Professional Placement Equity Grant

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible for this grant you must be:

• studying an undergraduate or postgraduate (including honours) degree as an active student with an ongoing subject enrolment.
• enrolled in a Charles Sturt University course as a Commonwealth supported student (full - fee paying students are not eligible).
• a commencing or continuing student, continuing students must have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 or higher.
• an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen, a permanent Australian resident or a student with an Australian permanent or humanitarian visa.
• in financial need (see guidelines).
1. in receipt of an eligible means tested Centrelink Benefit.
2. able to demonstrate financial need.
• undertaking a subject for which Professional Placement attendance is compulsory and the placement must be a minimum of 28 hours i.e. a minimum of 4 days of compulsory placement.
• starting your placement within 10 weeks of the grant round close date OR have started your placement no more than 2 months prior to the date you submit your application.
Attention students residing on-campus: You may be eligible for a reduction of accommodation charges during your placement(s). You can fill out an application form here.
Please note:
• students can only receive this grant once per main session.
• preference will be given to students who have not received prior funding for this grant during the current academic year.
• students are advised to submit applications once multiple placements have been confirmed. Although you can apply multiple times for various placements, please note that the maximum value per session will still apply.
• placement confirmation is necessary either through InPlace or by submitting a signed Confirmation of Placement form from your subject or workplace coordinator. Professional Placement Equity Grant placement confirmation
• if you are receiving any other scholarships or grants for placement, you may not be eligible for this grant.
• students enrolled in a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours), or a Bachelor of Technology (Civil) / Master of Engineering (Civil) are not eligible to apply for this grant.
• to be eligible for this grant, students must reside in Australia.  Students who are undertaking their studies whilst residing abroad are not eligible to receive funding.

Guidelines

1. The Professional Placement Equity Grant (PPEG) will provide financial assistance to students who are attending compulsory placements as part of their degree at Charles Sturt University. The grant will be offered most of the year and placements must be confirmed by Charles Sturt University.
2. The value of this grant is based on an allocated amount per day with a maximum value of $2,400. $80 is allocated per day of placement regardless of where the placement will be and how far from hometown.
3. The grant is payable in cash (EFT) to the personal bank account that you have registered with Charles Sturt University. Payment will be processed within 7 business days of offer acceptance and can be made in advance or retrospectively for the previous session only. If you apply for your placement in advance your application will be processed in the offer round prior to your placement.
4. Your payment may be delayed if active engagement with course content is not able to be validated.  In this situation the Scholarship Team will work to investigate your circumstance and either withdraw your offer or process payment at a later date.  We will let you know if your payment is delayed.
5. In university session address will be used for assessment of placements during session.  Home origin address will be used for assessment of placements out of session.
6. To be eligible for this grant, applicants must have met all the eligibility criteria by the closing date. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Grants cannot be deferred.
7. The University receives a high volume of applications for grants; meeting the eligibility criteria may not guarantee applicants a grant offer.
8. The University reserves the right to recoup grant payments if your circumstances change and you no longer meet the eligibility criteria.
9. The Scholarships Office will be responsible for the assessment, allocation, and administration of this grant.
10. Financial Need Documentation Requirements:

Please ensure you attach all relevant supporting documents from the list below based on your circumstances.  Applications submitted without correct or missing supporting documentation will not proceed for assessment.

Option 1: Provide one of the following:

• Centrelink income statement with an eligible means tested benefit (issued within the last 45 days), guidance on what this looks like can be found here and guidance on how to obtain a copy can be found here.
• Health Care Card (not medicare card).

OrOption 2: Provide one of the following in conjunction with the Supporting financial declaration. If you are under 22 years of age, you are required to supply the below for your parents/guardians as well. If you are living with a partner, you are required to provide the below for your partner as well:

• 3 x most recent payslips showing Year-to-Date (YTD) earnings.
• 2 x most recent Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Notice of assessment.

Terms and Conditions

By accepting the grant offer you agree to:

1. fulfil all requirements as set out in these guidelines.
2. consent to Charles Sturt University accessing your student records for the purposes of assessing and administering the grant.
3. provide any change of individual circumstances in writing to the Scholarships Office scholarships@csu.edu.au.
4. provide information and participate in surveys for promotional purposes and review of this grant.
5. accept the terms and conditions of this grant.

The University reserves the right to undertake audits of individual student’s records to ensure adherence to these guidelines.

Policy

Charles Sturt University will treat any information provided by the applicant within the terms of relevant privacy legislation. See Charles Sturt University’s privacy policy for further information

Due to privacy laws, any discussion of a grant application or recipient will only take place with the grant applicant/recipient.

The information collected will be used by authorised University staff to assess eligibility and administer the scholarship program. The information may also be used for assessment purposes for other scholarships, grants and equity programs across the University. Recipient names and email addresses may be made available to departments within the University for marketing and research purposes. No details will be used externally for any reason without the recipient’s consent. Students should be aware that they provide information of their own free will.

Personal and health information provided by the applicant will not be made available to any person within the University or external organisation for any other purpose without the applicant’s consent, except where it may be a legal requirement of the University to provide information.

How to Apply

Forms and Documents

One or more of these may be required for your application:

1. Supporting Financial Declaration
2. Professional Placement Equity Grant placement confirmation
3. Statutory Declaration

Make sure to Download and save these to your computer before applying below, as editing in your internet browser may not save your information.

Application

• Complete an online application form, noting the following:
• Attach a completed placement form/s signed by your workplace learning officer OR have your placement confirmed in 'InPlace' by your workplace learning officer
• Attach evidence of being in financial need (as outlined in the eligibility criteria)
• Applications will be assessed in accordance with the eligibility criteria and supporting documentation.
• Applications with incorrect or no supporting documentation will be deemed ineligible.
• You may be assessed as eligible but not receive an offer due to quota restrictions.
• There are no interviews required.

Outcome

• All applicants will be informed in writing of the outcome of their application.

Acceptance

• Successful applicants are required to accept their grant/scholarship offer.
• Offers not accepted by the offer expiry date will be withdrawn.