Programme registration involves payment of tuition and other prescribed fees where appropriate and confirms students' enrolment at the University. It also allows for application for hall residenceand financial aid, as well as the acquisition of information about student life and the University.
Each student enrolled in a specific programme is subject to the requirements of the major department and the University. Exemption from specific requirements are possible, but only in well justified circumstances and with written permission from the major department.
Failure to enrol in the programme in any one semester will result in automatic withdrawal from the programme and the University, unless a formal 'Leave from Study' has been obtained. 'Leave from Study' is possible only on application to and with the approval of the student's major department.
27.1 Study Commitment
Students admitted to a full-time programme of study are expected to study full-time fortheir degrees, and are cautioned that outside work commitments may impede their academic performance.
27.2 Double Registration
Unless prior permission from the Director of Admissions, Registration and Records is obtained, students are not permitted to register for another programme at this Universitv or at another tertiarv institution. Student enrolment lists are comoared with those of other tertiaty institkons from time to time. If students are found to be registered elsewhere, they will normally be required to discontinue their studies at this University.
27.3 Late Registration
Overseas postgraduate students admitted to the University in a particular academic year must complete registration in their programmes by the end of the add-drop period in the Fall or Spring Semester. No deferment of registration is granted for more than one semester. The admission offers made to orosDective students who are not able to adhere to the above deadlines will become void. They will have to re-apply for admission to the University as new applicants.
27.4 Full-time and Part-time Study
Most postgraduate degrees are available on both part-time and full-time basis. The taught programmes leading to the MSc, MA and MBA degrees are suitable for students interested in part-time study. The MPhil and PhD are research degrees, and students in some disciplines may be required to participate in research on a full-time basis.
Academic Regulations
Postgraduate students may apply to their department, prior to the beginning of any semester, for transfer from full-time to part-time status or from part-time to full-time status. When such a transfer is allowed, the remaining degree requirements will be determined.
Full-time students in taught programmes are expected to be in attendance during those semesters and sessions for which their programmes are scheduled. In many programmes, research students may be expected to be in attendance on a year-round basis. For part-time students, attendance shall be as above except on a part-time basis as dhined by the requirements of their programmes.
27.5 Duration of Study
For full-time students, the normal periods for the completion of MSc, MA and MPhil degrees are one and a half years, and two years for the MBA. For the PhD degree it is four years after the first degree with a reduction of one and a half years if a relevant master's degree is earned prior to entering the PhD programme. Part-time students may expect to take about twice the time of full-time students. Students may apply for reductions to these periods.
The maximum time for degree completion is five years for the master's degrees and eight years tor a doctoral degree (with a one and a half year reduction in the circumstances noted in the preceding paragraph). These time limits are in effect whether or not the student is in continuous registration. Time limitsfor part-timestudy are the same as for full-time study.
28. Course Registration
Course registration deals with the selection of and enrolment in appropriate courses for a specific semester. Students should acquaint themselves with the general rules for ~ostaraduate course reaistration and departmental course requirements for the pro'gramme. Students should also read the course description and requirements carefully before selecting a course. Course registration for a semester requires approval from their major department without which the student's programme registration will be revoked.
28.1 Course Requirements
Credit requirements for postgraduate degrees apply only to course and project work, not to thesis research. For the MSc. MA. MPhil and PhD Droarammes. the normal full course load is 10 credits per semester, and the maximum pit-time load is six credits per semester. Unless restricted by departmental regulations, a maximum of two undergraduate courses may be used for postgraduate degree credit at the 300 level.
Of the two courses, only one may be from the student's major department.
For all postgraduate programmes, the average course grade obtained for satisfying degree requirements must at least be B.
Academic Regulations
28.2 Course Repeats
A course with a grade less than C shall not be credited towards a degree although it will be reflected in the student's record. Onh two courses in a dearee Droaramme mav be retaken, and each may be repeated only once. The newgrade ohained after repeating a course will replace the previous grade in the calculation of the cumulative and graduation grade averages.
28.3 Course Enrolment Changes
A student who wishes to withdraw from a course after the "add-drop" period may do so up to six weeks before the commencement of the examination period. Withdrawal beyond the six-week deadline will not be accepted. Students are cautioned that late withdrawal may affect their academic progress and result in less than the specified credits being earned in the semester. Such withdrawal is entirely the responsibility of the student who should seek advice from the major department. The Withdrawal without Penalty (W) grade will be recorded as the course grade. Special arrange- ments pertain to half-semester courses in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme.
28.4 Prerequisites, Exclusions and Background
If a course designates other courses as its prerequisites, students must have taken and passed the prerequisite@) before they may register in the course, unless exemption is granted by the department offering the course.
If a course has exclusions specified, students are not allowed to register in the course if they have already taken and passed any of the stated exclusions. Also students are not allowed to enrol in a course together with any of its stated exclusions in the same semester.
A course may require a certain general level of desired prior knowledge as back- ground. Students should ensure that they have the necessary background to undertake a course, and may seek help from their departmental advisors.
28.5 Course Auditor
With the permission of the course instructor, a full-time student may register in a course as an auditor. Subject to satisfactory completion of requirements set at registration by the instructor, the course will be designated AU on the student's transcript. Otherwise the course will be removed from the registration record. No course credit is given for audited courses.
29. Course Exemption
Course exemption may be granted if the student can produce evidence, such as a transcript and course syllabus, that acourse is equivalent in content to another course taken elsewhere, for which a satisfactorv grade has been obtained. No credits will be given for the exempted course, and thesGdent may be required to take an approved alternative course.
Academic Regukations
30. Advanced Standing
Advanced standing may be granted to students on recognition of studies completed successfully elsewhere. Application should be made to their major department during their first semester after admission. Late application will normally not be considered.
The amount of advanced credits to be granted will be determined by the major department on review of past academic records and the level of equivalence to HKUST courses required.
Advanced credits granted will not be included in the calculation of grade averages.
31. Assessment 31.1 Course Grading
Grades given in each course are based on student performance in the final examina- tion, tests, essays and reports, presentations and other forms of classroom participa- tion, assignments, and laboratory exercises, although not all these elements may be oresent in each course. A failina arade in the laboratory component, if any, of a course hay result in a failure in the wh% course. The instru6tor
in
each course will discuss the course grading scheme with the class in the first week of lectures. Final examinations are scheduled following the end of lectures after a short study break.31.2 Absence From Final Examinations
a. Failure to take the examination as scheduled, without prior permission for exemption from the department offering the course, normally results in automatic course failure.
b. Students may appeal to the department within two weeks of the missed examination for special consideration, giving well-enunciated reasons.
c. When a student is exempted from writing the regular examination, the depart- ment may decide that the student
(i) repeat the course
(ii) take a special make-up examination (iii) take a supplementary examination
(iv) be granted a pass standing in the examination. In this case the course grade is based on the grades obtained in the course components other than the final examination.
Medical reasons, authenticated by a physician's certification that the student was unable to take the examination, will normally result in option (ii), (iii) or (iv) above.
31.3 Postgraduate Grades
Students receive a letter grade in each course in which they are enrolled. Grades range in equal increments from A+ to F, with F carrying zero credit. The grades C- to D-, and E, are not used in postgraduate courses. The grades used are shown in the following table.
Academic Regulations
Letter Grades Definitions A+
A Excellent Performance
A- B+
B Good Performance
B- C+
C Marginal Performance
F Failure
Other Designations Definitions
AU Audited
I Incomplete
W Withdrawal without Penalty
P Pass, Ungraded
PP Permitted to Proceed
The Audited (AU) designation will be assigned when an auditing student has completed, to the satisfaction of the instructor, any conditions established at registra- tion as an auditor. If the conditions are not met, the course will be deleted from the student's record.
An Incomplete (1) grade is used when work is necessarily delayed through no fault of thestudent, such as a medical problem or an equipment breakdown. This grade must be converted to a regular grade at the beginning of the next semester; otherwise it is converted to F.
The Withdrawal without Penalty (W) grade is given when a student withdraws from a course after the "add-drop" period and prior to six weeks before the end of classes.
The Pass, ungraded (P) grade is given in courses which are indicated in the course description in this Calendar that they will be graded as such.
A failed course (F) cannot be credited towards a degree.
When progress on thesis or project work is satisfactory but not scheduled for completion at the end of a semester, the Permitted to Proceed (PP) grade is used.
31.4 Grade Reports
Grades will be posted in the course-offering departments as soon as they become available. On Dostedarade lists. students are identified onlv bv their student numbers.
Individual grade repo';ts are sent to students approximateiy (our weeks after the end of each semester.
Academic Reaulations Academic Re~ulations
31.5 Grade Review
e
A student may apply for a grade review in a course in which the student was enrolled in the semester just completed. This request should be made to the department offering the course within two weeks from the day on which grades are posted in the department. If a review is granted, the grading will be reviewed by the course instructor or another member of the departmental faculty within three weeks after the date of grade posting. Any subsequent appeal against the departmental decision must be made to the dean of the school concerned within two weeks of receiving the - decision. The dean's decision is final.
31.6 Grade Averages
A grade average (GA) is the average weighted grade obtained in a group of courses where each course is given a weight equal to its credit value. Courses graded P, I, W, PP and AU are omitted from this calculation.
There are three grade averages. The semester grade average (SGA) is the combined grade average covering all courses taken in both the semester and the session immediately following. The cumulative grade average (CGA) is based on all the courses taken by the student which are expected at the time of calculation to be applied towards the degree requirements in the current programme. At graduation, a graduation grade average (GGA) will be calculated from the courses that are presented for the award of a degree.
All GAS are reported using the closest letter grade, including C- to D- although they are not course grades.
32. Conduct of Thesis Examinations
A student wishing to appear before a thesis examination committee must so indicate to the maior de~artment at least sixweeks before the examination. and have delivered to the debartment a sufficient number of examination copies at lea-st four weeks before the examination. For a PhD thesis, the number of copies is seven, and for the MPhil four. One of these copies will be put on display prior to the examination for perusal by departmental faculty and students and other members of the University community and members of the public.
The examination takes place in a single session and comprises three parts, the first two of which are open to all members of the University and to departmental guests, and the third closed to all but the student and the committee. The first part is an oral presentation by the student emphasising the major elements of the research and the results obtained. Next is an open question period, led by any external examiners present followed by other members of the examining committee, and ended by the thesis s u ~ e ~ i s o r . Finallv, others in attendance mav also ask questions. During this portion oi the examination; all questionsareaddressed throughthe chairman an; any dialogue limited to the student-and individual questioner.
he
third, and closed, part of the examination is resewed for a less formal discussion between the student and the examining committee on his research.The thesis examination can have one of several results:
Passed (or Passed with Distinction)
Passed (or Passed with Distinction) with minor corrections Passed with major corrections
Failed but may be resubmitted Failed
Minor corrections are to be made to the satisfaction of the supervisor, but major corrections require the approval of the full examining committee, or a designated sub- committee. The result "Failed but may be resubmitted requires that the entire examination process be repeated, including the re-establishment of an examination committee. At least six months must pass before re-submission of the thesis.
Students can apply for transfer to part-time status during the rewriting process of the thesis. A grade of "Failed" results in the automatic withdrawal of the student from the programme of study and terminates registration at the University.
33. Thesis Format
The thesis shall conform in layout, binding and presentation to the requirements prescribed by the Department. General University guidelines require that a thesis should:
be written in English;
have a title page giving the thesis title, the student's name and academic degree@), the name of the department, the name of the degree for which the thesis is presented, and the month and year of submission;
contain a signature page;
contain a paginated table of contents and a list of references;
be printed on one side only of international size A4 80 to 90 gsm woodfree paper (297mm x 210mm);
have all textual materials double-spaced, although long quotations, references and footnotes may be single-spaced;
be adequately referenced and clearly punctuated; and
include an abstract of not more than 300 words summarising the content of the thesis.
On successful completion of the thesis examination, the student must submit three clean unbound copies of the thesis to the department which will arrange for the appropriate signatures of approval, and forward the signed copies to the Admissions, Registration and Records Office. When bound, two copies will be retained by the Library and one by the department.
34. Academic Standing
The academic standing of all postgraduate students is periodically reviewed by their departments. Unsatisfactory performance may result in students beina denied the opportunity to continue theirstudies. A ~~eciaiacademic standing policy pertaining to the School of Engineering is described on page 101 of the Calendar.
35. Residence Requirements
Normally, a full-time research student is required to be on campus full-time and
Academic Regulations
consequently in such geographical proximity as to be able to participate fully in Universitv activities associated with the Droaramme. Residence provides the student with an bpportunity to become imm&sG in the intellectual environment of the University. Also included in residency are periods during which the student's research requires off-campus field or non-HKUST laboratory work.
Normally, the residence requirement for an MPhil degree is three full-time semesters and that for a PhD degree is eight. In many departments, the semester may include all or Dart of the subseauent session. A semester of residency of a part-time student counk as a one-half semester of residency. Students who have not completed their thesis work should continue registration on a full or part-time basis, without interrup- tion.
These residence requirements do not apply to taught postgraduate programmes which are defined by the semesters and sessions in which the programmes are scheduled.
36. MSc and MA Programmes
These are course work degrees for which students must fulfil a minimum course requirement of 30 credits. Students may also undertake a project described in the departmental Calendar entries. Projects require the submission of a written report, as specified by the department, and carry a maximum of nine credits. Each report will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is the supervisor, and is graded "Pass"
or "Fail". A "Pass' grade may be denoted "Pass with Distinction" when appropriate.
Academic Regulations
39. PhD Programmes
PhD programmes focus on original research by the student, but most also require course work. Doctoral students proceed from admission to the programme, to candidacy for the degree, and then to defence of the thesis. Each has a thesis supervisor who oversees the student's research. Candidacy is obtained by the successful completion of qualifying examinations specified by the department.
PhD research is conducted under the general supervision of a thesis committee of at least three faculty members, one of whom is the designated thesis supervisor.
The five-member thesis examination committee is appointed by the Senate Commit- tee on Postgraduate Studies on the recommendation of the department. The committee is chaired by an individual from outside the school, who is appointed by the Committee on Postgraduate Studies upon recommendation by the dean. This person presides over the examination, but is not one of the five members who are: the thesis supervisor, two academic staff members from the department, one academic staff
The five-member thesis examination committee is appointed by the Senate Commit- tee on Postgraduate Studies on the recommendation of the department. The committee is chaired by an individual from outside the school, who is appointed by the Committee on Postgraduate Studies upon recommendation by the dean. This person presides over the examination, but is not one of the five members who are: the thesis supervisor, two academic staff members from the department, one academic staff