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IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR STUDENTS
Students should read these notes carefully if enrolling in a CSE course for the first time in either semester this year. You are also required to accept these conditions and acknowledge receipt of the information online before your computer account can be activated.
This document contains the following sections:
ACCEPT YELLOW FORM AND ACTIVATE ACCOUNT
(Student/staff numbers and UNIPASS are necessary for logging in)
RESPONSIBLE USE OF LABORATORIES
The workstation laboratories are usually comfortable areas in which to work, but in order to maintain the working environment the full co-operation of all students is essential. Computing resources are made available only to support the academic enrolment program of the student. A full copy of the University's Acceptable Use of Computing and Information Technologies (ICT) can be found at:
http://www.its.unsw.edu.au/policies/policies_home.html
Be advised that the following are not allowed:
- Letting others use your account. You remain at all times responsible for any action performed under your user ID.
- Eating and drinking in the labs is not allowed; and any food, drinks or containers must be kept in a bag and out of sight. The equipment is far too susceptible to accidents to allow for any exceptions.
- Attempting to interfere with the equipment in any way (including rebooting computers, tampering with occupied power or network outlets). Vandalism, theft or wilful damage will be referred to the police.
- Tampering with other users' accounts in any way on the School, UNSW or any other system. This includes trying to thwart the system security, setting password traps, or other antisocial behaviour.
- Using other students' accounts in order to gain access privileges or booking tokens or other resources to which you are not entitled.
- Using the facilities for commercial purposes.
- Using the facilities for preparing, storing, displaying, receiving or transmitting racist, pornographic or other offensive or illegal material.
- Storing copyright material in a publicly accessible place.
- Any activities that impact adversely on other users, for example, excess noise, printing huge files, running many processes, creating excessive network links (either directly or indirectly) or otherwise blocking resources or being disruptive in the laboratories.
- Being inside the facilities outside official opening times (this applies whether or not your student ID card allows you access).
- Not complying with a directive by the laboratory supervisors or other staff.
- Any activities that impact adversely on users outside the School, or that adversely affect the School's or University's image or reputation. This includes disseminating or making available racist, pornographic or other offensive or illegal material, or any activity likely to overload any computer or network link.
- Any action that results in a complaint from an external party will be considered a serious offence.
Users found indulging in such activities will be subject to disciplinary action, including fines ranging from $50 to $400 or more. Serious or repeated offences can result in students being, suspended from use of facilities, or being excluded from the University. This is not meant to imply that you can't experiment with the network facilities.
However, if you want to experiment with any network or security facility, you must first discuss it with the Manager, Computing Facilities.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY & ACCOUNTABILITY
Each student is responsible for complying with all legislation and all UNSW OHS policies, procedures and instructions. The full policies, guidelines and procedures are available at http://www.hr.unsw.edu.au/ohswc/ohs/ohs_policies.html. To prevent back, neck and arm pain when using your computer, some guidelines are recommended and they can be found at http://do.cse.unsw.edu.au/students/ergonomics/ergoadjust.html.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING, WORK EXPERIENCE, & INSURANCE
All students enrolled in an Engineering degree program offered by the School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), UNSW must undertake at least 60 days of Industrial Training (IT) as part of their program. This IT must be paid employment. Full details are available on the IT website:
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/IT/
As CSE does not recognise unpaid work experience with companies as satisfying program requirements, the University does not offer insurance cover to CSE students for participation in unpaid work. Further, companies are not required to have insurance for unpaid work experience either. Thus, legal liability will lie solely with the student in the case of unpaid work.
Students are strongly advised *not* to participate in unpaid work, or if unpaid work is undertaken, we strongly advise students to take out adequate personal liability insurance. It should be noted, however, that this insurance is likely to be very costly.
Students should note that legal advice is available for free to student members of professional associations. For example, APESMA offers free student membership, and legal advice on contracts and employment conditions. More details on the benefits and costs of membership with some professional associations can be found at:
ORIGINALITY OF ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSIONS
The UNIX Primer includes an important discussion of the School policy on assignments. Assignments must be substantially your own work.
- You must not copy from someone, with or without his or her knowledge or consent.
- You must not get so much help from a fellow student that your work resembles theirs.
- You must not give your assignment work to a fellow student. Note that in some courses, collaborative work is explicitly allowed.
- You may use algorithms, etc. from the literature, but you must acknowledge the source and author by an appropriate citation.
If you contravene these rules, you are liable to a penalty. This penalty is determined by the lecturer, and might take the form of reduced marks for the assignment, or zero marks for the assignment, or negative marks for the assignment, or zero marks for the course, depending on the severity of the offence.
These rules are not designed to isolate you from other students, but to ensure that marks are a fair reflection of each student's work. You are encouraged to discuss assignment problems and possible solutions with your friends, but you must independently compose your solution in its final form. If in doubt, err on the side of caution, or consult your lecturer.
Note that plagiarism checking may not be conducted until the end of the teaching semester, when the class administrator or lecturer has the time to do it. Students found guilty of plagiarism in more than one assignment at that time are regarded as having committed multiple offences under the UNSW discipline rules, and thus may find themselves subject to immediate expulsion from the University.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION – ILLNESS & MISADVENTURE
On some occasion sickness, misadventure, or other circumstance beyond your control may prevent you from completing a course requirement or attending or submitting assessable work for a course. Such assessable requirements may include formal end of semester examination, class test, laboratory test, seminar presentation, etc. It is also possible that such situations may significantly affect your performance in an assessable task. The University has procedures that allow you to apply for consideration for the affected assessments. Depending on the circumstances, the University may take action to allow you to overcome the disadvantage eg. give you additional assessment or extend a deadline.
You should note that merely submitting a request for Consideration does not automatically mean that you will be granted additional assessment, or that you will be awarded an amended result. For example, if you have a poor record of attendance or performance throughout a semester/year in a course you may be failed regardless of illness or other reason affecting a final examination in that course.
The University has a centralised procedure for Consideration applications. You should consult UNSW Student Central for an official statement on this procedure.
The full University policy on special consideration can be found here:
https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/SpecialConsideration.html
Be aware that you must make formal application for Consideration for the course/s affected as soon as practicable after the problem occurs and within three working days of the assessment to which it refers. The application must be made on the 'Request for Consideration' form available from UNSW Student Central, program and course offices, or you can download a copy of the form (pdf format). The completed application form must be submitted to UNSW Student Central.
The School of CSE does not give special consideration for work related purposes. All students are expected to give priority to their university studies.
CSE SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT POLICY
If an application for illness or misadventure is accepted by UNSW Student Central and forwarded to the School, the following action may ensue:
- No action – if the illness or misadventure is not considered severe.
- Additional assessment or a supplementary examination. Additional assessment may take a different form from the original. If you are granted additional assessment, the original assessment may be ignored at the discretion of the Lecturer in Charge. Consequently, a revised mark based on additional assessment may be greater or less than the original mark.
- Marks obtained for completed assessment tasks may be aggregated or averaged to achieve a percentage.
- The deadline for assessment may be extended.
Applications from students, who claim to have been affected by an illness during an exam, may be considered very closely to the following criteria and offered supplementary assessment or exam; if
- the student's composite mark in the course is less than 50; and
- the student has submitted a fully documented request for Special Consideration to UNSW Student Central within three working days of the exam; and
- the student has been affected by the problem for more than three consecutive days, or a total of five days during the semester; and
- the medical or other evidence is clearly of a nature to affect the student's performance seriously. Minor ailments like a cold, headache - unless chronic or severe enough to require prescribed medication - or feeling 'unwell' does not excuse a poor result; and
- the student's performance during the semester, particularly in any mid-semester test has been of a satisfactory standard. Students who fail such a test badly will not be granted further assessment. Assignment and laboratory marks may not carry much weight in determining whether further assessment is warranted; and
- the student did not attend the exam due to illness or circumstance beyond their control, which is certified as being severe enough to have prevented their attendance; or
- the student attended the exam but prior to it had an illness or other circumstance beyond their control, which, because of its duration or severity, is certified as having a significant effect on their preparation for the course.
The term certified refers to the submission of a document reliably endorsed, such as a medical certificate. E.g. if the student is ill during an exam period, the medical certificate must state the illness and dates the student was affected, the severity of the illness, and the impact on the student's ability to prepare for or sit for an exam.
Note: In all of these cases if the student has attained a pass in the course concerned from assessment tasks completed during semester, it may not be regarded as necessary to grant additional assessment.
The following illustrates further examples to give an indication of the outcomes students can expect in the most common circumstances. (Many Lecturers include similar examples for the special types of assessment used by them in their course information sheets.)
Class tests, laboratory examinations, vivas, etc:
The same types of outcomes as outlined above for formal end of semester examinations normally will apply in the circumstances listed.
Assignments: essays, reports, projects, etc:
If an illness or other circumstance beyond your control occurs which, because of its duration or severity, is certified as having a significant effect on your ability to submit the work by the deadline given, you will generally be granted an extension of the deadline. You should not, however, expect the deadline to be extended for a time in excess of the period for which the certification was given.
In the above circumstances students should follow the University's Special Consideration Procedure before contacting their Lecturer in charge with a copy of the documentation regarding their illness or misadventure. In the case of assignments, individual arrangements should be made between the Lecturer in Charge and the student.
SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT DATES
Assessment Dates and further information:
| Semester 1: |
Wednesday 15 July |
8:45am TBA |
| Semester 2: |
Wednesday 2 December |
8:45am TBA |
Note: These date may be subject to change and will be confirmed prior to the start of Semester 1
There will be NO further supplementary dates. |
A WC or WD code for your result in the course indicates further assessment or that the lecturer in charge needs to speak with the student. All students will receive notification regarding the purpose of their withheld mark (eg. see LiC, oral exam, sup exam, other assessment) via email to their CSE account at least 1-2 days prior to the supplementary exam. The Student Office, however, will endeavour to make this information available as soon as the Assessment Committees have made the decision (usually one week prior to the supplementary exam). If you have submitted a request for special consideration, it is your responsibility to check your email during that period, and to be prepared to complete an exam and/or other assessment on the dates indicated above. You will NOT be sent a letter or other advice. You are not entitled to extra study assistance, or extra study time. If you are still too ill to attend the supplementary exam (and you have documentary evidence indicating the seriousness of the problem) at the discretion of the lecturer only you may sit for the next final examination in this course. Students may not enrol in any course for which the unresolved course is a prerequisite.
The supplementary examination may take a different form from the usual final examination in a course, possibly including oral and/or practical components held on a day prior to the written component as advised by individual course administrators. Students are expected to perform at a higher standard in the supplementary exam than that established in the final, in consideration of the additional preparation time. Any scaling procedures used to benefit the class as a whole during the normal assessment period may not be applied to supplementary results. If you have been granted further assessment for two courses, you will have to complete both on the same day - the first one in course number sequence in the morning and the second one in the afternoon. Bring your lunch, as you will be supervised for the period (about an hour) between them. If you have only one supplementary exam, you must attend in the morning.
ACADEMIC STANDING
What is Academic Standing?
Academic Standing is an indication of a student's current progress towards completion of their Program. At the end of each semester an academic standing is assigned to each student. This is calculated according to the proportion of load passed (undergraduate students), or cumulative number of failures (postgraduate students). Research and non-award students do not participate in the Academic Standing scheme. The Program Authority assigns an adviser to each student not in good standing.
Students are strongly advised to check the information about Academic Standing and what to do if their Academic Standing is something else other than GOOD: https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/AcademicStanding.html
Overview
Academic Standing has many levels. All students start with GOOD standing, but continued poor progress can lead to other standing levels, each with its own implications for their progress towards completion of their Program.
Academic Standing is displayed on the Results Summary screen available via 'my UNSW'. For information on how to view your academic standing on myUNSW see: https://my.unsw.edu.au/help/ACT/results_summary.html
RESPONSIBLE USE OF ONLINE SERVICES - myUNSW
On-line enrolment gives you greater flexibility in how and when you enrol, and also to some extent in what classes you may enrol in. With this flexibility comes the responsibility to ensure that you enrol in accordance with the University's rules and that the courses you enrol in will count towards your program requirements. You should take care to enrol only in classes, which are defined as core units or electives for your academic program. If you enrol in classes, which cannot be counted, you may have to enrol in extra classes, or for an extra semester. You may also incur additional fees.
If you are in any doubt as to whether the courses you wish to enrol in will count towards your program requirements, seek advice from your program office prior to enrolment. Your program office will not give you credit for courses, which are not formally approved.
While myUNSW may allow enrolment with timetable clashes, the School of CSE does not; you will need to check your timetables carefully. CSE timetables are available at: http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/courses/index.html
EVACUATION DRILL
Evacuation exercises are conducted in most buildings at least once a year. If you are advised that an evacuation is in progress, immediately stop what you are doing, gather your personal belongings, and proceed to the nearest stairwell.
DO NOT USE THE LIFTS. Obey all directions by Emergency Staff (they are the ones wearing coloured hats).
ACCEPT YELLOW FORM AND ACTIVATE ACCOUNT
(Student/staff numbers and UNIPASS are necessary for logging in)
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