Policies and procedures

Many of Wodonga Institute's policies and procedures may impact on you while you are studying with us. In general, policies are documents that outline the way in which Wodonga TAFE approaches its activities. Policies are publicly accessible documents and can be viewed at any time in the Policies, Procedures and Codes of Practice area on the Institute's website.

Procedures are Wodonga TAFE's internal working documents that tell staff about the correct (Institute-approved) way to approach different aspects of our business. These documents are not all available to students but some procedures that relate specifically to students will be made available to you as the need arises. These procedures are summarised here for your information.

Please contact your teachers or your course coordinator if you need more information about any of them.

Equal opportunity policy

Wodonga Institute's policy is to foster positive relationships in an environment of equal opportunity that is free from harassment, bullying, and unlawful discrimination. Wodonga Institute affirms commitment to the principles of current equal opportunity legislation (see below) and promotes this philosophy by:

• creating a work environment that is free from harassment and discrimination, where all people, regardless of their position or status, are treated with dignity, courtesy, and respect
• implementing training and awareness-raising strategies to ensure that all employees are aware of their rights and responsibilities
• encouraging the reporting of behaviour which breaches this policy and, where such behaviour occurs, to provide a fair, effective, and timely resolution process based on the principles of confidentiality and natural justice
• promoting and modelling appropriate standards of conduct at all times.

Current legislation that underpins this policy includes the following:

• Race Discrimination Act 1975 (Commonwealth)
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Commonwealth)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth)
• Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth)
• Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986
• Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1995
• Vocational Education and Training Act 1990
• NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
• NSW Charter for Equity in Education and Training.

Access and equity procedures

The Equity officer gives advice about equity matters, and is one of the staff of the Learner Services department.

Phone 02 6055 6606

The principles of access and equity underpin all Wodonga TAFE's policies and procedures. However, the following procedures may be of special interest to you.

CP013 Student harassment, discrimination, and conflict resolution procedure helps to ensure that any occurrences of harassment (any unwelcome or unreciprocated behaviour that is reasonably likely under all circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate, or intimidate another person) or bullying are addressed and resolved as quickly as possible.

CP017 Student learning and assessment support procedure helps to ensure that the appropriate supports are put into place to assist students with a disability, long-term medical conditions, language, literacy, or numeracy problems, or any other special learning need.

Improvement opportunities and complaints

If you have any suggestions about how Wodonga TAFE can improve its processes or if you have any concerns or complaints about any aspect of our operation, then we encourage you to raise such issues directly with relevant staff of Wodonga TAFE. If this is not possible or if you have done this and are unsatisfied with the outcome, then you should follow the LP003 Improvement opportunities and complaints procedure. This procedure is implemented when you put your concerns in writing or in an email, direct to your teacher, course coordinator, or department manager, or by completing the LF004 Improvement opportunities and complaints form.

Staff members may encourage and help you to complete the form if you approach them about a concern or complaint. Forms are available from your course coordinator, all departments, or beside one of the improvement opportunities and complaints boxes that are located outside Administration Services (Building A), in the Agriculture and Horticulture department (Building H), and the National Industrial Skills Training Centre (Building J). Completed forms can be given to any Wodonga TAFE staff member or posted in one of the boxes listed above.

When a form (or written concern/complaint) is received by Wodonga TAFE, it will be documented and stored according to Wodonga TAFE's records management system, and then forwarded immediately to the person who has responsibility for trying to resolve the issue. You should have a response from that person within two weeks of lodging your complaint.

Grievances

Staff at Wodonga TAFE are committed to resolving any problems you may have as quickly and amicably as possible. If the normal resolution processes that we have in place to deal with disciplinary issues, complaints, or disputes do not lead to a satisfactory outcome, the next step is to raise a grievance. Note that many of the processes referred to here are listed in this section.

If you have a grievance, you should write a letter to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wodonga Institute, clearly stating what your grievance is about (staff from Learner Services can help with this). The CEO will fully investigate your grievance, using processes that adhere to the principles of natural justice and which ensure that your privacy is maintained. You will be notified in writing regarding the outcome of your grievance.

In the event that the outcome of this process is not satisfactory to you, there are no further internal processes at Wodonga Institute that you can access in relation to your grievance. You must pursue external options if you believe that further action is required.

Letters to the CEO should be addressed as follows:

Chief Executive Officer
Wodonga Institute of TAFE
PO Box 963
Wodonga Vic 3689

Student discipline procedure

This procedure outlines the steps to be taken in the event that a student is deemed to have engaged in any behavioural or academic misconduct.

Behavioural misconduct

Behavioural misconduct is broadly defined as actions that breach Wodonga Institute's learner charter (or the intent of this charter), or impair the reasonable freedom of other people to pursue their studies and participate in the activities of the Institute. Examples of behavioural misconduct include but are not limited to:

• failure to comply with any lawful order that was given by an employee of the Institute in order to ensure the safety of any person and the orderly conduct of learning programs and other activities of the Institute.
• any act or failure to act that endangers the safety or health of any other person.
• engaging in bullying or harassment of any other student or member of staff.
• stealing, destroying, impairing the accessibility of, or defacing any part of the Institute or its resources.
• conduct which unduly disrupts or interferes with a class, a meeting, or any other official activity in the Institute.
• repeated absences (where no valid reason and/or evidence is provided) from scheduled learning activities that results in disruption to the learning program for other participants.
• acting in a way that causes students or staff or other persons in the Institute to fear for their personal safety.
• assault or attempts to assault any other person or cause any person to hold reasonable fear for their safety, or their physical or psychological wellbeing.
• making a false representation or declaration regarding a matter affecting your student status.
• being under the influence of prohibited drugs and/or substances including alcohol while on the Institute's premises or while participating in an Institute-related activity.
• unauthorised possession of a weapon on the Institute's premises or while participating in an Institute-related activity.

Examples of plagiarising include:

Examples of cheating include:

• copying other students' work
• getting another person to do your assessment task for you
• taking unauthorised material into an examination or using unauthorised material to complete an assessment task
• doing other people's assessment tasks for them
• falsifying information to gain an advantage in an assessment, for example, saying that you were ill to gain an extension for submitting work, when you may not have been ill.

There is a range of penalties that may be applied to students who are caught plagiarising and/or cheating. In each case, the penalty will depend on the severity and extent of the offence. Penalties may include:

• a verbal warning
• a written warning
• the requirement to repeat the assessment task
• the recording of an NC result for the unit of competency/module
• suspension or cancellation of enrolment in serious cases.

Police check for students procedure

A police check applies only for students who are undertaking courses for which this is a mandatory requirement, for example, courses in the transport, childcare, or healthcare industries. The procedure describes how the police checks will be conducted and how the privacy of individual students will be protected.Note that with the introduction of the mandatory working with children check in Victoria, some learners will be required to complete this check before they begin a work placement. Please check these requirements with your teaching department.

Human research ethics procedure

The human research ethics procedure is in place to ensure that any research you conduct as part of your studies at Wodonga Institute of TAFE that involves collecting information from or about other people is conducted ethically and appropriately, considering properly the privacy rights of the individuals concerned.

Ask your teacher for more information about this process if you are required to conduct such research (even surveys fall into this category).

Equipment loans from the helpdesk in the LIRNspace

Electronic equipment including digital cameras and projectors are available for short-term loan if you need these items as part of your studies. Before you can access this service, your teacher will need to arrange the booking with the helpdesk in the LIRNspace. Talk to your teacher or the staff at the helpdesk for more information.

You are advised to check the equipment carefully when you pick it up because you will be responsible for any damage or lost components that are discovered when you return the equipment.

Phone 02 6055 6565

Practical placements procedure

You may be required to undertake one or more practical placements as part of your course. This experience is included so that you can show first-hand how some of the skills you have gained can be applied in a real workplace situation and/or so that you can be assessed in this environment instead of in a classroom.

Such placements must be organised through Wodonga TAFE because the documentation required to manage the legal aspects, insurances, and so on, is considerable.

Student feedback procedure

At Wodonga TAFE, your teachers are committed to provide you with courses of the highest quality possible. To help with this, we often ask for your feedback about different aspects of your course, either in written evaluation sheets or in a group discussion activity. We appreciate your honest and constructive comments and will ensure that your privacy is protected at all times.

Smoking on campus

Wodonga TAFE has adopted a policy of designated smoking areas. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on campus, except in these areas. Smokers are asked to use the ashtrays provided to keep our environment clean.