Higher Education Postgraduate Courses COVID-19 Response – Higher Education Programs The Cairnmillar Institute is committed to retaining excellent quality learning and teaching experiences for our students while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our executive team started planning and considering the possible impacts of coronavirus on our educational delivery as soon as the situation became apparent, so we were ready to respond. In March 2020 we transitioned to fully online only delivery. All our staff and students have responded to these difficult and uncertain times with resilience and adaptability, which has made the transition to online learning and teaching a pleasurable challenge. We are grateful and most appreciative of this response. Please be reassured that our plans for all assessment and online delivery are designed to ensure a continued quality learning experience for all. When deciding on assessment modifications, we have made sure that the usual principles of student engagement with learning, academic integrity, and fairness have been taken into account, as well as the relevant learning outcomes, professional and accreditation requirements. With the easing of COVID related restrictions in Victoria we are now able to make some areas of the campus available to students for regular or ad hoc use. At this stage, we expect to continue to deliver the majority of our teaching and assessment online for the rest of Semester One, 2021. We understand that some students are finding online study and isolation difficult. We hope to return to primarily in person teaching for most courses in Semester Two, with further decisions and announcements to be advised closer to the time. We thank you all for your patience and support during these difficult times. We hope that the transition back to campus will be a smooth one. So far, student feedback on the response and the unprecedented move to online teaching has been positive, and we are thankful to all of our students and stakeholders for their continued support and understanding. Student comments have included: “I feel like Cairnmillar has adapted quickly to the COVID-19 requirements, placing the students’ wellbeing as a priority, whilst maintaining the academic standards.” “With COVID-19 occurring right in the middle of semester [Cairnmillar] were extremely good at keeping us updated on what was happening with our course. The switch to online learning has been amazing with staff still being able to teach some quite tricky concepts (e.g., intelligence testing) in a way that is easy to understand.” “The staff has been very supportive. The shift to online lectures was handled well. Staff has shown genuine interest in the safety and comfort of students throughout the pandemic.” Accreditation and Quality Our regulators (TEQSA) and our accreditation bodies (APAC for Psychology programs, and PACFA and the ACA for Counselling and Psychotherapy programs) have all responded positively to our communications with them and have been supportive of providers during this difficult time. We are engaged in an ongoing dialogue with all relevant organisations during this difficult time and are confident in the status of our awards and the continued quality of our courses. We do not expect to see any negative impact on the accreditation status nor the registration, professional memberships and further study options available to our graduates due to this situation. We are still accepting international student applications for our CRICOS registered courses and will be offering flexible tuition fee refund conditions should expected start dates for overseas students be impacted by the COVID-19 situation. Further information, online teaching resources and links for current students can be found on our myCMI student website (student login required).