Academic Advice 

Undergraduate Academic Advisors in the Law School

If you're seeking academic advice (like what units to study to get your degree) in relation to law, the relevant staff members to contact are: 

 

General Academic Advice 

Associate Professor Archana Parashar

(For students whose surnames commence with the letters A to K)

Room 618, Law School Building

Tel:                         9850-7062            

Email:                    archana.parashar@mq.edu.au   

                             or 

Ms Debra Ronan

(For students whose surnames commence with the letters L to Z)

Room 517, Law School Building

Tel:                         9850-7906

Email:                    debra.ronan@mq.edu.au

 

Exemptions, Credit for Previous Study and Exchange Programs 

Dr Carlos Bernal

Room 625, Law School Building

Tel:                         9850-4090

Email:                    carlos.bernal@mq.edu.au

                                 or 

Mr Ilija Vickovich

Room 624, Law School Building

Tel:                         9850-7921            

Email:                    ilija.vickovich@mq.edu.au

 

What do academic advisers do? 

Every Department, including Macquarie Law School, has academic advisers. These are staff (lecturers, professors, etc) that assist students with issues relating to their academic progress. 
Academic advisers are NOT there to provide you with information that you could obtain from eStudent (in relation to your personal records) or from the Macquarie website or Handbook. It is only when you run into particular or unusual difficulties that help from academic advisers should be sought. 

 

What research should I do before consulting an academic adviser? 

First, check to see if your question has been answered on the Macquarie University website (www.mq.edu.au).Most of what you need can be found by clicking on ‘New and Current Students’ on the University home page. On the right hand side of this website you will find useful quick links such as ‘enrolment’. 

You can find other information you will find by clicking ‘Undergraduates’ in the left-hand column. The section marked ‘Forms and Documents’ is particularly useful. For information relating specifically to your law degree, you will find much of it on the Law School website, (especially under ‘undergraduate’ and then ‘current students’). The Law School website can be accessed at www.law.mq.edu.au).

In particular, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are familiar with the requirements of your degree, in terms of the units you need to study and how many credit points you need to graduate. These requirements are set out in the Handbook of Undergraduate Studies, available from the Library or Co-op, or from the link at the top of the Macquarie University home page (click ‘Course Handbook’). Macquarie’s degrees changed in 2010, so it is important that you look at the 2011 Handbook. This gives details of what is commonly referred to in the University as the ‘new curriculum’). 

While at Macquarie, you will need to study the Handbook almost as much as the readings given you by teachers. When researching the Handbook online, probably the most useful sections are ‘Student Information’ (towards the top) and ‘Governance, Legislation and Rules’ (towards the bottom). The rules you are most likely to need are the ‘Undergraduate Rules’ (better known as the ‘Bachelor Degree Rules’).

 

What particular enquiries are appropriate for academic advisers? 

It is appropriate to seek academic advice if you face an unusual problem in relation to your study. Please note that the Law School academic advisers can only assist in relation to the law component of your degree. As for your non-law degree, you should seek assistance from the relevant department.

One of the most common reasons for needing academic advice is to obtain a waiver in relation to unit prerequisites. Prerequisites refer to units which a student must complete before commencing a particular unit. These can be found in the Handbook (click under ‘units’ if you’re using the on-line version). For instance, you will not be allowed to complete a 200-level unit (e.g. LAW204 Contracts) until you have completed 6 credit points (cp) in LAW units at 100 level. 

Sometimes prerequisites need to be waived for particular students. Most commonly, these students started their law degree at another university, or transferred into the law degree from another Macquarie degree, and are out of step with most of the student cohort. 
If you think you need a waiver of prerequisites, you should ask the appropriate academic adviser for a document that explains the process of applying for a waiver. 

 

Planning your program of study 

On the next page is the standard template for the LLB component of a combined degree being undertaken by an internal student starting in 2011. Note that the degree requirements speak in terms of credit points, not number of units of study. You should think in similar terms. All you need do is work out how many points you need, and then how many units will get you that number of points, bearing in mind the compulsory units. You will need a total of 72 credit points in LAW-prefixed units in order to graduate. The compulsory units provide a total of 45 credit points. The additional 27 credit points are made up by taking law elective units, generally during the student’s fourth and fifth years.

 

How to obtain advice 

Please note that academic advice will only be given to students who can demonstrate that they have first made a concerted effort to research their enquiry. 

However, if you have done your research, made a genuine effort to understand the rules, but are still uncertain or confused, or have problems that are peculiar to you, then you may contact an academic adviser. Some of you may also need to contact an adviser in relation to particular waivers. 

You should set out your query in an email to your adviser. Advisers check their emails regularly and will try to get back to you promptly. When writing your email, remember:

  • The adviser probably has no access to your personal records.
  • It is only courteous to express yourself clearly and concisely. Proofread your emails carefully to make sure that someone coming to your situation afresh would be able to understand your position quickly and easily. You should be taking almost as much care over writing your emails as you would writing an essay. Overly casual, poorly written emails containing text language indicate a lack of respect for the adviser, who will then treat your enquiry with appropriate disdain.