Student Policies & Procedures
TAFE Gippsland policies and procedures can be viewed here or via your TAFE Gippsland Student Portal.
Click to download our Student Handbook
Plagiarism Policy
TAFE Gippsland is committed to ensuring that all learners understand their individual responsibility when submitting work for assessment. Cheating and Plagiarism are serious offences and are not tolerated in any form at TAFE Gippsland. A learner who is suspected of cheating or plagiarising work will face penalties.
Plagiarism is taking and using someone else’s thoughts, writings or inventions and representing them as your own. If you are suspected of cheating, or plagiarising work, penalties will apply in accordance with TAFE Gippsland’s Cheating and Plagiarism policy.
If you have any questions about how to avoid plagiarism, please seek advice from your Teacher or Library staff.
Use of computers and facilities
Internet facilities are provided for educational purposes. Use of these facilities for personal use must be limited and in accordance with the TAFE Gippsland’s Code of Conduct and ICT Policies.
Internet services allow users to make information available on the Internet, and to access and retrieve information from the Internet. The content of the material made available or accessed or retrieved is subject to this Code of Conduct. In addition to the Code itself, all computer users are expected to be aware that they are required to adhere to:
- Any other Institute Conditions of Use documents pertaining to use of computer facilities
- The rules and regulations of TAFE Gippsland
- The civil and criminal laws of the State of Victoria, and the Commonwealth of Australia.
For detailed information on the rules to be adhered to by all students in regard to the use of TAFE Gippsland computer facilities please refer to the following policies:
- Use and Provision of ICT Services and Facilities Policy
- Social Networking and Online Technology Policy
Through the Student Account Manager function (SAM), TAFE Gippsland provides all enrolled students with the ability to create an institute online services account, which includes a TAFE Gippsland student email account hosted by the Microsoft O365 service. The institute provided email account is the normal means by which TAFE Gippsland will communicate with students and as such all students must agree to regularly check their student email account.
TAFE Gippsland also provides access to the eduroam wireless network.
Eduroam short for 'education roaming' is a global service enabling staff and students of educational, research and related institutions to visit another eduroam participating institution and connect to the visited institution's wireless network automatically, ie. with minimal effort for both user and visited institution.
Student Entitlements & Procedures
Student Absence
If you know you will be absent from class please notify your teacher. In the event of illness, special consideration may be permitted for any effect on academic progress upon submission of a medical certificate.
It is the responsibility of the student to catch up on any work they may have missed.
Standards of Behaviour
TAFE Gippsland is an adult learning environment. Inappropriate behaviour of any type, including but not limited to, discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment is not tolerated at TAFE Gippsland.
A full definition of what constitutes inappropriate behaviour can be found on page 9 of the Managing Inappropriate Behaviour procedure, which can be accessed on the TAFE Gippsland website. Instances of inappropriate behaviour by students will be dealt with as per the Learner Discipline Guidelines contained within the Managing Inappropriate Behaviour procedure.
Smoking, and Illegal and Addictive Substances
TAFE Gippsland is a Smoke Free Zone.
TAFE Gippsland will not tolerate the unlawful use, possession, sale or transfer of drugs or narcotics within the meaning of the Crimes Act 1958, Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, or any other subsequent legislation, by a learner whilst on TAFE Gippsland premises, attending scheduled classes, TAFE Gippsland excursions, or a work placement.
Health and Safety
We care about your safety as a student and there are systems in place to ensure you have the knowledge to be safe on our campuses. TAFE Gippsland’s Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Policy Statement is available on our website. You have certain responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and TAFE Gippsland encourages your help to ensure we keep our campuses safe.
A reasonable standard of dress is expected for reasons of safety, hygiene and health. Light footwear and long hair (unless suitably covered and/or restrained) may constitute a health and safety hazard and will not be permitted in workshops, laboratories and/or food handling areas.
Emergencies, Accidents, First Aid and Ambulance
All students will be provided with detailed information regarding evacuation routes and procedures during their course induction. All accidents must be reported to a Designated First Aid Officer (DFO) or your teaching staff.
The Institute does not cover the cost of an Ambulance if used to transport students in case of an emergency, or any related medical treatment. It is strongly recommended that all students obtain their own Ambulance cover.
Access and Equity
Privacy
TAFE Gippsland is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information it holds on behalf of individuals.
Personal information may include but not be limited to contact name and details, employment status and details, education, language, cultural diversity and health information.
Customer Feedback
Students and other members of the community have the opportunity to provide feedback to the Institute. The Institute welcomes your feedback in order to recognise best practice and to promote continuous improvement of our services.
Our Comments, Complaints and Compliments form for feedback can be accessed here, or collected at any campus reception. The process is highly confidential and adheres to the principles of Access and Equity.
Qualifications & Results
When you have successfully completed a full course of study at TAFE Gippsland, you will be eligible to receive a certificate.
We issue our students and graduates with digitally certified official academic credentials through the My eQuals platform, such as:
- Graduation certificates
- Transcripts
- Statements of attainment (for students who partially complete an AQF Qualification)
- Participation certificates (for students who complete a non-assessed program other than an AQF Qualification).
All certificates issued through the My eQuals platform are authentic, tamper-evident and legally valid, as we empower our students and graduates to share their awarded credentials to third parties.
You will receive login details via email once the completion date has passed along with a text message, notifying you that your document has been issued. Please note, certificates and statement of attainments will not be issued where a fee sanction is applicable.
Download the My eQuals Student Guide or visit the My eQuals website for more information or speak with someone from your teaching department.
For questions relating to your My eQuals account including resetting your password and sharing credentials, please follow the FAQ Link.
Need a replacement certificate?
With My eQuals, you will always have access to your documentation and are able to download, print or even share your credentials with a third party.
If you need a replacement copy of a previously obtained credential, that was originally issued via hardcopy, you can complete the Request for Replacement/Hard Copy Document.
Assessment
The assessment required for each course will vary and may include assignments, tests, exams, group work, research work, on the job assessment, etc. Your instructors will provide specific information on the requirements for your course.
As a student you can expect that:
- assessment methods will be clear to you
- assessment tasks are relevant and meet the requirements of your course
- fairness and lack of bias are demonstrated by instructors when assessing your work
- open and honest feedback about your assessment tasks is provided by instructors
Nationally Recognised Training
What is nationally recognised training?
Nationally recognised training:
- is provided by an organisation that enables students to gain qualifications for all types of employment
- trains students to meet a standard of skills to help them enter the workforce
- allows employers to be confident that new employees have the required skills to do a job
- leads to a nationally recognised qualification. This includes studying at a public (e.g. TAFE) or private training organisation, completing an apprenticeship, certificate or diploma course.
Examples of nationally recognised training:
- a certificate or diploma
- a building industry white card
- a stamp on a licence to certify a student can drive heavy machinery
Only Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) can deliver nationally recognised training and issue nationally recognised qualifications or statements of attainment.
Nationally recognised training is developed through the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector.
Vocational education and training (VET) enables students to gain qualifications for all types of employment, and specific skills to help them in the workplace.
For further information, visit www.education.gov.au