IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR GRADUATES

The difference between an 'Incomplete' and ''Withdrawal'

Honours and Masters students should note the following:

IC grades: Not handing in all the required pieces of work for a paper or not sitting the final exam will result in an IC grade and IC grades count as FAIL grades.

Withdrawal from a paper: It is possible to withdraw from a graduate paper up to the day of the final examination or the date the last piece of assessment is due. There is no penalty for this and the student's record will show a withdrawal rather than an IC grade (but fees will not be refunded if the withdrawal is after specified dates).

Failing papers (including getting IC grades): If a student fails a graduate paper (including getting any IC grades) then, within an Honours or Masters degree, they may resit that that paper once only or take an agreed alternative paper/s instead of resitting. They may fail and resit either one 30 point paper or two 15 point papers within a degree. Thus failing the paper/s a second time or failing the agreed alternative/s means they cannot proceed further with that qualification.

Calculation of level of Honours when fail grades (including ICs) have been obtained: Note that although the student who have failed up to 30 points must pass the resits or alternative papers to get their degree, it is the grade received for the first attempt at that paper (or for the initial paper, where an alternative is substituted) that is used in calculating the level of honours. An IC grade is counted as a ZERO in these calculations and so contributes less to the level of honours than, say, a D grade.

More information:

If a graduate student chooses not complete a paper in which they are enrolled, it is important that they withdraw by the date the last piece of assessment for that course is due (or the date of the final exam), or they will receive an IC grade which is counted as a FAIL grade.

Fail grades are D, E, F and IC.

Why is this important???

The Regulations for the Degrees of Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours, Master of Social Sciences and Master of Applied Psychology are somewhat unclear but they state:

If a candidate fails a paper, he or she may repeat the paper or take an alternative paper on one occasion only. A candidate who fails more than once will not be permitted to proceed with the degree.

This is not clear but is taken to mean that:

If candidate fails more than 30 points (e.g., more than one 30 point paper or two 15 point papers) then they cannot proceed with the degree (and D, E, F and IC count as failures).

So failing three 15 point papers or two 30 point papers on the first occasion they are taken means the student is out of the programme and so cannot get the degree.

If they fail up to 30 points then they can resit those paper/s (or take alternatives paper/s) once only. If they fail these resits or alternatives then they cannot proceed with the degree.

This means they get one chance to repeat up to 30 points. If they fail the resits (or permitted alternatives) then they are out of the programme and cannot get the degree.

The regulations go on to say:

The degree may be awarded with First class Honours Second Class Honours (first division), Second class Honours (second division) or Third Class Honours (for BSocSc(Hons) or without Honours (MSocSc and MAppPsy). Except with the approval of the Academic Board, the award of honours will be calculated on the basis of the first 120 points completed by the candidate while enrolled for the degree, including any failed paper.

This means that when a student completes the degree, any failed papers (up to the 30 points allowed) must be included in the 120 points of papers counted in the average for the purposes of calculating the level of honours. Note that if there are any more than 30 points failed, the average is not calculated as the student cannot be awarded the degree.

Thus, although the student must pass any resits of (or alternatives to) the failed 30 point paper/s - the grades for these will NOT be used in the calculating the overall grade (level of honours) for the degree but the grade of the initially failed paper/s will be used.

Thus it is better to withdraw from a graduate paper than to get an IC or to get a D, E or F grade.

WITHDRAWING FROM A GRADUATE PAPER

At graduate level students wishing to withdraw from a graduate paper should read the relevant regulations, which are contained in the Change of Enrolment Regulations 2003 (The University of Waikato Calendar 2004). In particular we draw your attention to the following clauses:

8. (2) Absence from classes or failure to submit items for assessment does not constitute withdrawal from a paper. A student who does not withdraw from a paper using the procedures outlined in the regulations remains enrolled for the paper and remains liable for any prescribed fees.

10. (1) The deadlines for withdrawing from graduate papers to obtain a refund of fees are as follows:
Summer School papers and C, D, etc., papers with teaching periods shorter than 17 weeks
5.00 pm on the first Friday of the relevant teaching period

A semester and full-year papers
5.00 pm on the second Friday of A semester (12 March 2004)

B semester papers
5.00 p.m. on the second Friday of B semester (23 July 2004)

C, D, etc., papers with teaching periods of 17 weeks or longer
5.00 pm on the second Friday of the relevant teaching period.
11. (4) A student may withdraw from a graduate paper (Level 5 or 7, excluding School of Education Level 7) after the deadlines above (without a refund of fees) at any time before the start of the examination, or if the paper is internally assessed, at any time before the due date for the final item of assessment.
Clauses 8(2) (Simply not attending does not count as withdrawal) and 11(4) (That there is a great latitude allowed in withdrawing from graduate papers) are of particular importance and mean that NO student needs to get an IC grade.