University of London International Programmes. Quality Assurance and Student Lifecycle Sub-Committee. Registration Dates

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1 University of London International Programmes Quality Assurance and Student Lifecycle Sub-Committee Registration Dates The QASL is invited to discuss the recommendations from the working group convened to consider the registration dates for International Programmes. This paper will be further considered by the University of London International Academy Academic Committee at its May 2013 meeting. Craig O Callaghan Director of Student Services and Business Transformation April 2013 Page 1 of 1

2 Registration Dates Paper Introduction Significant concern has been expressed by our undergraduate Lead College Course Directors and International Academy administrators over the lateness of our registration closing dates, and the impact these potentially have on a student s ability to engage appropriately with the academic courseware/material across the registration norm of four full course unit modules or their equivalent. It has been suggested that late registration closing dates is a significant contributory factor to the failure rate experienced by students in their first year of study. It was therefore agreed by the Dean of the International Programmes in his capacity as Chair of the Academic Committee, that a working group should be established to analyse this issue and a formal paper be produced for discussion at QASL to establish whether these dates should be changed. It was agreed that the Course Directors of the three largest undergraduate programmes, (all members of QASL) would be members of the working group along with the Associate Director Assessment and Awards and the Director of Student Services who would chair the group and prepare the discussion paper for QASL. Current Position Up to last year, the formal Initial registration closing date as outlined in the regulations was the 30th December. As this date fell during the Christmas vacation and the University was generally closed from c 22 nd of December, custom and practice had determined that students were permitted to register up to the end of the first full week in January. No formal closing date for continuing registration is published in the regulations. Working Group Deliberations on Registration dates The working group met for the one and only time on the 14th of March. As a starting point the group confirmed the importance of QASL minute 2541 as the starting point for its deliberations. The minute stated That the registration deadline group will meet and produce a proposal for the QASL meeting in April The group should consider appropriate deadlines on academic grounds irrespective of the financial considerations. The group discussed in some detail the following issues all of which were deemed to have some bearing on any proposed date and how a changed date could be appropriately adhered to. Issue of coursework submission deadlines for CIS and CC LLB re-sit exams for continuing students Application closing date (currently 1 October for all U/G programmes) Role of Institutions in recruitment and in communicating change Ability of students to pay fees from certain countries by deadlines Our historic leniency towards deadlines The potential imposition of sanctions if deadline missed Potential effect on student numbers Possible financial consequences The introduction of a late registration fee 1

3 Maximum number of units permitted following registration after a set date. The working group assessed the potential impact in its deliberations of all of the above factors. It was agreed that of paramount importance was the need to ensure students were registered promptly and could receive their study materials and access to their online digital resources as soon as possible in the academic cycle. This would allow them to maximise the time they had to study before their exams. This desire pointed to the need to bring registration closing dates forward. In relation to the BSc CIS, the current Initial Registration closing date was deemed by the Course Director as being far too late given the requirement for students to submit their first coursework by the 15 of January, a date they wished to adhere to. The working group were conscious that historically the International Academy/Programmes have exercised discretion towards student lifecycle deadlines. This practice may have led to a view that the International Academy will always be flexible and allow students leeway in meeting published deadlines. The working group universally agreed that if we are to bring registration dates forward, a concerted effort by the Lead College Course Directors and senior International Academy Student Service Managers would need to be undertaken to ensure that the Teaching Institutions and their students must meet any agreed deadlines or face any penalties we may wish to impose. It was further agreed that any proposed lobbying for special treatment by Teaching Institutions should be strongly resisted. It was acknowledged that in some countries students have historically paid fees after specified deadlines. Given the Board of the International Programmes published policy of not providing a service without prior payment it will be important to ensure that students are aware of the financial requirements of our offer as early as possible in the cycle. The impact of a more rigorous application of our deadlines clearly may pose a risk of a reduction in our Initial registration numbers. Last year, 729 U/G students registered after the 30 of November. Of these 376 were from Teaching Institutions. Of the 376, 258 were law students 98 were EMFSS students, 11 were Goldsmiths CIS students and 9 were Royal Holloway Business Administration students. The remaining 353 were private study students. Of the 258 law students 85 were from Bangladesh and of those 49 were from the London College of Legal Studies South. The working group strongly believes that with an appropriate communications strategy to Teaching Institutions including visits and clear information on our website and online application pages (that will also include detailed information in the offer letter) students really do not have a valid excuse not to register by the agreed date. The concept of a late registration fee was discussed for both Initial registration and Continuing Registration. This concept was welcomed by all Course Directors who agreed that if we were to allow a small window of opportunity for late registrations students would need to pay an additional fee for such late registrations. The suggested fee was 100. Failure to pay the late fee would invalidate their registration. It was suggested that the imposition of such a fee would greatly assist in helping to enforce adherence to the specified deadlines. The issue of the maximum number of units to be permitted in any late registration scenario was discussed. It was agreed that under the current rules and based upon the recommendations outlined below; the current maximum number of new units allowed would continue to be permitted. However, it was also agreed that for certain programmes it might be worth considering allowing 2

4 students to register for up to 2 units particularly from southern hemisphere countries such as Australia and South Africa who receive their A level equivalent results in early January. In all such cases, application and registration would need to be completed as a single process by a deadline before the end of January. Transfers between programmes The working group also took the opportunity to discuss the issue of student course transfers. It was agreed that students have historically played the system to their advantage to circumnavigate the regulations. Often students transfer three or four times to ensure they bring units into their courses that the regulations for the degree they eventually wish to be classified under would not ordinarily permit. All agreed that students should be permitted one free transfer. This would ensure that students who have to transfer (normally LLB scheme A to scheme B) can do so without any financial penalty. However students who wish to subsequently transfer would need to pay 150 every time they wished to transfer between programmes. Transfer in this context does not mean transfer between levels within a programme i.e. Diploma to degree, Cert HE to Dip HE, etc. Working Group Recommendations for QASL Application closing date for U/G programmes The working party agreed to retain the current single application closing date of the 1 October. Initial Registration closing date The working party unanimously recommended that the closing date for Initial registration for all U/G programmes should be the 30 November. If programmes wish to apply an earlier date they would be at liberty to do so. It was also agreed that for a further one week period students could exceptionally request to be considered for late registration. All such requests would need to be supported by a documented rationale as to why such a request should be granted. Every request for late registration would be sent to the relevant Course Directors for consideration with an attached recommendation from senior management in Student Services. The Course Directors decision would be final subject to the International Academy s appeals procedure. A late registration fee of 100 would be levied if such a request was granted. This additional fee would need to be paid before an examination entry was permitted. Continuing Registration Closing Date The working party unanimously recommended that the closing date for continuing registration for all U/G programmes should be 1 November. It was also agreed that a late registration period should be instigated to run until the 15 of November. Students would have to pay a late registration fee of 100. A further one week period would be instigated when exceptionally a student could request to be registered. All such requests would need to be supported by a documented rationale as to why such a request should be granted. 3

5 Every request for late registration beyond 15 November would be sent to the relevant Course Director for consideration with an attached recommendation from senior management in Student Services. A fee of 150 would be payable by students if they wish to be considered for registration under this caveat and were successful. The Course Director s decision would be final subject to the International Academy s appeals procedure. Exception All LLB students who are sitting exams in November would have a continuing registration closing date of 11 January. No extensions to this date would be considered. Transfer Fees The working party unanimously recommended that a fee of 150 should be levied on all students who wished to transfer more than once between programmes. Craig O Callaghan Director of Student Services 4