Important Information about 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
  • Checking the on campus class and intensive school timetables for chosen unit clashes
  • Checking for units with Mandatory Intensive schools that are scheduled prior to the commencement of a teaching period and do not enrol in units that have Mandatory Intensive schools that you cannot attend
  • 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.

The basic Steps to Managing your Enrolment are below.

1. Understand 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 or elective units.  Please note that you may have pre-selected core units for your course which you will need to either confirm, remove or add to, depending on your individual course plan;
  • majors (or sequences or units) 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 be undertaken at specific times or in conjunction with certain units.

The requirements for each course are contained in the online UNE Course Handbook under the section called Program of Study.

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.

There are course plans which show a pattern of enrolment which will lead to you meeting the overall requirements of your course.

2. Plan 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 if you are an Honours, Cross-Institutional or Non-Award student you may have pre-selected units for your course which you will need to either confirm, remove or add to, depending on your individual program of study.

In planning your enrolment take into account:

  1. 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 four 6 credit point units per trimester, over two trimesters, eight units per year (this equates to a workload of approximately 48 to 60 hours per week). Part-time students usually enrol in two 6 credit point units per trimester, four units per year (this equates to a workload of approximately 24 to 30 hours per week). Where available, students may undertake units in Trimester 3.
  2. Does your course have a 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. When are the units offered and are they offered as on-campus or as online units?
    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, is it offered in the mode in which you want to study it (mode refers to on-campus or online).  Units do change over time, so you may need to re-think your course plan.
  6. Are there timetabling restrictions to what you want to study? When enrolling in on campus units you must check to see if the activities of the units (eg lectures, tutorials, laboratory work etc) clash; likewise with online units (by distance education), you must check to see if the units have intensive schools and if they clash. Please check for units with Mandatory Intensive schools that are scheduled prior to the commencement of a teaching period and do not enrol in units with Mandatory Intensive schools that you cannot attend. These are compulsory. You can find a schedule at Timetables.
3. Enrol 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 both Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 units.  If you have been admitted to start studying in Trimester 2, then you will only need to enrol for Trimester 2. Where available, you may be able to undertake units in Trimester 3.  If you have been admitted to start studying in Trimester 3, then you will only need to enrol for Trimester 3.

Once you have started studying you will be required to re-enrol for the following academic year towards the end of each year.  Again you will be expected to enrol in your nominated units for both Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 and where available, Trimester 3. When choosing units for Trimester 2 or Trimester 3, you should assume that you will pass any units in the previous Trimester, which are co- or pre-requisites for Trimester 2 or Trimester 3.  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 enrolment in the first week of the Trimester.

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.

Refer to Steps to…Enrolling Online for details as to the online enrolment process.

4. Assess the impact varying your enrolment will have 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 course plan 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 teaching period has a census date, if you withdraw from a unit by the census date you will not incur the cost of the unit. If you withdraw after the census date, you will still incur the cost of studying that unit. For more important date information please refer to the Principal Dates
  • Withdrawal Dates
    As well as Census Dates there are also dates specified by UNE as to when you can withdraw, withdrawing without academic penalty. If you withdraw by the census date the unit will not appear on your academic record. If you withdraw after the census date and by the last day to withdraw without failure, you will incur the cost of studying the unit but will not incur an academic penalty. If you withdraw after the last day to withdraw without failure and before the first day of the examination period, you will incur the cost of studying the unit and an academic penalty. It is not possible to withdraw once the examination period has commenced. To find out these dates, check answers in AskUNE or Principal Dates

When it comes to reassessing your course plan to take into account the variation you make to your enrolment you need to re-think your overall course 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, or if you have been granted advanced standing, whether it still applies?
  • Income Support?
    If you are in receipt of income support (eg Abstudy or Austudy) or a scholarship, reducing your enrolment may have an impact on your eligibility so check before doing this.
5. Check you are on track to meet the overall requirements of your course 

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.

Refer to Steps to…Checking my Progression for more details.

Course Advising is available by appointment at Student Success. Contact us via web email or by phoning 02 6773 2000.