SPIR handbook
Dear Student,
Welcome to the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London.
Whether you are studying a single honours programme of Politics or International Relations, taking the Politics and International Relations joint degree, or taking Politics modules as part of a joint degree with another subject, you are an integral part of our School during your undergraduate studies at Queen Mary.
In terms of the quality of our teaching, we have been officially recognised as delivering 'excellent' teaching in a friendly and supportive environment. Our modules cover a broad range of topics in politics and international relations: political theory, government, public policy, processes of democratisation, global development, globalisation, international security, US foreign policy and conflict management. We hope that you will find them informative, stimulating and enjoyable.
In the School of Politics and International Relations you will be part of a multicultural group of students, working alongside academic staff who are enthusiastic and innovative teachers, as well as active researchers. We will do our best to give you appropriate support and guidance throughout your undergraduate degree; it is also up to you to work hard to secure the maximum benefit from your time in the School.
Please take time to read through this Handbook which provides information relevant to your studies.
We hope that you will enjoy your time studying Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary.
Professor David Williams
Head of School
This handbook should be used together with the Academic Regulations. It provides information specific to the School of Politics and International Relations, while http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/ gives information common to all students at Queen Mary. The Academic Regulations provide detailed information on progression, award and classification requirements.
Nothing in this handbook overrides the Academic Regulations, which always take precedence.
You need to refer to the relevant Academic Regulations which are applicable to the year you started your undergraduate studies at Queen Mary. Additionally, the Assessment Handbook also provides important information on Queen Mary's assessment regulations.
The relevant Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook can be assessed via the following link:
http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/policy/
The information in this SPIR Student Handbook is correct as of September 2020. In the unlikely event of substantial amendments to the material, the School will inform you of the changes.
QM cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of information given in third party publications or websites referred to in this handbook.
SOME SECTIONS OF THIS HANDBOOK ARE SUBJECT TO FINAL REVISIONS, WHERE THIS IS THE CASE, IT IS INDICATED.
Special | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL
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Student Health ServiceThe Student
Health Service (SHS) is a free National Health Service (NHS)
providing a wide range of medical services. Registrations for the SHS can take place online, for all
students living in inner London unless for clinical reasons. The SHS on
campus is located in the Geography
Building, Mile End (number 28 on map). If you cannot register with the
SHS for clinical reasons or because you live outside inner London or if more
convenient to register with a doctor close to where you live, you can find a
list of local doctors through the NHS
website. Queen Mary students who are not registered patients may be
able to use the service in certain circumstances. Please, visit the Student Health
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TurnitinTurnitin Statement for School of Politics and International Relations Introduction Turnitin is a web-based plagiarism prevention system used by most
universities in the UK. This statement describes how Turnitin is used
within the school and the data it creates about your work. 1 How Turnitin works 1.1 A Turnitin assignment is set up by a member of staff on QMplus. You then access this assignment online and upload your work before the due date. Turnitin will analyse the submitted work to identify text matches with other sources and will compare the work against:
1.2 For each piece of submitted work Turnitin provides two things:
2 How Turnitin is used within the school 2.1 Turnitin is used on all undergraduate and post-graduate assignments that contribute towards your final grade. Turnitin will not normally be used on the following assignments:
2.2 For those assignments where Turnitin is used, all submissions to that assignment will be submitted to Turnitin. 2.3 How we use the information provided by Turnitin 2.3.1 Only academic staff will make a judgement on whether plagiarism has occurred in a piece of work. An academic may interpret the originality report to help but Turnitin itself does not make this judgement 2.3.2 Turnitin will highlight matching text such as references, quotations, common phrases and data tables within work that has no plagiarism issues at all. Those interpreting Turnitin reports will discount such matches and so initial percentages are often irrelevant. 2.3.3 Where it is suspected that plagiarism has occurred in a piece of work, the originality report may be submitted to the Head of School and possibly to an Assessment Offences Panel for further investigation. 2.4 Other things you should know 2.4.1 Turnitin stores a copy of most work submitted to it in its repository. This does not affect the ownership of or any copyright in the original work. 2.4.2 Staff may configure a Turnitin assignment such that copies of submissions are not stored in its database. This will be done for all test-runs or any ‘dummy’ assignments used for training or demonstration purposes. 2.4.3 Staff on your course will ensure that no commercially or otherwise sensitive documents are stored in Turnitin’s repository. You cannot opt out of having your work scanned by Turnitin, but if you believe that your work should be deleted after it is scanned you should contact your lecturer. | ||
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Use of Personal DataPersonal information and data protection During application and at (re-)enrolment you provide us with personal information about yourself such as relevant contact details 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. If you engage with your Advisor or other support services, notes may be kept and shared with appropriate individuals. 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 thiscarefully. All personal data is maintained in accordance with data protection legislation. For more information, visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/privacy/ and/or contact Queen Mary’s Data Protection Officer via data-protection@qmul.ac.uk.It is important that Queen Mary has up to date personal details for all students.You will be able to update your address and contact details online using MySIS, however a change in name must be done in person at the Student Enquiry Centre with accompanying identification. You can find out more information on the Student Enquiry Centre website. http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysis-record/index.html | ||
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Westfield NurseryWestfield Nursery QMUL is based on the Mile End campus and provides full day care for up to 65 children per day aged three months to five years. The nursery prioritises students and staff at Queen Mary, but is also available to those outside Queen Mary. Practitioners are fully qualified and receive continuous professional training on early years practice. It is open 48 weeks of the year, from 8.30 - 17.30 on weekdays. Early application is advised as demand is high and waiting time is usually six to twelve months. Please visit the Nursery webpage for more information and an application form. Contact Telephone: 020 7882 2782 Email: nursery@qmul.ac.uk | ||
Wound Count Policy and Presentation GuidelinesRequirements for individual assessment s will vary from module to module. However, a few general guidelines can be given to help you ensure that your coursework meets the School requirements; Word Limit; Length of essays is dependent upon the requirements of the particular module – see individual module outline for guidance. The School does not operate a discretionary word count policy that permits, without penalty, an assignment to be up to 10 per cent longer than the specified word limit Completing an assignment within the word limit is part of the assessment task and is therefore covered under the ‘task fulfilment’ If, having written your assignment, you are over the word limit, re-read and edit your work until you come within the limit. If your work is over-long or requires editing this will be reflected in the grade awarded. Please note footnotes are included in the word count, but the bibliography and coversheet are not. Presentation: All written work must meet high standards of academic presentation. Essays must be word- processed, double-spaced with adequate margins to give room for your tutor’s comments. Spelling, punctuation and syntax are also important. The essay question should be used as the title for your essay, and displayed as such at the beginning of your essay. Footnotes or endnotes should be clearly indicated and numbered in the body of your assignment. All references must be correctly cited in full, and essays must have a bibliography listing all sources consulted in alphabetical order by author.. We require students to use the ‘Harvard’ system of referencing, as outlined below. Any work submitted without any citations may be deemed inadmissible as a piece of assessed work and may be awarded a mark of zero. Moreover, poor referencing may be seen as plagiarism, an assessment offence that may result in the failure of the whole module. | ||
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Your ID CardYou will receive a Queen Mary photo-identity (ID) card upon enrolment. This card is very important, and must be carried at all times on campus. If you do not produce this card upon request and satisfy staff that it is your card through comparison of your face and the photograph, you may be removed from the building, or from campus. Misuse of your card will normally lead to an investigation under the Code of Student Discipline (http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/misconduct/) The card shows your student number. You must take your card into all examinations, and display it on your table for inspection. You will also need to copy the student number onto your paper. The card also serves as your library card, and as
an access card for certain buildings and equipment (such as printers and
photocopiers). Many buildings have security points at which you must show your
card, and others require you to scan your card to release the doors. You may also be required to present your card to
confirm your attendance (e.g you may need to touch your card on a reader in a
lecture theatre). It is vital that you keep your card safe and with you at all times on campus. If you lose your card, or if your card is stolen, you should contact the Student Enquiry Centre (http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/student-card/index.html), who will be able to help you. A fee is charged to replace lost ID Cards. If you are not able to collect your student ID card in the first semester of teaching as you are not on campus, do not worry. Details on how to collect your student ID card at a later date will be made available via the Student Enquiry Centre website. | ||
