r/usyd • u/shortsnk • 2d ago
📖Course or Unit special consideration not approved by unit coordinator
hi, i’ve had special considerations approved for a couple of classes where i was absent due to medical reasons. i was recently told by my unit coordinator for this class they don’t accept special considerations approvals for class absences and that i would need to take an alternative test because of it, which determines whether i absent fail the unit or not. i don’t know what criteria i need to achieve to ‘pass’ this because the test is very short, but i’m really anxious about it
i understand that no matter what i need to take this test not to fail, im not fighting against that. but i was wondering why special consideration isn’t a valid reason to miss a class? i’ve never had a unit coord tell me they don’t mark down my approved absences for classes and it makes me concerned about other students who might be in a similar situation — at this point, getting spec con and having it approved makes no difference. is this a thing in other units? is it worth talking to someone else higher up about it?
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u/Infinite-Smoke-7465 2d ago
Special consideration verifies that your absence was for a valid reason. But you still have to learn the content and demonstrate your knowledge, the test sounds like the academic remedy for the special consideration.
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u/Head_Acadia_2658 2d ago
Coordinators do not approve spec cons
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u/shortsnk 2d ago
sorry title is unclear, i got my spec con approved by the team before asking the coordinator. coord said that even with spec con approval it doesn’t cover my absence
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u/_wayharshTai 2d ago
Contact supra or src to help you appeal
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u/mhsnsh 2d ago
Do not do this. The unit coordinator has provided a perfectly reasonable alternative. Obviously OP missed important coursework in their absence and the UC needs to ensure they’ve fulfilled specific outcomes. There is no way around this.
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u/Responsible-South289 2d ago
Totally agree. The UoSC seems to have gone out of their way to provide an alternative form of assessment. There’s no complaint to make here OP should just sit the assessment
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u/shortsnk 2d ago
hi thanks for clarifying it for me. when i posted, i knew i had to take the alt test but i was confused as to why my approved spec cons didn’t prevent me from an absent fail. now that there are more responses, i feel that the LO process has been clarified for me, so i now understand that this is a chance to demonstrate this missing LO to the unit coord. i won’t be contacting student associations and will continue to take the test
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u/mhsnsh 2d ago
That’s mature of you to realise that.
I have a disability and in my first year had an unexpected flare up and had to late DNF deep into the semester, even though I had done most of the coursework and my attendance up until that point was fine.
It was frustrating, but unfortunately no matter what valid reason you have, you can’t just be passed for a unit you haven’t demonstrated proper knowledge for. That’s not how special cons works.1
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u/Responsible-South289 2d ago
Unit coordinator here. It’s not necessarily about special consideration. Each unit has Learning Outcomes in the unit outline that may require attendance to meet. In this case, it sounds like you have not attended sufficiently to meet one or more learning outcomes. The UoSC is actually giving you an opportunity to not Absent Fail by giving you a chance to demonstrate you can meet the learning outcomes. I’d take this for the win if I was you!
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u/usyd-insider 2d ago
Under uni policy, a valid form of special consideration for missing a compulsory class can be for you to do some type of alternative task. However you should be given some details about what this task is.