Updated 17 June 2020
Dear students,
We look forward to welcoming you back on campus soon, with S1|20 practical and clinical completion classes scheduled to start July 6 (subject to change based on Government Directive).
The health and safety of our students, clinic clients, staff and visitors remain a top priority as we plan for the opening of the National campus network in July. The College will adhere to all measures recommended by the Government and the relevant Health Authorities alongside the principles and protocols for reducing risk of COVID-19 recommended by Universities Australia to stop the transmission in a College environment, which include but are not limited to:
When you come back to campus this will look and feel different, to give you an insight into what to expect some of the health and safety measures being put in place are outlined below with further updates and answers to your FAQ’s across the coming weeks.
General Measures: The following general measures will apply to support physical distancing, best practices in health and safety and support teaching and learning continuity on campus.
The below update will give an overview of the practical and completion classes health and safety best practices to be implemented and an update on the library and answers to FAQ’s will be released under the COVID -19 Return to Campus update section here.
Practical Classes:
Clinic Classes:
In the case of a student, staff member, or visitor being confirmed with COVID-19, this will be reported to the government in the first instance and the College will take directive on the recommendation for campus closure to complete a deep cleaning protocol. In the case of a positive COVID-19 case and there is a directive to close the campus, all students will be informed of a campus closure decision and the expected return date based on the relevant Government and Health authority clearance and approval.
The College is committed to a COVID-19 free campus environment and this will require your vigilance and diligence as your return to campus nationally.
We look forward to welcoming you back soon. Stay safe and stay well.
Updated 5 May 2020 at 6.39PM (AEST)
I am writing in hopes to allay some concerns around the new online proctoring software that will be used by Endeavour for online exams from June 2020.
It is a requirement at all times that we maintain the academic integrity of our courses, including that assessments assure us that students are sufficiently competent in all of the stated learning outcomes for each subject, and will eventually be safe practitioners in their chosen careers. In order to do this, we are required by the higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) to ensure that we use a variety of assessment methods including closed-book individual examinations.
In order to ensure the continued safety of students and staff in this current uncertain environment, Endeavour began immediate investigations into online proctoring software (including the key feature of browser lockdown) when it became apparent that our College would be required to shut down in March 2020. Various options were considered and discarded before all members of the Senior Leadership Team and Project Team were happy with the final decision. This decision was acted upon and students informed of it as soon as it was confirmed that we would not be returning to campus until July 2020.
What about your my data security?
We are aware that there has been some media attention in recent weeks around universities using various software solutions to find the best option for online exams in these unusual times. We are also aware that you are concerned about your privacy when introducing new software onto your personal devices; as you should be. We are, in fact, proud that we have students who take these matters seriously, as we do. I wish to confirm with you that we have investigated the negative media around these matters and found that the Respondus software was not part of those media concerns and in fact every concern raised by the media is alleviated by the Respondus software. In addition, we have reviewed the Respondus privacy policy and terms, and find them to align with the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles, as required by Principle 8 (cross-border disclosure of personal information). In particular, Respondus’ alignment with Principle 3 (collection of solicited personal information) and Principle 11 (security of personal information) were key to the College entering into a licensing agreement with them. Respondus’ privacy policy also ensures that no information shared with them will be passed on to any party other than Endeavour, the licensee of the software.
Please note that this software is ONLY required for you to complete your exams. You are welcome to delete it from your personal device as soon as your exam has been completed – we will provide instructions on how to uninstall it from your computer (also note that you can install it and uninstall it as many times as you need for different exams).
How long will my data be held, and where?
Respondus holds all electronic data collected by its software in a secure cloud-based environment which is regularly security checked using ‘third party penetration testing’. Under Australian record retention requirements, we are required to hold your actual examinations for 6 – 12 months. Because of this requirement, our own policy states that we will hold completed examination papers for 12 months, after which time they are destroyed securely. Respondus’ current policy meets the US requirements to hold examination answers for up to 5 years. As part of our licencing agreement with Respondus we requested this holding time to be reduced to 12 months to align with our policy, which they have agreed to.
Respondus records and saves video of the student sitting exam for monitoring purposes; this is considered the ‘completed exam paper’ for our record retention purposes. It highlights still images which are accessible by the relevant academic staff member only (marker), where it has marked a possible concern around academic integrity (e.g. that you may be looking at a book). The staff member can click on these images (which are part of the video) and it will play video from that point onwards to track integrity issues. These recordings are held at Respondus servers and kept for 1 Year as part of our request in alignment with our record retention requirements.
How are other universities solving this problem?
Some of you have raised concerns that ‘no universities in Australia are using this software’. This is untrue and we are aware that Respondus is currently being used by Monash University, James Cook University, University of Tasmania and University of Adelaide and has been for some time.
What does this mean for my exams?
The College’s plan is to conduct all ‘backlog’ exams for online cohorts which have already completed coursework in the first week of June, and for the March and Semester 1 cohorts in mid – late June, so that all exams are completed prior to the start of the on-campus practical and clinic blocks. We are aware that some of you would prefer to come to campus, however due to all of the scheduling changes because of COVID-19, this is not going to be possible for this semester. Due to the requirement for national consistency and integrity of exams, we must have a national approach to ensure students on all campuses have equality of experience, and given States are relaxing restrictions at different times, the introduction of such software is the only way we can assure this equality.
We also understand that some of you are concerned around finding the privacy within your home to conduct the examination within the required timeframes. This is something that we also completely understand, particularly as most of us are also trying to work from home with children at the moment. Unfortunately, this is something that we cannot provide a solution for; we must lock down a specific timeframe for exams in order to protect the academic integrity of the exams themselves, and this would be the case if the exams were held on campus also. However, given the exam timetable will be released with 4 – 6 weeks’ notice, we would hope that you would be able to arrange this block of time to be set aside without interruption, as you would if you were required to attend campus.
Of course we know there are those of you who just will not be able to do your exams in this way due to special circumstances; if that is the case, please lodge a special circumstances application as per usual process to request a deferred exam at such time that we are able to return to campus. Based on student feedback the College is also continuing to develop and expand the Examination FAQs section on the website.
Thank you
I truly do understand that this is yet another change in this difficult time that puts strain on your studies. We are trying hard to do all we can to continue to help you progress through your studies without any loss of study time, while still maintaining the requirements of the regulatory and professional bodies for our students and graduates. It is a fine line in this time when the environment is changing from week to week, and we do thank you for your patience and acceptance of all of these updates. Please know that everything we are doing right now is to ensure that you can continue your studies as uninterrupted as possible, and to improve our academic support in this new environment.
The whole Senior Leadership Team is working daily to ensure that our students remain the focus of all of our activities in this pandemic period, and I want to assure you that no decision is made lightly.
Elissa HolswichNational, Quality and Compliance
You will have seen the announcement of the final examinations update this week and we have made the decision to implement supervised online exams through a proctoring software to fulfil the assessment requirements for subject completion.
The timelines are outlined below for reference:
View our examination FAQs
The examination and the Educational Technologies Department is currently in the process of putting together a training package that will include user guides, recorded step by step guidelines on how to install the lockdown browser and how to use it with the practice exam. Once these manuals have been completed all students will be updated to the location of these on the LMS to support online examinations.
Thank you for your patience as we all continue to navigate the changing landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact this has had on our everyday lives.
Following on from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement yesterday that social distancing measures will be extended by a further 4 weeks, this update is to inform you that the college will not be re-opening on-campus classes on 4 May . The college has put in place the secondary plan of action with a return to campus date planned for Monday 6 July. (* Subject to change and based on government issued COVID -19 directive). We appreciate that this will be disappointing however, the health, safety and wellbeing of our students' staff and communities remain our top priority. The College continues to monitor and follow the directions and advice of the Government to ensure we are taking all the necessary actions to minimise risks and maintain vigilance against the COVID -19 pandemic in Australia.
We are in the process of planning the details of accommodating the S1|20 practicals and clinic classes alongside strategies to support progression across S2|20. This is a large task across 6 campuses, 4 degrees, and the consideration of thousands of timetabling units across different campuses, dates, times, credit points, schedules and delivery mediums. We appreciate your patience as we continue to work on the finer details for how this will look starting 6 July and we are aiming to provide you with a practical and clinic timetable in PDF format no later than 18 May.
Next week further information will be communicated about the return to on-campus date of 6 July including framing for the practical and clinics sessions and theory classes in S2|20. We would like to assure you that we are continuously working in the background and are considering what adjustments need to be made to accommodate the changes to S1|20 including study load planning, meeting subject professional learning outcomes and supporting your course progression into S2|20. This is a different semester than we all planned for and we thank you for your questions and continued patience.
Whilst our immediate priority is confirming for you what our return on 6 July looks like to support your planning, we have been and continue to conduct scenario planning and draft timetabling across further potential return to campus dates for August through to December 2020 due to the unpredictability of COVID-19 and our reliance on government directives as to when we can safely return. Should a return date of 6 July become unlikely at any point, we will communicate further on this.
This is an unprecedented situation for all of us, so please continue to be kind to each other and we ask that you are also respectful when communicating to staff as we are all adapting to challenging times.
Continue to remain vigilant and diligent about you and your families health, safety and wellbeing at this time. Stay safe and stay well!
We know how important it is to try to maintain a sense of wellness and normality in amongst all the chaos that is happening around us right now, which is why we want to make sure that you have access to the books that you need for study.
We would like to assure you that the highest health and safety practices are being adhered to in our warehouse and we are following the latest advice and guidance from the Department of Health as well as any imposed Government restrictions to ensure that these books are delivered safely.
Dispatch schedule
As part of these safety measures, this means that, for the moment, we will dispatch orders once per week on a Friday. All orders will be sent via either standard or express post, however we understand this new process might cause some delays so we strongly encourage you to order as early as you can to ensure you have your books ready for you to start your studies and time these with your current schedule.
To celebrate the reopening, students receive 10% off on all full-priced items (*excludes bundles & packs). To receive your discount, type the code STUDY10 into the discount box at the checkout.
You can visit the Endeavour bookstore online: https://endeavourbookstore.com.au/
We're here to help. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the bookstore via email or call us on 07 3253 9525 and leave a message.
Join Sarah for a meditation on the Tuesday 14 April at 2.30pm AEST. The meditation session will run for 15 minutes, however, please allow 30 minutes for the session.
Sarah is a Lecturer and Clinic Supervisor at the Perth campus, and also has her own naturopathic clinical practice in East Perth. For more information, visit the events page, or register here.
Student Assistance Program (SAP)
It is very important that you take the time you need to also take care of yourself at this time, the SAP is available 24/7 free of charge by calling 1800 336 207 and available for confidential counselling, please do reach out to this team if they can be of any support in helping support you and your family at this time.
Support Teams
As we navigate our way through these ever-changing circumstances, we are frequently updating our planning based on new information. We can assure you that we have teams working on clinical and practical modelling and thank you for your continued patience as these are being finalised to ensure that we continue to support the continuation of your learning.
We recommend that you keep a watch on the weekly COVID-19 communication that will be sent every Wednesday morning, alongside the website, student portal and LMS notifications for College updates.
For the latest resources and information visit The Department of Health’s website here.
Please stay vigilant about you and your family’s health and safety at this time.
We respect the impact these ever-changing circumstances have on your normal routines, and that there will be a number of changes and solutions being put in place to support you and your family at this time.
The College has reviewed and increased its online offerings across April through to June, with the aim to take a little bit of the pressure off as you manage and adapt to the changes brought about by COVID-19 at this time.
The following subjects have now been added online, and please connect with the student services team if you would like to change your enrolment to April or another online offering, if this supports your current circumstances.
The additional subjects now available are listed below for your convenience and available on the website > Current students > Re- enrolment and download pdf link here:
These subjects will be available on the student portal Friday morning. The student services or course progression teams are happy to help you with your subject enrolment.Call: 1300 462 887 (ext.2)Email: student.services@endeavour.edu.au or courseprogression@endeavour.edu.au
The SAP (Student Assistance Program) is available free of charge for all students call 1800 336 207 (24/7), this program offers confidential counselling for study related or personal problems and will support and help you navigate these changing times.
Please contact the above teams if they can be any support at this time and stay vigilant with your health, and we look forward to supporting you online over the coming months.
Please note the following:
There will be two intensive delivery blocks to accommodate all practical classes in all possible enrolment combinations and available campus space:
5 weeks delivery plus 1 week of practical exams
Subjects that will be included in this block:
CMCS211 (30 hours)
Subjects that may be included in this block (depending on the campus space): BIOE221 (33 hours), SOCI221 (33 hours), *HMCL211 (21 hours), *HMCL222 (21 hours), *HMCL312 (21 hours) (* see note above)
5 weeks total delivery (any practical exams included within the 5 weeks).
Subjects that will be included in this block
There will be one 5-week intensive clinic block that will include all assessment submissions. As per previous communications, we are working towards updating these assessments so no extra submissions points after the 5-week intensive is needed.
Please note some exceptions to the general 5-week intensive block:
The timetable team are currently working on this model, which will be released as soon as it is finalised. Once finalised, you will be able to determine the next best steps to support your personal circumstances and commitment to studies during this unprecedented time.
NOTE: If based on personal circumstances you are unable to complete the proposed intensive and practical schedule, please contact special consideration with a summary of your circumstances; we will work with you and provide support on a case-by-case basis. Special Consideration: Email specialconsideration@endeavour.edu.au or submit the special circumstances form via the student portal. There is no requirement to submit documentation at this time.
Below is the total number of clinic hours required for each clinic subject code and indication of total number of hours per week across the 5-week intensive period:
With the continued escalation of COVID-19, the college will continue to seek solutions to support students on a case by case basis and provide assistance in any way possible.
Firstly, I hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy in these ever-moving times.
Secondly, I wanted to personally thank you for your patience, your incredible resilience, support to your lecturers and fellow students and kindness to the whole College while we bring together the plan for your successful completion of the Semester 1, 2020. Undoubtedly, this is not going to be a conventional semester but please know that the College is working to ensure delivery of the subjects that will minimise the disruption to your learning and progression through your degree.
The first part of the plan was instigation of the live streaming of the theory lectures from one campus, release of pre-recorded lectures (where available) and release of attendance requirements. The live streaming is no longer possible as all campuses are now closed until 4 May 2020 as health and wellbeing of you, your loved ones and lecturers is paramount to the College. To ensure uninterrupted delivery of the subjects the College has decided to implement the following:
A few further points for you to know:
While the live delivery and support of the theory subjects will commence tomorrow (please see Loop and Noticeboards of the specific subjects for details), there may be technical issues that will need to be addressed as we settle into this new way of our subject delivery. I ask you to be patient and kind to your lecturers and the IT department while we work through the issues together. Please be assured that any gaps in delivery or support of these subjects will be addressed by a separate recording or an extra support webinar. Also, please keep your eye on the Loop of your subjects - Subject Coordinators will be communicating any changes and updates through this avenue.
Thank you for being incredible, kind and calm students. We are dedicated to delivering the highest standard of online live education delivery and are working to ensure this occurs across all of the above mentioned subjects.
Thank you for your patience and collaboration. The only way through this unprecedented situation is together.
As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve we would like to reassure you that we have teams across the college committed to seeking solutions to support your continued study across all theory and live-streamed classes and are working on the timetable options for future intensive practical and clinical classes.
Please see a summary below to address FAQs at this time
We have a large volume of enquires of what an intensive session may look like and we respect and understand that this will support planning your studies in the future.
We are modelling what this will look like across all degrees and thank you for your continued patience as this is reviewed over the coming days.
All planned on-campus examinations for this period will be deferred and the examinations coordinator will be in contact with each student to confirm the process and manage expectations around the re-scheduling of these examinations.
This is a stressful time as what we have known is now the unknown. It is very important that you take the time you need to also take care of yourself at this time, the SAP is available 24/7 free of charge by calling 1800 336 207 and available for confidential counselling, please do reach out to this team if they can be of any support in helping support you and your family at this time.
Once again, we thank you for your continued patience at this unprecedented time and we can ensure you that we are focused on answering all your enquires, supporting your questions and committed to working on solutions that support your present circumstances.
At the College all teams are dedicated to ensuring that you can continue with your studies online and return to campus with minimal disruption and maximum flexibility to support the successful completion of your planned studies.
At this time please ensure that you have all the support that you, your family and friends need and be vigilant about your health and wellbeing.
After careful deliberation and to support a proactive and preventative approach to support the health and wellbeing of all students at this time it has been determined that all campuses and clinics will close effective Monday, March 23 until May 3 2020 (based on confirmation of directive to reopen).
The College is able to confirm that there have been no cases of COVID-19 on any of the campus or clinic locations and this decision has been made to prioritise the continued health and wellbeing of all students.
At this time we are dedicated to supporting you in the continuation of your studies online and in an intensive format for practical and clinical classes upon your return in May and June.
Please know that the College is continuing to monitor the situation daily and regular updates will be rolled out via the student portal / LMS/ website and direct communications to your email address as intensive mode delivery timetables are confirmed and FAQs collated over the coming weeks.
We are committed to supporting you in the continuation of your studies and your health and wellness at this time and please do not hesitate to contact support teams as we seek solutions that will support the continuation of your studies and wellbeing.
The College is now ready to move the final on-campus theory classes to online via live streaming effective Wednesday 18 March.
Access to all online subjects and theory subjects listed below will remain online for the remainder of Semester 1, 2020.
Classes will begin to stream on Wednesday 18 March in Melbourne time which will allow you to continue your studies from home for all classes listed below. We will be recording these classes so if you are unable to attend the livestream you will be able to listen to the recording at another time.
The following subjects will be live streamed from Wednesday 18 March:
All links to the classes have been posted on the LMS.
Go to the Subject > go to Connections > go to Subject News > go to Latest Announcements Forum
If you are unable to locate your password please connect with the subject coordinator via the LMS or student services on 1300 462 887 (ext.2).
Updated 17 March 2020 at 9.32am (AEST)
With a focus on the health and safety of all students and staff at the College we are closely monitoring the evolving coronavirus situation and are in regular contact with the relevant government and health authorities across the nation.
Please be assured that we are working in the background on a number of strategies that will support increased options for online delivery and further support for practical and clinical classes. A daily update will communicate these as they are rolled out and actions completed.
Please see below the following that is in place:
We would like to assure you that we have a team focused on ensuring continued support for students across this time and we are focused on the following:
For details on the above actions to support students at this time please see the information below:
On campus theory classes – access to online lectures
Live class streaming
The on campus practical classes and clinics will continue and the College is monitoring the situation daily and working closely with the relevant health authorities and government agencies.
To ensure student and staff safety, the College has increased the regularity of cleaning rosters across all campus locations, hand sanitiser availability and a stringent cleaning and sterilisation protocol across all clinics, facilities and campuses.
We respect that this is a stressful time and please do reach out to the SAP (Student Assistance Program) on 1800 336 207 (24/7) if this is affecting you or immediate family members and friends.
Thank you for your patience as the above plan is implemented vigilance to health and safety at this time and if you have further questions the student services team can be contacted on 1300 462 887, option 2.