FRUSTRATED students enrolled in Charles Sturt University's (CSU) dietetics and nutrition course are calling for answers after an industry body pulled the course's professional recognition.
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The Dieticians Association of Australia (DAA) downgraded the status of the health science discipline from "provisional" to "suspended" after the university failed to bring the course up to scratch with industry standards.
The 74 students enrolled in the course will not be allowed to practice as dieticians upon completion of the course if the university does not rectify the problem.
Shae McMahon, a second-year dietetics student, has accused the university of a lack of transparency surrounding its moves to notify students about the DAA decision.
"All they did was send us an email and said 'if you need to contact us, then do so'," she said.
"When I tried to contact them, I got an out-of-office reply.
"They won't give us any answers."
Ms McMahon said the university has known about the risk of losing course accreditation for the better part of a year.
"I have thousands of dollars in HECS debt that won't be recovered if the course goes totally under," she said.
"I will try and transfer to another university but it is not guaranteed.
"Why didn't they do anything to fix the problem?"
In a statement, CSU Faculty of Science executive dean Professor Tim Wess said the university always had the interests of students at heart as it attempted to improve the course.
"We're aware of the processes that need to occur to regain accreditation and we are working to achieve that," he said.
"In the meantime, we're working closely with affected students to ensure we can achieve the best outcome for all."
The DAA said it was unable to discuss the suspension in detail due to ongoing communication with CSU.
Jamie-Lee Bugden, another second-year dietetics student, said she had become increasingly stressed as her future continues to hang in the balance.
"People just want answers," she said.
"They need to tell us about the problem, and if they can't fix it, compensation should be awarded.
"Two years of my life could be null and void."