- Adjudication
- Adjudication is when we consider the dispute and make a decision, based on submissions by the international student and education provider.
- Adjudicator
- A person who reviews the information provided, considers the dispute and makes decisions.
- Binding decision
- A binding decision means the parties must follow or stick to the decision made.
- Complaint process
- The path that a complaint follows from when the complaint is made to its resolution.
- Dispute
- A disagreement.
- Dispute resolution
- Processes used to resolve disputes. Dispute resolution processes include facilitation, mediation, and adjudication.
- Facilitation
- Facilitation is where we assist with communication and can include negotiating a settlement between you and your provider.
- Final decision
- This is a decision made by iStudent Complaints at the end of the complaints process.
- International students
- An international student is someone who has enrolled with an education provider and is not a domestic student. Usually, this means someone who has travelled from another country to study and is not a New Zealand resident or citizen.
- Legal guardian
- A person who, by court or testamentary appointment, is responsible for the student’s well-being and financial support and provides for the care of the student in the student’s home country.
- Mediation
- Mediation is a voluntary process where the parties in conflict are encouraged by the mediator to understand each other’s perspectives, talk through the issues, identify their mutual interests, develop realistic options, and find a solution that the parties can agree to. Mediation can be a face-to-face meeting between the parties and the mediator, but can also be done over the telephone, using Skype or videoconference. Sometimes the mediation may occur over a series of meetings.
- Negotiation
- Negotiation is the process of parties getting together with a view to reconciling differences and establishing areas of agreement, settlement or compromise.
- Provider
In section 10 of the Education Act 2020, a provider:
(a) means a person or body that is—
(i) a registered school; or
(ii) an institution; or
(iii) a registered establishment; or
(iv) an organisation that provides adult and community education that receives funding under section 425 or 428:
(b) has, for the purposes of Part 4, the meaning specified in paragraph (a) and includes—
(i) a government training establishment, a registered establishment, and a wānanga:
(ii) a relevant school:
(c) means, in relation to well-being and safety in subpart 7 of Part 5, a person or body that is,—
(i) in respect of international students, a registered school, an institution, or a registered establishment;
or
(ii) in respect of domestic tertiary students, an institution or a registered establishment- Provisional decision
- This is a temporary or conditional decision that is subject to change. All parties are given the opportunity to say whether they agree or disagree with the provisional decision and their reasons for this, which the adjudicator will consider.
- Redress claim
- A claim for redress is a request for money or actions to set things right when a student has suffered any loss or harm as a result of a breach by a provider or signatory provider of a code issued under section 534 of the Education Act 2020. A dispute involving a claim for redress would follow an NZQA investigation.