Regulations for postgraduate research students: Section 1

Section 1: Important Information Applicable to all Students

 

You should read the following information fully and in addition to the Key Facts about Your Enrolment. It sets out what is expected of you and of us.

 

You should seek impartial advice and support from the Students’ Union Advice Centre if you are unclear or require support on the information listed below.

 

1.1 Enrolment

1.1.1 Before you begin your course, you are required to enrol with us:

• You will officially register as a student on your course using the University’s online enrolment process.
• It is very important that enrolment is completed within four weeks of the course start date otherwise you may be withdrawn from your course.
• If you feel that you cannot commence your course as planned, you should contact the Student Recruitment Team (or International Office if you are an overseas student). You may be able to defer your place to start the following academic intake.
• You are not entitled to receive tuition or to use the University’s facilities until you have completed the enrolment process and have been issued with a student campus card.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that your correct name has been recorded on the student records system in full (guidance on how to change your name is provided in the Personal Details section below).
• No shortened versions of forenames or punctuations are acceptable.
• The campus card is issued for the duration of your course and will be revalidated annually.
• A £10.00 fee is charged for the replacement of lost cards.
• You are required to carry your campus card with you at all times and to make it available to staff on request.
• You can access information about enrolment on our Welcome to Huddersfield webpage

 

1.2 Re-registration

1.2.1 You are required to re-register for the next stage of your course on an annual basis. Normally this is completed via an online process, which can be done on or off campus during a limited period:

• You must complete re-registration within four weeks of your course start date, otherwise you may be withdrawn from the course.
• If you miss re-registration as your studies were interrupted you must complete re-registration within four weeks of when you return to study, otherwise you may be withdrawn from the course.
• If you cannot continue your course as planned, you should contact your School Office. You may be able to interrupt your studies.
• You are not entitled to receive tuition or to use the University’s facilities until you have completed the re-registration procedure.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that your correct name has been recorded on the student records system in full (guidance on how to change your name is provided in the Personal Details section below).
• No shortened versions of forenames or punctuations are acceptable.
• Award certificates will not usually be re-issued in a different name to that recorded at the Course Assessment Board and/or on the student records system.
• You can access information about re-registration on our Re-registration webpage

 

1.3 Late registration penalty

1.3.1 A penalty applies to students who fail to re-register during the official re-registration period. If you fail to re-register by four weeks of your annual re-registration date or when you return from a period of interruption, you will lose access to the University IT Systems, including your e-mail account and may also be withdrawn.

 

1.4 Administrative withdrawal

1.4.1 You may be administratively withdrawn from your research degree if you:

• Do not re-register within four weeks of your annual re-registration date or after returning from an interruption.
• You do not submit work by the agreed deadline.
• Continuously fail to engage with your research degree.
• The University are no longer able to provide adequate supervision.

1.4.2 Students that are withdrawn will lose access to their University accounts within 24 hours of the withdrawal being instigated. If the University notifies you that you are being withdrawn, you will be given 24 hours in which to save any documents or correspondence that you may need from your University accounts, before the University formally withdraws you.

1.4.3 If you are administratively withdrawn you can appeal if you can demonstrate:

• That a material irregularity occurred during the process that led to your withdrawal; and / or
• You have extenuating circumstances, which can be independently evidenced, which for good reason you could not tell us about at the time and before the decision was made.

1.4.4 To appeal, you should complete the PGR Withdrawal Appeal Form in full and email it, with your evidence, to registryresearch@hud.ac.uk

1.4.5 You must submit your appeal no later than 10 working days after the date you are contacted to confirm that you are being withdrawn. If your appeal is submitted later than this without a good reason, we will reject it. If you have a good reason for submitting your appeal late, you must provide independent evidence to support this.

1.4.6 We will consider your appeal and normally respond no later than 20 working days from the date of receiving your completed appeal form and associated evidence. We will send you the outcome by email and we will explain the reasons for our decision. This decision will be final and will bring to an end the University’s internal procedure. There are no further stages of appeal and we will issue you with a completion of procedures letter at this stage:

• If your appeal is successful, we will notify you and your School of the outcome.
• If your appeal is rejected, then the original decision made by your School will remain.

1.4.7 Our appeal decision is final and there are no further appeal stages within the University. If you wish to request an independent review of our final decision, you should contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OiA) within 12 months of the date of the completion of procedures letter.

 

1.5 Student ID card

1.5.1 You are required to carry your student ID card at all times and to make it available to staff upon request. If you wear any items of clothing, headwear, or anything else that obscures your face you may be asked to remove it for the purposes of identifying you against your campus card. If this is the case, all due care will be taken to do this in a discreet and sensitive manner.

1.5.2 You should only have one valid student ID card at any time. You should never have another student’s ID card in your possession.

1.5.3 A lost or damaged student ID card should be replaced immediately.

 

1.6 Email correspondence

1.6.1 You will be contacted primarily through your student email address and it is your responsibility to ensure that you check this regularly. 

 

1.7 Change of address

1.7.1 You should update your personal details electronically via the Student Portal and click on My Details. You must ensure that both your home address and your term time address are completed and up to date at all times; these should be your details and not those of an agent. You should not use the University’s address to receive mail on your behalf.

 

1.8 Change of name

1.8.1 It is your responsibility to ensure that your correct name has been recorded in full on the University Applicant and Student Information System (ASIS).

1.8.2 You should advise either the School Office or the Student Records Team of any change in name and must provide documentary evidence, for example a statutory declaration signed by a solicitor or Justice of the Peace, a Deed Poll, a marriage or civil partnership certificate or a passport as soon as possible following the name change.

1.8.3 No shortened versions of forenames or punctuations are acceptable.

1.8.4 Award certificates will not be re-issued in a different name to that recorded on ASIS. Exceptionally, there may be occasions where a certificate needs to be issued in a different name to that recorded , the grounds for these exceptions are as follows:

• Evidence to show change of identity due to witness protection.
• Evidence of a gender recognition certificate.

 

1.9 Change of course

1.9.1 If you wish to change your course, you must discuss this with your School who will advise on your options. If you are on an apprenticeship course, you must discuss this with your employer first.

1.9.2 If you receive student support such as a loan, you are strongly advised not to change course without first asking your student finance body (e.g. Student Finance England) about its willingness to fund you when you transfer course.

1.9.3 If you are studying on a student visa, you must inform and obtain approval from the International Office if you wish to transfer course (or change research topics) - there will be visa and possibly ATAS implications for any course transfer. If you are sponsored by your government, you must also ask for their written permission before you change course.

 

1.10 Smoking on campus

• You must not smoke within any University building or vehicle at any time.
• You must not smoke at any location where second-hand smoke can enter a building, such as entrances and exits, windows, and air intake vents.
• If you wish to smoke, you must do so away from building entrances, exits, windows etc.
• The above prohibitions also apply to vapour cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and similar devices.

 

1.11 Parking

1.11.1 You cannot park on campus unless you have been confirmed as requiring a space through our Estates and Facilities Team or Disability and Wellbeing Services. If you are disabled and you need a parking space then you will need to apply for a parking permit using the application form available from Student Services, Level 4, Student Centre, Schwann Building. You can also refer to the Car parking regulations for further guidance.

1.11.2 If you are identified as parking inappropriately, in areas restricted for staff use or parking your car in a restricted area on campus grounds, without specified and approved permission, you will be subject to our Student disciplinary procedure

 

1.12 Students studying in partner institutions

1.12.1 If you study at a partner institution, the University remains responsible for the academic quality and standards associated with the University’s courses and qualifications. You are required to adhere to the University’s regulations in relation to its courses. You will be expected to follow any regulations which are local to the provider where you study; however, where an issue involves academic appeals and complaints relating to the academic standards and/or quality of the learning opportunity the University’s regulations will apply.

 

1.13 Allegations under the regulations for postgraduate research students

1.13.1 If an allegation is made against you, under any of our regulations, the burden of proof lies with us, that is, the University must prove that you have done what you are accused of doing. You should not have to disprove the allegation. However, it may be to your advantage to help us by providing any evidence you feel supports your case.

1.13.2 Some circumstances, may require you to prove that you have or have not done something, or that something has happened. For example, if two students are accused of plagiarism, and one student provided evidence that the original work was theirs and the other student copied it, the other student will need to rebut that evidence.

1.13.3 If an allegation is made against you under any of our regulations, you also need to prove any mitigating factors that you rely on when we consider the penalty.

1.13.4 We work to the civil standard of proof, which can more commonly be referred to as the 51% test. This means that we will consider whether, on the balance of probability, we believe the case against you to be true. As such, we will need to be satisfied that, based on the evidence provided, an event is more likely to have occurred than not.

1.13.5 If a new allegation is raised during an existing investigation, this will be addressed as a separate matter through the appropriate procedure. If a different procedure is used, we will explain why.

 

1.14 Student Union representation on panels

1.14.1 Student Union Officers or their nominee sit on some of our student panels. and will have been given training and support from the Students’ Union and Registry in the University.

 

1.15 Emergency regulations

1.15.1 There may times, because of exceptional circumstances beyond our reasonable control, when the University needs to apply its emergency regulations. The introduction, duration and termination of the Emergency Regulations will be recommended by Graduate Board then approved by University Research Committee and Senate.

1.15.2 The Emergency regulations are available on our website (see Section A5).

 

1.16 Covid-19

1.16.1 During the academic year 2022-23, it is unlikely that the University will need to impose additional obligations on our students, in order to comply with government guidance on the management of Covid-19. However, should the University need to do so, these requirements may likely to include, but are not restricted to, social distancing measures and additional hygiene protocols. You would be expected to observe these requirements at all times and if you do not, you will be subject to our Student disciplinary procedure

 

1.17 Additional relevant policies

1.17.1 In addition to these regulations, you should also be aware of and comply with the following policies:

• Data Protection – this sets out how your personal data should be processed by members of the University in order to be compliant with data protection legislation.
• Student Privacy Notice – this sets out how the University of Huddersfield processes personal data and who it shares your Information with.
• Intellectual Property Policy – sets out who will own the Intellectual Property Rights in your work.
• Research Ethics and Integrity Policy – sets out your responsibilities to ensure any research you undertake is carried out in an ethical manner and is properly approved.
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Policy – this document sets out our commitment to the promotion of equality of opportunity at the University of Huddersfield.
• Freedom of Speech & External Speakers Policy – this policy protects your right to express an academic opinion and sets out the rules for speakers coming on to campus.
• Health & Safety Policy – sets out how you can ensure you study in a safe and secure manner.
• Safeguarding Policy – sets out your responsibilities in relation to vulnerable members of the University community.
• Whistleblowing Policy – sets out the procedure to follow if you wish to draw attention to any wrongdoing.
• Social Media and Communications Policy – sets out your responsibilities when using social media which directly or indirectly represents or refers to the University, its staff, students and partners.
• Audio and Video Capture Policy – sets out how we will use our Hudstream audio and video lecture system.
• Proof Reading Policy – you are advised to read this policy if you are considering using proof-reading services in connection with assessed work.
• Credit Control and Debt Management Policy – sets out how we manage any debts owed by students.
• Student Protection Plan – sets out a summary of the policies and procedures which we have put in place to ensure the continuity and quality of your study from enrolment to completion of your studies.
• Computing Facilities Policy – sets out our expectations when using the University’s computing facilities.
• IT Security Policy – set outs how we will handle IT Security and what actions we will take if that is breached.
• Policy on Support for Pregnant Students and New Parents – This document sets out how the University will support new parents and pregnant students.
• Student Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Framework and Guidance- this document sets out how we intend to support you if you experiencing mental health.
• PGR teaching framework - this framework sets out our expectations relating to teaching-related activities.
• Authorship and postgraduate researchers - this guidance supports PGRs and University staff on how to deal with authorship.