Undergraduate Policies and Regulations

Guided by an interest in maintaining a friendly, cooperative and supportive environment in Geography, staff and students alike agree to be bound by the following set of guidelines. Encouraging practices that will benefit all, these ’policies and regulations’ have been drafted to foster an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.

As a result, Geography adopts the following principles governing procedures in the firm belief that clear guidelines are a necessary prerequisite for the effective delivery of its mission statement, as detailed in the departmental self-assessment report. These published 'policies and regulations' are designed to help us all, students, technicians and academics alike, to make fair and informed decisions.

Obligations 

1. Teaching Personnel

Staff members in the Department strive, to the best of their abilities, to be accessible and open to the needs of students. This includes the holding of regular office-hours during term time, the publication of course outlines as well as feedback on those essays, reports and oral presentations that form part of the continuous assessment of a particular course. Members of staff also agree to write letters of recommendations upon request, if these latter are received well before any deadlines and accompanied by a recent CV. We would advise that the Dissertation supervisor be contacted initially with such requests.

2. Students

It is the obligation of students to attend lectures, to communicate clearly with those lecturers responsible for their courses, to honour office hours and to submit course work requirements on time. When using Departmental or University facilities or when on field classes, students need to act responsibly at all times. It is the responsibility of students regularly to consult the respective notice boards and to check their e-mail accounts.

Responsibilities

1 BA, 2 BA and 3/4 BA Tutors are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the syllabus, as it operates in each of the three (or four) year programmes.

Course Convenors are responsible for the teaching and assessment of individual modules.

The Departmental Administrators, Dr Siubhán Comer (3BA and 4BA) in Rm 107 and Ms Clodagh Raleigh (1BA and 2BA) in Rm 106 have overall responsibility for module/examination registration, coursework submissions, medical records and disciplinary matters.

Communicating with staff members: e-mail policy

For all communications with staff members, do make sure to consult all materials on the departmental webpages and Blackboard prior to e-mailing additional questions that you may have. Also, please make sure to e-mail in advance to arrange any personal meeting with staff members outside of office hours. When writing an e-mail regarding your course or any university business it is important to be professional and concise. For example, you should make sure that your opening address conveys a professional tone; e.g. Dear. If writing to a member of teaching staff, please ensure that your e-mail includes your name, student ID and the name/code of the class you are participating in. Please be aware that due to the large number of e-mails received by teaching staff on a daily basis it takes on average 3-5 days to respond to student questions; i.e. do not e-mail staff members for an extension to course work the night before an assignment is due. Please also be mindful when composing your e-mail. Poor spelling and grammar indicates a lack of attention to detail and sends the wrong message about you; please read over your message before you send it. Finally, please check your e-mail account regularly as this is one of the main ways for the university or a lecturer to contact you. Please ensure that your formal college e-mail account is not full as messages will bounce back to the sender.

Special Needs

Geography recognises that each student is an individual and that some students have special needs arising out of particular circumstances. Every effort will be made to accommodate individual circumstances. In the absence of a University-wide recognition of special needs, it is the responsibility of individual students properly to communicate their situation to the Head of Geography.

Course Weightings 

All courses in Geography, with the exception of the final year dissertation carry a weighting of 5 ECTS credits. This is the equivalent of 24 lectures per semester (for 2, 3 and 4BA students) or per Academic Year (for 1BA students). An additional practical component of 12 hours per semester applies to all courses. Courses are normally assessed in a number of mutually compatible ways:

EITHER

through a three-hour written paper during the examination period;

OR

through a 90 minutes written paper during the examination PLUS one 3-4000 word essay;

OR

through a 90 minutes written paper during the examination PLUS one 1-2000 word report PLUS an oral presentation OR a field-class report

OR

through any combination of the elements indicated in this document that does not exceed the work-load and expectations enshrined in the examples above.

Other options applicable to individual courses include multiple-choice examinations, field-class reports or continuous assessment in the form of essays exclusively.

During the first year, students are expected to complete 15 credits while the second and third (or forth) year comprise a total of 30 credits each. In addition to attending lectures and practicals as detailed in the handout for each course, students are expected to leave adequate time for readings and the writing of course assignments. Typically, we would expect 2-3 hours of additional work for each hour spend in a lecture environment.

Coursework

We expect each and every piece of coursework to be original in character and also submissions MUST be accommpanied by the departmental cover sheet. Materials submitted on e-mail will NOT be accepted for reasons of authenticity. If there are exceptional cases where e-mail submissions are agreed with members of staff, an exact hard copy must also be submitted. Quotations or other forms of intellectual “borrowing” must be clearly identified as such. This applies to books, journal articles, reports, data, maps, web pages, newspaper clippings and other forms of published sources. Failure adequately to identify sources will be penalised according to the severity of the plagiarism identified. If in doubt, students should consult with the convenor of a particular course.

Course Grades

Grade Criteria

NUI Grade Descriptors

The Department fully adheres to and is bound by the 'Marks & Standards' and 'Grade Descriptors' published by the NUI and College of Arts. The following criteria are not exclusive and do not comprise comprehensive attempts to describe key characteristics of particular grade classes. In practice, a final class is mostly determined by elements taken from more than one class category where on balance the examiner is convinced of the overall qualities embedded in the attempt.

First Class

A first class answer or essay will, by definition, be one that is outstandingly good for the level of knowledge that can reasonably be expected. It has a thoughtful structure, a clear message displaying personal reflection informed by both direct use of innovatively used primary material and wide-reading of scholarly literature and good grasp of detail. Answers in this category also integrate fitting examples into the overall structure. It has no major errors or omissions and is professionally presented, including the use of a scholarly apparatus. A high first is expected to display originality and excellence throughout.

Upper Second Class

An upper second class answer or essay will be very sound but not exceptional. Generally, it shows sound understanding of both principles and details of the topic. Essentially, it presents a competently constructed answer to clearly identified problems and questions through the use of critically evaluated secondary sources and clearly defined concepts. It is supported by examples which are demonstrably well understood. The presentation follows a logical and coherent structure, is accessibly presented, reasonably comprehensive and demonstrates analytical abilities.

Lower Second Class

A lower second class answer or essay is a substantially correct attempt that shows an understanding of basic principles at work. It displays an acceptable level of competence, is generally accurate and clearly presented, but may contain some errors and omissions and does not, on the whole, develop an argument to support its conclusions. Often, a lower second class attempt is based largely on class notes. The work will generally be coherently written but flawed, with disjointed arguments, perhaps in parts inconsistent and with errors of grammar, spelling, citations and references

Third Class

A third class answer or essay will be satisfactory at best. It may display a basic understanding of the main issues but is generally not coherently or correctly presented. It is largely descriptive, misses key points, may contain important inaccuracies and covers material sparsely. A key omission for a third class attempt is often the lack of support for many assertions, be it through the use of secondary, authoritative sources or through evidence.

Pass

An attempt is deemed to have passed if it displays third class characteristics throughout the answer or essay and consistently falls short of consistency, structure and content. Quite often, this takes the form of mere notes or extremely short, unconnected paragraphs. Arguments may be biased, muddled or naive, and sections of the work may be irrelevant. An overall lack of direction is apparent and the examiner is asked to tie in loose ends.

Fail

A fail is an unacceptable answer or essay. It consists of an attempt that typically contains very little of substance, almost no appropriate or accurate material and covers the basic material in a cursory manner only. Often, it is poorly presented, does little to develop an argument and draws from banal sources.  

While the criteria above attach to all courses taught in the Department, a number of courses – notably the Dissertation Research Proposal and the actual Dissertation – set out more specific aims and objectives. These can be found on the relevant webpages.

Breach of exam regulations

In line with strict university directives, when a student is found in breach of exam regulations and a "0" is applied to the affected module, the student may repeat the examination if a repeat sitting is allowed by the Marks and Standards for the programme. However, the mark for the repeat examination will be capped at 40%.

Late Submissions

Students who have received a fail mark in Semester 1 modules because they have not submitted assigments will be permitted to submit this work up to March 10th (the Semester 1 mark will be revised and the student may not have to repeat the module in August). Usual late submission penalties will apply. All Late work should be submitted to Dr Siubhán Comer, Rm 107 Geography by March 10th 3.00pm. Students who submit after this date will be considered part of the repeat sitting August Board meeting.

Coursework submitted after any deadline has expired will be penalised in accordance with departmental policy by the following marks (out of 100) being deducted from the grade:

Extenuating circumstances such as illness, bereavement or other serious problems need to be communicated to the course convenor before the expiration of any deadline adversely affected.

Deferrals are not granted by the Department but can only be approved by the Dean of Arts. 

Sick Notes

Sick notes should be handed in to the College Office in the Arts Millenium Building. 

1st year - Catherine McCurry (e-mail: catherine.mccurrynuigalway.ie)
2nd and 3rd year - Deirdre Finan (e-mail:  deirdre.finannuigalway.ie)

Semesterisiation and Capping

All courses taught in the Department are fully semesterised with the exception of the 3/4BA Dissertation which extends across both semesters in the final year. All optional courses are capped to ensure equal access to lecturers during term time.

Repeat Examination

In the case of repeat examinations where students have failed a particular course, students are obliged to submit outstanding pieces of coursework prior to the examination period. Failed submission will thus result in a substantively lower mark and carries the risk of failing the particular course.

Laboratory Guidelines 

Students are expected to behave in a collegial and responsible fashion when using Departmental Laboratories. Inappropriate use of computers or other tools will be penalised.

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