Academic progress monitoring

• What is academic progress monitoring?
• Why does the University review my progress?
• Why did I get a notification I am being considered for a short-term exclusion?
• I would prefer not to be excluded – what should I do?
• Factors for inclusion in submissions
• Supporting documentation
• An example submission letter

What is academic progress monitoring?

The university assesses each student's performance at the end of each semester (Semester One, Semester Two and Summer School).

Your results for each semester are checked to see if you have made satisfactory progress in your academic programme. This process is called 'academic progress monitoring'.

Why does the university review my progress?

We are committed to supporting you throughout your programme, to give you the best chance of academic success.

There is a wide range of services designed to help. Identifying students who are struggling – for a variety of reasons - means we can direct those services towards the students who need them most.

If you are a domestic student you will be aware that we receive funding and subsidies from the New Zealand Government and we have a responsibility to use that funding carefully. International students must maintain an adequate level of study success as part of their visa requirements.

Why did I get a notification I am being considered for a short-term exclusion?

You will have received an email letter if you are identified as making unsatisfactory academic progress.

The criteria used mean you have enrolled for three recent semesters, including the one most recently completed, and you have not passed any courses. Courses with Withdrawal (WD) count as unsatisfactory unless there has been a successful fee appeal.

Failure to make progress is of concern for Massey because you have not performed as well as expected. Sometimes there are good reasons, so we invite students to make a submission to tell us about their situation.

We need to know if the situation which caused the lack of progress was significant, reasonable, unable to be avoided and that the situation is able to be controlled moving forward.

A panel will review your submission. A possible outcome is an Academic Exclusion. An Academic Exclusion prevents you from enrolling for approximately three semesters, providing an opportunity for you to take a break. Use this time to evaluate your study skills, and be better organised when you return to study. Returning to study after an Exclusion will require you to meet with an advisor to develop a study plan and demonstrate your new commitment.

I would prefer not to be excluded – what should I do?

There is a university process in which students get a period of time to reply to a panel who look after this process and make a 'submission'.  You can explain what happened and why you would seek not to be excluded by the panel. If you want to make a submission, the panel expects you to:

• Address the whole situation over the period of time that you made no academic progress (there will be three semesters they are considering).
• Be concise and clear. Be polite even if you were disappointed to get the letter.  The process is not personal. You can use bullet points and headings if it helps.
• Provide document evidence to support the reasons provided (evidence will strengthen your submission significantly)
• Make sure you mention everything relevant (you may have told someone at the university about an issue – please don’t assume that it is widely known)
• Due to privacy, anything personal you provided to the university in the past is not likely to be available to the panel. 
• Explain what has changed since you had the issues, or what you hope to do differently in the future.

Factors for inclusion in submissions

There are many different issues that the panel would consider as significant and reasonable. The situations are evaluated as follows:

• Must be out of your control – you probably could not have prevented them.
• Must have had a probable negative impact on you – your ability to study or to undertake assessments was highly likely to have been impacted.
• The timing of the circumstances must be relevant to the claimed impact and have contributed to your inability to pass any courses during the semester.

Types of situations/explanations which may contribute to a successful submission

• A significant illness, serious injury or mental health issue experienced by the student
• A significant illness, injury or mental health issue of a dependent person the student cares for
• A disability situation where there is no support, or which flared up unexpectedly
• A bereavement (eg of a close family member or very close friend)
• Supporting a close member of your family through a serious illness
• Being the victim of a serious crime
• Dramatic and unexpected change in personal circumstances
• Long jury service

Types of situations that are unlikely to be acceptable explanations

• A criminal conviction and/or imprisonment
• Disruptions caused by non-payment of fees
• COVID-19 in its own right. There would need to be an associated issue like ill health, bereavement or other significant disruption
• Long term pre-existing situations that have not changed, particularly where a student re-enrolled when the same situation existed and was not mitigated.
• Minor and short-term illnesses.
• Avoidable timing problems for assessment such as conflicting planning with weddings or holidays.
• Issues with the delivery of a course that were not reported at the time.
• Motivation issues because the student was bored.
• Not knowing that Massey was tracking performance in this way. 
• Not knowing that Withdrawal (WD) contributed as failure to progress
• Things that could be evidenced but no evidence is offered.

Supporting documentation

What types of documentation may be provided as supporting evidence?

Evidence should normally come from appropriately qualified professionals who are independent of the student, be on letterhead paper or have a relevant email address, and be dated.

If evidence is not in English or te reo Māori, it may still be submitted but should be accompanied by a certified translation if possible or a fair translation if a certified translation is not possible.

If the provision of evidence to support your submission deadline is delayed this may be mentioned and it may be possible for the evidence to be considered later.

• Medical evidence: hospital notes, discharge notes, doctor’s letters, counsellor or psychologist's letters, test results, midwives' notes etc (ie, letters from registered medical practitioners that are for yourself or a dependent).
• Bereavement: Death certificates, letters from doctors, letters from undertakers or coroners. Orders of service if verifiable online or through funeral notices which show your relationship. Verifiable news media reports.
• Information from registration of birth, deaths and marriages.
• Letters from solicitors, court officers, victim support letters, affidavits and insurance providers.
• Military service instructions.
• Letters from university staff who have directly supported you during the situation.
• Letters or statements from classmates, family members and religious practitioners may help add context but would not normally be considered evidence in their own right.

Page authorised by Director, Student Administration
Last updated on Monday 28 February 2022