Dean's Bulletin 2009

Dean's Bulletin 2009 PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY UNIVERSITY OF KENT FACULTY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICAL STUDIES Examinations for Stage 1 and Foundation Year Students 2009 Please read the following information with care. Contents 1. Attendance at Examinations 2. Deadlines 3. Illness before or during the Examination and Other Factors Impairing Examination Performance 4. Plagiarism and Duplication of Material 5. Cheating in the Examinations 6. Results 7. Resit Provisions 8. Appeals Against Recommendations of Boards of Examiners 1. Attendance at Examinations Examinations will commence on Monday 11 May 2009. A personalised timetable for the Examinations is available on the Student Data System. You may be required to sit examinations on Saturdays; no student will be expected to sit exams in more than three consecutive sessions. a. It is your responsibility to ensure that you attend the examination hall on the dates and at the times you are required for examination. The examination timetable is subject to possible amendment. Although every effort will be made to inform candidates of changes it is ultimately your responsibility to attend at the appropriate times. Please check shortly before the beginning of the examination period to ensure that no last minute amendments have been made to the timetable. Candidates may not leave an examination room during the first or last 30 minutes of a session. You may arrive at any time during a session but will have to finish at the same time as other candidates. If you arrive more than 30 minutes after the start of an examination it will be for the Board of Examiners to decide whether your script should be marked and how the marks should be used. If you arrive after the examination has ended you will not be permitted to sit the examination. Missed examinations will not be rearranged. If you find yourself in this position you should immediately inform your tutor and advise your Departmental Administrator in writing of the circumstances which led you to miss the examination. b) Instructions to Candidates during Examinations It is important that you are familiar with the instructions for examination candidates. You can see these on the Examinations Office Web site. Please note in particular the instructions below: ID Cards You must bring your student card with you to all examinations • • You will be asked to produce your card to get into the Hall You are required to display your student card on your desk throughout your exam. Bags/Handbags/Other Items You must not bring bags/handbags or unauthorised material such as notes into the exam hall. The University treats breaches of this regulation very seriously and will take action against students who are found in possession of or to have used unauthorised materials in examinations. See also Section 5, Cheating in Examinations. • • There will be space available for bag storage. Further information will be available on the examinations website. If you do have to store your bag, please arrive in plenty of time before your examination. You must place your coat, mobile phone and pencil case on the floor under your desk. Mobile Phones/Wristwatch Alarms You are required to turn off your mobile telephone and disable your wristwatch alarm. Food/Drink You may not bring food or drink into the hall, except for documented medical reasons, but water is available on request. c) Examination Papers Each question paper will state precisely the number and range of questions which candidates are required to attempt, and you will incur penalties if you do not conform to the instructions. Copies of papers from past examinations are held in the Library and many are available in pdf format on the Library web site. d) Legibility of Scripts You are urged in your own interests to write legibly. Scripts which are difficult to read may incur a penalty. e) Use of Calculators and Dictionaries • • • • You may only use calculators in examinations when instructions on the examination paper explicitly allow it You may only use approved types of calculators You should consult the Handbook concerning restrictions on the use of calculators in examinations. Please consult the appropriate Examination Officer if you are in any doubt as to the policy concerning calculators. The use of dictionaries in the examination room is prohibited except where the instructions on the examination paper state otherwise. Departments will ensure that a member of staff is present for the first 15 minutes of an examination to answer questions from students. You should use this opportunity to ensure that all examination instructions and questions are clear to you. 2. Deadlines Laboratory/Coursework You must submit coursework by such deadlines as have been notified. However, Departments may be prepared to accept coursework submitted after the applicable deadline in concessionary circumstances. Concessions applications requesting an extension in the deadline for coursework submission must be submitted using the relevant Concessions Application Form to the appropriate Departmental Office. Further information on Concessions Procedures appears on the Faculty website. 3. Illness Before or During the Examination and Other Factors Impairing Examination Performance If you believe that absence from an examination or impaired performance in an examination is the result of illness or other misfortune: a. You should inform your Departmental Administrator, in writing, as soon as possible, and not later than five days after completion of the written examination to which it relates. Note: The event need not be confined to the examination period itself - prolonged absence for medical reasons earlier in the year, for example, would merit attention. Applications should include a full description of the relevant circumstances. If illness is involved, a medical certificate MUST be provided, relate specifically to the dates and duration of illness, contain a clear medical diagnosis or opinion provided by an appropriate qualified practitioner and should include an assessment of the likely effect of illness on your examination performance. Medical certificates and other supporting documentation shoud be provided in English and it is your responsibility to submit a translation provided by an accredited organisation. It is in your interest to apply for a concession as early as possible. If you do not do so you will have to provide good reasons before any appeal can be considered. b. You are advised to inform your Tutor if you have made a representation. You are responsible for making your own case as fully as possible: do not rely upon your Tutor or the Medical Centre to do this for you. Further information on Concessions Procedures appears on the Faculty website. 4. Plagiarism and Duplication of Material You must not reproduce any work already submitted for assessment (for example, examination answers, essays, project reports, dissertations or theses) or any material derived from work authored by another, without clearly acknowledging the source. Plagiarism is the act of repeating the ideas or discoveries of another as one's own. To copy sentences, phrases or even striking expressions without acknowledgement in a manner which may deceive the reader as to the source is plagiarism. Where such copying or close paraphrase has occurred, the mere mention of the source in a bibliography will not be deemed sufficient acknowledgement; in each such instance it must be referred specifically to its source. Verbatim quotations must be directly acknowledged, either in inverted commas or by indenting. The University does not accept plagiarism and will impose severe penalties if it occurs in coursework, dissertations, projects and written examinations. If you feel you need guidance on the correct use and presentation of quotations and source material, you should consult your tutor or supervisor. You must not reproduce in any work submitted for assessment any substantial amount of material you have used in other work for assessment, either at this University or elsewhere, without acknowledging that such work has been so submitted. If you feel you might need to cover similar ground in two pieces of coursework, you should consult your supervisors in both modules. The University does not accept the duplication of material and will impose severe penalties if it occurs. A mark of zero may be awarded for the work concerned or for the whole examination in the case of an examination, or greater penalties may be imposed. Guidance for students on plagiarism appears on the University web site. 5. Cheating in the Examinations Regulation III.4(ii) of the General Regulations for Students states that "Except where allowed by the examination instructions, no candidates may introduce into the examination room any book, manuscript or other object or material relevant to the subject of the examination". You are only allowed to bring calculators to certain examinations. If in doubt check with your department. You must not bring notes of any kind into the exam hall unless explicitly permitted to do so; this includes notes written on calculators. The following are some other examples of conduct which will be regarded as cheating in examinations: Possession of unauthorised materials; Use of unauthorised materials; Communication with another student; Copying from another student; Impersonating another student/conspiring to impersonate. The University regards cheating or attempting to cheat as an extremely serious offence. Students who are found to have cheated are liable to disciplinary action which may include failing the examination overall or termination of registration. 6. Results All results are made available on the Student Data System. Results will be sent by second class mail to your home address as registered on the Student Data System and will also be available on your own page on the Student Data System. If you want your result sent to a different address you must provide your Departmental Administrator with an addressed envelope before the end of the Summer Term. No results will be given over the telephone. Candidates who fail the examination and who need advice should contact their tutor. If you are unable to contact your tutor, please refer in the first instance to your departmental office. If you live outside the UK, you may leave an email address or a fax number with your departmental office for use if it is necessary to inform you that you have failed the examination. 7. Resit Provisions If you fail one or more modules you may be allowed to resit the examination or undertake other assessment. If you fail 50% or more of the total credits of your stage, you may be required to repeat the modules you have failed during the following academic year rather than undertake further assessment during the long vacation. You cannot appeal against this recommendation as it is based on academic judgement of the examiners. Your department will notify you of the requirements. The resit examinations are scheduled to take place between Thursday 13 August 2009 and Monday 24 August 2009 . If you are successful, you will be allowed to proceed to the next stage of your programme commencing in September. If you fail the examination in August you may be allowed a further opportunity to undertake assessment in the following year. If you are required to resit examinations, you may choose alternatively to repeat the failed modules in the following academic year. If you are required to repeat failed modules and are unable to do so, you may be allowed to resit the examination only in April/May of the following year. 8. Appeals Against Recommendations of Boards of Examiners All appeals must be submitted within 21 days from the publication of your assessment results on the University website, even if the results are subject to confirmation, to the Faculty Officer, Science, Technology and Medical Studies, Room 3 Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR. Late appeals will not be considered. If the appeal is accepted for consideration you will be informed of the outcome in writing to the address you give us. Appeals will be considered only if submitted: • • • • By means of an Appeal Form, available from the Faculty Office and here; Accompanied by a letter explaining in full the grounds for appeal and the remedial action sought from the Board of Examiners; Providing all necessary documentary evidence substantiating the grounds of the appeal; Within the applicable deadline. Further information on Appeals procedures appear on the Faculty website. The relevant documents may also be obtained in paper copy from the Faculty Office. Grounds for Appeal Students may not appeal against the academic judgement of the examiners. Appeals from students taking taught programmes of study against recommendations of Boards of Examiners will be considered in the following circumstances only: • • • where there is reasonable ground supported by objective evidence to believe that there has been administrative, procedural or clerical error of such a nature as to have affected the recommendation of the Board of Examiners; or where there is evidence of illness or other misfortune such as to cause exceptional interference with academic performance and which the student was, for good reason, unable to submit by the published deadline; or where evidence relating to illness or other misfortune submitted under concessions procedures within the prescribed time limit was not properly considered by the Board of Examiners. Appeals that are based on concessionary circumstances which, without good reason, were not brought to the attention of the Board of Examiners through concessions procedures at the appropriate time will not be considered. Note: If you are appealing a decision that you be denied progression to the next stage of your programme of study or be withdrawn from the University, and the appeal is upheld after the end of the third week of the beginning of the stage of study, you will be required to intermit. Professor Peter Jeffries Dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medical Studies May 2009