*For the attention of intermediate and final year students on PO coded modules/QS modules administered by PAIS*

Dear All,

I hope you and your family and friends are safe and well. This is a very important email and so please do read it all carefully.

These are extraordinary conditions that affect all of us. All staff in the Department are aware of and sympathise with students’ many understandable anxieties. We want you to do well and this email sets out how we intend to further support and reassure you.

The University has now approved PAIS’ outline plans for term 3 exam replacements and these are outlined below. Thank you so much for your patience while the Department worked closely with the University to put these plans in place. This was a complex task for the University, as it was important to ensure fairness across Departments in order to safeguard the integrity of the assessment process. It is of course vital that you receive a quality assured degree and this process also involved working in consultation with other Russell Group institutions.

Please do continue to read the University student newsletters and COVID-19 FAQs – this is essential in order that you keep up-to-date with key policy developments. To ensure consistency and fairness among all students, many decisions (for example, on the safety net) continue to be taken by the central University and not by academic Departments. The University will provide further details, via the student newsletters, as soon as it is available.

If you have any questions or if anything is unclear, please reach out to the appropriate member of staff, as listed towards the end of this email. Please note that further specific information on the exam replacements will be available after the 22^nd April and not beforehand. This is because every step outlined here is subject to University approval.

We have also put together a PAIS COVID-19 webpage, which we hope will also be a useful source of reference for all Department-specific guidance. If your query is not addressed here it will most likely fall under the remit of the University-level newsletters and FAQs above.

1: PAIS Summative Essays and PAIS dissertation

You will be aware of the automatic 2 week extension for these assignments. The deadline is now Wednesday, May 13^th (with the exception of the QS205 report due on Thursday, 7^th May). Please see our earlier email of 07/04/20 (copied below) that outlines more details on essay extensions and self-certification. Please remember that self-certification extensions must be requested before the submission deadline but no earlier than 5 working days before the deadline.

Please do also take a look at the University webpages on mitigating circumstances, updated to reflect COVID-19.

Please remember to consult our wide range of essay writing resources available on the PAIS academic support pages. These include the slides and recording of last term’s essay writing workshops and Dr Andre Broome’s guide to academic writing.

2: PAIS Exam Replacements

The Department has listened carefully to student concerns and feedback relayed to us via the SSLC about online exams (e.g. possible lack of a reliable internet connection and/or an unconducive home working environment).

We have therefore adopted an approach to assessment in term 3 that is fair to students and allows them to be assessed and to progress, while also acknowledging the varied (and often very difficult) situations that students and staff are currently experiencing.

For that reason, your physical exams in term 3 will be replaced by written summative essays or ‘assignments’. As these are not exams, they are separate to and will not appear within the University exam timetable/ alternative exams portal.

To reassure you:

• These written ‘assignments’ are ‘exam replacements’. Given the timescale, we are not expecting the same standard of work as we would for a normal summative essay, where you will have had a number of months to research and write them. All assignments will, however, go through Turnitin and students should avoid plagiarism, substantial use of the same material, and other poor academic practices, as usual. More details on our expectations will be shared shortly.

• We will be providing further advice and guidance in due course in terms of what is expected in your ‘assignments’. This will include an online support workshop, which will replace the original planned departmental session on exam/revision techniques. We recognise that you are taking multiple modules and may have multiple substitute assessments of this kind. Therefore, whilst we will try to maximise the time available to you for the ‘assignments’ we intend them to be achievable within a much shorter timeframe to allow you flexibility.

• Further specific details about the questions that students can select, the expected length and format of ‘assignments’, and information about deadlines and extensions will follow after the University releases the central assessment timetable and the University have confirmed/approved the specifics (i.e. not before the 22^nd April).

• The University safety net - further details on how this will operate will follow from the University, in due course, in the student newsletters. I understand the University have set out a timeline of when they aim to publish such information to students.

The current arrangements are still being finalised, and changes may still occur. If PAIS is not your home Department (or you are taking outside modules), please be aware that not all students’ Departments may be able to release information at similar times, and students will in those cases have the required information after 22^nd of April.

Please note that some Departments may have decided on different plans for their module assessments. To put it another way, just because PAIS has replaced physical exams with ‘assignments’ does not mean that students should expect this in their non-PAIS modules. It may be that these have been replaced with another alternative form of assessment, such as an online exam.

3: Academic Support in Term 3

As you know, the University has already announced that there will be no new teaching in term 3. This will enable a total focus on student support and progression. That said, there may be academic support sessions (e.g. our online session on preparing for our exam replacement assessments).

Advice and feedback hours will continue to run – albeit virtually – in term 3 (e.g. by Skype or Microsoft Teams). Your Module Directors and/or Tutors will be in touch with more details about these in due course.

Personal tutor meetings will also take place online. As per usual, I am always happy to speak to students.

4: Learning and Library Resources

Please click on the link below for lots of resources and support for using the library remotely.

Advice For Students 

A reminder that many publishers are making additional e-resources available to students to help at this challenging time. See the list and how to access.

5: Key Contacts

If you have any questions over the next few weeks, here are the key contacts:

• PAIS ‘exam replacements’ – Chris Clarke, Director of Undergraduate Studies in PAIS

• PAIS essay extensions (up to one week) - Chris Clarke, Director of Undergraduate Studies in PAIS

• For questions on PAIS essay extensions of over a week - Ben Richardson, Director of Student Wellbeing in PAIS

• Mitigating circumstances, if your home Department is PAIS – Ben Richardson, Director of Student Wellbeing in PAIS

We hope this helps and reassures. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the appropriate member of staff.

These are difficult times, but I know that we will get through this together.

Take care and stay safe.

Best wishes

Justin

Dr Justin Greaves

Director of Student Experience and Progression in PAIS.