSB 748, 749, 750 and 695);
Human Resource Management (GSB 738, 739, 747 and one unit from 714, 722, 734, and 740);
IT Management (GSB 625, 628, 707 and 741);
International Business (GSB 726 and three units from GSB 691, 692, 695, 696, 723 and 736);
Marketing (GSB 731, 732, 736 and 737);
Public Sector Management (GSB 738, 652, 653 and 657).

4.6. A major composed of GSB units will not be deemed to have been completed unless at least half of the required units have been studied in the UNE MBA Program.

4.7. A candidate can list up to and including three majors on the MBA testamur.

5. Period of Candidature
5.1. Candidates shall complete the prescribed course work program in not more than nine trimesters of 15 weeks’ duration of full-time study and not more than 18, 15-week trimesters of part-time study. There will be three 15-week trimesters in each calendar year.

5.2. In exceptional circumstances, the school may on the recommendation of the Director:

(i) grant leave of absence from candidature; or
(ii) extend the period of candidature.

6. Dissertation
6.1. A candidate may enrol, with permission of the Director, in GSB 793 and submit a dissertation embodying an original investigation of a topic within an approved field of study.

6.2. Upon approval of an application, the school, on the advice of the Director, shall appoint a supervisor, who shall be a member of the teaching or research staff of the University or an associate of the University (of the rank of Academic Level B or higher). The supervisor shall advise and supervise the candidate during the period of candidature. The supervisor shall report annually to the school on the progress of the candidate, and carry out any other duties delegated by the Director on behalf of the school.

6.3. Except with the permission of the school, on the recommendation of the candidate’s supervisor, the dissertation shall not exceed 25 000 words of text, excluding appendices.

6.4. Except with the permission of the school, a candidate shall be required to enrol in and complete the dissertation in no more than three consecutive trimesters.

7. Submission of Dissertation
7.1. The candidate shall:

(a)  not present as a dissertation any work that has been submitted for the award of a degree or diploma at this University or another institution, but the candidate will not be precluded from incorporating such work in the dissertation provided that, in presenting the dissertation, the part of the work that has been so incorporated is indicated;

(b) state generally in a preface to the dissertation and elsewhere in the dissertation, the source of information and the extent to which the candidate has availed himself or herself of the work of others (candidates are referred to The University Policy on Plagiarism and Improper Conduct);

(c) incorporate in the dissertation immediately following the title page an abstract of approximately 300 words.

7.2. Two soft bound copies and one unbound copy of the dissertation (printed or typewritten), together with a certificate from the supervisor certifying that the dissertation is in a form suitable for examination, shall be submitted to the school.

7.3. (a)  At least one month prior to the date of submission candidates shall inform the Faculty Manager of their intention to submit a dissertation.

(b) The Teaching and Learning Committee shall, on the recommendation of the Director, appoint two examiners. Normally, at least one examiner shall be external to the University.

(c) Each examiner shall be informed of the name of the other examiner. The examiners may consult. They shall inform the Teaching and Learning Committee if, before submitting their reports, they have consulted.

8. Examination of Dissertation
8.1. (a) Normally within one month of receipt of the dissertation the examiners shall decide whether to recommend that the dissertation be given the grade of Fail, Pass, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction, or that it be revised for re-examination.

(b) In cases where a candidate has been required to revise the dissertation for re-examination, the dissertation shall be given the grade of Pass or Fail.

(c)  The examiners shall submit to the Teaching and Learning Committee their report(s) on the dissertation, along with their recommendation(s) on the grade.

(d)  The examiners may consult with the supervisor prior to preparing their report(s).

(e)  The examiners’ recommendation(s) and report(s) shall be sent to the supervisor who may, if he or she wishes, submit comments to the Teaching and Learning Committee.

8.2. (a)  In the event of a disagreement between the examiners, they may be asked to consult and report to the Teaching and Learning Committee;

(b) If the examiners are unable to reach an agreement, following their consultation, the Teaching and Learning Committee, on the recommendation of the Director, shall refer their reports to an Examining Committee, appointed by the Teaching and Learning Committee for a recommendation.

8.3. (a) After considering the examiners’ recommendation(s) and report(s) any comments from the supervisor and any recommendation from the Examining Committee, the Teaching and Learning Committee may:

(i) recommend that the dissertation be awarded the grade of Fail, Pass, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction;
(ii) allow the candidate to revise the dissertation for re-examination; or
(iii) appoint an additional examiner or examiners.

(b) The candidate, the candidate’s supervisor and examiners shall be informed of the decision and, in addition, the candidate shall be provided with a copy of the examiners’ report(s).

8.4. After the Teaching and Learning Committee has recommended that the dissertation be awarded the grade of Pass or higher, a copy of the dissertation shall be deposited in the Dixson Library.

9. Appeals
If the Teaching and Learning Committee is of the opinion that a dissertation should be failed, the candidate shall be given the opportunity to make a case to the Teaching and Learning Committee against being failed. Any such appeal must be confined to questions of fact or interpretation arising from the examiners’ reports and shall be lodged within one month of notification by the Faculty Manager of the faculty. When the Teaching and Learning Committee has considered such an appeal, it shall:

(a) ask the examiners to consult and report to the Teaching and Learning Committee;

(b) if the examiners are unable to reach an agreement following their consultation, the Teaching and Learning Committee, on the recommendation of the Director, shall refer their reports to an Examining Committee, appointed by the Teaching and Learning Committee, for a recommendation;

(c) after considering the examiners’ reports and any comments from the supervisor and any recommendation from the Examining Committee, the Teaching and Learning Committee may either:
(i) recommend that the dissertation be awarded the grade of Pass,
(ii) appoint an additional examiner or examiners,
(iii) allow the candidate to amend the dissertation to the satisfaction of the relevant head of school or supervisor,
(iv) allow the candidate to revise the dissertation for re-examination, or
(v) recommend to the faculty that the dissertation be awarded the grade of Fail.

10. Advanced Standing
10.1. At the discretion of the school on the recommendation of the Director, a candidate may be granted advanced standing for:

(a) up to 36 credit points on the basis of units that have been counted towards another postgraduate qualification at this or another university provided they have a reasonable degree of correspondence to units prescribed for the course work program and, if the candidate does not have a first degree; provided a minimum of Credit grade average is achieved in such units to the value of 24 credit points; or

(b) up to 36 credit points on the basis of postgraduate units that have not been counted towards any qualification provided they have a reasonable degree of correspondence to units prescribed for the course work program; or

(c) up to 36 credit points for other significant learning which the faculty considers equivalent to units prescribed for the course work program; or

(d) up to 24 credit points for units completed towards the Graduate Certificate in Management, Graduate Certificate in Practice Management and Graduate Certificate in Project Management at this University and, if the candidate does not have a first degree, provided a minimum of Credit grade average is achieved in these units.

10.2. The total amount of advanced standing under Rule 10.1. will not exceed 36 credit points.

10.3. At the discretion of the school on the recommendation of the Director, a candidate may be granted advanced standing for up to 48 credit points for units completed towards the Graduate Diploma in Management at this University and not otherwise counted towards the MBA.

11. Exemption
11.1. At the discretion of the school on the recommendation of the Director, a candidate may be granted exemption for units to the value of 36 credit points from Foundation units and up to 12 credit points in any and all majors from Foundation and Advanced units on the basis of completion of equivalent units which have been counted as part of an award at this or another university or other institution, other than the Graduate Certificate in Management, Graduate Certificate in Practice Management and Graduate Certificate in Project Management, prior to admission to candidature. A candidate granted such exemption shall choose alternative units in consultation with the Director.

11.2. At the discretion of the school on the recommendation of the Director, a candidate may be granted exemption for units to the value of 12 credit points from Foundation units on the basis of relevant work experience.

12. Special Examination and Special Extensions of Time
A special examination or special extension of time may be granted at the discretion of the school on the recommendation of the Director.

13. Examination Grades
To satisfy examiners candidates must achieve a grade of Pass, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction for units completed towards the Master of Business Administration.

14. Withdrawal
A candidate who withdraws from a unit after the final date for withdrawal prescribed by the school shall be recorded as having withdrawn with failure from that unit unless good cause is shown by the candidate to the faculty.

15. Award of the Master of Business Administration
A successful candidate shall be awarded the Master of Business Administration at the level of Pass.

16. Improper Conduct
Candidates are referred to the University Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct.