SMS MSc Student Handbook 2020/2021 (Jan 2021 Start)

• Read this handbook carefully at the start of the year and refer to it later if you have a question about your course.
• Monitor email communications from SMS staff sent to your qmul.ac.uk email address.
• Check the School QMplus landing page and the student information notice boards in the Mathematical Sciences offices regularly.
• Visit your advisor at the start of your course, and answer any email from your advisor promptly.
  
• Keep your advisor informed of your circumstances and any problems you may experience.
• Keep your full contact details up to date in MySIS.
• Submit all exercises required for each module by the stated deadline.
• Inform the module organiser if you withdraw from a module or start a module late.
• Ensure you are registered for the correct degree programme, which should be the one you were originally accepted for unless you have explicitly changed it.
• Ensure that you prearrange and respect appointments made with your adviser and lecturers; please see Contact Information.
• Respect Queen Mary policy on harassment, which states that all members of Queen Mary are entitled to work within an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect and where harassment of any kind is unacceptable.
• Don't smoke except in designated areas.

Updating Personal Details

It is important that Queen Mary has up-to-date personal details for all students. You can update your address and contact details online using MySIS, although a change of name must be done in person at the Student Enquiry Centre in room CB02 of the Queens' Building with accompanying identification. Please also ensure you notify the Maths Office so that we can update our departmental records.

Communication

Queen Mary will communicate with you in a variety of ways. Formal correspondence will be sent to you by electronic letter, and it is important that you keep Queen Mary up to date with your personal details and address. You can do this online via the MySIS record system: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysis-record/index.html.

It is most common for the school/institute, Queen Mary and the Students’ Union to contact you by your Queen Mary email. You are assigned a university email address when you enrol, and you are responsible for checking this account on a daily basis. All major notifications and updates will be sent to you by email first.

You can access your email account by logging on to a Queen Mary computer, or, if you are not on campus, at: http://mail.qmul.ac.uk.

Email Etiquette

Email is often the best way to contact Queen Mary staff, but you must use your Queen Mary email account and, in the email body, include both your full name (as registered with Queen Mary) and your 9-digit student number. Use standard and correct English with correct capitalisation; you should avoid using abbreviations or colloquialisms. Save "txtspk" for friends and family! Address staff by their title and surname: for example, Prof Gnedin, Dr Phillips, Ms/Mr/Mrs/Miss Ng. You can check staff titles on the School of Mathematical Sciences web pages, here. If you are replying to an email then please include a copy of that email.

If you follow the above requirements then you can reasonably expect an acknowledgement within about two working days and a full reply within about five working days during term time, but responses may take longer during vacations. If you do not follow the above requirements then we may ignore your email.

• How (not) to write an email to a member of staff - a pictorial guide

Requesting References

If you want an academic reference for a job or further study, you should normally ask your advisor. If you need a second reference, you should ask another member of academic staff who knows you and your work well, but they may refuse.

You should always ask a member of staff well in advance whether they are willing to act as a referee before naming them on an application form. If you ask them by email then you must follow the email etiquette above. If you need letters of reference (rather than just names of referees), you should allow about two weeks for your referees to write them and referees may refuse to provide references with less than one week's notice.

Code of Conduct

The Code of Student Discipline applies to any action of misconduct whether it takes place on or off Queen Mary premises. The Code also applies to actions that are electronic and occur via electronic means such as (but not limited to) the internet, email, social media sites, chat rooms or text messages.

It is important that when using dedicated PGT resources situated within the School of Mathematical Sciences that you respect the environment.  Mathematical Sciences Building MB-302 (the Maths PGT IT Lab)] is dedicated to PGT and final year MSci students, who can access the room via card-entry access doors.  You must not let other students access these facilities at any time. 

Zero Tolerance campaign

In support of its values, Queen Mary takes a zero tolerance approach to all forms of behaviour from staff, students or visitors that might violate the dignity of others. Zero tolerance means that Queen Mary will never tolerate, condone or ignore bullying, harassment or hate crime of any kind. All members of Queen Mary have a collective responsibility to: encourage a culture of dignity and respect; to treat others fairly, with courtesy and consideration; and to challenge inappropriate behaviour when it is safe to do so. More information on the Zero Tolerance campaign can be found here: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/zerotolerance/  

REPORT + SUPPORT

Report + Support: tackling harassment, gender-based violence and hate crime

Queen Mary is committed to creating an environment for work and study where staff and students are treated with dignity and respect.  We have no place for bullying, harassment and hate. We recognise that these behaviours can take many forms.  Any allegation of harassment, hate crime, bullying or victimisation will be treated seriously, regardless of the seniority of those involved, and anyone found to have behaved unacceptably may be the subject of disciplinary action subject to the processes detailed in the relevant Queen Mary policies.

 

Report + Support is our secure online platform for anyone at Queen Mary to report harassment, gender-based violence or hate crime, and find out about support options. If you have experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, violence or hate crime, please see reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk. 

 

All members of Queen Mary have a collective responsibility to: encourage a culture of dignity and respect; to treat others fairly, with courtesy and consideration; and to challenge inappropriate behaviour when it is safe to do so. More information can be found here: https://reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk/campaigns/our-commitment.

Personal Information and Data Protection

During application and at (re-)enrolment you provide us with personal information about yourself such as relevant addresses and information about your background, which is held in systems such as MySIS. It’s important that you ensure this information is accurate and keep it up to date. Throughout your studies (or after you graduate) you may also provide, or we may collect, other personal information and you should be aware that this also includes any work you submit for assessment in the course of your studies. Tutors may occasionally use anonymised student essays (or portions from them) as part of the teaching process. We hope you will be willing to support your fellow students by allowing this, but you may opt out by contacting your school office. Other markers of engagement are monitored to help support students.

We ensure that all personal data is held securely and not disclosed to third parties without your consent, unless we are obliged to do so by law - for example the annual student record that we submit to the Higher Education Statistics Agency - or other conditions allow. 

HESA requires us to collect details of our students’ ethnicities and disabilities as a means of monitoring the success of equal opportunities policies at a national level. This information is kept confidential and helps us to provide you with support and information on facilities and services that may be useful.

When you enrol or re-enrol online you will be asked to read a privacy notice about the purposes for which we use your personal data and to whom we may disclose it when required. You must read this declaration carefully. All personal data is maintained in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation   For more information, visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/privacy/ and/or contact QMUL’s Data Protection Officer via data-protection@qmul.ac.uk.

Use of Mobile Phones

Please do not use your mobile phone or allow your mobile phone to make any sound in lectures, classes, the library, computing laboratories or staff offices. If you do then a member of staff may ask you to leave. You must switch off your mobile phone in all tests and examinations. Allowing a mobile phone which is on your person to ring during a test or an examination is a disciplinary offence that will normally lead to failure in the test or examination with a mark of zero, with more severe penalties for a second offence.