• Section 1 - Preamble
• Section 2 - Purpose
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Policy
• Section 5 - Procedure
• Section 6 - Definitions

Section 1 - Preamble

(1) This Procedure is effective from 14 November 2022.

Section 2 - Purpose

(2) This Procedure provides instruction for effective and timely communication with current and prospective students.

Section 3 - Scope

(3) This Procedure applies to communication between the University and current and prospective students in relation to the provision of information about the University’s educational offerings and the student experience (for example their current or potential engagement and interaction with Deakin via news; notifications of events; advising of available services; contacting admitted, but not enrolled, students to encourage them to enrol).

(4) This Procedure does not apply to:

1. any day to day teaching and research interactions between students and teaching teams (academic and professional staff)
2. providing emergency information to students (as covered in other policies and procedures) 
3. direct responses to student initiated enquiries
4. where the University is undertaking a specific, tailored initiative to market to, or engage with, current or prospective students (e.g. contacting students who have applied for volunteer or co-curricula activities or contacting prospective students who have registered an interest in a course at Deakin) 
5. where the University is undertaking a specific, tailored initiative to provide assistance or additional support to students (e.g. Priority Students program; contacting students who have registered for disability assistance, contacting students affected by natural disaster events, advising and follow up of academic progress and misconduct, advice of appeals).

Section 4 - Policy

(5) This Procedure is pursuant to the Student Communication and Information policy.

Section 5 - Procedure

(6) A staff member wishing to communicate to current and prospective students in relation to matters within the scope of this Procedure must lodge an online request to have the communication approved, unless the communication is authorised by the Vice-Chancellor.

(7) Communication requests are reviewed from a holistic, student perspective and will be approved if they meet the required communication standards set in the Student Communication and Information policy. 

(8) Pre-determined business rules aligned to the information category, intended audience and location (e.g. campus or online), purpose and timeline will be used to determine the available communication channel options.

(9) The procedure for a requester is as follows:

1. request approval for the communication to students via the online form providing the required information as outlined in the form to assist in the determination of the most appropriate channel(s)
2. submit the request
3. the request will be immediately forwarded to the appropriate business owner for review (as set out in ‘Reviewed for approval by’ column in Table A below)
4. the approval process (including clarification or any required amendments) will be actioned upon receipt (where possible) but should take no more than two (2) business days.  This should be factored into the timing of communication requests.

(10) Following approval, the student communication request will be immediately forwarded to the ‘Actioned by’ area to be produced and sent as requested.  Unless significant work is required to produce content, this will be actioned upon receipt (where possible).

(11) If approval is not given the business owner will contact the requester to discuss the request and an alternative means of communication may be negotiated and approved.

Table A: Business owner information for student communication types by category

Section 6 - Definitions

(12) For the purpose of this Procedure:

1. student: A person, including a candidate for a Higher Degree by Research, enrolled in a course or unit in the University pursuant to the Deakin University Act .
2. IT Service disruptions: Any notifications of planned, or unexpected, outages of IT systems, disruption to connectivity or access to any systems. This notification will also be placed on the Digital Services outage page to enable staff to be aware of the disruption.
3. Learning environment updates: Any notifications of planned, unplanned disruption or changes impacting CloudDeakin and its applications that are supported by Digital Learning.
4. Welcome to Deakin: Pre-commencement, orientation and new student commencement information. Additional information may be provided through DeakinSync feature tiles, DeakinSync news, lockscreen social media if agreed by the approver. 
5. Campus access / Facilities disruptions or updates (minor): Notification of campus works (planned or unplanned) or incidents where teaching or research activities are not affected e.g. temporary / short term road closures, temporary parking changes, access to public spaces. These notifications may also be advised to students by mobile alerts or social media if agreed by the approver.
6. Campus access / Facilities disruptions or updates (major): Notification of campus works (planned or unplanned) or incidents where teaching or research activities are affected e.g. short or long term building / campus closures, unexpected weather events affecting access or building or staff & student safety. These notifications may also be advised to students by mobile alerts or social media if agreed by the approver.
7. School / Faculty news: Any school or faculty related information (e.g. past or planned social events, achievements, staff movements, student awards / recognition, community events). Additional information may be provided through DeakinSync feature tiles if agreed by the approver. 
8. Emergency / Critical incident / OH&S information / Security concerns: All communication / information that may impact / affects a student’s wellbeing. This includes (but is not limited to):
   1. alerts
   2. localised incidents
   3. safety concerns
9. Administrative requirements (for all enrolled students): All communication / information that is legislatively or administratively required to be provided to students about their application and enrolment at Deakin; and to advise students of an action to be taken to confirm arrangements, requests or to ensure their status is up to date or current. This includes:
   1. admission, enrolment or financial notifications (e.g. Commonwealth Assistance Notices (CANs), Enrolment Confirmation Notices (ECNs), invoices)
   2. request for personal, admission, enrolment or graduation related information 
   3. notification of change(s) to already published curriculum information
   4. additional information or follow up requests for action by individual or an identified cohort of students may utilise Deakin email, Australia Post mail, phone calls or SMS if agreed by the approver. This includes (but is not limited to):
      1. specific information about their enrolment or admission at Deakin
      2. advice of encumbrances placed on individual student accounts that will restrict access to University services and information (e.g. borrowing from the library, viewing information, enrolling or graduating).
10. Student stories: Any general interest information (e.g. promotion of services, events, campaigns, competitions, achievements, internal and external news items / stories). Information may also be provided through a DeakinSync feature tile, Student News articles, social media or video if agreed by the approver.
11. Deakin course, unit and event marketing: Any information, promotional material or competitions used to promote courses, units or short courses offered to current students (including admission pathways) or University events. Information may also be provided through DeakinSync feature tile, lockscreen, social media or video if agreed by the approver. 
12. Student recruitment marketing: Any information, promotional material or competitions used to promote courses, units or short courses offered by Deakin to prospective students (including admission pathways) or University recruitment of promotional events. Information may also be provided through DeakinSync feature tile, lockscreen or social media if agreed by the approver.
13. Student jobs / volunteering: Information about opportunities for students to apply for paid, unpaid or volunteer positions offered either within or externally to Deakin.  These could be one off, short or long-term opportunities. Information may also be provided through a DeakinSync feature tile, lockscreen or social media if agreed by the approver.
14. Surveys: Any survey related information including pre-release, opening and closing, completion reminders and competition details and results.  Where a strategic survey requires a unique URL to ensure single and/or trackable response, students will be provided with an email that includes the URL and instructions.  Information may also be provided through a DeakinSync feature tile, lockscreen or CloudDeakin unit and course news if agreed by the approver.
15. University wide news / stories: Any University-wide related information (e.g. past or planned social events, election notifications, achievements, student awards / recognition, community events). Additional information may be provided through DeakinSync feature tiles if agreed by the approver.
16. Video: Any requests to display audio-visual information via the DeakinCube. Please note that these requests will require additional levels of information and authorisation due to copyright and captioning requirements.