PREFACE
4. ASSESSMENT
RULES AND RELATED PROCEDURES
3.3.3 Other requirements
Applicants for credit may be required to attend for interview or to undergo an appropriate form of assessment.
3.3.4 Notification
Decisions on applications for credit will be conveyed in writing by the Academic Registrar.
3.4 Credit for alternative studies
FORM: Application to Undertake Alternative Studies SOURCE: Student Administration
SUBMIT TO: Student Administration, Campus Office
Students may, with the approval of their Course Coordinator, enrol in units offered within other courses either at this College or elsewhere. In approving such arrangements Course Coordinators will have regard to the level at which the alternative unit or units are taught, the relative credit point values of the units concerned, and the extent to which such units meet similar or acceptable alternative objectives to those of the unit or units substituted.
3.4.1 Limit on credit available
The total credit point value of alternative units which students may undertake will be determined by each Board of Studies for its own courses.
3.4.2 Forms of credit
Where alternative studies involve units from other courses at this College, these units and the grades achieved will appear on the student's record as if they had been undertaken within their own course; where they were undertaken at another institution, credit will be given in the form of exemption.
3.4.3 Application procedure
Students wishing to undertake alternative studies for credit should apply to their Course Coordinator when enrolling or re-enrolling for the semester concerned. It is the student's responsibility to provide details of the unit or units he or she wishes to undertake.
On successful completion of the unit or units undertaken, the student is required to submit to Student Administration a copy of the application form showing the Course Coordinator's approval together with, in the case of units taken at other institutions, an official statement of results.
RULES AND RELATED PROCEDURES
In addition to this satisfactory performance, some students may have demonstrated higher levels of achievement in these objectives or achievement of other objectives reflecting higher level performance.
Such students are awarded grades of 5, 6, or 7 and the extent to which this achievement is demonstrated determin.es which of these grades is awarded.
The following general guidelines are used:
Grade of 4 - Pass
Students assigned a grade of 4 will have demonstrated satisfactory levels of achievement in objectives designated as essential for passing the unit.
Satisfactory levels of performance may, for example, be exhibited as adequate levels of knowledge, competence in relevant skills, adequate levels of intellectual initiative and interpretative ability or adequate artistic responses.
Grade of 5 - Credit
Students assigned a grade of 5 will, in addition to the requirements for a grade of 4, have demonstrated achievement of some objectives reflecting a high level of performance.
High levels of performance may, for example, be exhibited as high levels of knowledge, mastery of relevant skills, high levels of intellectual initiative and interpretative ability or extremely competent artistic responses.
Grade of 6 - Distinction
Students assigned a grade of 6 will, in addition to the requirements for a grade of 4, have demonstrated either achievement of some objectives reflecting an extremely high level of performance or achievement of a large number of objectives reflecting a high level of performance.
Extremely high levels of performance may, for example, be exhibited as extremely high levels of knowledge, mastery of most relevant skills, extremely high levels of intellectual initiative and interpretative ability or original artistic responses.
Grade of 7 - High Distinction
Students assigned a grade of 7 will, in addition to the requirements for a grade of 4, have demonstrated either achievement of all objectives reflecting an extremely high level of performance or achievement of most objectives reflecting an outstanding level of performance.
Outstanding levels of performance may, for example, be exhibited as outstanding levels of knowledge, mastery of all relevant skills, outstanding levels of intellectual initiative and interpretative ability or outstanding and original artistic responses.
4.2.2 Grades of 3, 2, 1
If achievement at a satisfactory level of performance is not demonstrated in all objectives for which a grade of 4 is required, then a grade of 3, 2 or 1 is assigned. In general, a grade of 3 is awarded when such achievement is not demonstrated in a small number of objectives.
The following guidelines are used for awarding these grades:
Grade of 3 - Pass Conceded
Students assigned a grade of 3 will have failed to demonstrate satisfactory levels of achievement in a small number of objectives designated as essential for passing the unit. For example, such students may not have demonstrated adequate levels of knowledge 69
RULES AND RELATED PROCEDURES
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of subject matter, competence in relevant skills, adequate levels of intellectual initiative and interpretative ability or adequate artistic responses.
Grade of 2 - Failure
Students assigned a grade of 2 will have failed to demonstrate satisfactory levels of achievement in many of the objectives designated as essential for passing the unit.
Grade of 1 - Gross Failure
Students assigned a grade of 1 will have failed to demonstrate satisfactory levels of achievement in most of the objectives designated as essential for passing the unir.
4.3 General descriptors for the S-U scale
Where approval has been given by the appropriate Board of Studies, students may be assigned grades in a unit using this alternative scale.
S - Satisfactory:
Students assigned a grade of satisfactory will have demonstrated achievement of objectives which reflects adequate performance. Such students may, for example, have demonstrated adequate knowledge of subject matter, developed relevant skills, demonstrated adequate interpretative and analytical ability or adequate artistic responses.
U - Unsatisfactory
Students assigned a grade of unsatisfactory will have failed to demonstrate achievement of some objectives which reflects adequate performance.
4.4 The following grade of failure may be used where use of the grades 1, 2 and U is not appropriate:
K. Ungraded failure: Awarded where insufficient work has been completed to merit a grade on either the 7-1 or S,U scales.
4.5 Administrative codes
A. Assessment temporarily incomplete
E. Full exemption, awarded where prior studies in another course have been satisfactorily completed, or the required levels of experience or expertise demonstrated.
T. Studies extending over more than one semester where the longer period is part of the accredited course requirements.
W. Withdrawal without assessment, awarded where approval is given for cancellation of enrolment during weeks three to seven of a semester.
4.6 Supplementary assessment 4.6.1 Eligibility
Eligibility for supplementary assessment is limited to students who:
(i) have undertaken the last semester of a course but are prevented from graduating by having received inadequate grades in no more than two units; or
(ii) have undertaken the second last semester of a course but have received, in a single compulsory unit available only in that semester, a grade which would prevent them from graduating at the end of the last semester of the course.
Student Assessment Review Committees are responsible for determining eligibility for supplementary assessment and in doing so will be guided by 4.6.1 (i) and (ii) above, and by advice from the Department concerned, as to whether, given the student's grade(s) for the unit(s) and the nature of the unit(s), it is possible for the student to achieve a passing standard through supplementary assessment.
RULES AND RELATED PROCEDURES
Students who successfully complete a unit by supplementary assessment will be graded at pass level, that is, 4 or S, depending on the grading scale approved for the unit concerned.
Where supplementary assessment is not approved, students will be advised of the necessity to repeat the unit or units concerned. Students who receive such advice but believe that they meet the criteria and are entitled to supplementary assessment may request a review of the decision as provided in Rule 5.
4.6.2 Notification
Students for whom supplementary assessment has been approved will receive written advice of this, and will be requested to make contact with the relevant Head of Department in order to determine the format of the assessment and the specific arrangements.
4.7 Deferred examinations
FORM: Application for Deferred Examination SOURCE: Student Administration, Campus Office SUBMIT TO: Student Administration, Campus Office 4.7.1 Eligibility
Students who through illness or other circumstances beyond their control are unable to attend an examination at the prescribed time or complete an examination, may subsequently be eligible for a deferred examination.
4.7.2 Application procedure
Applications for deferred examinations should normally be submitted prior to or within three days of the examination date, depending on the circumstances.
In cases where a student is unable to submit such an application, a telephone message explaining the circumstances should be relayed to the appropriate Student Administration Officer. A formal application should be submitted as soon as possible.
Full details of the circumstances leading to the application must be given, and a medical certificate or other appropriate documentary evidence must be attached.
4. 7 .3 Notification
Students will receive written notification of the outcome of their application including, where appropriate, the date, time, location and format of the deferred examination.
4.8 Cheating
4.8.1 In undertaking assessment requirements in a unit, students are expected to exhibit honesty and ethical behavior.
4.8.2 Cheating is defined as any fraudulent response whatsoever by students to any item of assessment including any instance where: students deliberately copy or attempt to copy the work of other students;
students use or attempt to use information or materials that are prohibited from use in that form of assessment; students submit the work of another as their own; students consciously commit acts of plagiarism i.e. those actions which comprise taking and using as their own the thoughts or writings of another with the intent to deceive, which occurs when paragraphs, sentences, a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence which are copied directly, are not enclosed in quotation marks and appropriately footnoted; direct quotations are not used, but text is paraphrased or summarised, and the source of the material is not acknowledged either by footnoting or other simple reference within the text.
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RULES AND RELATED PROCEDURES
4.8.3 Students found cheating in any item of assessment will have that item cancelled, receive no marks for it, and will not be permitted to repeat it during that semester of enrolment.
4.8.4 Students found cheating on more than one occasion may be liable under College By-law 8 to penalties applicable to a breach of discipline.
4.9 Progression and exclusion
Students' academic performance is evaluated at the conclusion of each semester. Students whose results for a semester include one or more failures may be permitted to proceed with their courses under conditions imposed in regard to repetition or substitution of the unit(s) failed; or if the degree of failure in that semester or over a number of semesters is sufficiently serious, may be excluded from the course concerned.
Rules on repetition of units and on progression generally are established and applied at the discretion of Boards of Studies and vary from course to course. However, provisions regarding exclusion are common to all courses.
One or more of the following grounds may be specified in an individual case:
(i) failure on two occasions in the same unit;
(ii) failure in more than a specified proportion of studies undertaken in a particular semester;
(iii) accumulation of failures to levels specified for particular courses;
(iv) failure to achieve a satisfactory level of performance in any mandatory studies taken as part of a particular course.
Criteria for implementation of exclusion provisions are given in Appendix 1.
Students will be advised in writing of any actions required or conditions imposed consequent upon failure, and in the case of exclusion, of the specific ground or grounds involved and the period of exclusion.
4.1 O Eligibility to graduate
Students are eligible to graduate upon completion of course requirements and certification of such completion by Boards of Studies.
In determining students' eligibility Boards of Studies will have regard to limits on the number of grades of 3 which may be credited towards awards. These limits are stated in Appendix 1.