Home - ACU (The Australian Catholic University)

Site Navigation

1. Interpretation/Definitions

In these Regulations, unless inconsistent with the context or the subject matter:

Associate Dean is a person responsible to the Dean of the Faculty to assist the Dean in his/her role of providing academic leadership and operation of management for the Faculty, in particular areas of strategic priority for the University and major Faculty-wide responsibility: Research, Research Training and Partnerships.

Associate Supervisor is a person external to this University who has been invited by the URC to contribute particular expertise in a specialised area of research supervision or who has been asked to assist and advise, as appropriate, a candidate in the undertaking of the degree requirements at a location other than at the University.

Chairperson of the Faculty Board is the Dean of the Faculty or nominee to that position. The Dean will consult on all occasions with the Head of School prior to making recommendations to the URC.

Code of Conduct of Research means that Code as adopted and amended from time-to-time by the Academic Board and Senate.

Co-Supervisor is an academic staff member of this University who has been appointed by the URC to work with the Principal Supervisor in assisting a higher degree candidate to formulate a research topic and to undertake the research in a systematic and orderly manner.

Course Coordinator or Postgraduate Coordinator means that person appointed by a Dean or a Head of School to be responsible for the day-to-day administration of a course of study or research degree program on behalf of a Faculty or School, and who has signatory authority on behalf of a Dean or Head of School.

Dean means the Dean of the relevant Faculty.

Doctorate or Doctoral refers to the Doctor of Philosophy and/or professional doctorate degree/s, according to the context.

External Examiner means an examiner who during the period of candidature has not been a member of the academic staff of the University, has not taught the examinable unit or course at this University and has not acted as an Associate Supervisor of the candidate.

Faculty Board means the Board of a particular Faculty.

Full-time refers to a candidate who is enrolled on a full-time basis and who is deemed by the URC, in consultation with the Dean, to be a person not otherwise employed except on a casual or part-time basis.

Head of School is the designated Head of School within the University.

Higher degrees means research Masters degrees and Doctoral degrees; it excludes coursework Masters degrees.

Intellectual Property Policy means that Policy as adopted and amended from time-to-time by the Academic Board and Senate.

National Coordinator is responsible to the Dean of the Faculty.

Part-time refers to a candidate who is not a full-time candidate but is able to devote an average of 20 hours per week to study and research.

Principal Supervisor means an academic staff member from this University who has been appointed by the URC:

  1. to supervise:
  • the formulation of a research topic;
  • - the candidate's research and the writing of the thesis; and/or
  • a candidates work in the field or on placement;
  1. to serve as the principal person responsible for leading a team of supervisors in the provision of guidance and assistance to named candidates as they undertake the relevant degree requirements.

Professional training sometimes includes observations or practical work external to the University. This may occur across a wide range of disciplines which include (among others) environmental science, nursing, education, counselling, psychology, social work and health sciences, and may include observations made, for example, in the field in industry, educational institutions and public offices, the examination of documents and other materials in libraries, museums and other repositories away from the University, and the use of equipment or facilities which are essential to the research in question and not available in the University.

Research degree is a degree which meets the requirements of DEEWR, or equivalent government department responsible for determining the requirements for university research degrees.

Research Services, commonly known as the Research Office or Office of Research, means that office responsible for administering the day-to-day requirements of higher degrees.

RTSC means the Research Standing Committee which is a sub-committee of the URC; comprises the Chair, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research; the four Associate Deans of Research, representing the Faculties of Arts and Sciences, Education, Health Sciences and Theology and Philosophy; a student representative and the Manager of Research Services.

School means the relevant School of the University.

Supervisor, used generically, includes the Principal Supervisor, Co-Supervisor and/or Associate Supervisor, as appropriate according to the context.

Thesis means any written dissertation in fulfilment of 66.66% or more of the degree requirements, and includes, in the case of music (composition), a composition portfolio consisting of tapes and/or scores together with a written dissertation of no less than fifty pages.

URC means the University Research Committee, a standing committee of the Academic Board, which administers the research degree or component of the degree in question.

Words in the singular include the plural and words in the plural include the singular.