Work and attendance requirements
To ensure good attendance, and to comply with the University of Manchester policy on work and attendance, the School of Chemistry has instituted the following procedure:
Laboratory Attendance
To ensure good attendance, and to comply with the University of Manchester policy on work and attendance, the School of Chemistry has instituted the following procedure:
Attendance at laboratory sessions is a compulsory requirement for Chemistry degree programmes. We expect students to achieve 100% attendance. If you need to be absent for any reason you must inform the laboratory course organiser or the Education Office – preferably in advance. All students must complete an absence form within 5 days of their return to University. Medical certificates (lodged with the Education Office) will be accepted as a legitimate reason for lack of attendance.
If the attendance of any student falls below 90% during any laboratory course, the student will receive an informal warning from the School concerning their poor attendance. At that stage the student may raise any mitigating circumstances. The informal warning will include an attendance target that must be met by the student to prevent any further action being taken.
If the attendance of a student that has been informally warned continues to be unsatisfactory, then an “early warning” letter will be sent, in accord with University regulations on satisfactory work and attendance. This letter will specify that attendance must improve to a specified (and achievable) level by a specified date. The letter will be sent to the student’s registered home and study-time addresses, and via e-mail.
If the student’s attendance does not improve by the specified date in the “early warning” letter, they will be refused a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance, in accord with University regulations on satisfactory work and attendance. This will remove their permission to sit examinations, which could be end-of-first semester examinations but is more likely to be end-of-second semester examinations. Poor attendance in first semester will be considered grounds for refusing permission for students to attend end-of-second semester examinations. The likely result of this refusal of a Certificate of Satisfactory Work and Attendance will be exclusion from the University. It is also possible that such a refusal may be grounds for student finance requesting the student to repay any fees or grant paid to the University of Manchester on the student’s behalf.
Notification of the refusal of the Certificate will be sent immediately to the student’s registered home and study-time addresses. The student has a right to appeal against this decision.
To ensure students are treated fairly, it is vital that attendance registers are accurate. Therefore if you attend a laboratory class, make sure you have been marked as present. It is understood that in some sections of the discipline, e.g. physical chemistry, it is possible that students will complete laboratory measurements in less than the time allotted, and that they will spend time outside the laboratory analysing results and completing experimental write-ups. In such circumstances students will be deemed to have attended during the later sessions of a week, if an experiment has been finished early and has been signed off by the staff demonstrator. However, students should be aware that attending for a short period, signing the attendance register and then leaving will be noted, and such behaviour will be considered unsatisfactory.
Fourth year students working in research laboratories are expected to meet the minimum attendance requirements as set out in the Level 4 programme handbook. Any period of absence should be approved by the project supervisor. In addition students are expected to attend all scheduled supervisory and group meetings.
Attendance at tutorials is compulsory, and records will be kept for year one and two students. Failure to attend tutorials will lead to procedures being followed in accordance with the University’s work and attendance policy.
Students unable to attend tutorials must contact the relevant tutor and the Education Office, if possible in advance of the tutorial taking place.
Some course units have compulsory workshop attendance as part of the course requirements. You are advised to follow the instructions given at the beginning of any course unit carefully and pay particular attention to attendance requirements, the system for reporting absence and the penalties for non-attendance.
You are advised to attend all scheduled lectures in order to aid your understanding of course material. Whilst lecture slides, notes and recordings may be available on Blackboard, these should be used as a revision tool and are not appropriate for learning material for the first time. Occasional attendance registers will be taken at lectures.
You are not permitted to absent yourself during the semester, except in special circumstances, when you should apply for permission to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. If you are unable to return after vacation, you should explain the circumstances in writing and in advance.
The procedure for changing course unit is:
If you choose to leave a course, it is essential that you attend an alternative unit, otherwise you may not obtain sufficient credits for progression.
You may not be able to change course unit after the first TWO weeks of the semester, and you cannot change course unit if the course unit you wish to drop is a core unit.
Withdrawing from a degree programme
If you are considering withdrawing from the programme, speak to your Personal Tutor immediately. Your Tutor will be able to offer advice on how to proceed. You must also make an appointment to speak with the Director of the Undergraduate Studies. No change or withdrawal will be permitted unless you have spoken to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
If, for whatever reason, you have firmly decided to withdraw from the programme, inform your Tutor and the Education Office in writing as soon as possible. A withdrawal questionnaire can be obtained from the Education Office or from the Chemistry intranet. Notification via telephone will not be accepted.
It is obviously important that you keep the School fully informed of your intentions or actions and the University is obliged to inform Student Finance of your decision.