Frequently Asked Questions

A facilitation is a real-time gathering (online, hybrid or in person) designed to help students apply the content that they are learning within a peer setting. They allow students to process, question, extend and apply the unit to their life and/or ministry contexts. 

Certain units have compulsory sessions because attendance (either online or in person) is essential for either content delivery, practical in-class experience, or where accreditation requirements mandate attendance. Units with compulsory attendance have this information clearly listed in their unit description. 

If facilitation attendance is optional for the unit, students will indicate whether or not they plan to attend when submitting their unit enrolment form.

It is a requirement for counselling accreditation that students must attend 80% of all Counselling Theory and Practice classes and Counselling Practicum classes. These will not be recorded.

Where other facilitations are said to be required, this is because key elements of the unit are either delivered, or in-class assessments are undertaken, that require real-time attendance. It may be possible for students to request recordings of some sessions with permission of the lecturer and other students. For non-Counselling units allowed in Counselling awards (e.g. a Pastoral Theology unit), attendance is helpful but not normally mandatory. In the case of P7105 Issues and Ethics, attendance will be required.

As a general rule, no. Facilitations are designed as interactive student experiences that help the students to question, process and apply course content. They are normally not content-focused lectures. Furthermore, those attending can feel more freedom to speak honestly if they know their discussions are not being recorded.

Yes, you can change your attendance prior to the unit enrolment deadline. After the unit enrolment deadline, if you change from attending to non-attending (or simply do not turn up), you will have to pay a $50 change of unit enrolment fee. If you change from non-attending to attending, there is no fee for changing.

The facilitation schedule for any unit can be found on its unit description page. 

ACOM uses two referencing systems:

• Counselling students: APA
• All other students: Turabian

Students have access to comprehensive referencing guides for each of these systems in Moodle. 

In P (Pastoral Theology) and M (Mission) units, students are expected to participate in some form of student vocational placement to ensure that learning is applied in an appropriate setting. Students taking units in these disciplines must submit the relevant forms in Moodle to confirm that their placement has been completed.

The student is responsible for organising their own vocational placement. Guidelines are provided on Moodle.

Student cards are provided free of charge at the request of the student. Requests should be made by completing the Student Card Request Form that will require a high-resolution head and shoulders photograph. 

Please note that as ACOM is an online education provider, students are not eligible for transport concessions.

Under Commonwealth Government guidelines, Youth Allowance (age 17-24) and Austudy (25 years and above) are available for eligible full-time students who are working towards accredited awards. Abstudy is available to eligible full-time students with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait backgrounds. Full-time is defined by Centrelink as studying 75% or more of a course’s full time study load. In practice, this means that a student must be studying 6 units annually. Enquiries about eligibility and applications for Youth Allowance, Austudy and Abstudy should be directed to Centrelink. 

Unfortunately, ACOM students are not eligible for free Microsoft Office software. However, they are able to utilise their free web-based Office option. 

ACOM is owned by churches of Christ in NSW & ACT, Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania, Churches of Christ QLD, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Australia. We also have strong partnerships with a range of organisations, and a wide cross-denominational student and staff body.

If you have other questions, contact your Student Engagement Manager or any of our staff. For each of your units on Moodle, the names of your marker and Academic Coordinator can be found in the bottom left-hand corner. You can message them by clicking on their name.