Essential Information in Your First Contact With Me

Many students have their cases delayed or even rejected, simply because they do not provide all necessary information. If you have an academic concern, it is strongly recommended you seek help from the CQUniversity Student Association Academic Advocacy & Support Officer at your campus (Rockhampton for FLEX students) in drafting your email or letter to me, and give them a copy of all correspondence with all parties. If your concern is over fees or non-academic matters, you should still follow the points below as far as they apply.

1. While I am happy to listen to all students, if the Academic Advocacy & Support Officer at your campus advises your case is non-existent or weak, you should think carefully before approaching me. I do not generally support weak cases, and never support non-existent ones.
   
   
2. If the Academic Advocacy & Support Officer at your campus supports your case, run your letter or email draft past them before you send it to me, then ask them to forward your case to me on your behalf.
   
   
3. All formal complaints or concerns must be via e-mail, fax, or letter. I do not act on verbal complaints.
   
   Your first written contact with me should contain the following information:
   
   
   1. your student ID
   2. your first and last name (as recorded on your passport, if you are an International student). If you prefer another name, indicate what that is, but your formal name is required as well.
   3. your telephone and email contact details [and check these are also recorded correctly and currently on the Student Records system]
   4. your campus
   5. your Program code and title
   6. if you have a concern about a Course or Courses, the Course/s code and title/s, and the Year/s and Term/s involved
   7. an indication in the first paragraph of your contact that: "I give the Student Ombudsman permission to forward all past, present and future correspondence about this issue to whichever University agencies are considered necessary to investigate my concern/s."
   8. a crisp sentence or two in the first paragraph which states exactly what the problem is
   9. information that you have already contacted the Student Association's Academic Advocacy and Support Officer at your campus, if the concern is an academic one.
   10. a crisp chronology of events, including actual names or dates of University staff spoken with. Avoid lengthy statements about your anguish.
   11. copies of all correspondence, set out in chronological sequence, including all emails, letters or faxes between you and the University. If emails have been exchanged, I require the whole email, including the "header" information. These copies should be presented in chronological sequence. Letters, medical certificates etc., may be faxed to me on 07 4930 6741.
       
       
4. If the concern is over a review of grade, then documentation of the Informal Consultation process is required: names/dates/decision. If you have not included that, your concern will not be considered by the Student Ombudsman.
   
   
5. Include a succinct statement at the end of your first email or letter to my Office, indicating the outcome desired. Note however that I am not your advocate; that role belongs to the Student Association representatives at your campus.
   
   
6. More generally, it is important that you back up phone or face to face communications up with an email to the University staff member/s concerned, verifying the substance of such verbal communications, and retaining copies of all such emails. A "paper trail" is so much easier for my Office to investigate.
   
   
7. After you have followed the above advice, please submit your case to me for consideration. For students within Australia , this is best done via the  CQUniversity Australia Student Association.  Once there, click on "Staff Contacts" for your campus student representative.

For CQUniversity students studying with partner companies overseas, this is best done through Student Services at that site.

However, you also have the option of contacting me directly, either by:

• Email: student-ombudsman@cqu.edu.au
• Fax: 07 4930 6741 (drop the first ‘0' if dialling fax from outside Australia)
• Letter:
  Student Ombudsman
  CQUniversity
  Building 37, Rockhampton Campus
  Bruce Highway,
  North Rockhampton QLD 4702
  AUSTRALIA
  
  [AUSTRALIA is only required if posting from outside Australia]