Designated Officer: Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Council Approval: C98/91, 24 November 1998

Last Amended: C01/88, 27 November 2001

Related Policies:

• Award of Dean's Commendation Policy

Policy

1. A Distinguished Academic Record may be awarded to any student enrolled in an undergraduate award program, other than an Honours program, in recognition of academic excellence.

2. For the purposes of the award of a Distinguished Academic Record, 'academic excellence' means the achievement of a Grade Point Average of 6.5 or better (see attachment on Calculation of Grade Point Average).

3. To be eligible for consideration the student must have undertaken at least two-thirds of their program of study at the University.

4. For those students who have been granted advanced standing on the basis of previous studies, their performance in those previous studies will not be taken into account in determining the award of a Distinguished Academic Record.

5. The award of a Distinguished Academic Record will be made by the relevant Dean in accordance with this policy and will be advised to the Director, Student Affairs.

6. A notation shall be made stating the award of a Distinguished Academic Record will be included on the recipient's statement of academic record.

7. The award of a Distinguished Academic Record will be notified to the Academic Board as soon as is practicable.

8. A Distinguished Academic Record will be acknowledged at a Graduation Ceremony.

Calculation of Grade Point Average

A student's program Grade Point Average (GPA) shall be calculated by the summing up of the Grade Point for each course in which the student is enrolled, other than a course in which a Pass Ungraded or Fail are the only grades available, and then dividing the sum by the total number of course s attempted.

The following conversion from grades and grading notations shall apply for the purposes of calculating the program Grade Point Average:

• High Distinction (HD) 7
• Distinction (DN) 6
• Credit (CR) 5
• Pass (PS) 4
• Fail (FL) 0
• Fail - Absent (FA) 0
• Withdrawn - Fail (WF) 0

The following grade and grading notations shall not be included in the calculations:

• Pass Undgraded (PU)
• Withdrawn Without Penalty (WN)
• Incomplete (IN)
• Grade Pending (GP)
• Special Examination (SE)
• Supplementary Examination (SU)
• Not Examined (NE)
• Result Withheld (RW)
• Exemption (EX)