Department of Political Studies - UCT
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Supplemental Information to the Handbook
Faculty forms and deadlines
  • Masters Candidature form - all coursework Masters students who are registering for the dissertation component must complete this form before they can register.
  • Memo of Understanding form (introduced 2005 - required for all Research Masters and PhD students).  Note - as from 2006, this ruling has been amended to include all Coursework Masters students as well.
    •
  • Memo of Understanding supplement (for returning students)
    •
  • Intention to Submit form and thesis hand-in deadlines:
    [the form functions as an alert for the faculty, so that they can source and contact external examiners, as well as inform you of the procedures and requirements of the actual hand-in of the thesis.  The deadline dates below are set so as to allow the faculty reasonable time to get the examining done on time for the two graduations.  If the submission intention form is handed in after the recommended dates, then the faculty cannot guarantee that the process will have been completed by the time you hand-in.  Similarly, if the actual thesis gets handed in after the deadlines, it follows that they cannot guarantee your result will be in by graduation.]
    Form in by 14 Feb for mid-year hand-in
    Form in by 20 July for end-year hand-in
    Thesis in by 1 April for mid-year graduation
    Thesis in by 7 September for end-year graduation [note: if your thesis is handed in after 14 February, you will need to re-register and will incur extra fees]
Assessment

  1. DP requirements: regular participation in seminars and other course activities

  2. Each taught course is weighted at 20% (Honours) / 12.5% (Masters) of the final result and is examined by a combination of coursework and formal examination.

  3. The Honours research project is weighted at 20% and the Masters mini-dissertation at 50% of the final result.

  4. To be awarded the degree not less than 50% must be obtained for each component of the programme (ie coursework and research).

  5. To be awarded the degree with distinction an overall average of 75% must be obtained with not less than 70% in any component (ie each individual course and the research project/dissertation).
Registration

Period of registration: The academic year runs from February to November. It is possible for students to register for a postgraduate degree-programme from July of the current year to June of the following year, if approved by the Head of Department.

Part-time registration: As a rule postgraduate programmes are offered on a full-time basis. Faculty rules permit the possibility of part-time registration for a period not exceeding two years, to bona fide part-time students recognised by Senate on the recommendation of the Head of Department (Rule FH6.2) This means that the coursework requirements may be distributed over a longer period; class and seminar meetings are set by course convenors in consultation with students and students cannot assume that this will be possible after normal office hours.

Occasional students: For non-degree purposes students may take departmental postgraduate courses as occasional students subject to the specific entrance requirements of the courses concerned.

Course participation and DP-policy

At postgraduate level virtually all courses are conducted on a seminar basis. Effectively this means that student participation and contributions -- in the form of attendance, completion of reading and written assignments, seminar presentations and discussions -- are vital to the success of each course and of the programme as a whole. Accordingly such participation and contribution is considered obligatory for all postgraduate students.

While at undergraduate level it is possible to miss out on classes or on some assignments and still pass a course, provided students meet examination and test or essay requirements, this is not feasible at postgraduate level. DP-certificates are not normally issued at postgraduate level, but in order to provide for possible problem cases Departmental policy is that the following procedures will apply:

In individual courses offending students will, if needed, be warned by the lecturer or course convenor concerned who shall in serious cases also inform the Programme Convenor of such warnings. In case of continuing inadequate performance the course convenor may, following consultation with the Programme Convenor, refuse the offending student further access to the course concerned. The student has the right of appeal to the Programme Convenor and the HOD.

Exclusion from individual course options may have serious implications for the student's degree programme in general (Failure in any one of the component courses normally means failure of the whole programme).

The Department is sympathetic towards bona fide problems of health or personal problems which may unavoidably interfere with students' work and is prepared, within reasonable limits, to accommodate these. Where students are unavoidably prevented from attending a seminar or completing an assignment as scheduled, they have an obligation to inform the lecturer concerned directly and timeously. This is especially important when students are responsible for seminar presentations and their absence may affect the conduct or organisation of a particular seminar session.

Year scheduling, deadlines and workloads

The structure of postgraduate degree-programmes requires students to complete an intensive coursework programme plus an independent research or dissertation project within a limited timeframe. During both the first and second semesters students have to keep up with the reading and written assignments of different seminar courses on a weekly basis while also preparing more substantial essays or other projects.

At the same time they have to prepare and design their independent research or dissertation projects, do the required reading and research, and write this up for presentation and submission. This can only be done if there is a balanced distribution of workload for the different courses spread throughout the year, and if students themselves develop regular working habits according to a well-planned working and research programme.

The Department has adopted the following policy rules for the scheduling and workloads of postgraduate courses offered in the Department. (In the case of external options there may be variations as determined by the relevant departments):

Scheduling:

  1. Regular semester courses (running for 10 weekly seminars): First semester courses should normally start by the second or third week of the first quarter; and second semester courses by the second or third week of the third quarter. First semester courses should normally be completed -- including all essays and other coursework requirements -- by the end of May with the first week of June set aside for formal examinations if required. Second semester courses should normally be completed (including all essays and examinations) by the end of September, with the first two weeks of October set aside for departmental presentation of independent research projects and Masters dissertation proposals.
  2. Full immersion courses (offered in intensive mode for 2 or 3 weeks): These are offered prior to or during the first two weeks of the first and second semesters. Preparatory work and essay or project assignments are to be set in such a way that these do not unduly interfere with the requirements for regular semester courses.
     
  3. Research Methods Modules (two weekly seminar sessions over 3 weeks): These are offered according to the general schedule and timetable of the Faculty Interdisciplinary Research Methods course mainly during the first semester.
  4. Prerequisite modules / workshops and project / proposal presentations: These will generally be scheduled for the beginning and end of semesters so as not to interfere with regular semester courses. At Masters level the weekly Masters/PhD seminars are also available for presentation of dissertation proposals and projects.

Deadlines for completion of coursework requirements:

All coursework requirements must be completed within the scheduled semesters: except with prior written permission from the course convenor, approved by the Programme Convenor, no submission of essays or other coursework may be accepted after the end of May (in the case of first semester courses) or the end of October (for second semester courses).

Workloads:

Recommended workloads for individual courses: at least 2 but no more than 3 of the following components 1) regular weekly assignments (up to 1500 words); 2) a longer essay (3-5000 words); 3) course project or term paper; 4) 3-hour paper under examination conditions, open book or take-home examination.

Note: This working schedule has been specifically designed so as to ensure that students should have an optimal opportunity to use the midyear break in June/July for full-time research and preparation of their independent research or dissertation projects, and be in a position to give proper time to the completion of the project or dissertation during the second semester for graduation in December.

Examinations and tests

Examinations and tests for component courses, as may be required for each individual course, are written during or at the completion of these modules, but not later than the end of May for first semester courses and not later than the end of October for second semester courses.

Examinations and tests can take various forms apart from 2 or 3-hour papers written under examination conditions, e.g. "open book" exams, "take home" exams etc., as required by or agreed with the lecturers and course convenors concerned.

In some courses formal examination papers may not be required at all, or may only be required for students who do not perform satisfactorily in other coursework assignments. In all cases all coursework must be available for purposes of external examination. Students are required to retain copies of their coursework and to submit full sets of these to the Department at the end of each course (these will be made available to students again once the process of external examining is completed).

External examiners are appointed for the postgraduate programme in general and in some cases also for individual programmes or courses. (In the case of "external options" these will be externalled or not according to the policy of the department concerned, while an appropriate member of this Department will also be appointed to monitor the examinable work).

Honours Independent Projects are examined by at least two internal examiners. For Masters mini-dissertations external examiners are appointed at Faculty level; the supervisor does not act as an internal examiner. Examiners are required to provide a detailed and motivated written report on the Masters mini-dissertation; unless there are special reasons for not doing this, examiners’ reports are normally made available to the candidates.

External course options

The standardised structure of postgraduate programmes in the Humanities Faculty allows Politics students to take external options in other departments; students in other programmes may also take Politics courses as external options for their programmes. The GSH "Electives Booklet" provides brief course descriptions of all courses available as external options across the Faculty.

Depending on the space for elective options available in a particular programme students may take up to two approved and equivalent courses outside the Department. In terms of the Department's participation in the Regional Co-operation Agreement up to two external options consisting of approved courses offered by the Politics departments of the Universities of Stellenbosch and the Western Cape may be taken as equivalents of its own modules. (In turn the Department also accepts students from these departments who wish to take individual course options at UCT while remaining registered at their "home" universities).

All such external options must be approved by the Department. Students should consult with and apply to the Programme Convenor, who will liaise with the respective departments concerned.

Faculty rules allow registration for a joint Honours degree, combining studies in more than one department, subject to approval by the Faculty's Postgraduate Education Committee (Rule FH3.1). The Department is prepared to accept approved students registered for the African Studies Honours degree who wish to make Political Studies their "home department". Such students will be required to take the relevant disciplinary foundation courses as well as GHU400X Interdisciplinary Research Methods and to do their Honours Independent Research Project in the Department.

It is a Faculty rule that, except by permission of Senate, an Honours candidate will not be permitted to attend courses not included in the work for the degree (Rule FH8).

Programme Convenors, class representatives & general arrangements

The Graduate Convenor is Professor Robert Mattes (Leslie 5.06, tel +27 21 650 3827),  who has responsibility for overall postgraduate policy and coordination. The Graduate Convenor chairs the Postgraduate Committee, a sub-committee of the Department consisting of all postgraduate course and programme convenors as well as the HOD, and is the effective decision-making body for postgraduate matters.

The following are the Programme Convenors of specific postgraduate programmes:

  • International Relations: Dr John Akokpari

  • Political Science: Prof Robert Mattes

  • Justice and Transformation: Prof André du Toit

  • Political Philosophy and Social Theory: Dr Jeremy Wanderer (Philosophy)

  • Politics, Philosophy and Economics: Prof Robert Schrire

  • Public Policy and Administration: Prof Robert Cameron

Programme Convenors have responsibility for all general arrangements concerning their programme. Programme Convenors act for the Department in approving course options chosen by students .and students must inform the Programme Convenor of any changes in their course options, and obtain her/his approval for this. Students should feel free to consult Programme Convenors on all matters regarding the organisation of their study programmes that might need clarification or guidance.

General meetings for postgraduate students in the Department will be scheduled as required, usually during lunch breaks, to discuss matters of common concern as well as any general administrative or organisational issues. It is essential that all degree-programme students attend these general meetings; if for some reason they are unavoidably prevented from doing so, they should timeously notify the Department and make arrangements to be informed of the proceedings.

Students must inform the Department of any changes in their contact numbers and email addresses and regularly consult their emails for departmental notices and circulars. Postgraduate administration is the responsibility of Ms Joanne Polzin (email: hum-politics@uct.ac.za Tel 650 3916 (mornings only), Leslie Social Science 5.32).

Class representatives: The Department welcomes feedback from students regarding any aspects of the organisation or conduct of courses which may adversely affect their success. Class representatives will have special responsibilities and functions in this regard. The class representatives will also act in conjunction with Programme Convenors in arrangements for general meetings or any other activities or projects involving postgraduate students.

In general students should feel free to bring any problems they experience timeously to the attention of the lecturers concerned. In serious cases and where they are unable to find redress from the lecturer concerned, students should bring the problems to the attention of the class representatives and/or the Programme Convenors as well as the HOD, if needed.

In some courses offered in the Department course evaluations will be conducted during and/or at the completion of the course concerned by way of standard questionnaires. With other courses, too, the Department welcomes full and frank individual or collective course evaluations. Students taking external options will be requested to provide individual course evaluations of these. These students must also timeously inform the Programme Convenor of any serious problems they might experience.

Staff / Student seminars and proposal presentations

All graduate students, like staff members, are required to attend the departmental staff/student seminars on a regular basis (except where this should clash with seminars required for course options in their programme). Departmental staff/student seminars are scheduled on Tuesday lunchtimes. The Seminar Convenor is A/Prof Andrew Nash. Details about speakers and topics will be made available from the Departmental office.

In terms of the Regional Co-operation Agreement it is envisaged that during each of the first three terms a joint staff/student seminar with the Politics departments at UWC and Stellenbosch will be organised. All postgraduate students will be expected to participate in these.

The Masters/PhD seminar provides a forum for discussion of the work of Masters and doctoral students in the Department. The Masters/PhD seminars are regularly scheduled on Friday lunchtimes. The Convenor is Prof André du Toit with Prof Robert Mattes. All residential Masters and PhD students are required to attend these seminars on a regular basis. Honours students who are considering further graduate studies are strongly advised to participate in this.

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