Dad's attempted suicide and uni's refusal to approve special consideration

[Spot2]

Hi all,

I'm incredibly hurt, frustrated, angry and upset to put it in a nutshell, and as I am currently fuelled by anger, this may come across very blunt.

Six weeks ago my dad attempted to kill himself and it affected our whole family greatly, I was so shocked as I didn't realise my dad felt that way and felt so lost that I hadn't noticed it before. As of today, he came out of the mental health ward feeling much better and has moved to a transitional house for 2 weeks before he's allowed to come home. It's been one of the most challenging times for my dad, and our family combined but I am so so grateful that he is still with us today.

During this time, however, I had to undertake an exam for uni that I knew I could not miss as it was a must-pass type of exam. Unfortunately, I ended up failing it by 2%, and I put that down to being both incredibly ill and the events that happened with my dad.
I applied for special consideration within my uni as I literally only failed by 2 marks!! However, I received the results today and it has been declined as it's an 'insufficient case'.? How can a close family member's attempted suicide (and almost death) not be grounds for special consideration in terms of your grades/ assessment/ exam results?? At first, when I read the email I was in absolute tears as I'm so confused how that wouldn't count. Now, I'm furious as to how this can be assessment policy?? - This is what the email mentioned when I was told it was declined.

I am curious if anyone else has had a similar experience at all? Or, knows someone that has and what or if they have done anything about it.

I'm considering taking this further and actually appealing their decision. Then looking into the assessment policies in universities around Australia, and how they are equipped to address this kind of a situation. So far, I have found nothing. So, how can they reject this on the grounds that it 'doesn't fit in assessment policy' when it's not included in the first place?

So, has anyone else experienced this? And, if so, what do you recommend I do?

Thank you,

Spot x

[GMatthew]

Hey Spot,

First of all, I'm so sorry that you've had to go through all of that especially during the stressful exam period.

I admire your strength for even being able to attend the exam in the first place let alone just miss the threshold by 2 marks.

I would definitely take it further with the Uni but be sure to have a game plan as universities usually allow a single appeal. In my case, I had to drop a unit entirely a few weeks before the end of semester due to carer stress. I reached out to the counselling services my university offers and they have been a tremendous help with regards to special consideration (they are on your side!).

Perhaps all you needed was some evidence to show that your mark was affected by a circumstance outside of your control? An example of this could be a "well-worded" letter from your counsellor, which is what I used with my application.

Don't be afraid to reach out to your universities student support department(s)! They're free and really will help you! I would start by sending in an email that outlines what you've written here and see where it goes from there.

All the best,

Matt

[Mollie_59]

Hi Spot. I am so sorry to hear you and your family are going through this. I hope your Dad is getting good care.

I work at a university - generally special consideration forms require a professional authority section to be filled out or appropriate supporting documentation which show that there were legitmate circumstances which were/are impacting you. Even if you have a good reason, these applications can be declined without the approrpiate documentation.

It might be worth looking over the application again or asking the student admin unit if they can give you any futher information about why it was declined.

Also as GMatthew has written above, uni support services are there to help. I often refer students to the counseling service. They are so supportive.

Best of luck to you.