(1) The Code of Practice – Work Integrated Learning (Professional Experience) sets out what is expected from students, the University and Host Organisations in providing work integrated learning professional experience programs. It applies to professional experience programs that form the whole or part of a subject or course offered at the University. The Code assists in promoting a productive work integrated learning experience for students and in promoting relevant UOW Work Integrated Learning Design Principles. (2) This Code applies to professional experience (as defined) that students must complete before becoming eligible for the award of a degree or that students are undertaking as part of compulsory or optional components of a subject, either as part of a course or as non- award study. (3) Section 5 of this Code only applies to placement programs (as defined). (4) This Code applies to students studying at UOW Online or at an offshore partner institutions. (5) This Code does not apply to workplace activity undertaken by a student in the course of their ordinary employment that is used, applied or referenced when undertaking assessable tasks as part of study as a student at UOW, including the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences' Professional Options Program. (6) This Code does not apply to any professional experience undertaken by students as part of any exchange program, Study Abroad opportunity, short courses/internships or cross institutional study with a partner university. These professional experiences are subject to the policies and requirements of the partner university, and should be registered with the Office of Global Mobility. (7) This Code does not apply to UOW Dubai or UOW students studying at UOW College. (8) The provisions of this Code relating to unpaid professional experience opportunities apply to opportunities undertaken in Australia. In all offshore jurisdictions, unpaid professional experience opportunities may be facilitated subject to protection of the safety and wellbeing of the student and only when in compliance with local laws regulating employment. (9) This Code does not regulate title to intellectual property rights including copyright of all material created by a student as part of a student professional experience. Title to such rights is regulated by the University’s policy documents on intellectual property. (10) University staff involved in the delivery of any work integrated learning placement programs or experiences outside the scope of this Code (such as research based fieldwork) or in the management of outbound exchange programs, short study tours, or Study Abroad opportunities and/or cross institutional study that do not involve professional experience are encouraged to apply or operate consistent with those parts of the Code that are appropriate. (11) All professional experience programs or opportunities including Work Experience in Industry programs must be designed and delivered having regard to the following requirements: (12) The University must only facilitate other professional experience opportunities if they are lawful. (13) A professional experience opportunity unconnected to a course or subject and undertaken in Australia will only comply with the Fair Work Act 2009 if the opportunity involves paid work (provided it is remunerated at the appropriate rate of pay) or if it meets the requirements set out at section 4(4) below. (14) If the professional experience opportunity is unpaid, the opportunity is only lawful under the Fair Work Act 2009 if: (15) Under the Fair Work Act 2009, unpaid work experience may be unlawful if it gives rise to an employment relationship between the worker and the employer. An exemption exists if the unpaid work experience is a vocational placement undertaken as a requirement of an education or training course for which there is no entitlement to pay for the work the student undertakes and in which the primary purpose is student learning and development. (16) Host Organisations may remunerate students undertaking a professional experience provided that any remuneration offered to the student is consistent with the employment provisions governed by the Fair Work Act 2009 and Fair Work Regulations 2009. (17) Any student who is remunerated while undertaking a professional experience is deemed to be the employee of the Host Organisation and will not be covered by the University’s insurance cover. Any student who is not remunerated will be covered by University insurance. (18) The Financial Services Division must receive notice of each student to be covered by the University’s insurance cover prior to the student commencing a professional experience. (19) The Disability Policy - Students outlines the rights and responsibilities of students and staff in relation to students with disabilities, and students who have an associate with a disability. (20) As detailed in the Disability Policy - Students, the University encourages students with a disability to disclose the nature and extent of their disability to Student Accessibility and Inclusion Team. It is the responsibility of the student to register with Student Accessibility and Inclusion Team as soon as they are aware of their disability and in a timely manner that allows the University to best support their needs. (21) Students should advise the Faculty in a timely manner of any disability (whether registered or not) that will or may affect the student’s capacity to safely, equitably and successfully meet the requirements of professional experience, or which may be affected by the location or design of the professional experience. (22) As detailed in the Disability Policy - Students, information in relation to the particulars of a disability, provided by a student or an associate shall remain confidential and shall be restricted to those persons with a legitimate need to know, including staff in the Host Organisation, in accordance with the Privacy Policy, the University Code of Conduct and other relevant privacy legislation. (23) As detailed under section 5 of the Disability Policy - Students: (24) As detailed under section 6 of the Disability Policy - Students: (25) Where reasonable adjustments are required in respect of the professional experience, the Faculty must determine in consultation with the Student Accessibility and Inclusion Team what information the Host Organisation requires in order to provide a safe, equitable and successful professional experience. It is not always necessary that a Host Organisation be provided specific detail on the disability in order to support this need. The Faculty must seek the student’s written consent to disclose necessary information on the disability and the recommended reasonable adjustments. This may be sought by way of the Student Acknowledgement Form. (26) If the student does not consent to disclosure as provided in clause 25, it may be difficult for the University to provide the student with a safe, equitable and successful professional experience. The Faculty must not disclose this information to the Host Organisation without consent and the Faculty should discuss with the student the implications of this decision, including whether this precludes the Faculty from providing the student with a professional experience opportunity. (27) Where a student does not advise the Faculty as provided in clause 20 and the Faculty has a reasonable belief that a student has a disability that will or may adversely affect the student’s capacity to safely, equitably and successfully undertake a professional experience, then the Faculty must arrange to meet with the student to discuss the professional experience and request further information on any disability. (28) The Faculty or the Host Organisation, in consultation with the Faculty, may preclude a student from commencing or exclude a student from continuing to participate in a professional experience where it is reasonably necessary to protect the welfare of the student or of others or if the student does not consent to disclosure as provided in clause 25. (29) Where a student is precluded from commencing or is excluded from a professional experience because of the student’s disability or because the student refuses to consent to disclose to a Host Organisation, the Faculty will assist the student in exploring alternatives that may facilitate the student meeting the requirements of the subject or of their course. (30) Note: the University may be limited in assessing or providing reasonable adjustment to students with a disability that is not registered with the Student Accessibility and Inclusion Team. (31) The Student Academic Consideration Policy outlines the rights and responsibilities of students and staff in relation to academic consideration (granted on the basis of medical grounds, compassionate grounds and/or extenuating circumstances). (32) As detailed in the Student Academic Consideration Policy, academic consideration will only be considered for illness, injury, other serious cause, or extenuating circumstances which: (33) The student will: (34) if studying at an offshore campus and undertaking a placement in another country, take all reasonable precautions with regard to safety and security in the destination country, including refraining from travelling to any high risk destination countries. (35) The student will: (36) The student will: (37) The Faculty will: (38) Where there is a risk if injury or illness to the student while undertaking the placement, ensure a risk assessment is completed in accordance with the WHS Requirements for Professional Experience Guidelines. (39) The Faculty will: (40) The Faculty will: (41) The University expects each Host Organisation will: (42) The University expects each Host Organisation will: (43) The University expects each Host Organisation will participate in monitoring and evaluating each student’s performance during the placement. This includes making observations and providing feedback (both formative and summative) to students to assist their learning, as well as reporting to the University on the student’s performance and progress. (44) The University maintains the following insurance protections which may be applicable to students undertaking professional experience: (45) Students undertaking a professional experience will fall within the scope of this cover subject to the conditions and exclusions set out in that cover and provided they are not employed by the Host Organisation and/or do not receive remuneration in respect of their participation in the professional experience program. (46) Some systems of professional registration may preclude students from providing client care or services either generally or in specific cases, and where this occurs, the student may be precluded from commencing the professional experience or may be excluded from the professional experience. (47) In some circumstances (for example, the medical and allied health professions regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency), the University, Host Organisations and/or registered or accredited professionals may have a legal responsibility to notify professional registration bodies of matters that may relate to the fitness of a student to undertake any care or provide services while undertaking a professional experience, and as a result the student may be precluded from commencing the professional experience or excluded from the professional experience. (48) There may be mandatory legislative obligations on the part of the University staff and/or Host Organisation staff to report certain conduct of students while on professional experience, and as a result the student may be precluded from commencing the professional experience or excluded from the professional experience. (49) The Faculty or the Host Organisation, in consultation with the Faculty, may determine that a student: (50) A student may make a complaint about any decision to preclude or exclude them from undertaking a professional experience under the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Policy and Procedures for the Review of Marks or Grades and other Academic Decisions (Coursework). (51) Students acknowledge that the Coursework Rules provide that a student may be excluded from their course where the student fails to perform satisfactorily in a mandatory placement component of a course or for other specified reasons is deemed to be unlikely to perform satisfactorily in that placement and therefore has been assessed as unsuitable to continue in such professional practice by the delegated authority, or where the external agency has refused to permit that student access to their facilities. (52) Code of Practice Work integrated learning appendix 1Code Of Practice - Work Integrated Learning (Professional Experience)
Section 1 - Purpose of Policy
Section 2 - Application, Scope and Exclusions
Section 3 - Requirements applying to all Professional Experience Programs and Opportunities
Top of PageSection 4 - Remuneration of Students
Section 5 - People Living with Disability - Implications for Professional Experience
Section 6 - Personal Circumstances Impacting on a Professional Experience
Top of PageSection 7 - Specific Additional Requirements for Placement Programs
Responsibilities of Student
Prior to the Placement
While on the Placement
Incidents and Illness during Placement
Faculty Responsibilities
Prior to the Placement
While on the Placement
Assessment
Expectations in relation to the Host Organisation
Prior to the Placement
While on the Placement
Assessment
Section 8 - Insurance Coverage
Section 9 - Professional Registration and Legislative Reporting Obligations
Section 10 - Further Grounds for Preclusion or Exclusion of a Student from a Professional Experience
Section 11 - Definitions
Top of Page
Word/Term
Definition (with examples if required)
Academic consideration
is intended to help minimise the impact of compassionate, compelling or extenuating circumstances beyond a student’s control, which significantly impair a student’s ability to complete an assessment task on or by the due date as stipulated in the Subject Outline; or which affects Academic Progress in a subject relevant to their course of study. Academic consideration may be granted on the basis of compassionate, compelling circumstances and/or extenuating circumstances.
Academic Supervisor
means the member of academic staff responsible for the academic supervision of the student undertaking a student professional experience.
Associate
means a UOW student who provides support to a person with a disability who may or may not be a student at UOW. An associate may include but is not limited to:
Authorised officer
means a person authorised by a senior academic leader in the relevant Faculty (or by the Director of Graduate Career Development and Employability in the case of Career Hub) to determine applications for approval to receive remuneration.
Client
means any person or persons to whom a service is being provided by the Host Organisation.
Critical incident
means any serious incident that affects a student while undertaking a professional experience and includes:
DFAT Smart Traveller
is the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Federal Government department tasked with providing information about safety and security issues, and other useful, practical tips on health, local laws, local customs as well as entry and exit requirements.
Disability
in relation to a person, includes:
And one which:
Faculty
means a faculty of the University offering professional experience programs, and includes, where the context requires:
Host Organisation
means any organisation that provides professional experience to a student.
Placement co- ordinator
means any member of the staff of the University or of a third party engaged by the University for this purpose responsible for the placement of students undertaking a placement program and/or in the administration of a placement program.
Placement program
means a professional experience program that meets the Fair Work Act definition of a “vocational placement” (and may include a practicum, placement or internship) and which involves placement of students that is organised and managed by the University and is undertaken by a student as a compulsory requirement of a course or subject offered by the University, but does not include Work Experience in Industry.
Professional experience
includes any applied or professional work integrated learning activity that is undertaken by a student in a Host Organisation, comprising either:
Specific considerations apply for international students, for whom the number of hours they are allowed to work is defined in visa conditions, which may include any work experience related to study.
Reasonable adjustment
means an adjustment is a measure or action (or a group of measures or actions) taken by an education provider that has the effect of assisting a student with a disability to participate fully in the academic experience on the same basis as a student without a disability. Reasonable adjustments can include an aid, a facility, or a service that the student requires because of their disability and it is reasonable in relation to a student studying with a disability if it balances the interests of all parties affected.
Remuneration
means monetary or in-kind payments in the form of salary, wages, commission payments, or other benefit for work performed but not including incidental or token hospitality, gifts or benefits.
Student
means a person registered for a course at the University or studying as an inbound exchange or Study Abroad student at the University.
Supervisor
means any person at the Host Organisation, who may be an employee of the Host Organisation or an employee of the University, and who is responsible for the direction and support of the student during the student professional experience.
University
means the University of Wollongong, and includes any third party engaged by the University to undertake services and functions in relation to the management of a professional experience program.
Work Experience in Industry
means any unit of study (subject) that comprises work:
Work Integrated Learning Design Principles
means the following design principles for work integrated learning experiences in the curriculum at the University – work integrated learning experiences are:
Volunteering
Volunteering is a permissible form of professional experience provided it does not contravene the Fair Work Act 2009, meaning it must:
Section 12 - Appendix 1: Student Acknowledgment Form
Section 13 - Appendix 2:Host Organisation WHS Information Sheet
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report promptly to the Faculty should it become apparent that a student is having difficulty meeting the objectives of the placement or is otherwise unable to continue with the placement.