Steps to Managing your Enrolment
At UNE it is the responsibility of each student to manage their own enrolment – this involves
- understanding the requirements of your course (course = degree). This means following the same course rules for the duration of your candidature
- planning appropriate units you will enrol in for each year (units = subjects studied in a course)
- enrolling online at the times specified by the University
- assessing the impact that varying your enrolment will have at different stages throughout your studies, and
- checking that you are on track to meet the overall requirements of your course so that you can graduate.
The implications of not managing your enrolment can include not completing your course in the minimum period of time and not graduating when you expect to, or undertaking units which may not count towards your course and incurring additional fees associated with these excess units.
It is important therefore that you actively manage your own enrolment and use the resources the University makes available to you in the most effective way.
Following are the basic Steps to Managing your Enrolment.
1. Understanding the requirements of your course
Each course offered by UNE has its own requirements which students must undertake or comply with in order to successfully complete that course – these include things like:
- the total number of credit points which need to be completed;
- the units which must be studied and whether these are core units, foundation units or elective units.
- Majors which must be included or studied as part of the course;
- any restrictions as to the number of units you can study of a certain type or at a certain level or in any one subject area; and
- practical experience requirements which may have to undertaken at specific times or in conjunction with certain units.
The requirements for each course are contained in the online Course and Unit Catalogue under the section called Course Rules & Plans.
The first step in managing your enrolment is to access the rules of your course and work your way through them in order to plan just what units you need to study.
Some courses are quite prescriptive as to what units students must study, or what major(s) they need to do - often these courses are the ones which can lead to professional recognition or accreditation.
Other courses may require students to choose from a wide range of majors and an even wider range of units. These can take a lot of planning because these courses still have rules which must be followed.
There are also courses where students may have an individual pattern of enrolment specified for them, although this is mostly limited to certain types of postgraduate courses. This is usually specified at the time students are made an offer of admission to the course.
For some courses UNE has developed course plans which show a suggested pattern of enrolment which, if followed, will lead to you meeting the overall requirements of your course. So check to see if your course has a course plan you can follow.
2. Planning the units you will enrol in for each trimester
The second step in managing your enrolment is to plan which units you have to enrol in or would like to do each trimester over the duration of your studies. Please note that you may have core units for your course which you will need to complete at the earliest opportunity, please refer to the GSB Schedule of Units to see which trimester each unit is offered in.
In planning your enrolment take into account:
- Are you intending to enrol on a full-time or part-time basis?
Usually students enrolling on a full-time basis enrol in the equivalent of eight units per year. Part-time students usually enrol in three or four units per year.
- Does your course have a suggested course plan?
If so, this plan has been worked out by UNE staff to guide you as to a sequence of units or where best to study units towards your major (or majors), etc and we would expect you to follow these plans when you enrol.
- Are you applying for or have you received advanced standing (also called credit) on the basis of previous studies you have completed?
If you have received advanced standing for certain units, you will need to take this into account when planning your enrolment.
- Have you looked at whether the unit(s) you want to enrol in has pre-requisites and co-requisites?
You will need to check the units you want to study to see if they have their own requirements which you need to factor in when planning your enrolment. If you are unsure as to what certain terms such as pre-requisite or co-requisite mean, then you can access this information through AskUNE – this is UNE's online knowledge database.
- When are the units offered?
Each year when you enrol you will need to check the offering of a unit – is it offered in the trimester in which you want to enrol. Units do change over time, so you may need to re-think your study plan.
3. Enrolling online at the times specified by the University
Students at UNE enrol online via our student portal which is called myUNE.
When it comes to enrolling there are specified times throughout the year when you can do so.
As a new student you will be advised with your offer letter when you can enrol. If you have been admitted to start studying in Trimester 1, then you will be expected to enrol for a full year – that is select units for all three trimesters. If you have been admitted to start in Trimester 2, you will need to select units for Trimester 2 and Trimester 3.
Once you have started studying you will be required to re-enrol at the end of each year for the following academic year. Again you will be expected to enrol in your nominated units for all 3 trimesters for the full academic year. When choosing units for Trimesters 2 and 3, you should assume that you will pass any units in Trimester 1, which are co- or pre-requisites for following units. If you do not pass the co- or pre-requisite units in Trimester 1 you will have a chance to change (vary) your trimester 2 and 3 enrolment before trimester 2 starts.
The third step to managing your enrolment is enrolling online. This can involve more than just selecting the units you want to study; you may also want to update your address or contact details; as a new student you may be required to select a payment option (depending on whether you have a Commonwealth Supported or a Full-fee domestic place), you may also be required to provide a tax file number.
4. Assessing what impact varying your enrolment will have at different stages throughout your studies
Once you’ve enrolled in your units for a year you may want to vary your enrolment for a whole range of different reasons. This can involve dropping certain units, adding other units, changing majors, etc.
The fourth step to managing your enrolment is monitoring the impact that changing your enrolment has on your study plans and checking just what options you have available at the time with regard to varying your enrolment as these options will change throughout the year.
So if you do want to vary your enrolment, you need to be aware of the following:
- Census Dates
Each Trimester has a census date. This means that although you can withdraw after the census date, you will still incur the cost of studying that unit. The GSB Principal Dates can be found on your Schedule of Units at the GSB Schedule of Units.
- Withdrawal Dates
As well as Census Dates there are also dates specified by UNE as to when you can withdraw, withdrawing without academic penalty versus withdrawing with academic penalty.
When it comes to reassessing your study plans to take into account the variation you make to your enrolment you need to re-think your overall plan.
Things to keep in mind include:
- What impact will varying your enrolment have on when you expected to complete your course?
Does this mean you are adding time to your overall period of study?
- Can you still do the same sequence of units that you worked out?
For example, dropping a unit in Trimester 1 which is a pre-requisite for a unit you were enrolled for in Trimester 2 will mean you’ll have to drop that unit as well. How might this affect the units you planned to study the following year?
- Majors?
If the course you are studying has majors, can you still do a major in the area you were intending? If you change majors part way through your studies, have you assessed what additional units you might need to pick up to meet requirements of the new major?
- Income Support?
If you are in receipt of income support (eg Abstudy or Austudy), reducing your enrolment may have an impact on your eligibility so check before doing this.
5. Checking that you are on track to meet the overall requirements of your course so that you can graduate
Finally the main component of managing your enrolment is keeping track of what units you’ve successfully completed, what units you’re currently studying and what units you plan to do in the future. Depending on the rules of your course, you may also need to keep track of the major (or majors) that you want to graduate with; or make sure that you undertake the practical experience requirements if these are part of the rules of your course.
To assist new students, UNE has a number of online course rules available which will help you check to see if the units you have completed and/or are enrolled in contribute towards you meeting the requirements of your course.
Refer to Steps to Checking my Progression for more details.
Course Advising is available by contacting
or by phoning 0267 73 3382 during office hours.