QMUL 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 of Politics and International Relations, QMUL and the Students’ Union to contact you by your QMUL 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 at your QMUL email first.

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

You are also advised to check the plasma screen and notice boards in the School foyer for information on undergraduate news and events, postgraduate news and events, careers, and Staff-Student Liaison Committee minutes.

Detailed information on the following can be found on the Undergraduate area of QMPlus:

We are also active on Social Media: the School of Politics and International Relations has a Facebook and Twitter page.

Connect with us to receive all the latest news, upcoming events and important announcements immediately!

Follow us: https://twitter.com/qmpoliticsir?lang=en

We hope that you will enjoy your time with the School. However, if you do experience a problem, we aim to solve this quickly and simply.

Full details on the Schools Student Complaints Policy and the more formal process of Queen Mary, can be found below.

In essence, if you have a complaint you should raise this with the member of staff concerned. If you do not feel able to approach the member of staff concerned you should talk with your Personal Adviser or the Senior Tutor.

You can make an appointment to see the School Manager or the Head of School to discuss the matter further, if you feel the above approach did not resolve your issue.

You are reminded that issues which affect a whole group of students should be brought to the attention of the School’s Student Staff Liaison Committee. Equally, each School has Course Reps who are elected through the Student Union. Details of Course Reps for the School can be found on the Student Union website - http://www.qmsu.org/coursereps/

If your issue is not resolved through the informal process then you will need to complete the Stage 1 complaint form and submit this for investigation under the Student Complaints Policy:

http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/complaints/index.html

Most complaints are resolved at Stage 1 but if your matter is still not resolved then there are two further stages to the policy, which are the institutional level and review stage.

 When the complaint process is finished you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter explaining the final decision and the reasons for it.

 Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA)

If you are unhappy with the outcome of an appeal or complaint then you may submit a complaint to the OIA within 12 months of receiving your Completion of Procedures letter. The OIA is the independent body set up to review student complaints and is free to students. For further information regarding the OIA please visit their website: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/

Compulsory Year Abroad

SPIR offers four year programmes that involve spending the full third-year studying at a carefully selected overseas institution.

If you are taking a degree which involves a full-year studying abroad, whilst the year abroad does not count towards your overall degree classification, you must pass this third-year to remain registered on your degree.  To pass the year abroad you must pass the equivalent of 105 credits and maintain an average of 40.0.  If you fail the year abroad, when you return to Queen Mary you will be changed to the relevant three year programme.

Optional Semester Abroad

Students may spend semester A or semester B of their second-year studying at a carefully selected overseas institution.

The grades that you obtain from your semester abroad will be converted into equivalent credit values and grades at Queen Mary  according to approved conversions and these will be used to contribute to your overall second-year results. Overall the second-year contributes to 30% of the final degree classification.

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.

http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/complaints/

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. 

Dates to remember: 2021/22

Key QMUL dates are available on the ARCS homepage (www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk) and here: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/calendar/

Attendance

All undergraduate students are expected to attend scheduled taught sessions including lectures, practical classes, group work, workshops, tutorials, seminars, field work, computer lab sessions, problem-solving classes, exercise classes, lab sessions, project meetings, and other events which are associated with the modules for which they are registered as part of their programme of study.

Registers are taken for each seminar, and persistent non-attendance at seminars and failure to submit coursework may lead to de-registration from your programme and termination of your enrolment with Queen Mary. You are expected to be available to attend classes 9am - 6pm Monday to Friday.

It is a College requirement that you must supply a medical certificate for illness that lasts longer than five days.

It is your responsibility to regularly check your email and QMPlus announcements for notifications concerning changes to the timetable, so that you are always aware of when and where your seminars are scheduled.  Persistent non-attendance – whether for good reason or not – may affect your ability to pass a module successfully. If you do not pass sufficient modules to progress you will be required to take late summer resits and should you still not pass sufficient modules after these resits and if you have further attempts remaining, you will be registered to resit ‘out of attendance’ the following academic year. This means that you do not return to full time study until you have re-sat and passed sufficient modules to progress.

If the School notes that you are achieving low marks on your modules you may be asked to meet with your adviser to discuss your studies. However, you are always welcome to discuss all aspects of you studies with your adviser.  If you have any concerns it is better to seek advice from your adviser sooner than later.

• Persistent non-attendance in seminars

• Non submission of assessment

If you miss 3 seminars in the same semester on a single module, you will be sent a warning email and asked to meet with your Personal Adviser to explain the reason for your absences. It is essential that you do so, as we will only be able to support/advise you when we know more about any problems you are experiencing which may be affecting your attendance and engagement.

We can only help if you are forthcoming and willing to put in the effort to improve your engagement. We recommend all students take advantage of the support and services available to them within the School and the College. If your absences persist and you miss 5 seminars in one semester, on a single module you will be sent a final warning and given one last chance to make a case to your Personal Adviser before being deregistered from that module. You may be required to submit evidence of your circumstances in order to support your claim.

De-registration may lead to termination of your enrolment with Queen Mary.

NOTE

While absence from one or two seminars or lectures owing to illness or family emergency is understandable, you must have attended seminars in order to achieve the learning outcomes of a module – regardless of the circumstances

If you are unable to attend a seminar for a good reason, such as illness, you should let your seminar tutor and the School Office (politics@qmul.ac.uk) know in advance, so that the absence can be noted as authorised. When you return, you should see your seminar tutor to discuss how to catch up with missed work.

If you have had a series of absences, you may be required to produce a medical certificate to confirm that your absences have been due to medical problems. If such medical issues persist indefinitely you may be required to submit a medical note to confirm you are fit enough to attend university.

If ongoing circumstances are affecting your ability to attend seminars and you are therefore unable to successfully complete a module, you should contact either your Personal Adviser, Senior Tutor or Student Support officers.

Tuition Fee deregistration

When you enrol or re-enrol at the start of each academic year you agree to QMUL’s Tuition Fee Regulations, https://www.qmul.ac.uk/tuition-fee-regulations/, which set the deadlines for paying tuition fees. Failure to pay your tuition fees by these deadlines may lead to your deregistration from your programme of study, under College Ordinance C3 http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/governance/council/charter/

The School of Politics and International Relations supports the right of lecturers and seminar tutors who wish, for pedagogical reasons, to ask students to shut down/put away electronic devices during class.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK – School of Politics and International Relations

INTRODUCTION

For the timely and effective administration of support, the School wishes to use the following markers of student engagement. This is to ensure that students are well supported and given every opportunity to progress with their studies and to achieve to their fullest potential whilst here.

1.         MARKERS OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

1.1       Attendance: All undergraduate students are expected to attend scheduled taught sessions including lectures, practical classes, group work, workshops, tutorials, seminars, field work, computer lab sessions, problem-solving classes, exercise classes, lab sessions, project meetings, and other events which are associated with the modules for which they are registered as part of their programme of study.  If you miss 3 seminars in the same semester on a single module, you will be sent a warning email and asked to meet with your Personal Adviser to explain the reasons for your absences.  If your absences persist and you miss 5 seminars in one semester, on a single module you will be sent a final warning and given one last chance to make a case to your Personal Adviser.  You may be required to submit evidence of your circumstances in order to support your claim.

1.2       Coursework Submission: All undergraduate students are expected to submit reports, exercises essays, and other pieces of coursework associated with each module for which they are registered as part of their programme of study, by the individually advertised deadlines and method of submission.

1.3       Participation in Formative Assessments: All undergraduate students are expected to participate in a range of activities (with or without the allocation of marks) that help to inform teaching and learning during the learning process. Examples of such activities are subject related quizzes, or exercises linked to module materials on QMPlus.

1.4       Marks from Summative Assessments: All undergraduate students are expected to participate in a range of activities assessing the outcomes of a learning process. Provisional and/or confirmed marks allocated from such summative assessments e.g weekly tests, coursework,and Examinations, often contribute to the overall module grade and programme degree classification.

1.5       Other Student Engagement Activities: All undergraduate students are expected to participate in a range of formal or informal activities that signify continued engagement with their programme of study. Examples of such activities are scheduled meetings with Personal Tutors/Academic Advisors, and group work

2          ACTION FOLLOWING IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS WHO MAY REQUIRE SUPPORT

2.1      Actions by Schools are designed to support students to engage or re-engage with their study programme. The underpinning principles are that the School, once it has admitted a student to a programme of study, has a duty of care to that student, whilst in turn the student has a responsibility to engage with the available support. In such cases, support will be designed by the School around the needs of the individual student.

2.2       A student identified as approaching or falling below the minimum requirements of engagement set by their School will be contacted alerting them to this, outlining support mechanisms to deal with the issues that may be contributing to this.

2.3       Once a student is identified as in need of support in order to re-engage with their studies, they will be invited to a meeting with their Personal Tutor/Academic Advisor to discuss issues that might be affecting their studies, and for the provision of encouragement/advice (with possible referral to QMUL support services if necessary). The first port of call is the Personal Tutor/Academic Advisor, who in turn may liaise with the Senior Tutor and the School’s Student Support/Experience Manager. In exceptional circumstances, a senior member of the School team, such as the Head of Department or the Head of School, may be involved in this process.

2.4       The School will always try to help students who are experiencing problems, but we cannot do so if we are not kept informed of them. If there are factors making a student’s engagement with their programme difficult, it is essential that the student discusses these with their Personal Tutor/Academic Advisor, or an appropriate person in the School, at an early stage. This will give us the opportunity to intervene and provide the necessary support.