A Bachelor's degree in South Africa is worth a minimum of 360 credits, which equates to 3600 notional hours. In terms of guidelines on how much time we allocate for each course, the following is taken from Government Gazette No. 38116, 17 October 2014, Page 16:

"29.   The credit-rating system rates 10 notional study hours as equivalent to one credit. Credits represent a measure of all the learning activities engaged in by the student and include, among others, contact time, self-study, WIL, assignments, projects and examinations. Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor's Degree and Bachelor (Honours) Degree qualification types assume a 30-week full-time academic year. Master's Degree and Doctoral qualification types assume a 45-week full-time academic year. An average full-time equivalent student is expected to study for a 40-hour week, thus requiring a minimum credit-load of 120 credits per academic Year for Certificates, Diplomas and Bachelor's Degrees and 180 credits per academic year for Master's Degrees and Doctorates.

30. Credit ratings specified on the framework are expressed as minima. Programmes may require credit loads above the minimum, but these should not be unrealistic in terms of the relationship of credits to actual study time, given the parameters specified above."

In 1st Year, students are expected to spend a minimum of ten hours a week on each subject. In the case of Earth Science 101, this equates to lecture and practical contact time, plus an extra 3¼ hours.  In 2nd Year this increases to just over 13 hours (i.e. lectures, practicals and seven hours of your own time); remember that as a Science Faculty Department and subject, each semester course is worth 20 credits, as opposed to 15 for a 2nd Year course in the Humanities. In 3rd Year, you should be doing 20 hours of work a week on each course (i.e. lectures, practicals and 13¼ hours of your own work).  In your academic work the following apply:

• All course work, essays, reports etc. must conform to the standards set out in this document. Any work NOT conforming to these standards may be returned unmarked. Penalties will be applied to resubmitted work if handed in after the initial deadline.

• Maps need to be of an acceptable cartographic standard. The following websites provide details on most cartographic conventions that need to be followed: http://www.wwu.edu/huxley/spatial/tut/what_all_maps_must_have.htm, or

https://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/education/~/media/Files/Pdfs/industries/k-12/pdfs/intrcart.pdf.

• Students must abide by the University's plagiarism policy; see the notes on plagiarism below and the following URL:

https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/institutionalplanning/documents/Plagiarism.pdf.

•  It is unacceptable practice to copy from a website, or other published document unless you indicate that this is a quotation. If excessive parts of an assignment are cut and pasted (even with acknowledgement), marks will be deducted as this represents laziness. Repeated offences could mean a loss of your DP Certificate or exclusion from the University.

• Reference works must be correctly cited in the text (see Section 12).

• A complete and stylistically correct reference list must be included at the end of the text (see Section 13 for the preferred referencing style).

• All tables and figures must be numbered sequentially and given a title.

• Maps are usually referred to as figures. Remember to refer to sources of tables and figures when taken from a published document.

• Unless you are instructed otherwise, all work should be submitted as a hard copy (into the relevant Departmental boxes) and in electronic format (using RUconnected).

Before you can write your course examinations, you must retain your DP certificate to certify that you have met the course requirements, one of which is achieving a mark of 40 % (i.e. the sub-minimum) and above for your class mark. A DP Certificate is not physically issued but is awarded by default unless the course requirements are not met. If the course requirements are not met, the Head of Department has the prerogative to withdraw your 'Certificate'. If a DP is withdrawn, a student will be excluded from the rest of the course, which includes writing the examination.  A DP is 'issued' to those students who can:

"Demonstrate that they have engaged meaningfully in ALL class activities. In other words, regular attendance at lectures, practicals, tutorials, field trips, tests and any other scheduled meetings; submission of all required work to a satisfactory standard; engagement with additional material, including supportive tasks set in RUconnected."

Just so you know – the decision regarding your DP will be made before the exam period starts in the relevant semester. It may be made earlier when circumstances apply. Unless reasonable grounds can be demonstrated (generally through an acceptable LOA), students are expected to attend ALL scheduled activities and submit ALL coursework. You may lose your DP for plagiarism or a breach of the University's Disciplinary Code of Conduct.

Note: Your attention is drawn to the Student Disciplinary Code available on the University website: http://www.ru.ac.za/registrar/discipline/studentdisciplinarycode/

All Geography courses have a pass mark of 50 %. However, a sub-minimum of 40 % is in place. This means that even if you get 50 % or more, you will fail the course if your exam mark, or your course mark, is below 40 %.

 The pass mark is 50 %; however, please note that the sub-minimum for all Geography courses is 40 %. This means that:

• To retain your DP Certificate (i.e. to gain entry into the exam), you must get more than 40 % for the coursework component.

• To pass the course, you must get 40 % or more for both the coursework component, and the examination.

• To gain entry into a supplementary exam, you have to get 40% or more for your final mark (i.e. between 40 % and 49 %), AND you have to get 40 % or more for both the coursework and examination. 

Students will be eligible to write supplementary exams for all Geography courses if they fail the respective course, but get a mark equal to or above the sub-minimum (i.e.  40 %). Supplementary exams will NOT be granted if a student gets a final mark for a course of 40 % to 49 % if they fail to get a sub-minimum (40 %) in either the examination, or for the coursework component.

Weekly practical assignments

When the situation allows in-person lectures, assignments completed during normal practicals are handed in at the end of each practical by 5:00 pm (unless the assignment extends over a longer period). Where a signed extension has been granted, assignments should be handed in via the relevant submission boxes by 4:00 pm on the agreed date. Given the COVID-19 situation, some of the assignment submissions may only be online and may NOT require a hard copy. Make sure you read and follow all instructions for a particular course. As a general rule assume that all submissions require a hard copy.

The normal procedure for all other assignments

• A signed cover page must accompany all hardcopy assignments (see Appendices below), on which you declare that you have not plagiarised the work of others. In the case of an electronic copy, your submission is made on the assumption that you have read and understood the Rhodes University Plagiarism policy. Failure to include the cover page means that the work will be returned unmarked.

• Hardcopy assignments should be handed in via the relevant box by 4.00 pm on the due date. The boxes will be cleared at 4.00 pm each day. The boxes for submissions are situated in the study area to the left of the foyer as you enter the Department.

• Electronic copy assignments must be handed in through RUconnected by 4.00 pm on the due date. Electronic submissions may not require a signed cover page, but by submitting an assignment electronically, students accept the contents of the same declaration made for hardcopy work.

• The penalty for late submission is 10 % per day. Assignments due on Friday but submitted on Monday will lose 20 %.

• Failure to hand in work that is assessed will result in the loss of your DP.

• The above rules will apply unless it has been stated otherwise in writing to all students undertaking the assignment.

A request for an extension of the due date must use the relevant form (can be downloaded from RUconnected OR available from the Administrator in the Geography Department, to whom it must be submitted). It will be passed on to the relevant staff member. Requests for an extension usually will only be granted if submitted at least two weeks before the due date.

A Leave of Absence request may be granted to students who have reasonable cause to be away from classes. Typically reasons for LOA's include ill-health, family bereavements and University commitments of a special nature. The request must be handed in at least one week prior to a planned event (e.g. sports fixture), otherwise, it should be submitted as soon as possible after an illness. An LOA may be granted in other circumstances where the planned absence will not interfere significantly with your academic activities. An extension of the due date will be granted pro-rata when a student is absent during the two weeks before the due date, and an LOA has been approved.

Students will be marked absent if they are not at practical classes, tutorials, field trips and other compulsory classes without an LOA. Repeated absence and failure to hand-in assignments will result in a loss of a DP. Please inform the lecturer in charge of any anticipated absences and make sure that you can complete the work assigned.

Notes:

• Students not attending their assigned tutorial group or practical session will be deemed to be absent.

• Students who have been granted an LOA will be required to catch up missed work. Normally a maximum of one day will be granted for each day the LOA is awarded.

• If you have missed work for any reason, it is your responsibility to make sure that you understand the scheduled activity because it may be examined.

• Postgraduate students who are away for any reason must also submit an LOA – this is partly for insurance purposes.

• An LOA will NOT be granted to any student who fails to complete work, or write a test, due to them having misread the course outline or RUconnected, or due to them being absent from a lecture when a test was announced, or having overslept.