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Prizes and Awards

Prizes and awards by Academic Unit

(Prizes and Awards are subject to change and are awarded based on conditions current at the time of award)

The Council of the University of South Australia reserves the right to not make a nomination for an award if the candidates are not deemed to be of sufficient merit.

Chancellor's Letter of Commendation

Chancellor's Letter of Commendation will be awarded annually to students with outstanding academic performance in a bachelor program who:

  1. are enrolled in a bachelor program, including bachelor honours degree programs, and
  2. have completed at least 36 units towards that program, and
  3. have completed a minimum 18 units towards that program at UniSA in the year of awarding (or 9 units in the case of students with a disability), and
  4. have obtained a cumulative program GPA that places the student in the top 5% of undergraduate students in each Academic Unit in the year of awarding.

The Chancellor’s Letter of Commendation will be awarded annually to students with outstanding academic performance in a postgraduate coursework program who:

  1. are enrolled in a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, or Masters by coursework program; and
  2. have completed at least 50% of that program in the case of a Graduate Diploma or Masters by coursework students, or 100% of that program in the case of Graduate Certificate students, and
  3. for students enrolled in a Graduate Diploma or Masters by Coursework program, have completed at least a 50% study load in the year of awarding (or 25% in the case of students with a disability), and
  4. have obtained a cumulative program GPA that places the student in the top 5% of postgraduate coursework students in each Academic Unit in the year of awarding.

Recipients will receive a Letter of Commendation from the Chancellor. The student's academic transcript and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS) will record each Chancellor's Letter of Commendation.

Students who receive a Chancellor's Letter of Commendation are not eligible to receive a University Merit Awards in the same year.

University Merit Awards

The University Merit Award will be awarded annually to students with excellent academic performance in a bachelor program who:

  1. are enrolled in a bachelor, including bachelor honours degree programs, and
  2. have completed at least 36 units towards that program, and
  3. have completed a minimum 18 units towards that program at UniSA within the year of awarding (or 9 units in the case of students with a disability), and
  4. have obtained a cumulative program GPA that places the student in the top 15% of undergraduate students in each Academic Unit in the year of awarding (but excluding the top 5%).

The University Merit Award will be awarded annually to students with excellent academic performance in a postgraduate coursework program who:

  1. are enrolled in a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, or Masters by coursework program; and
  2. have completed at least 50% of that program in the case of a Graduate Diploma or Masters by coursework students, or 100% of that program in the case of Graduate Certificate students, and
  3. for students enrolled in a Graduate Diploma or Masters by Coursework program, have completed at least a 50% study load in the year of awarding (or 25% in the case of students with a disability), and
  4. have obtained a cumulative program GPA that places the student in the top 15% of postgraduate coursework students in each Academic Unit in the year of awarding (but excluding the top 5%).

Recipients will receive a letter of recognition from the relevant Executive Dean. The student's academic transcript and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS) will record each University Merit Award.

Students eligible for a Chancellor's Letter of Commendation will not also receive a University Merit Award for that year.

Frequently Asked Questions: Chancellor's Letters of Commendation and University Merit Awards

University of South Australia Medals

The University of South Australia Medal will be awarded annually to graduands with outstanding performance in a bachelor or bachelor honours degree program in accordance with the following criteria: 

a. For bachelor degrees, including professional honours degrees:

  1. have completed the academic requirements of a bachelor program, and
  2. were enrolled at UniSA for at least 72 units of that program, and
  3. have achieved a program GPA in the top 0.5% of graduands that year within the Academic Unit to which the program belongs, and
  4. have achieved a program GPA of 6.25 or greater.

 

b. For 1-year honours degrees:

  1. have completed the academic requirements of a 1-year honours degree program, and
  2. were enrolled at the University for the entire 36 units of the program, and
  3. have achieved a program GPA in the top 2% of 1-year honours degree graduands that year within the University
  4. have achieved a program GPA of 6.25 or greater.

UniSA Medal recipients will be listed in UniSA's graduation ceremony booklets. University Medals will be presented at UniSA graduation ceremonies as determined by Student and Academic Services. 

The student's academic transcripts and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS) will record receipt of a University Medal.

UniSA reserves the right to deploy a tie-breaker process where there are multiple students with the same academic results.

Note that these documents were approved by Academic Board on 24 February 2021.  They apply from that date, including the provisions relating to Recognition of Academic Excellence, which apply to student academic results from the 2021 academic year onwards.