Endeavour Mobility Grants
Variations Guide
Effective as of 11 May 2016
This Variations Guide is applicable to all projects funded under the 2016 and 2017 rounds of
Endeavour Mobility Grants
Table of Contents
1
Overview .................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1 About this Guide ................................................................................................................................ 2
1.2 What is a project variation? .............................................................................................................. 2
1.3 When can a variation be made? ........................................................................................................ 3
2
Types of Variations.................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 What can be varied? .......................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Variations that require a new Project Schedule ............................................................................... 3
2.3 General restrictions on varying conditions ....................................................................................... 4
2.4 Program specific restrictions ............................................................................................................. 4
2.4.1 ISEP variations ..................................................................................................................... 4
2.4.2 ECKSEP variations ................................................................................................................ 4
2.4.3 Examples.............................................................................................................................. 5
3
Variations Process ..................................................................................................................... 6
3.1 How to request a variation ................................................................................................................ 6
3.2 Finalising a variation .......................................................................................................................... 6
3.3 What happens if a project cannot be implemented or varied? ........................................................ 8
4
Further Information .................................................................................................................. 8
4.1 Contact Details .................................................................................................................................. 8
Version Summary
Version
2.0
Date
11 May 2016
Approved
J. Howden
Summary of change
Guide reviewed and updated to include 2017 round.
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Endeavour Mobility Grants
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1
Overview
1.1 About this Guide
This Guide provides information about how to vary a project that has been offered funding under
Endeavour Mobility Grants, which comprises the following programs:

International Student Exchange Programme (ISEP)

Study Overseas Short-term Mobility Programme (STMP)

Endeavour Cheung Kong Student Exchange Programme (ECKSEP)

Asia Postgraduate Programme (Asia Postgrad)

Vocational Education and Training Outbound Mobility Programme (VET Outbound)

Asia Vocational Education and Training Programme (Asia VET)
Note:
This Guide should be read in conjunction with the relevant program guidelines. Program
guidelines will take precedence over this Guide.
1.2 What is a project variation?
A project variation is any change to a student mobility project that has been approved for funding under
Endeavour Mobility Grants.
A project variation request should be initiated by the funding recipient (the institution) if they can no
longer deliver a mobility project as outlined in the relevant Project Schedule. A variation must be
requested through the International Student Exchange Online (ISEO) system.
Some examples that may lead to a request for variation of a mobility project include:
•
•
•
•
under-subscription of the project due to lack of student demand
withdrawal of the project partner
faculty/school no longer able to run or support the project as originally planned
natural disaster, civil unrest or any other situation in the project location that may impact on
student welfare or safety.
At its discretion, the Department may approve variations to specific aspects of a mobility project upon
receipt of a project variation.
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1.3 When can a variation be made?
A project variation can be initiated at any time between the date of execution of the Project Schedule (that
is, the date the Department signs the Project Schedule) and the last date on which students are allowed to
leave Australian shores as detailed in the relevant program guidelines.
A variation should only be submitted where the funding recipient reasonably expects that the project
cannot go ahead as outlined in the Project Schedule and/or project proposal. It is recommended that the
funding recipient initiates a variation as soon as they believe that an amendment is required. This allows
time for the Department to process the variation request and consult the funding recipient as required.
2
Types of Variations
2.1 What can be varied?
The aspects of a mobility project that may be varied include, but are not limited to, the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
total funding value of the project
number of student and language grants (as applicable)
project acquittal/completion date
project location(s)
project partners
anticipated travel dates
field(s) of study
2.2 Variations that require a new Project Schedule
When a project is approved for funding, the institution must enter into a Funding Agreement with the
Department. This Funding Agreement includes the institution’s Deed for Student Mobility Programmes
(Deed) and the Project Schedule for the mobility project being funded.
A new Project Schedule will be required to be executed when a major variation is approved by the
Department.
Major variations are changes to the conditions that are outlined in the Project Schedule and relate to the
funding of the project. For Endeavour Mobility Grants these include, but are not limited to, changes to the:
•
•
•
•
total funding value of the project
number of student and/or language grants
extension to the project acquittal date
change to project location(s).
Minor variations are changes from the project details in the application for funding that are not recorded
in the Project Schedule. These changes are recorded in the ISEO system but do not require an amended
Project Schedule to be executed.
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2.3 General restrictions on varying conditions
A request for variation to a funding agreement will only be considered if it is:
• consistent with the strategic objectives of Endeavour Mobility Grants and the specific mobility
programme under which the project is funded
• as close as is reasonable to the originally approved and funded mobility project as set out in the
application and Project Schedule
• otherwise consistent with all requirements regarding use of Australian Government funding,
including the Commonwealth Grants Guidelines and Rules; the Public Governance, Performance
and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth) and other relevant governing policies for the disbursement of
Australian Government grants funding.
Variation requests that the Department considers to constitute a new project proposal will not be
approved.
The Department reserves the right to reject any project variation request.
Note:
If a variation request is rejected, the funding recipient must continue to fulfil all of its
obligations under the original Funding Agreement or refund the unspent funding to the
Department.
2.4 Program specific restrictions
There are some additional restrictions to varying projects funded under the International Student
Exchange Programme (ISEP) and the Endeavour Cheung Kong Student Exchange Programme (ECKSEP).
2.4.1 ISEP variations
ISEP projects are made up of grants for outgoing (Australian) and incoming (overseas) students. Institutions
can divide the grant in half in order to meet the strategic objective of the project and/or the obligations to
the partner institution.
If an institution wants to vary the number of student grants in an ISEP project, the variation will only apply
to the whole grants. For example, one outgoing student grant can be varied to an incoming student grant.
2.4.2 ECKSEP variations
It is a requirement that two-thirds of ECKSEP grants must be awarded to student exchanges involving links
with partner institutions in China and Hong Kong. There is a strong preference against varying the location
of ECKSEP projects approved for funding to either China or Hong Kong.
In exceptional circumstances, The Department may, at its discretion, agree to vary a mobility project to
China or Hong Kong. These circumstances may include, but are not limited to, unforseen disasters and civil
unrest in the host location. A compelling business case must be presented if the funding recipient seeks to
change a project to China or Hong Kong to another location.
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2.4.3 Examples
The following scenarios present examples of project variations and the likely outcomes of each request.
Example 1:
Original Project
Asia Postgraduate Programme: semester-based study in Law with a partner
institution in Singapore.
Proposed Variation
Partner institution has indicated that they can no longer host the Australian
students. Funding recipient proposes to undertake the same semester-based Law
study with a different partner institution in Singapore, and amend the dates of the
project.
Likely Outcome
The change to the project institution would be approved. The change to the project
dates would also be approved providing that the dates are within the allowable
commencement period for the project.
New Project
Schedule required?
No. Changes are considered a minor variation.
Example 2:
Original Project
Study Overseas Short-term Mobility Programme: short-term summer Physics
research in Germany with a university partner.
Proposed Variation
Partner institution has indicated that they can no longer host the Australian
students. Funding recipient proposes to cancel the Germany Physics project and
transfer the funding to another project submitted (but not funded).
Likely Outcome
This variation would be rejected as the proposed variation constitutes a new
funding proposal. The institution will have the option to implement the project as
set out in the agreed schedule or return the project funding to the Department.
New Project
Schedule required?
N/A
Example 3:
Original Project
Asia VET: short-term Graphic Arts and Design study in India for 5 students.
Proposed Variation
The India project is over-subscribed due to higher than anticipated student interest.
The funding recipient has funding (5 grants) for another Asia VET short-term
Graphic Arts and Design study project to Mongolia which is under-subscribed. The
institution would like to transfer 2 grants from the Mongolia project to the India
project.
Likely Outcome
This variation would be approved.
Note: the maximum number of students in any project is 10.
New Project
Schedule required?
Yes – a change to the number of student grants offered is considered a major
variation.
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3
Variations Process
3.1 How to request a variation
Requests for project variations should be initiated by the funding recipient’s International Liaison Officer
(ILO) or Alternate International Liaison Officer (AILO) through the ISEO system.
Once a funding offer has been accepted, the application details screen will display a ‘Variations’ tab and a
project variation can be initiated. The screen also provides an overview of any previously requested
variations.
The variations tab will only become available once a funding offer has been accepted, and will disable once
the project’s completion report has been submitted by the ILO.
To request a new variation, click the ‘Request Variation’ button at the bottom of the screen and explain
what is being requested and why the project needs to be varied in in the dialogue box. You may be
contacted by the Department’s Student Mobility Team if further information about your variation request
is required.
All requests for project variations will be processed by the Student Mobility Team and formally approved
or rejected in the ISEO system.
If a project variation requires an amendment to the relevant Project Schedule, a new schedule will be
generated in ISEO and must be signed by both parties to come into effect.
For further information regarding the process of submitting a variation request in the ISEO system,
including screen shots of the process, please refer to the Endeavour Mobility Grants ISEO User Guide.
Note:
Where a variation is approved, the original timeline for completing acquittal requirements
under the relevant guidelines still applies unless specifically varied through a variation
request.
3.2 Finalising a variation
The funding recipient’s ILO will be notified automatically by email via the ISEO system once the variation
request has been approved or rejected and whether a new Project Schedule is required.
Figure 1 (below) outlines the process of deciding whether a new Project Schedule is required after a
variation request is received by the Department. If a new Project Schedule is required, the funding
recipient must download it from ISEO and sign it (hard copy or electronically). Any variation to the Funding
Agreement will not come into effect until the amended Project Schedule is signed by the funding recipient
and executed by the Department.
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Figure 1: Is a new Project Schedule required?
Once the varied project is completed, the funding recipient must ensure that the all information entered
into ISEO – including student details and completion report – are correct and reflect any changes from the
original proposal.
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3.3 What happens if a project cannot be implemented or varied?
Where a mobility project cannot be implemented or varied, the Department may decide to withdraw its
funding offer and request that the project funding be returned.
In this situation, the funding recipient is required to submit a Completion Report reflecting the underspent
funds. This will trigger an invoice to be raised by the Department to the funding recipient for the return of
these funds.
4
Further Information
4.1 Contact Details
For further information about this document, please contact the Department at
[email protected].
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