Frequently Asked Questions

A Facilitated Event 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 Facilitated Events are compulsory 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 at Facilitated Events are clearly marked at the time of registration. Where attendance at a Facilitated Event is not required, students will indicate whether or not they plan to attend at the time of registration.

It is a requirement for Counselling accreditation that students must attend 80% of all Counselling Theory and Practice classes as well as 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 present. For the few non-Counselling units allowed in Counselling awards (eg a Pastoral Theology unit), such attendance is helpful but not normally mandatory. In the case of P7105 Issues and Ethics, attendance will be required.

As a general rule, no. Facilitated Events are designed as interactive student experiences that help the students to question, process and apply course content. They are normally not content-focused lectures. As the Facilitation discussion is often focused on the specific context of the attending students, it would be less helpful for non-attending students to watch those discussions. Furthermore, attending students can feel more freedom to speak honestly if they know their discussions are not being recorded.

Yes. If you change from attending to non-attending (after the enrolment deadline), 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. For either change, please use the standard Unit Changes Form. 

Whenever you use the words or ideas of someone else in an assignment you must provide an appropriate reference to it. ACOM provides two guides that clearly explain the principles of referencing and provide helpful examples of various scenarios. Counselling students should use the APA Guide, and non-counselling students should use the Turabian Guide. These guides can be located in Moodle. Where a particular scenario is not listed in the example section, simply apply the general referencing principles to that scenario and ensure that what you write is accurate, consistent and clear.

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 complete the relevant forms in Moodle to confirm that these placements are undertaken.

The student is responsible to organise their own vocational placements within their contexts. Guidelines are provided to you on Moodle.

If you would like your unit marker to check that your assignment is on the right track, please message them to discuss the submission of a draft and ensure that you send the draft no later than a week before the assignment is due. Markers will generally return draft feedback within 48 hours, but the earlier you submit a draft the more time you will have to implement any feedback. Note that markers will not give detailed feedback on grammar, spelling etc., but will comment on the general approach and direction. Drafts will not be given grade estimates.

To apply for an extension, please check your eligibility by reading our  Extension Policy in Section 9.4 of the ACOM Student Handbook. If you might be eligible, apply here. Please note that markers and Student Engagement Managers are not permitted to offer extensions.

Unit enrolments are open until two weeks prior to the start of each Trimester. After this, a late enrolment can be allowed, but a fee of $50 may be payable. You can enrol using this link.

Your Student Engagement Manager will provide you with a Course Plan and suggested study pathway. As a general rule, students complete units that are introductory and compulsory for your course, and those that have suitable Facilitated Events. To see what units are available for any trimester, use this link. Our website also lists the unit requirements for all courses. Finally, you may always email your Student Engagement Manager for suggestions.

You will need to make sure that you have selected the correct level of study (Diploma, Bachelor or Graduate), course, trimester and Learning Cohort (if applicable).  If you do that correctly, your unit should come up. If the unit you would like to complete still does not appear, select the "I cannot find my desired unit" button, and write the details of your unit request.

You will get access to your unit on Moodle at the start of trimester. If on the first day of Trimester you do not have access yet, and you enrolled on time, please contact your Student Engagement Manager.

Your student number is your Moodle username. If you cannot find that, check your study acceptance letter, or email your Student Engagement Manager.

Under Commonwealth Government guidelines, Youth Allowance (age 17-24) and Austudy (25 years and above) are available for eligible fulltime 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 the Government to mean 75% or more of their course’s full time study load. In practice this means a student must be studying 6 units annually. Enquiries about eligibility and applications for Youth Allowance, Austudy and Abstudy should be directed to Centrelink. For more information, see the ACOM Student Handbook Sect. 8.1.

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

ACOM’s key stakeholders are the Churches of Christ and the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Australia. We also have strong partnerships with a range of organisations, and have a wide cross-denominational student and staff body.

Yes! All courses have a set maximum period of time of study, listed in the Courses section of our website and the ACOM Student Handbook. In exceptional circumstances, students may apply for a one-year leave of absence, and should contact their Student Engagement Manager for help there. However, if you would like a trimester or even a year off study, within those limits, you may simply not enrol in a unit for that study period. Permission is not required to skip a trimester.

Yes. You are responsible for selecting which units you enrol for each trimester, and you may select the number that you choose. One unit per trimester is considered part time, and two to three units per trimester is considered full time.

The ACOM website has a page that lists all trimester dates. For Facilitation dates, please look up the particular unit you are interested in here. 

For any other questions, feel free to contact us , your Student Engagement Manager or any of our staff. Note that for each unit you are enrolled into, on the front page of the unit at the very bottom left is the name of your unit marker and Academic Coordinator. You can message any of these faculty by clicking their names.