Faculty of Humanities FAQ for 2015 year-end exams

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FAQ updated Date amended

Initial draft published 05-Nov-2015

2.1, 5.2 and 5.3 updated, 3.4 added, Q10 and Q11 added 10-Nov-2015

Faculty of Humanities – undergraduate exam reschedule FAQ

1. What deferred exam options exist if I can’t write the rescheduled November session?

2. How do I tell the university that I wish to defer all my exams to January?

3. What happens if I can write some of the November exams but not all?

4. What are the implications of deferring all my exams to January?

5. What happens if I can’t write during either the rescheduled November or the January deferred exam

sessions?

6. When will exam results be available?

7. What is happening with graduation?

8. What is happening with Summer Term courses?

9. What happens if I fail courses and am academically excluded?

10. What happens if I write in November but the exam is disrupted by protests?

11. Why can’t we simply cancel exams and use coursework marks?

What deferred exam options exist if I can’t write the rescheduled November session?

1.1 The rescheduled November session runs from Tuesday 10th November to Friday 27 November 2015, and has exactly the same timetable pattern as the original timetable; exams will fall on the same day of the week as the original timetable.

1.2 Students are encouraged to try and write in November if they feel able and if their travel arrangements can be changed.

Some airlines are reducing or waiving rebooking fees, so it’s worth checking if that’s possible for you.

1.3 If choose not to write in November, or if your travel arrangements do not permit you to write, you have the option of deferring your entire set of exams to the deferred exam period which runs from Monday 11th January to Monday 25th January 2016. This option is available for all undergraduate exams except Performing and Creative Arts practical exams (i.e. Dance, Drama, Fine Art, Music).

1.4 The usual deferred exam process still applies if you are taken ill during the rescheduled November exams.

How do I tell the university that I wish to defer all my exams to January?

2.1 You will have received a letter on your UCT email outlining the process for signalling your exam reschedule via Peoplesoft self-service. The online deferred application process has been extended from its original deadline, so you may now apply to defer your (remaining) exams any time during the November exam session, i.e. until 27th November. This is an automatic process: if you indicate via

Faculty of Humanities FAQ for 2015 year-end exams

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Peoplesoft your intention of writing in January, you will be automatically granted deferrals of any courses for which you have DP.

2.2 If you want to defer your full set of exams, please go to Student Self Service portal: http://studentsonline.uct.ac.za, log in with your UCT student number and password, and click the Update hyperlink under “Your Future Meetings - Indicate whether you will attend” header. Select your Status in the Status drop down list box and click the Save button.

What happens if I can write some of the November exams but not all?

3.1 If you do not defer your block (full set) of November exams but need or hope to defer individual November exams to January 2016, you will need to apply for a deferment in the usual way. See www.uct.ac.za/students/records/examrequests/.

3.2 This will require you to submit the usual form with substantiating documentation (this could be evidence of travel arrangements or employment after the date of what would have been the last exam in the original timetable).

3.3 The Deferred Examinations Committee receives all applications and will consider your application with due regard for the disruption to the November exam session. It understands there may be circumstances beyond your control to change but will want evidence of this.

3.4 If a November exam is disrupted by protests, you may choose to defer that exam to January. You must submit the usual deferred exam application form as in 3.1 above, but will automatically be granted the deferral.

What are the implications of deferring all my exams to January?

4.1 You will only know the timetable for individual January exams after 18th December, when the university knows how many students wish to write in January.

4.2 Academic supps will not be offered on January exams, although the Humanities faculty will offer the usual re-examination possibilities to students who narrowly fail; you will be re-examined during the January exam session.

4.3 You cannot apply for a deferred exam on a deferred exam, so if you are taken ill during the January session you will need to repeat the course.

4.4 The university will open residences to students writing during the January session. It is not yet clear what the cost implications will be but the provisional cost for accommodation in a catering residence during the supplementary period is R80 per day.

4.5 Potential finalists who defer their exams to January will have to wait for the June graduation ceremonies to have their award conferred and receive their final certificate.

What happens if I can’t write during either the rescheduled November or the January deferred exam

sessions?

5.1 Students who find it prohibitively expensive to rearrange travel costs for either of the exam

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sessions, may have the option of writing exams off-campus.

5.2 Exams taken elsewhere can be invigilated at another institution by arrangement. For the January session only it may be possible to write remotely via online proctoring software which requires a computer setup similar to Skype. Details about online proctoring facilities will be released once they are available. It is important to note that it may be the case that certain exams do not lend themselves to online proctoring. In this instance, the only option available to students will be to take the exam at the next available opportunity (i.e. during the 2016 academic session).

5.3 Online proctoring facilities are likely to be provided by ProctorU (www.proctoru.com) for the January deferred exams only. Not all exams are supported by the software. This is most likely to affect exams which cover mathematics, statistics or technical subjects or questions. As more details become available, we will include them here.

5.4 Students may apply to write remotely in either the November or the January session, but must write at exactly the same time as the scheduled exam, regardless of time zone – i.e. you may end up writing at odd hours of the night. Students should also be aware that the approval process to write off campus takes about 10 working days, so in some cases it may not be possible to write an early November exam elsewhere.

5.5 Students wishing to write in the deferred January session and in another country must apply BOTH for deferment AND for off-campus examination as two separate processes.

5.6 SSA students should fill in form ACA039, Application Form Granting Semester Study Abroad Students Permission To Write At Home Institution. This can be downloaded at http://forms.uct.ac.za/studentadmin/aca39.docx. Completed forms should be submitted to the Faculty Manager’s office for processing. Details of the remote writing requirements and procedures are available on the form.

5.7 Full degree students should fill in form ACA040, Application to write an exam at a place off campus. This is a special form applying ONLY to the November 2015/January 2016 exam sessions, as a response to the circumstances, and can be downloaded at http://forms.uct.ac.za/studentforms.htm. Completed forms should be submitted to the Faculty Manager’s office for processing. Fees for remote exam invigilation must be paid by the student. Details of the remote writing requirements and procedures are available on the form.

5.8 All exam policies and arrangements are approved by University committees. It is not at the discretion of academic departments to offer students individual deferred or supplementary exams (except where the exam type is individual e.g. in Music, Drama, Dance, Fine Art). Exams must be taken during the official scheduled exam sessions in either November or January. If you have been offered an opportunity to write an individual deferred or supplementary exam, please consult with the Faculty Office for guidance.

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When will exam results be available?

6.1 Results for the November examinations will be published on or before Sunday 20th December 2015.

6.2 Results for the January examinations will be published on or before Sunday 31st January 2016.

What is happening with graduation?

7.1 Students who completed their degree requirements in June will be able to graduate in December as planned. The ceremony will be on Saturday 19th December 2015. Humanities undergraduate qualifiers will be accommodated in the 6pm ceremony.

7.2 Students who are writing final exams in the rescheduled November or January sessions will not have a formal graduation ceremony in 2015, but their qualification status will be processed in time to start postgraduate study in 2016. They will have the option of a formal degree ceremony in June 2016. Graduands/ diplomates wishing to obtain transcripts for employment purposes or for postgraduate study at another university will be able to do so.

7.3 Students writing the November exam session will show a December 2015 degree confer date on their transcript, and will be able to collect transcripts and certificates from the Student Records Office from Tuesday 29th December; alternatively, these will be mailed to graduands/ diplomates.

7.4 Students writing the January exam session will show a June 2016 degree confer date on their transcripts. Peoplesoft transcripts will be updated by the end of January to show a qualified status where applicable, and such transcripts can be ordered from Student Records, but formal degree certificates will only be issued at the June graduation ceremonies, or mailed to students who did not attend the ceremonies.

What is happening with Summer Term courses?

8.1 Summer Term courses have been rescheduled and will now start on Friday 27th November 2015, with the exams to be written on 23rd December 2015.

8.2 The following courses will be offered during Summer Term: SLL 1002P Word Power FAM 1001P Media and Society HST 2034P Africa: Colonial and postcolonial POL 1004P Introduction to politics POL 1006P Introduction to Public Administration POL 2038P Comparative Politics

8.3 You may sign up for a Summer Term course any time between now and the first day of the

course.

8.4 Students who are writing an exam on the 27th November should contact the Faculty Manager for a concession to begin the summer term course one day late.

Faculty of Humanities FAQ for 2015 year-end exams

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What happens if I fail courses and am academically excluded?

9.1 The standard Readmission Appeals process will apply to results arising from both the rescheduled November exams and the January deferred exams.

9.2 For students receiving their end-of-year progression coding on 20th December as a result of November exams, the deadline for submitting appeals to the Readmission Appeals Committee is 4th January 2016.

9.3 For students receiving their end-of-year progression coding on 31st January 2016 as a result of January exams, the deadline for submitting appeals to the Readmission Appeals Committee is 3rd February 2016.

What happens if I write in November but the exam is disrupted by protests?

10.1 The University is committed to proceeding with exams, and has reached agreements with most major stakeholders in the protests: any further protest action represents a small subset of protesters. The University will pursue disciplinary action against any student or staff member engaged in protests which attempt to disrupt exams.

10.2 Additional security staff have been engaged who will be able to assist at examination venues if protesters attempt disruption or intimidation. The police will not form part of this response.

10.3 If an exam is disrupted it may, if the disruption is minor and quickly resolved, be continued after a short break, with additional time allowed. Any exam which is seriously disrupted and unable to continue will be rescheduled by the Exams Office to take place before 27th November.

10.4 The online deferral sign-up will remain active throughout exams, and any student experiencing a disrupted exam will have the option of deferring their remaining exams until January. They may also apply to defer the individual exam to January via the usual deferred exam application, and continue with their remaining exams.

Why can’t we simply cancel exams and use coursework marks?

11.1 The Faculty remains committed to securing the integrity of the examinations process, and to assuring the quality and academic standard of its awards. All efforts will be made to ensure that awards conferred following the 2015 end-of-year exam session are of the same quality and standard as those conferred in any other year.

11.2 The nature, structure and weighting of assessment for any course is the basis on which students demonstrate that they have attained the learning objectives/ outcomes and thus qualify for the award of NQF credit in recognition of successful learning. As such, assessment is a key part of the framework which assures the academic standard of the University’s awards.

The award of course marks without an exam component reflected would be a substantial departure from normal assessment procedures, and would mean that the assessment of students in this exam session would be in markedly different terms to previous years and semesters. In addition, Humanities courses have widely differing coursework requirements, and not all could be suitably reshaped to exclude the exam.

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11.3 Because assessment is so integral to assuring the nature and quality of UCT

qualifications, changes can only be made by Faculty Board in full consideration of the effect on the quality and standard of both the individual course, and the qualification as a whole.

Making changes to the nature and structure of assessment this late into the session demands a departure from the standards approved for each course (as detailed in the course outline) and could place students at a disadvantage academically. For the time being, the assessment structure for courses remains unchanged to ensure that the quality and standard of the Faculty’s awards, and the academic achievements of students which they demonstrate, remain unaffected.

11.4 The various deferral mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that students approach examinations under the best possible conditions given the circumstances. Deferred exams will be entirely equivalent to the November session in requirements and marking standard, and will be assessed by the usual external examination processes.