• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Authority
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Instruction
• Section 5 -  Resources

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This instruction details the actions required when a student ceases to engage in training or assessment to ensure that RMIT meets Victorian State Government reporting requirements and obligations under the University’s VET Funding Contract (Dual Sector) Victorian Training Guarantee Program.

Section 2 - Authority

(2) Authority for this document is established by the Enrolment Policy.

Section 3 - Scope

(3) This instruction applies to students enrolled in Victorian State Government (Skills First) subsidised places in vocational education programs.

Section 4 - Instruction

(4) This instruction relates to the management of students who have initially engaged in training and have had their engagement confirmed and have now ceased engagement within their enrolled class.

(5) RMIT receives funding where evidence exists to confirm that approved training and assessment have been delivered. RMIT provides monthly and annual reports on student enrolment to the Victorian State Government to claim payment for vocational education training and assessment.

(6) Delivery of training must be reported to the government within 60 days from the commencement date of a class and specify enrolment activity start and end dates that match when training and assessment occurred.

(7) Where a student ceases to engage in training or assessment before achieving competency, their course enrolment must be finalised before reporting to ensure funding does not continue to be claimed.

Identify students who cease engagement in training

(8) Where a Program Area / Industry Cluster identifies a student who ceases to engage in training or assessment, the Program Coordinator (or nominee) will contact the student no later than 10 business days after the last engagement to determine why they have ceased engagement and negotiate a return to study or advise them to formally withdraw from the course or program.

(9) If a student fails to respond to a minimum of three attempts within 20 business days via phone and email (using the communication template) the teacher will notify the Program Coordinator to action the Stopped Engagement in Course (SEC) process.

Apprentice/Trainee requirements

(10) There are different requirements for apprentices/trainees, for situations including absences, which have the potential to affect completion of the Training Contract. The following actions must occur:

1. The apprentice/trainee and employer will be contacted to find out why the apprentice/trainee has disengaged with their training.
2. Where attempts are made to contact the apprentice/trainee and employer and the matter has not been resolved, the College of Vocational Education Student Lifecycle team will notify the Australian Network Providers (ANP) and the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) via Epsilon within 10 business days of the apprentice/trainee’s non-attendance.
3. Further information about apprenticeship and traineeship requirements can be found in the Guidelines About Apprenticeship/Traineeship Training Delivery.

Retain evidence of correspondence

(11) The Program Area must record all attempted and successful correspondence with a student and employer and ensure the evidence is readily accessible when required.

Finalise class enrolments for reporting

(12) The Program Area will determine the class/es that the student has ceased engagement with and not formally withdrawn from.

(13) Where here has been no response from the student or employer (in the case of an apprentice or trainee):

1. The College of Vocational Education Student Lifecycle team will record a final grade of Stopped Engagement in Course (SEC).
2. ARG Government Reporting will report the confirmed student record to the Victorian State Government no later than 30 days from the last date of student engagement and within the same calendar year as the last date of engagement. When the last date of student engagement is in December the confirmed student record will be reported in January the next year.

(14) The Program Area will request that the grade posting date is within 30 days of last date of engagement and will provide a declaration to support this.

(15) SEC results are posted via SAMS changes to grades. Further information can be sought from Assessment Support at assessmentsupport@rmit.edu.au.

(16) The College of Vocational Education Student Lifecycle team will enter a Stopped Engagement in Course (SEC) grade in SAMS using the date of last engagement provided by the Program Area, determined for each individual course.

1. Refer to change of grade instructions for further information (RMIT Assessment Processes).

(17) If a student ceases engagement in all classes and does not re-enrol in the next enrolment period, their enrolment will be discontinued when the administrative withdrawal process is run.

Re-engagement in training

(18) Where an SEC grade has been applied the decision to re-engage a student within a course is subject to Cluster Director approval. The Industry Cluster / Program Area must retain documentation where a student is permitted to re-engage in training after an absence without formal withdrawal and the following actions must occur:

1. Students must contact their Program Coordinator to seek approval to re-engage as per previous Ceased Engagement communications.
2. The Program Coordinator will write to the student to confirm approval to re-engage in the course. The communication must include reference to academic advice and how to recommence training and complete successfully within the time remaining. The email may also include reference to RMIT support services, modification to study load and assessment due date changes. The Program Coordinator will store the communication for ready access when required.

(19) The Program Coordinator will notify the College of Vocational Education Student Lifecycle team of student/s approved to re-engage via email and include the communication they sent to the student confirming re-engagement.  The College of Vocational Education Student Lifecycle team will action the request and store the evidence in SAMS (the Program Coordinator’s approval email to Student Lifecycle and the communication to the student).  Requests will not be actioned if the re-engagement date is past the scheduled end date for the course, in which case the date previously recorded against the SEC will remain.  

Re-engagement in training for cross-year classes

(20) The Program Area must consider the timing of the student’s return where they are permitted to re-engage in training in a scheduled cross-year class after an absence without formal withdrawal:

1. Where the student is permitted to return before the end of the calendar year the class commenced in, the SEC grade must be removed at the point of re-engagement.
2. Where the student re-engages in training in the next calendar year of training, the student must re-enrol in the course.

Formal withdrawal (cancellation of enrolment or enrolment variation form)

(21) The Program Area and ARG, Enrolment and Student Records will take the following actions within 72 hours where a student ceases to engage in training and then formally withdraws from a course or the program:

1. Before Census Date: remove the SEC grade and drop the course using the original SEC graded date to ensure that the last date of engagement continues to be accurately recorded. The student will not remain fee liable.
2. Where the program enrolment has multiple census dates, each class must be individually assessed to ensure the correct action is taken.

(22) Where the program enrolment has multiple census dates, each class must be individually assessed to ensure the correct action is taken.

Section 5 -  Resources

(23) SEC Grade request form