Information for Staff

Course Administration

1. Meetings - What When Who Why

Induction Meetings are held for each course prior to each teaching period. All teachers who will be teaching the course during that period are expected to attend. They are conducted by the course coordinator, who familiarizes teachers with the course content, teaching schedule and assessment procedures.

Standardisation meetings are basically marker training sessions. They are held before assessments are marked to ensure that everyone is marking at the same standard. They usually involve marking scripts or videos according to a marking scheme then adjusting those marks in line with those determined by the course / assessment team. They are usually conducted by the course / examination coordinator, and are attended by all exam markers. New exam markers may be given a benchmarking package to familiarize them with the assessment criteria and standard prior to the standardization meeting.

Mid-Semester Moderation Meetings are held for elective courses. They are held to address factors arising from 100% coursework assessed courses. The purpose is two-fold: to identify weak students who are in danger of failing so that they can be notified of their potential fail before the end of the course; and also to provide teachers with backup confirmation of their decisions to fail students when their coursework has not reached the pre-determined level. They are attended by the course team members, testing team members and / or course teachers, who submit sample copies of student work.

End of Semester Moderation Meetings are held for all courses after marking has been completed, marks have been entered into i-CMS and Course Result Reports have been submitted to General Office. They are attended by testing team and course team members. The purpose is to confirm the course pass mark and identify students who will pass or fail, targeting borderline pass / fail students in particular.

2. Understanding your Attendance Register

You should receive the 1st draft of your Attendance Register at least ONE working day before the class starts. You get a draft because the "Add-Drop" period is still in force in Week 1. The following information should appear on all registers.

M	Monday		Section	Indicates the class number, e.g. T04 is the 4th class, T13 is the 13th class, etc. (For GO use)
T	Tuesday		CRN	Course Registration Number (Assigned by ARRO - Academic Records & Regulations Office)
W	Wednesday		Student No.	Indicates the student's personal CityU identification number and email address
R	Thursday		Program	Indicates the degree the student is enrolled in
F	Friday
S	Saturday

The blank boxes immediately below "Day/Date" are for you to enter the dates of your classes.

3. Recording attendance in the first week

The first week of semester is affected by "Add-Drop" which means that the attendance register is subject to change.

If a student whose name appears on your register does not show up at all, you should follow these steps:

mark him absent

send him an email to confirm that he is, in fact, coming to the next lesson. You can use the following wording as a basis:

Dear Student’s Name,
I note from my records that you did not attend the first lesson of University English: Written Language (EL0224). If you do NOT intend to remain registered on this course, please ensure you drop officially by the end of the "Add-Drop" period. If you do not officially drop, you will fail the course by attendance.
If you have any questions, please contact me or a representative at the ELC General Office.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,

Teacher’s Name

 

copy the email to the relevant Clerical Officer in the General Office.

if the student attends the next lesson, record attendance as normal, but do not change the first lesson’s record from absent to present.

By week two, the "Add-Drop" period will have ended, and you should receive a new register, which takes into account all of the changes. Some students?names may have been deleted and you may have new names added. If the former is the case, you should follow these steps:

if the student is present, mark him present for BOTH the first AND second lesson.

if he does not turn up, mark him absent. You may like to send him an email to find out what is happening.
You can also check your updated class list on AIMS.

4. Recording attendance from the 2nd to the last lesson

Please record attendance clearly and accurately. These records are often used, e.g. when students make an appeal, when Programme Leaders wish to know the progress of a particular student, etc.

Each box (under the "Date"column) represents 60 minutes	/	Present for that part of the class
	O	Absent or late for more than 15 minutes for that part of the class
	Ø	Late for up to 15 minutes for that part of the class
	U	Absent for that part of the class and supporting documentation has been seen. (Return the supporting documentation to the student.)

At the end of the course, calculate the attendance of each student.
If a student has satisfied the attendance requirement, i.e. attended at least 80% of the course, simply put a tick in the "Att. %" column.
If a student has not satisfied the attendance requirement, calculate the exact percentage of his/her attendance.

5. The ELC attendance requirement

Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of the course. If their attendance falls below this, they will be automatically withdrawn from the examination. The following table gives a breakdown.

Hours	20-hour course		24-hour course		36-hour course		48-hour course
CE/UE	College	University	College	University	College	University	College	University
Code	111E/211E	201E/301E	112E/212E 114E/214E	0401 0402 0403 0404 0405 0407	0111/0211 0112/0212 0114/0214	0201/0301 0204/0304 0221* 0206		0406 0224*
Pass	16 hours or more/ 8 2-hour lessons exactly		19.2 hours or more/ approx. 9½ 2-hour lessons		28.8 hours or more/ approx. 9½ 3-hour lessons		38.4 hours or more/ approx. 19 2-hour lessons

* Please refer to information provided by S&L and R&W Teams about recording attendance for the Independent Learning component of the course.

Note 1
In normal circumstances, we are not too concerned about why a student has been absent from class. However, consider this scenario:
It is Week 8 and Princess has already been absent for 20% of your 36-hour course. You have sent her a warning letter and subsequently informed the G.O. In Week 10 she is absent again, but she tells you that it's because she's been sick. She has a doctor's certificate to prove it. Despite it being a genuine reason why Princess was absent, she has failed the course by attendance because the 20% allows for instances such as sickness, attending another lecture, bunking, etc. Princess has failed the course. However, she can appeal by writing to the HoD.

Note 2
Appeal cases (Failure by attendance)

In all cases where students appeal a failure by attendance, the HoD will approach the teacher concerned for comments and/or a recommendation plus any written evidence the teacher may have or know of that would support the appeal.

Students who appeal must provide supporting evidence in writing, e.g. sick note, job interview confirmation, etc. If a student does not provide supporting written evidence, it is unlikely that his appeal will be entertained. Having said that, the HoD will still approach the teacher concerned to make sure that the information/picture is complete before making the final decision.

Your role in the appeals process:

(This part kicks in before an appeal, if any, starts.) Throughout the semester, enter the " U " symbol to indicate that you have seen written evidence that explains an absence but DO NOT KEEP IT. Give it back to the student so that he can use it as supporting evidence in the event of an appeal.

According to your own records, the student will have failed, and the G.O. will have sent out the official letter. If, however, the student turns up to your next lesson, he may be doing so because he has appealed. Check that this is the case. If it is, you should allow him to attend the class (because his appeal may be successful after all, and by allowing him to stay, he will not miss any more work.)

The HoD will approach you for further information/recommendation before a final decision is made.

6. When a student is in danger of failing the course by attendance

If a student is within a lesson of or close to failing the attendance requirement, s/he should be given a verbal/written warning. You should follow these steps:

If you send an email, you can use the following wording as a basis:

Dear Student's Name,
I note from my records that you are close to failing the ELC attendance requirement of 80% for the College English: Speaking Course. If you are absent or late by ____ or more, you will fail the course by attendance.
If you are having difficulty in completing the course, you may apply for a late drop but you must do so as soon as possible. Note that once your attendance falls below the minimum 80%, you will not be allowed to drop.
If you have any questions, please contact me or a representative at the ELC General Office.
Yours,

Teacher's Name

attach a copy of your email to your register.

copy the relevant Clerical Officer in the General Office.

if you give a verbal warning, record the date on which you gave the warning in your register.

This warning should be sent to all relevant students on your Attendance Register even if you have never seen them, i.e. from the beginning of the course.

7. When a student fails by attendance

If your student fails by attendance despite you giving a warning, you should inform the G.O. immediately.
The G.O. will send him the following email:

Dear Student's Name,
We note from our records that you did not satisfy the ELC attendance requirement of at least 80% for the College English: Speaking Course. As a result of this, you have failed the course by attendance.
If you have any questions, please contact the ELC General Office.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,

ELC General Office

8. Submitting your Attendance Register

We often receive appeal applications from students who have not satisfied the attendance requirement. If your student has failed and feel that he may appeal, enter any comments you feel would be useful in helping the HoD make a decision about whether or not to approve.
Please return the Attendance Register together with the Course Result Report immediately after the last lesson with your class.

9. Making comments about Extension students

If you teach extension students, you must make comments about their performance in the Course Result Report. This is to help make decisions in potential appeal cases.