These General Regulations are to be read in conjunction with all other Statutes and Regulations of the University and the Qualification Regulations specific to each Undergraduate Degree, Diploma and Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate offered by the University.
Admission
1. Students must satisfy the admission requirements of the University and the programme in which they wish to enrol.
Academic Requirements
2. An undergraduate or graduate qualification will consist of a number of credits accumulated from courses, as specified in the Qualification Regulations.
3. Every programme of study will comply with any specified prerequisites, co-requisites and restrictions requirements. This applies to courses specific to that qualification or, where allowed within the relevant regulations, to approved courses able to be selected from other qualifications or subjects.
Specialisations
4. Qualifications that include specialisations—such as majors, minors, subjects, or endorsements—will have these approved by the Academic Board when the programme is established or updated. The name of the specialisation will appear on the student’s award document, except in the case of minors, which are recorded only on the academic transcript.
Student progression
5. Students cannot enrol for any 200-level course unless they have passed at least 45 credits at 100-level, nor enrol for any 300-level course unless they have passed at least 45 credits at 200-level. Students admitted to a graduate diploma or graduate certificate under Admission with Equivalent Status Regulation 26 are deemed to have met these requirements.
6. Students who wish to take a course for which they do not have the prerequisite(s) can make a case for admission to the relevant Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate), and the decision will not set a precedent for future requests.
7. Students who have not enrolled in a qualification, or who have withdrawn from all courses in the qualification over a period of three consecutive years will be deemed to have abandoned their qualification. Abandonment releases the University from its obligation to ensure a qualification can be completed. Students may be permitted to be admitted to a current qualification should they meet the entry requirements at the time of admission; credits previously achieved will be assessed and applied in accordance with current regulations.
8. The Academic Board (or delegate) can, under such conditions as it may determine and considering the recommendations of the Chief Examiner(s), admit any candidate to a supplementary assessment in a course in which the candidate failed to gain a pass.
Academic Progress
9. All students are expected to achieve at least Satisfactory Academic Progress in each enrolment period. Unsatisfactory Academic Progress is governed by the Academic Progress Regulations and the Academic Progress Policy which sets out the minimum (satisfactory) thresholds.
Variations and Personal Programme Approvals
10. The Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate) can, under delegated authority from the Academic Board, approve a personal programme of study which does not fully conform with the General Regulations or the Qualification Regulations for an undergraduate degree, diploma or certificate, provided that the programme continues to meet the academic standards of the qualification.
(a) The following rules will apply:
(i) There must be a compelling academic case to merit the variation; or
(ii) There must be evidence of exceptional circumstances and/or hardship to the student.
(iii) Variations are authorised under a formal delegation from the Academic Board, and the decisions made must comply with institutional academic governance and be formally documented.
(iv) The variation will be recorded on the student’s academic record.
(v) Personal programme approvals will not permit a reduction in the total amount of credit required to complete a qualification.
(vi) The extent of variation cannot jeopardise the integrity of the qualification. To this end there will normally be a limit on the extent to which a qualification can be varied. The maximum amount of credit varied will relate to the size of the qualification as follows:
120 credit qualification: 15 credits
240 credit qualification: 30 credits
360 credit qualification: 45 credits
480 credit qualification: 60 credits
(vii) Variations will not normally be permitted in 60-credit qualifications.
(viii) Variations will be considered only on a case-by-case basis and will not set any precedent, unless special circumstances affect an entire student cohort (for example, programme closures or course availability).
(b) Notwithstanding Regulations 10 (a) (vi), (vii) and (viii), and at the discretion of the relevant Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate), students exiting a programme may have a personal course variation approved in excess of stated limits to meet the requirements of the proposed exit qualification through the substitution of courses from the schedule for the qualification being exited.
Transitional Provisions
11. The University reserves the right to introduce such changes as it may judge to be necessary or desirable, including the addition, restructuring or withdrawal of qualifications, specialisations, regulations and/or courses. Reasonable provisions will be made to enable students to complete any such qualification or specialisation. Such provisions include, where necessary:
(a) allowing course substitutions
(b) exempting students from taking new compulsory course requirements
(c) exempting students from fulfilling new schedule requirements when those requirements involve additional credits
(d) exempting students from fulfilling the requirements of newly introduced cores
12. Notwithstanding Regulation 11, colleges may require a student to complete some or all of the new requirements, as long as the student does not need to take more credits than would be required to complete their programme.
13. Unless otherwise stated in the regulations for a particular qualification, where the name of a qualification or specialisation changes, previously enrolled students will graduate under the new name of the qualification or specialisation.
14. The provisions under Regulation 11 will allow students to complete their qualifications in a reasonable time. The timeframes for completion under transition regulations will relate to the qualification, as follows:
(a) Up to 120 credits: two years
(b) 180-240 credits: three years
(c) 360 credits: four years
(d) 480-600 credits: five years
15. Notwithstanding Regulation 14, in such circumstances where the University has made the decision to cease activities in a discipline area (including staffing, undergraduate and/or postgraduate teaching, research, and infrastructure) shorter timeframes may be established that take into account:
(a) transfer of students to other institutions
(b) transfer of students to alternative qualifications
(c) exiting students with a lesser qualification
(d) options for teaching-out of selected years of the qualification.
16. Candidates who have been awarded with Restricted Passes prior to the commencement of the 2017 academic year may continue to credit these to their programme of study in accordance with the following regulations:
(a) A student with a restricted pass in any course can subsequently enrol in the same course to attempt to improve the grade of pass. However, the course can be credited only once.
(b) The maximum credits able to be credited from restricted passes are:
60 for a 480-credit degree
45 for a 360-credit degree
30 for a 240-credit diploma
15 for a 120-credit certificate or diploma
No R passes are permitted in a 60-credit certificate.
(c) A restricted pass will not qualify as a pass for prerequisite purposes.
Limitation of Entry
17. For any programmes of study offered by the University, the University Council (by its delegate) may limit the number of students enrolled in any programmes of study or training each year because of insufficiency of staff, accommodation, or equipment, or for other reasons that may arise. Accordingly, where the number of applications for the particular programme(s) exceeds the number of places available, then Massey University will select from the applicants the students to be enrolled in the programme of study.
Public Health Considerations
18. Under any Government orders or Massey University Council directives, admission to specified programmes of study within Massey University - and continued enrolment and progression in those programmes - may require evidence of full and current vaccination status for any mandated vaccinations. This requirement will be applied to all relevant programmes in accordance with Government orders or Massey University mandates.