CMIT Learner Charter

1. Overall Commitment to Quality

• We promise to give accurate details of our services, who the services are for, and how we commit to quality and good practice for those services. The level and detail of the information we provide will be sufficient so that learners can match their needs against the service that we offer. Information will be clearly stated, readily understood and easily accessible.

2. Pre-enrolment practices

• At all times information given to potential students, either written or orally, will be truthful and accurate. The prospectus will provide the following details:
• The course name, Title of Award.
• Name of Awarding Body, Level of Award.
• The length of the course, The course objectives, The course content (syllabus).
• Access to course / Pre-requisites.
• Arrangements for exemptions for major awards.
• Assessment methods.
• Opportunities for transfer and progression.

3. Tutoring Standards

• Regular external and internal monitoring will be conducted on tutoring standards.
• Tutor comments will be provided to students following all assessments.
• Tutors will demonstrate a real conscientious desire to help students.
• All assessments will be appropriate to the subject matter and be of real assistance in helping students achieve their objectives.
• Students may contact Tutors through the online messaging system.

4. Administration Practices

• Within college hours, someone will be available in the college to manage online or phone enquiries of a counselling nature. If someone is not available, students will be called back within 1 working day.
• Communications about administrative and tutorial matters will be answered within 7 working days of receipt.
• Queries, where a longer timescale is required for a complete answer, will be acknowledged within 3 working days, the delay explained, and an indication given of when a full answer can be expected.
• Entry requirements are specified for each programme.

5. Enrolment Practices

• Learners will be enrolled within 3 days of payment being made.
• All information given by learners is confidential to the institution, its employees, and tutors.
• If a learner cancels a course, within 14 days, we will re-credit course fees, within 28 days of receiving notice of cancellation. There is an administration fee of €60 (Ireland) / £50 (UK) which will not be refunded in the event of cancellation.   If a learner is paying by instalments, 60 days’ notice must be given where they wish to cancel; instalment payments will be payable during this notice period.
• If a learner falls ill during their assigned time to a particular programme, they must contact the college immediately and provide a letter from their doctor. We may allow learners to defer for a stated period and if the course is no longer available at this stage, they will be allowed to transfer to an alternative or similar programme. Each request will be considered on an individual basis and is at the discretion of the college.

6. Learner Protection

• CMIT has put in place appropriate arrangements for the protection of learners on QQI programmes that have a duration of three months or longer, should CMIT unexpectedly cease to provide such a QQI programme. To comply with this, up to 31/12/20 CMIT had an insurance policy in place for all applicable learners and from 01/01/21, CMIT has arrangements in place with two other providers to continue to provide the programme of education and training.

7. Equality

• CMIT are committed to providing learners with disabilities equitable access to complete a programme of study in so far as can be provided. This will be in accordance with the Disability Act, 2005 and the Equality Status Act 2000.
• The following describes the reasonable accommodations available for learners in relation to participation and assessment during a programme. This list is not exhaustive. Reasonable accommodations are considered on a case-by-case basis and additional accommodations outside of those listed below are provided by agreement with the college and the learner.
• There are clear policy and procedures published for learners who wish to access additional supports.
• Assistive technologies: CMIT eLearning is compatible with assistive technologies which enable learners with visual disabilities to participate in a programme of study.
• Online communication via electronic means can be provided to support learners. This includes academic supports via online direct Tutor messaging and written developmental feedback and pastoral supports via email with a dedicated student support team.
• Electronic files are provided (where possible) to facilitate computer “screen readers” and other assistive technologies. Samples will be sent in advance to ensure compatibility.
• Additional time may be agreed for learners who due to their specific disability would otherwise be unable to complete the programme within the timeframes allowed. This could include deferring or pausing a programme to support a learner who is undergoing treatment for an illness or who suffers an illness after commencing their programme which renders them unable to complete their programme in the time allowed. Supporting verifiable evidence will be required before this is granted.
• Pastoral support: A dedicated student support team is in place to provide pastoral support to learners as required during their programme of study. This can include guidance and support in managing course timeframes, setting planned assessment submission dates, clarifying instructions and requirements etc.
• Waivers for spelling and grammar may be granted for learners sitting a written examination. These waivers will not be granted in circumstances where learners are completing typed assessments with access to spell-check and are not under time constraints.
• Additional time may be granted for learners taking a timed examination. This is available based on 10 minutes for each hour of the exam.
• Readers/scribes may be made available for learners taking a timed examination.
• A dedicated room may be made available for learners taking a timed examination. This may also be used to support a learner who requires scheduled rest breaks during a written exam.
• Submission of assessment work by an alternative means e.g., mp3 audio may be considered in a case where a visually impaired learner does not have access to adequate talk to text software to be able to complete typed assessment work.

8. Recognition of Prior Learning

• As some students already have degrees, diplomas, or certificates, it may be possible to apply for an exemption from modules of certain courses. It is not possible to obtain exemptions based on work experience only. Contact the college for full details.

9. Assessment and Appeals.

• Assessments must be made by submitting within specified deadlines. Failure to do so may result in the award not being awarded to the student.
• Students may be requested to re-submit their assessments if their work does not meet the required standard. This may impact the learner’s ability to complete the course within the specified timeframe. Where learners fail to meet the assessment criteria, following more than 2 re-submissions of their work, this may result in a ‘Fail’ grade.
• All students’ work must be their own original work. The college has a strict policy in relation to plagiarism of submitted work, and if it is established, the penalties may include re-submission of work (where the maximum grade awarded is a pass) or exclusion from the programme. Please read the dedicated Plagiarism and Referencing student guide for detailed information on this and how to avoid plagiarism.
• CMIT uses specialist software to determine plagiarism in students work.
• All student work for ILM and QQI programmes will be marked by an Internal Assessor, and then checked by an Internal Verifier and made available for sampling by an External Authenticator.
• An appeals process is in place in relation to passing: (1) tutor-marked assignments, (2) final grades awarded, and (3) programmes. All Appeals must be submitted within 14 days of receipt of the result. Information on appeals may be requested by contacting the college.
• Certification of learners will take place on at least two occasions during each calendar year. Cut-off deadlines exist to meet a certification date.

10. Data Protection and Disclosures

• We comply fully with the GDPR including the right to access, right to rectify, right to delete, and right to object to direct marketing. See Terms and Conditions on our website for full details.

11. The Environment

• We have a strong commitment to the environment and continue to increase our responsibility in this area including the following:
• Commitment to all our courses being delivered digitally.
• Commitment to the recycling of all paper, plastics, and electrical materials.

12. Modern Slavery

• CMIT is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within its business and supply chain. We also expect the same high standards from our contractors, suppliers and other business partners and would not work with any organisation that we suspected of involvement in modern slavery. We do not consider that we operate in a high-risk sector. Nevertheless, we review our supply chain and preferred supplier list as part of our regular inspection cycle and will terminate contracts or take remedial action if instances of modern slavery become known.
• CMIT is a UK and Irish based online training organisation. We are a limited company registered in Ireland (451082) and approved by QQI and ILM to offer programmes leading to QQI awards on the National Framework of Qualifications of Ireland and the Regulated Qualifications Framework in the UK.
• No reports were received from employees, the public or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices had been identified in our supply chain or through the retention of contractors.
• Employees and contractors are required to adhere to our Policies and Procedures are encouraged to identify and report any potential breaches of our Modern Slavery Policy.
• This statement is made in accordance with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes CMIT’s slavery and human trafficking statement. It was approved by the Directors on 3rd November 2020.

13. Complaints

• Complaints should be made to the Quality Assurance Executive in writing by email to info@cmit.ie or by post CMIT, College House, Bray, A98 K2P4.
• All complaints will receive an initial reply within 2 days, with the aim of resolving all complaints with 14 days.
• All complaints will be logged in a register and are monitored by the Quality Committee until they are resolved.
• We aim to ensure that:
• It is as easy as possible to make a complaint, where the need arises.
• We treat any clear expression of dissatisfaction with our operations which calls for a response as a complaint.
• We treat every complaint seriously.
• We deal with any complaint quickly and politely.
• We respond accordingly – for example, with an explanation or apology where we have got things wrong, and with information on any action taken, etc.
• We learn from complaints, monitor them, and use them to improve our operations as part of our continuous improvement process.
• If the learner is not happy with the response, they may get in touch again by writing to the Student Services Director. S/he will respond within 14 days.

14. Academic Integrity

• We are committed to providing fair and consistent access, participation, and assessment.
• We have documented our approach to this in the publication of our Quality Assurance Policies and Procedures.
• We recognise that the basis of maintaining academic integrity is built on trust and a shared set of values and behaviours.
• “Academic integrity is the commitment to, and demonstration of, honest and moral behaviour in an academic setting”. It assumes that all interactions between the college and learners are approached with honesty. This includes all documentation and information submitted to the college for academic purposes.
• The onus for demonstrating academic integrity lies with the learner and we expect that all learners will take responsibility for their own academic integrity and engage honestly and truthfully during their studies.
• A Statement of Learner Responsibilities is published which learners agree to adhere to on commencing their programme.
• All learners enrolling on a programme of study with the college agree to the Terms and Conditions of enrolment which include the acceptance of the colleges terms and conditions in relation to the appropriate use of college resources, and adherence to the Plagiarism policy.
• Learners are expected to: use any information provided to them in an appropriate manner according to copyright and privacy legislation, acknowledge all sources of information used in completing assessment work, not present the work of others as their own, conduct research in an ethical manner in line with the college plagiarism policy and act in an honest and ethical manner throughout their academic endeavours with the college.
• With continued changes and development in digital and online interactions we expect that learners will continue to maintain academic integrity and adhere to the college plagiarism policy at all times.
• Engaging with other learners on social media platforms in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in an assessment (for example through the reproduction and sharing of unpublished exam information / questions, sending or sharing assessment work produced by another learner for the purpose of its use by another learner) is an example of breaching the college plagiarism policy and any cases where this has been deemed to have taken place would be dealt with in accordance to this policy.
• The use of online assessment generators i.e., essay mills is another example of breaching the college plagiarism policy. This represents attempting to pass off the work of another person as your own.
• Learners are encouraged to be aware of the various situations which may present themselves during the course of their studies and to protect their own academic integrity at all times by refusing to engage with any instances which may breach the college polices on same.
• Questions or queries in relation to academic integrity can be directed to the Quality Director at any time and will be dealt with in an open and fair manner.
• Learners who wish to research this area further may wish to access a document prepared by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) click here to access the document.

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