UWIDEC/APC P.4

2002/2003 (4 pages)

THE 1^st MEETING OF THE UWIDEC ACADEMIC PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

March 24, 2003 – Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

New UWIDEC Administration

Introduction

This paper does not deal with the finer details pertaining to the proposed new administrative operations of UWIDEC. Instead, it outlines the basic principles that will govern them. In the first place a distinction is made between the operations for undergraduate and graduate programmes. Secondly, registration, course management, examinations, results and emergency situations have been touched upon. And finally, principles governing the financial management have been outlined.

Undergraduate Studies

1. Generally, networked and distributed teaching/learning will be the basic process of the academic transactions.
2. At level I, all the learners will have the benefit of local tutorials and a compulsory Foundation Course on Study Skills for Resource Based Learning will have to be taken by all the registered students. (We may make this course a pre-requisite for taking DE programmes/courses.)
3. At advanced levels tutorials may be available locally, through CDs, on the network and/or asynchronously on-line. Depending on the course requirements, a course package may comprise any combination of self-instructional print materials, assignments, readings, a limited number of teleconferences, CDs, course guides, practicals, fieldwork and/or case studies. Any prescribed study material (texts etc.) other than the materials supplied by UWIDEC will have to be procured by learners themselves.

Graduate Studies

1. Those programmes/courses, which attract small numbers, will be given on-line by the Faculties concerned. The role of UWIDEC in this case will be (a) to load the instructional/ teaching servers with downloadable courseware and (b) to train the faculty in the preparation and delivery of on-line courses.

2. Other graduate programmes will be managed like the undergraduate ones. The course package in this case may comprise off-the-shelf texts, wrap-around materials, teaching notes from the teacher concerned, on-line assignments, electronic asynchronous interaction with peers and teachers, multi-media CDs, selected readings and other components depending on the course requirements. In certain cases, some face-to-face inputs may also be provided.

Administrative Operations

Registration

1. Registrations/admissions and examinations will be managed by UWIDEC, while the award of certificates, diplomas and degrees will be the responsibility of the University.
2. Registrations will be made course wise, though the applicants will have to indicate/record their aimed-at programme in the application form. Accordingly, statistics will be prepared on the basis of course-registrations and not learner numbers, while the number of FTEs will be derived by dividing the number of course-registrations by five.
3. No programme/course will be advertised unless 80% of the material is ready for delivery, be it print-based or web-based.
4. Advertisements will be issued twice a year (January and June) asking for applications for registrations.
5. Applications (with an application fee) will be received throughout the year and provisionally listed date wise. Accordingly, the process of registration will continue throughout the year. Courses, however, will be available only according to a set schedule ¾ just two semesters a year to begin with. Summer period will be used for supplementary examinations.
6. Registrations will be made on the basis of prescribed entry qualifications, which will be the same as those prescribed for the corresponding campus based face-to-face courses/programmes.
7. Those who do not fulfil the prescribed entrance qualifications will be advised to undergo relevant access/enabling courses to qualify for registration before they apply again.
8. Mature applicants will be admitted as provisional learners for the programmes of their choice and advised to take (a) such enabling courses as are essentially required to manage the programmes they may have applied for and also a course on Study Skills for Resource Based Learning and (b) a prescribed number of courses (for example, three Foundation Courses) for them to assess their potential for the programmes of their choice. Successful completion of the courses under (a) and (b) will entitle them to regular registration.
9. Applications will be scrutinised for classification: clear cases in C1, clear cases with discrepancies in C2, odd cases in C3 and mature applicants in C4.
10. Letters of offer will be sent to C1 applicants with information about the payment of course fees, start of studies, etc. Application types C2 and C3 will have to achieve C1 status before they are considered for offers.
11. Mature students will remain on the C4 list till their status changes from provisional to regular registration.
12. The cases of C3 and C4 applicants will be referred to the relevant Programme Co-ordinator for advice/decision regarding their registration.
13. Positive responses to offer letters (characterised by payment of dues by due dates) will complete the process of registration, which will be confirmed by sending the registration card, identity card and the study/work schedule to all the registered students.

Course Management

14. By August 15 and December 15 (for Semesters I and II respectively) all the lists of registered students will be sent to the relevant Centres/Sites, tutors and the other units concerned.
15. Semester I will begin on the first Monday of September and Semester II on the fourth Monday of January every academic year.
16. The maximum number of courses allowed in a semester will be five and the minimum two.
17. Exemptions will be awarded on application on the basis of parity between the components of the courses concerned and a statement to that effect will be made in the candidates award list.
18. Credits once gained will be used for just one award. For example, courses counted for purposes of matriculation may qualify for exemption but not for credit transfer and new courses will have to be taken for programme completion. In other words, credit transfer with exemption will not be allowed.
19. For movement from a semester to the next semester, no student will be allowed to carry over any courses from the previous semester. However, learners may take cross level courses in the same semester, provided the relevant pre-requisites have been completed successfully.
20. Each registered learner will be profiled on a unique file, which records personal details as well as those about the course and other fees (paid and outstanding) and his/her progress through the courses.

Examinations and Results

21. Semester I examinations will be conducted between December 3 and December 23 on all working days, three sessions per day: 8.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.; 12.00 noon to 2.00 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. (Jamaica Time)
22. Semester II examinations will be conducted between May 3 and May 23 on all working days, three sessions per day: 8.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.; 12.00 noon to 2.00 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.(Jamaica Time)
23. Examination notices together with the timetables will be issued by November 3 and April 3 for semesters I and II respectively. (Three years later, examination timetable will be available along with the course material.)
24. Learners, who are ready to sit for examinations, will apply with a fee (called examination fee) for permission to do so by November 7 for semester I and by April 7 for semester II exams.
25. Eligibility of candidates will be ascertained on the basis of the successful completion of courses counted in terms of the completion of coursework and/or assignments and payment of the related dues.
26. Examination material (lists of candidates, course- and site-wise; question papers; envelopes for returning answer scripts; etc.) will be delivered at Centres/Sites latest by November 30 and April 30 for semesters I and II examinations respectively.
27. Wherever available, though not always necessarily, tutors will work as examiners under the guidance of the head-examiner concerned.
28. Answer-scripts will be packed at the examination centre and dispatched/handed over to the examiner/course tutor (if s/he is an examiner) for assessment immediately after the examination is over.
29. In contrast with the present practice, answer scripts will not be photocopied before they are dispatched/handed over to the examiners.
30. Examiners will dispatch the assessed answer-scripts and the award lists to the head-examiner with information to UWIDEC examination unit within the set deadlines.
31. The head-examiner (after s/he completes her/his task) will return the assessed scripts and the award lists to the UWIDEC examination unit within the deadlines set for the purpose.
32. Awards will be received and collated by the UWIDEC examination unit to prepare the final results, which will be dispatched, after the BUS approves them, to Centres/Sites within the deadlines fixed for the purpose.
33. The assessed scripts will be kept in safe custody for two years before they are destroyed and/or sold as scrap.
34. Semester I results will be declared by January 31 (of the following year) and those of Semester II by June 30 (of the same year).

Emergencies

35. Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, fire disasters, accidents and death of a near relation (father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or spouse): on application endorsed by the Centre/Site Head/Coordinator concerned, such cases will be allowed to work through the course again when it is available without paying any additional fees whatsoever.
36. Learners moving from their place of registration to a different site will be allowed to continue their studies at the new Centre/Site. Approval for such continuation has to be obtained formally and the offices concerned informed appropriately.

Financial operations

1. All the funding will be provided and all the revenues collected by the Centre.

2. Each Distance Education Centre, all the University Centres in the non-campus countries and the off-campus Sites will function with the help of an approved budget in relation to distance education (DE) operations.

3. The DE operations will generate at least 20% of their economic cost. For this principle to materialise, regular adjustments will be made in the strength of the staff, intake of learners, number of subjects allowed per learner per semester, course and other related fees and purchase/sale of services.

4. Course fees will correspond to the types of course, i.e., differential fee structures will be the norm.

5. All the services rendered to or sought from any UWI Component/Unit will be charged and/or paid for, as the case may be, by UWIDEC.