No 6288
Wednesday 5 December 2012
Vol cxliii No 11
pp. 191–211
The General Board give notice that, following a review of administrative arrangements, and with the concurrence of the Board of Graduate Studies, and Degree Committees offering the Degree, they have approved amendment of the General Regulations for the Master of Studies to remove the requirement for 240 hours of formal instruction (Regulation 4); to introduce an exit award for candidates who do not complete the requirements for the Degree; and to transfer responsibility for approval of admissions from the Board of Graduate Studies to the Strategic Committee of the Institute of Continuing Education.
In addition, the regulations have been brought into line with those for the M.Phil. Degree to allow oral examinations to be conducted by video-conference. The opportunity has also been taken to update the wording of the regulations to bring the regulations into line with established practice.
Amended regulations for the examination, applicable to students admitted from 1 October 2012 onwards, have been approved as follows:
1. The M.St. Degree shall be awarded for postgraduate study. A subject of such study, and the special regulations for each subject, shall be approved by the General Board on the recommendation of the Faculty Board or other body concerned, after consultation with the appropriate Degree Committee, and after submission to, and approval by, the Strategic Committee of the Institute of Continuing Education.
2. Applications for admission to a course of study leading to the M.St. Degree shall be sent to the Director of Continuing Education. The Director shall communicate each application for admission to the Secretary of the Degree Committee concerned with the applicant’s proposed course, having first ascertained that appropriate accommodation, if required, is available in a laboratory or elsewhere. The Degree Committee shall consider the application and shall communicate their opinion thereon to the Director. If the Degree Committee decline the application it shall fail, and the Director shall so inform the applicant. If the Degree Committee agree to recommend approval of the application, their recommendation shall be considered by the Strategic Committee of the Institute, who shall decide upon the application. Before declining an application recommended by a Degree Committee for approval the Strategic Committee shall give a representative appointed by the Degree Committee an opportunity of explaining the Committee’s reasons for their recommendation.
3. Any person may be approved for admission to a course leading to the M.St. Degree who has satisfied the Strategic Committee of the Institute, and the relevant Degree Committee that by reason of previous study he or she is qualified to engage in postgraduate work for the degree. The Strategic Committee shall determine the conditions, if any, of each applicant’s admission and shall assign to him or her a date of commencement of candidature. The Director of Continuing Education shall maintain a register of persons who have been approved as candidates for the M.St. Degree; when an applicant has been approved for admission, his or her name shall be entered on the Register.
4. A candidate for the M.St. Degree shall pursue an approved course of postgraduate study over a period of two years. Every course of study for the degree, and any amendments of it, shall be approved by the Strategic Committee, and the General Board, on the recommendation of the Faculty Board or other body concerned.
5. After considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee concerned, the Strategic Committee may allow a candidate for the degree on account of illness or other sufficient cause to intermit his or her course of study for such period as they may think fit.
6. For each course unit the Degree Committee concerned shall appoint a Supervisor for every student. Each Supervisor shall send to the Director of Continuing Education, at such intervals as may be specified by the Strategic Committee, a written report on the work of each student who is studying for the M.St. Degree under his or her direction; such reports shall be communicated to the Degree Committee concerned, to the Board of Graduate Studies, and to the student’s Tutor.
7. A student who is registered as a candidate for the M.St. Degree shall not be admitted as a candidate for any University Studentship, Scholarship, Exhibition, Prize, Medal, or other such award, which is open only to undergraduates. For the purpose of any regulation which governs the standing of candidates for any other emolument, a candidate for the M.St. Degree who is not a graduate of the University shall be deemed to have kept by residence the nine terms next preceding the first term of his or her candidature for the M.St. Degree.
8. While following a course of study leading to an examination for the M.St. Degree, a student shall pay the appropriate University Composition Fee for each year of such study.
9. The examination for the M.St. Degree shall include
(a)the submission of a thesis, of such length as shall be prescribed in the appropriate special regulations for the subject as appended to these regulations;
and
(b)either (i) written examination papers or (ii) the submission of essays, project reports, or other exercises, or (iii) any combination of these, as prescribed in the special regulations.
The special regulations for the subject may make provision for the Degree Committee to award a Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate to candidates who do not complete the full requirements for the Degree.
At the discretion of the Examiners the examination may include an oral examination on the thesis and on the general field of knowledge within which it falls as prescribed in the appropriate special regulations. Each candidate shall submit two copies of his or her thesis accompanied by two copies of a summary in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Strategic Committee of the Institute. In special circumstances the Degree Committee concerned may allow a candidate to submit only one copy of the thesis.
10. In submitting a thesis a candidate shall state, generally in a preface and specifically in notes or in a bibliography, the sources from which information has been derived, the extent to which use has been made of the work of others, and the portions of the thesis which are claimed as original.
A thesis shall not be accepted that is substantially the same as one that the candidate has submitted, or is concurrently submitting, for any other degree, diploma, or similar qualification at any university or similar institution, but they may accept a thesis which the candidate has submitted or is concurrently submitting for some other purpose. In submitting a thesis the candidate shall declare for what purpose, if any, other than for the M.St. Degree, the whole or part of it has already been or is concurrently being submitted. The thesis, apart from quotations, shall be written in English.
11. The Degree Committee concerned shall appoint such number of Examiners and Assessors as they shall deem sufficient to conduct the examination. The Assessors shall undertake such duties as the Degree Committee may decide. The Secretary of the Degree Committee shall communicate to the Director of Continuing Education the name of the Senior Examiner and the names of the Examiners and Assessors.
12. Each candidate’s thesis shall be referred by the Degree Committee to two of the Examiners, each of whom shall make an independent report thereon to the Degree Committee. Where the examination includes an oral examination, the two Examiners shall both be present at the oral examination, and shall sign a joint certificate of the result of that examination. The Degree Committee in exceptional circumstances may permit the Examiners to conduct the oral examination by video-conference or other remote means. If the Examiners do not agree in their recommendations, or if for any other reason the Degree Committee need a further opinion on the merit of a candidate’s thesis, the Degree Committee may appoint additional Examiners, provided that not more than one additional Examiner shall be appointed without the leave of the Board of Graduate Studies. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make an independent report on the thesis to the Degree Committee.
13. If the Degree Committee, at a meeting held to consider the reports of the Examiners, approve the candidate’s performance as of the requisite standard for the M.St. Degree and are of the opinion that the degree should be conferred, the Degree Committee shall communicate their resolution to the candidate, to the Strategic Committee of the Institute, and to the Secretary of the Board of Graduate Studies who shall publish a notice of the candidate’s approval for the award of the degree of Master of Studies.
14. If the Degree Committee, after consideration of a candidate’s marks and the reports of the Examiners in the prescribed examination, are of the opinion that the candidate’s work is not of the requisite standard for the degree, the Degree Committee shall communicate their resolution to the candidate, to the Secretary of the Board of Graduate Studies, and to the Strategic Committee of the Institute of Continuing Education. That resolution may include award of a Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate under regulation 9, if so permitted under the special regulations for the subject. After such a resolution has been passed, the student shall not be eligible to take the examination for the degree again.
15. If the Tutor of a candidate for the degree supplies the Board of Graduate Studies with satisfactory evidence that the candidate has been hindered by illness or other grave cause in preparing for or taking the examination or any part of the examination for the degree, and such representations are received by the Secretary of the Board not later than three months after the date on which the result of the examination was communicated by the Secretary to the candidate, the Board shall have power, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the relevant regulations,
|
either |
(a) |
to approve the candidate for the degree or other qualification without further examination, provided that no candidate shall be so approved unless the Degree Committee concerned judge him or her to have performed with credit in a substantial part of the examination, |
|
or |
(b) |
to allow the candidate to be examined or re-examined under such conditions and at such time as may be determined by the Board after consultation with the Degree Committee concerned. |
Representations received after the prescribed time limit shall not be considered. The Secretary of the Board shall communicate any decision by the Board under this regulation to the Strategic Committee of the Institute of Continuing Education.
16. The fees payable to Supervisors (Regulation 6) and to Examiners and Assessors (Regulation 11) shall be determined from time to time by the General Board on the recommendation of the Strategic Committee of the Institute of Continuing Education, who shall consult the Board of Graduate Studies before making such a recommendation.
17. Payment of travelling expenses and a subsistence allowance may be claimed by Examiners in accordance with Regulation 11 of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees.