Taking the time to plan your course will make enrolling easier. The planning process involves viewing how your course is structured, familiarising yourself with the units required and, for many courses, selecting some or all your units.

To plan your course, you should first access your course entry in the University Handbook and download your course map.

The University Handbook

The University Handbook is the official source of information on your course and the units that Deakin is offering in a particular year. Generally, you need to follow the course rules in the Handbook for the year you commenced your course. You can look up your course in the Handbook online.

Your course map and choosing your units

Your course map is a visual tool that will help you understand the structure and rules of your course. It will provide an overview of the units required to complete your course, and the suggested sequence. You will find a link to download a PDF of your course map in your Handbook entry.

TIP: It’s a good idea to bookmark your course entry in the Handbook and save your course map (or, you could print it out and fill it in with a pen). You should have both on hand when you’re ready to enrol.

Planning your enrolment

Proper course planning is essential to graduating on time and avoiding paying unnecessary fees. Once you’ve accessed your course Handbook entry and downloaded your course map, you can begin to select your units.

• Firstly, it important to understand the course rules and requirements specific to your course.
• A unit is a component of your course. All courses require you to complete a fixed number of units to successfully complete your course. There may be compulsory core units, or you may need to choose units as electives or units to build toward majors or minors. This is where your course map becomes very helpful.
• Once you have your course map, you can determine if you need to select units or are you pre-enrolled and need to confirm the units.
• If you are required to select units you must remember to check if there are co-requisite units (studied at the same time) or pre-requisite units (you need to complete prior to taking a unit). These details are listed in the unit details and on your course map.
• Your study load is another important thing to consider. You can choose to complete your course full-time or part-time, and this will affect how many units you complete each study period. Most courses provide you with the flexibility to study either part-time or full-time, but you should check your course entry in the Handbook to see if there are any restrictions.