Life has a way of interfering with your studies. Things like illness (both physical and mental), injury, financial hardship, family problems, being a victim of crime or just plain bad luck can affect your studies. Sometimes it can get so bad that you end up failing subjects or being threatened with being kicked out.
It's not your fault that you are going through a hard time in your life while you are studying and it shouldn't lead to you getting into trouble. The Swinburne Student Union's Student Rights Officers can provide help with academic appeals to make sure that your circumstances are taken into account and you get another chance to get things right, or that your marks will reflect the difficult conditions you experienced.
If you have failed more than 3 subjects in a semester, or failed one subject 3 times, you will be called in front of an academic review board and asked to justify being allowed to continue in the course. The SSU's academic appeals advocacy services gives you the best chance of getting the second chance you deserve.
Many students who have reached this point are often feeling really bad and tend to blame themselves. For example, they say this has happened because they're stupid. Perhaps you are feeling this way right now, but to be blunt, this is simply wrong. If you were stupid, the University would not take you on as a student, because places in universities are awarded based on merit. If you are smart enough to get in, then you have what it takes to complete the course. There's a good reason why this happened and the SSU can help you find out what it is, properly explain why and help make sure it won't be a problem in future.
If you have failed a subject repeatedly, then there almost certainly is a good reason for it. For instance, quite a few students have learning disabilities (e.g: dyslexia, dyscalculia) that went undiagnosed because they were of above average intelligence. Often they simply avoided areas which caused them difficulty, but eventually encountered a subject in their course which was focused on that problem area and they suddenly found they simply couldn't understand it no matter how hard they tried.
If that sounds like your situation, it is quite likely you do have a learning disability. There's no shame in this, it's not the same thing as being stupid, lots of smart people have learning disabilities. Even with a learning disability it is possible for you to make it through the subject that is giving you difficulty with special consideration to your problem and using teaching methods aimed at minimising the impact of your learning disability. We can help you present a convincing case for the academic board for you to continue in your studies and receive the help you need.
The reasons for failing 3 or more subjects in a semester tend to be more varied. Many people who have failed 3 or more subjects in a semester are going through an extremely difficult or stressful times in their life. Unless the academic staff are aware of your difficulties, they will mark you under the assumption that there isn't anything major getting in the way of your studies. But whatever the reason for your ending up in front of the academic review board, there is a way to solve it and the SSU will help you to find that solution and present it to the board in such a way that they will give you a second chance.
Many students suffer from financial hardship and try to juggle work and study. You may not have been successful in doing so, but that doesn't mean you deserve to be kicked out of your course. While a full time study load may not be possible for you for you to do along with the work hours you need to cover your expenses, it may be possible for you to continue as a part time student. Also, your financial troubles could have been temporary in nature and will not affect your future study performance.
Not all students cope well with the transition from high school to university. Frankly, some have to learn the hard way. I can take the shock of failing 3 subjects and coming before the academic review board to help them to get their act together. Even if that is your reason, you still deserve a second chance if you sincerely intend to work harder in future. We can help you to make your case in such a way that the academic review board will believe you truly intend to put in the effort to be a good student in future.
You may be suffering from the onset of depression or other mental illness that is affecting your studies because it went untreated. You may have suffered an illness or injury during the course of the semester that affected your ability to do the coursework. Your family may be experiencing problems or there was a death in the family. And you may have been a victim of crime, which may have may have impacted your ability to do coursework directly (e.g: Your computer was stolen and you can't afford a new one) or indirectly (e.g: You suffered post-traumatic stress and was unable to sleep). These things aren't your fault and if they have happened to you then you deserve to make sure that you don't get kicked out of your course on account of them.
There's a very strict procedure for these sort of things, so it's a good idea to get in touch with the Swinburne Student Union as soon as possible. If we are able to make sure that from the start, you do everything correctly, your chances of getting a sympathetic hearing and a good result from the academic review board will be much better.
Going before a staff member or a formal can be very intimidating, like being before a court. It's only fair that you have someone on your side who knows how things work and can help to make sure you make a good argument for why you need special consideration and deserve another chance.
Due to advances in technology, it is now easier to cheat than ever. Unfortunately, this makes life difficult for honest students because now the rest of us have to follow a complex procedure in order to prove we are not cheating.
Unfortunately, false positives do happen and sometimes a student is accused of plagiarism or cheating when they weren't. Often this is just a simple misunderstanding, an honest mistake or an unfortunate coincidence.
If you are accused of plagiarism or cheating, you should see the Swinburne Student Union as soon as possible. Dealing with plagiarism accusations quickly and properly can minimise the amount of stress involved. It is usually possible to resolve it with the staff member and avoid a confrontation with a disciplinary committee, the quicker we get involved the more likely we can resolve it in such a manner.