2025 Strategy UNSW 3 Academic Calendar Law Student

2025 Strategy UNSW 3+ Academic Calendar Law Student Questions April 2017 0

UNSW is moving to a new academic calendar “UNSW 3+” which will be implemented from 2019 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul • Optional 5 week summer term Summer 10 wk 5 wk Stu-vac (1) Exams O-Week Normal Load • • Two primary intakes: T 1 and T 3 Postgraduate T 2 intake dependent on faculties and student demand Notes: 6 wk Term 3 Intakes 1 14 wk Term 2 Terms 3 x 10 teaching week terms Current Summer Term 1 O-Week • • 13 wk 14 wk • Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Current S 2 (2017) Current S 1 (2017) UNSW 3+ Stanford Academic Calendar 2020 25 hours of study per Uo. C The same as now – 8 courses But the option would exist to go up to 9 courses a year • • Experiences • Students could free up a term for: – Internships – Extra-curricular – Exchange Assessment Curriculum Course length reduces from 12 to 10 weeks But contact hours per course is unchanged 1 • • Globalisation • Better alignment for exchange and inbound international students Exam period remains 2 weeks Redesign of assessments required to allow for marking Campus Use • The campus would remain active for 30 rather than 24 weeks per year

Law students submitted questions to the Strategy Office across 7 areas relating to UNSW 3+ Clerkships Teaching Exchange Workload Fees and Centrelink Full-time study load Student life 2

Summer clerkships will still be possible under UNSW 3+, with or without an enrolment 3 Question Response Can a clerkship be done as a subject? UNSW are developing work-integrated learning (WIL) courses that will prepare students for internships/clerkships. The courses will run in intensive style at the start of the internship term, leaving the remainder of the term free. These courses will carry 6 Uo. C. Can I fit in the clerkship the normal way if I don’t want to pay for the subject? Yes, students can take Term 3 off to create 20 weeks (Term 3 + Summer) in which to complete the internship, but full-time student status will be lost for that term. If students use the WIL course, the normal UNSW course fees would apply, and students would be credited 6 Uo. C.

Courses, assessments and enrolments are being reviewed as part of the UNSW 3+ implementation Question 4 Response Will courses be of the same size than before despite less teaching weeks? Courses will be reviewed to fit 10 week terms, with updated content and total number of contact hours per course per term remaining the same as today. What will happen to course selection/variety, will courses be offered over every trimester? Impacts on progression? Courses will be offered the same number of times as they are under the current calendar. Really popular courses may be offered more often, but this would be up to the faculties to decide. Whether they are currently offered in Semester 1 or Semester 2 is not indicative as to whether they will be offered in T 1, T 2 or T 3. If students fail a course they will have the same chances to repeat it as they have today. If all buildings are used more often, will this mean less study spaces generally for students? Study load will be spread across more weeks of the year, which will reduce the demand on classrooms. Will there be a Reading Week? The Law faculty is making this decision at the moment. How will moves to online learning affect the law school? Online courses will not replace face-to-face learning. Online courses will be in addition to current offerings. How will assessments/exams be affected by this system? There will still be a two-week exam period per term. However, students will be sitting a maximum of three exams, compared to four under the current calendar. Examinations are being reassessed independently of the calendar by the PVCE. Faculty academics are looking at types of assessment, marking timeframes, etc. Will methods of enrolment stay the same? Enrolments will move to annual and term-by-term. Annual enrolment will allow students to better plan their study year. Class enrolments will open approximately 10 weeks prior to term commencement.

New exchange opportunities will be possible under UNSW 3+ Question 5 Response Do we have new Exchange partners? We are currently reviewing existing partners and new partners against the UNSW 3+ calendar alignment. To date, we have identified a large number of potential new exchange partners, and conversations will commence shortly. How will exchange work? Students can use Term 3 and Summer, or Summer and Term 1 to go on exchange. The example below indicates how the new calendar aligns with semester calendars and term calendars. Students will also still be able to go on year-long exchange.

Workload and holidays will be spread across the year, and Special Consideration will not change Question 6 Response Compare the holidays between the 2 models? Students will retain 13 weeks of holiday over the year. Students can also free up time by completing a lighter study load, an online course or an intensive. If students take a term off, they can have between 17 and 20 weeks off (depending on which term is taken off. ) If a term is taken off (and there is no enrolment), students are not eligible for full-time status or student benefits for that term. Will it feel ‘harder’ under the new system than the old (content learnt per week)? Students are expected to do the same number of subjects (but with more study load flexibility) over 30 weeks, rather than the current 24 weeks. The weekly study load will be slightly less than it is today. Will the Special Consideration timeline decrease? In regards to the application and the policy, it will remain the same – students will have three days to apply after the assessment. The execution of the policy is currently being assessed as part of the larger assessment review.

UNSW 3+ will not impact fees or availability of the Startup Loan Question 7 Response Are uni fees the same? Course fees will not change due to UNSW 3+. What about accommodation fees? Accommodation fees will not change due to UNSW 3+. What will happen with the Startup Loan? UNSW will offer an interest free bridging loan to eligible students who apply. This will be available from the beginning of June until they receive the second scheduled start-up payment from July 1. The UNSW loan facility will be provided to eligible applicants in the form of a debit card for use at the UNSW Bookshop. The bridging loan will be for up to $500. Students will need to repay the loan before enrolling in Term 3.

Full-time load, part-time load and overloading will remain similar to today Question 8 Response What is ‘full-time’? A normal load will remain eight courses per year in the new calendar. A full-time load is 75% of a normal load, so to retain full-time status and the associated benefits under the UNSW 3+ model, students will need to undertake six subjects over the course of the year, with at least one enrolment in each of the three normal terms (Terms 1, 2 and 3). If students take a term off, they will not be considered full-time for that term, however full-time status can be retained in the other two terms if they carry a study load of two courses in each term. What is part-time in the new system? Part-time at UNSW is very flexible. Any study load below the minimum full-time load of six courses per year would still be part-time. Students have up to ten years to complete a degree at UNSW. What is ‘overloading’? Can you do 4 subjects in a term? In exceptional circumstances, students may be able to speak to their faculty about completing four courses in a term, though the overloading policy will remain the same as today. What happens to Summer School (how will be different)? The Summer Term won’t look too dissimilar to how it currently looks, though the term will now be 6 weeks including exams.

UNSW 3+ will maintain and enhance the positive aspects of student life Question 9 Response Can I fit in Uni. Games/Model. UN/Mooting/ Competitive Sport/Overseas Summer Schools like LSE Yes. Eligible students will be provided academic flexibility for approved activities, such as Uni. Games. If more of the campus is being used yearly, will this further clog up transport worse than it is now? Campus use will be spread more across the year. Traffic is bad at the moment with the changes around Randwick and Kensington because of the light rail construction. Once the light rail is complete, it should be easier to get to the UNSW Kensington Campus. How will graduations work? Graduations will now happen three times per year, with less time between study completion and graduation ceremonies

Term dates have been finalised for 2019 and 2020 Academic Year 2019 2020 Summer Term 7 January – 13 February 6 January – 14 February Teaching period 7 January – 10 February 6 January – 9 February Exams 11 February – 13 February 10 February – 12 February Term 1 18 February – 18 May 17 February – 16 May O-Week 11 February – 15 February 10 February – 14 February 18 February – 1 May 17 February – 29 April Study period 2 May – 4 May 30 April – 2 May Exams 6 May – 18 May 4 May – 16 May Term break 19 May – 2 June 17 May – 31 May Term 2 3 June – 31 August 1 June – 29 August Teaching period 3 June – 12 August 1 June – 10 August Study period 13 August – 15 August 11 August – 13 August Exams 16 August – 31 August 14 August – 29 August 1 September – 15 September 30 August – 13 September Term 3 16 September – 14 December 14 September – 12 December O-Week 11 September – 13 September 9 September – 11 September Teaching period 16 September – 25 November 14 September – 23 November Study period 26 November – 28 November 24 November – 26 November Exams 29 November – 14 December 27 November – 12 December Teaching period Term break 10