A social get-together for first-year students is arranged early in Term 1.
Its purpose is to give
students encouragement,
to let them compare notes, and to help them to make sense of their first
experiences here. They get a chance to air their views and to find
reassurance in the discovery
that others are feeling the same way. Staff with first-year tutees,
first-year lecturers,
and supervisors of first-year students are expected to attend to share
their wisdom and offer comforting words. Students from other years are also
encouraged to
come along to describe how they survived. The event is co-organised and
chaired by
the Student/Staff Liaison Committee
(SSLC)
and takes place in a relaxed social atmosphere in the Staff-Graduate Common
Room, or in one of the function rooms of the Student Union, on
the main campus. In the
course of the evening, the first-year SSLC
representatives are elected and the Mathematics Society makes a pitch for
new members.
Some students cope badly with the stress induced by timed examinations.
If you suspect
that stress is causing a student seriously to under-perform in
examinations, it may
be appropriate to suggest a visit to the student counsellors; they organise
group
sessions at which students can learn helpful strategies for dealing with
such problems.
(See Support Services in the University.)
(1) You must inform the undergraduate secretary of any special
circumstances affecting any of your tutees, in time for the exam board;
(2) You must be available soon after the board to tell your students
their results.
You may reveal to your tutees
their
percentage marks on individual modules as well as their overall performance
for the
year.
Here is the usual time-table for the Examiners' Meetings in Week 10 of
Term 3.
Director of Undergraduate Studies
This person has overall responsibility for the logistics and smooth running
of the
Department's Undergraduate Degree Programme. Working through the
Teaching Committee to coordinate the diverse efforts that go into the
Programme, the
Director
is responsible for changes to the rules and regulations governing our
various degree
courses and for our dealings with the
Subfaculty of Science
, which ratifies our course proposals. This year's Director (2007-2008) is
Dave Wood (daw@maths.warwick.ac.uk).
Dyslexia
Increasing numbers of students arrive at university with a diagnosis of
some level of dyslexia. Students with this problem may have difficulty
reading, and are likely to have poor spelling and handwriting. If any
of your students appears to suffer from such difficulties, diagnosed or not,
be sympathetic, and be aware that after assessment by a competent
educational psychologist they may qualify for extra time in examinations.
Grants are available from Local Education Authorities, under the
Disabled Students Act, to provide dyslexic students with computers and
specialised software. More information on this is available from the
University Senior Tutor's office - see Support Services in
the University.
Electronic Mail
All students have e-mail addresses although they don't necessarily read
e-mail. Their
addresses can be found in /usr/lib/aliases on Computing Services Unix
machines.
Examinations
Most of the modules put on by the Mathematics Department are assessed by
timed examinations
during the second half of Term 3, but continuous assessment is increasingly
a component
of the final mark for Mathematics modules. Third- and fourth-year exams
take place in weeks 21, 26 and 27 ; second-year exams in
Weeks 28 and 29; and first-year exams in Weeks
11, 27 and 28. (Weeks 1-10 are in Term 1, Weeks 11-20 in Term 2, and Weeks
21-30 in Term 3.)
Students often disappear when their Summer examinations are
over but
usually return to get their results in the last few days of the term.
Examiners' Meetings
As a tutor, you have two very important responsibilities in the final week
of Term
3 when the Boards of Examiners
meet:
Important Note:
If you cannot be in your office to tell your students their results,
you must persuade
a colleague to do it. Inform your tutees in advance about the alternative
Failure in first year exams
Broadly speaking, a student who fails one or more of his first year exams can
resit in September and continue on to the
second year, providing they pass. In fact the regulation is more
complicated than this: see Resits for failed students in the
White PYDC entry for "Exams".
Often it is quicker to get information from a person rather than a book:
you could
ask the Undergraduate Secretary (Hazel Dixon), the Department Administrator
(Helen Hutchings), your Mentor
(if you are new to the Department), the Director of Undergraduate
Studies
(Dave Wood), the Senior Tutor
(Peter Walters), the Chair's secretary, Georgina Copeland (George)
or the Chair (Colin Sparrow).
A poor performance in the First Year September Resits may result in
your student being on the second year of the Pass Course, which means
a reduced load of from 84 to 90 CATS. The figure of 90 may be raised
(but not beyond 120) if at the end of term 1 the student submits work
done on the three core Maths modules to the Director of Undergraduate
Studies that demonstrates that they are consistently working at
Honours standard.
The initial Pre-Registration takes place during Week 5 of Term 3 before
the year begins
(except for incoming first-year students). Additions and deletions can be
made during
Week 3 of Term 1 and again during Week 3 of Term 2. Final deletions can be
made
in Week 2 of Term 3 (and the last opportunity for modules examined in April
is in Week
10 of Term 2). Tutors are expected to be available for consultation during
these
periods. If you cannot be, then arrange for a colleague to see your tutees
and let
your students know about this.
The simplest thing is to send them to the
Undergraduate Secretary
(Hazel Dixon).
It is
the students' responsibility to get their registration right, but failure
to do so has awkward
consequences.
It is therefore a good idea to
remind your students that they must finally
register for a range
of modules and a CATS total consistent with the regulations for their
degree programme.
Extra vigilance is required for students on a Pass Degree.
The University also has a Senior
Tutor,
currently Stephen Lamb. He and his team of
counsellors can be found in University House,
and the number to telephone is Extension 23761 --
see also Support Services in the University
More information is available here.
Stephen Lamb himself, and his counsellors, can also offer
good advice to tutors on how to deal with their students' problems.
The Rolph Schwarzenberger Appeal (Rolph was Chairman of the Mathematics Department from 1972 to 1975.), organised by Caroline Series, helped to
boost these funds.
The Students' Union Advice and Welfare Service employs three
professional advisers
who operate something like a Citizens' Advice Bureau for students. They
offer help
with finances, benefits, landlord/tenant matters, and so on. The Students'
Union
also supports Nightline, a telephone number which a student in distress can call up between 9 pm
and 9 am
for a sympathetic hearing. The people on the listening end are anonymous
student
volunteers.
What can one hope to achieve in tutorials? I would say the most
important thing is
to gain your students' trust. If you care about them, they will almost
always respond.
One of this year's graduates wrote: "In my first year, Dr X was
hardly around. In my second year, Dr Y did not seem to
understand the system any better than I did. But in my third year, Dr Z
took an interest
and gave me considerable support and time -- very grateful for that, helped
me regain my honours degree."
Most students want straightforward help with their mathematics modules and
often
bring along questions from their notes or their examples sheets. Here
tutors probably
have the advantage over supervisors in being able to offer a global view of
their
modules and of how they fit into a broader picture. Many students complain
that their tutors
assume they know much more than they really do, and so, before you begin,
it is important
to establish tactfully your students' baseline of knowledge and
understanding. If they are not making progress, find out how effectively
they work and help them
to develop good study habits. They sometimes need informed advice on how
the system
works and what options to choose.
Persuade them to read PYDC
; if the information they need is in there, show them where or, better, get
them to
look it up. Students usually appreciate feedback on their progress,
provided it is
accompanied by encouragement and constructive advice on how to improve.
Occasionally,
students need help with personal or emotional difficulties, and if you do
not feel equipped
to deal with these, then pass the case on to the Department's Senior Tutor
(Peter Walters) or to the University Counselling Services. Here are the
promised suggestions
for what to do in tutorials (but don't feel you have to try them all):
Attending lectures and going over them
= 25 hours per week Some general advice about writing references is given below, and also a sample reference.
In a typical reference, state how long and in what capacity you have
known the student
under review, give a factual summary of the student's examinations results
and other
achievements, and (much harder) attempt to convey your impressions of the
student's
personal qualities insofar as they are relevant to the post applied for. When Caroline Series asked Human Resource Managers (a.k.a. Personnel
Officers) at
a number of firms employing graduates what they expect in a good academic
reference,
she received the following comments:
Back to:
Failure in second year exams
A student who fails at the end of year 2 does have a final
opportunity to pass failed Maths papers the following June.
When a
student who failed their second year exams
passes the resits and goes on to complete
their third year, the finals exam board
takes account only of their first, failing, set of second year marks.
Their successful resit exams are not taken into account.
The resits function only to
allow them back onto the degree programme.
This
draconian university regulation is, fortunately, regularly disregarded by the
third year exam boards, and has been queried by external examiners.
It reflects an inappropriately paternalistic (in the sense of "punitive")
attitude to students, and no doubt will eventually be changed.
Failure in third year exams
A BSc student who fails at the end of year 3 has the
opportunity to resit failed Maths papers the following June. Fortunately
in this case the resit marks do replace the failing first attempt in
the final calculation.
First Day of Term
Students are strongly encouraged to see their tutors on the first day of
term between
2 and 4 o'clock to announce that they are back. At this short meeting,
tutors can
check that there are no urgent problems, briefly discuss choice of modules,
confirm
contact addresses, and arrange tutorials for later in the term. The only
exception is
on the first day of the academic year when first-year students attend a
general Maths
Dept briefing at 10-45 lasting about an hour and go to see their tutors
immediately
afterwards. There are no lectures on the first day of the academic
year.Groups of Four
Before the start of the Autumn Term, the new first-year students are
divided into
groups of four, roughly according to their mathematical level on arrival, as
indicated by their
A-level grades. The Senior Tutor then allocates these groups to the tutors,
with the idea that their tutor will see them as a group.
You may wish
subsequently to to reorganise your groups; you should let the Senior Tutor
or the Undergraduate Secretary know of the changes you make.
First-year students receive two supervisions a week in groups of four. The
tutorial groups coincide with the supervision groups, which
are allocated to supervisors by the First- and Second-Year Coordinators
Information Sources
Detailed information about the undergraduate modules can be found in the
"Plan Your Degree Course"
(PYDC) booklets. The white book describes the overall picture, the orange
booklet is a Study Guide, and the blue
(1st Year),
green (2nd Year), pink (3rd Year) and mauve (4th Year) booklets contain
summaries of
the core
and optional lecture modules offered by Mathematics and other departments.
The University "Programme Regulations"
contain the official rules for our degree programmes. (If you find any
inconsistencies
between PYDC and Programme Regulations, please let the person who prepares
PYDC know
-- this year (2007-2008) it is John Rawnsley.) Other sources of information
include
the University Prospectus (which would-be applicants consult), the
University Calendar,
and the University Annual Report. The Handbook for Personal Tutors,
produced by the University Senior Tutor and Counselling Services and issued
to all
tutors, contains very helpful advice, especially on the pastoral side of
tutoring;
if you have not received your copy of this Handbook,
please ask for one on extension 23761.
Keeping Records
The Department keeps confidential files on each first-degree student in the
Undergraduate
Secretary's office (Room B0.01). Tutors are encouraged
to consult their students'
files
and may borrow them for short periods provided they substitute a
'borrowed by'
card for the file. Tutors should maintain their own records on each of
their tutorial
students and, in particular, should keep each student's 'Tutor's Record
Form' up-to
date.The back of the tutorial record form has space for you to record what you know
of the student's extra-curricular activities. This can be useful later when you write a reference for the student - "University Chess Champion" can make all
the difference on a job application.
When you cease to have tutorial responsibility for a student, you
must add
copies of your records to the student's departmental file, and wherever
possible hand
on your information to the next tutor. Copies of any letters you
write about or on behalf of a student should always be placed
in the student's departmental file.
MMath Degree
This four-year degree was first awarded in 1997. Students either enter
the university registered for this degree (the entry requirement is the
same as for the BSc), or may transfer from the
BSc during their first or second year, providing their exam results
are good enough. Because the department is keen to recruit the
strongest students onto the MMath, it invites second
year students who have done well in their exams to transfer to it. If
you have a tutee on the BSc who you think is strong enough for the MMath,
you could encourage them to transfer. This counts as a change of degree, and
they must fill in the appropriate form.
Students on the MMath who do not succeed in scoring an average of at least
60% on 90 CATS of Core and List A Mathematics modules
in their second-year exams are
normally demoted to the BSc, and third year MMath students who score below
55% are
normally awarded a B.Sc. degree and are not
permitted to
continue to the fourth year. Unfortunately this can result in a student
leaving
university without having made any plans for the following year. During the
final term a tutor
may be able to gain advance warning of this danger by finding out the marks
in the
April and early-June exams. A tutor must judge whether it is in their
student's
interest to give them any of this information.
Mentors
New members of staff have a mentor for their probation years in the
Department. A
mentor is an experienced member of staff whose main role is to help the
newcomer
settle in and learn the ropes. How the relationship develops will obviously
depend
on the personalities of the people involved, but it is important that new
tutors should
feel free to ask their mentors for advice and information. The
mentor could
invite the new tutor to sit in on a tutorial or two. You can change your
mentor by
asking the Chair.
Module Registration
See under Registration
Monitoring Your Students' Progress
Students often arrive from school with little idea of what is expected of
them at
university and with little experience of organising their lives. They may
have been
very dependent on their teachers for their mathematical understanding and
habits
of study, and on their parents for washing their underwear, providing their
meals, and topping
up their piggy banks. When they arrive at Warwick, they suddenly have to
take on
all these responsibilities while simultaneously coping with the
round-the-clock social
distractions of campus life. A tutor can help a little here by encouraging
good study
habits, by providing honest feed-back on their students' progress, and by
being alert
to signs that things may be going seriously wrong. It is expected that
tutors will see their
first-year tutorial students for an hour each week or every two weeks
in their groups of
four, and occasionally
one-to-one to give them a chance to discuss any personal problems. Tutors
can get
more feedback by talking to their students' graduate supervisors, and by
monitoring their marks in the core-module assignments. If a first
year student stops attending regular tutorials, talk to their graduate
supervisor and find out if they are attending supervisions and
handing in assignments. If they are not, contact them to find out what's
wrong.
Pass Degree Students
A student with a second year performance around 35% to 38% will
normally only be permitted by the Exam Board to proceed to the third
year of the Pass Course. This means that they must take a reduced
load of from 87 to 102 CATS including MA397 Consolidation and at least
42 CATS from List A. It is very important that the tutor (i) knows
which tutorial students are on the Pass Course, and (ii) ensures that
they make realistic choices of modules to study and do keep to the
permitted load. The student's permitted load may be increased beyond
102 (but not beyond 120) CATS if at the end of term 1 they submit work
done on Consolidation and one other Maths module to the Director of
Undergraduate Studies that demonstrates that they are consistently
working at Honours standard.
Past Papers
Students need access to past examination papers so that they can practice
working
under examination conditions and get a feel for the types of formal
examination questions,
which often differ in style from the questions found on Examples Sheets.
The Department publishes the previous year's papers and sells them to
students at cost price.
Papers from earlier years are held in the Student Reserve Collection in the
Central
Campus Library. The Undergraduate Secretary (Hazel Dixon) also keeps
complete sets
of papers going back several years and will lend them to tutors for
photocopying. (See
also
Mock Exam
under Things to do in Tutorials
.) Solution sets for some (but not all) past exam papers can be found in
the Student
Reserve Collection (SRC) in the Central Library, and also on the
Mathematics Undergraduate
Web Pages.
Plan Your Degree Course (PYDC).
First produced in 1967, this six-volume work covers all aspects of our
undergraduate
degree programme. The white booklet contains a detailed description of the
overall
degree structures, the orange booklet is a Study Guide,
and the other four booklets contain summaries of the
lecture
modules and other teaching activities offered to Mathematics students by
this and other
departments around the University -- the colour code is blue for the first
year, green
for the second year, pink for the third year and mauve for the fourth year.
Although PYDC
is called an "unofficial guide", every attempt is made to ensure that the
information it contains
is accurate and consistent with
Programme Regulations.
John Rawnsley produced this year's edition and has written programmes to
improve
its consistency. Please inform him if you find any mistakes. All
undergraduates
receive a copy of the white and orange booklets together with the module
summaries for their
year. They can consult the summaries for other years at the Department's
Website.
Programme Regulations
The student booklet "Plan Your Degree Course"
is described as an
unofficial
guide to our degree programme. The
official
regulations governing the various degree programmes we administer are
contained in
the University "Course Regulations",
produced annually by Registry officers in consultation with the faculties
and departments, and in the University Calendar.
Copies are available for consultation in the Department offices, and you
can ask
for copies of your very own if you feel you need to consult them frequently.
Registration
Students have to register with the University which modules they are
studying for examination. They do this by completing and online
registration forms.
(The
core modules for the student's degree programme are entered automatically
and the
student must list the optional modules.)
Senior Tutor
The Department's Senior Tutor's main role is to oversee the tutorial system
and to
deal with problems that are beyond the scope of individual tutors. If you
have a
tutorial problem you do not feel confident or competent to handle, then
consult the
Senior Tutor at once. The Senior Tutor allocates students to their tutors,
and deals with
requests for a change of tutor. He also deals with the system of mentors.
This year
(2007-2008) the Senior Tutor is Peter Walters.
Seymour Formula
(Devised by Eddie Seymour who was a Professor in the Physics
Department from 1965 to 1986)
This
formula is a rough-and-ready device for adjusting the overall mark in
annual examinations
to reward students who take more than the normal load of 120 CATS and
perform consistently
across their range of examinations. It works against students whose
performance includes marks on individual papers below half their average
and therefore discourages
frivolous registration for an excessive load. The explicit formula and its
full interpretation
can be found in the
White PYDC entry for "Exams".
Struggling Students
Now that examinations in first-term modules Foundations
and Analysis
take place at the start of Term 2, it is possible to detect failing
students in time to offer them extra help, and before
it is too late for them to consider changing degree programme or
withdrawing (see
Withdrawal from a Degree Programme: timely withdrawal can enable a
first-year student to begin their university career
all over again, with no loss of funding). Early in Term 2, the Senior Tutor
and the
First-Year Co-ordinator interview first-year students with low marks in the
examination or on
their assignments, and encourage them either to pull their socks up or to
withdraw, e.g. by changing to a different course, or a different university.
This can be a very positive effect on students who languish when they
sense themselves to be near the bottom of the heap, since at
practically any other university in the country they will most likely shine.
A similar system has been set up for second year students.
If you have a first or second year tutee who you think might
profit from such a meeting, contact
Peter Walters (Senior Tutor), or the appropriate year coordinator.
Student/Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC)
This Committee is made up of elected student representatives from each of
the undergraduate
years, five members of staff, and the Undergraduate Secretary (Hazel Dixon). It is
a forum for views on the Undergraduate Programme, especially the views of
our consumers, and one of its functions is to monitor the teaching provided
by the Department, with particular reference to the student module
evaluations.
It meets twice a term. The SSLC has a representative on the Teaching Committee
and at departmental Staff Meetings. It maintains its own
web page on the department's website.
Each department's SSLC also sends an annual report directly to
the Vice
Chancellor.
Subfaculty of Science
This body is responsible for all the undergraduate degrees in the Science
Faculty.
It is made up of representatives of each of the Science Departments
(including three
from Mathematics). If the Department of Mathematics wants to make any
changes in
its courses or in the way it administers its degree programmes, it needs
the approval of
the Subfaculty. The Subfaculty meets in Week 6 of Term 1, in Weeks 2 and 6
of Term
2, and in Week 6 of Term 3. All significant changes for the following
academic year
have to be approved by its second meeting in Term 2. Submissions from
departments must reach
the academic Office at least 7 days before its meetings; our submissions
are prepared
by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Supervisions
When the Warwick Mathematics Degree was launched in 1965, it was
distinguished by
two special features: its supervision system and the flexibility of its
course structure.
The supervision system attempted to capture one of the better qualities of
the Oxbridge model, while the flexibility counteracted one of its worst
qualities, namely its
rigidity. These two special features still survive and continue to make our
degree
courses strongly attractive to mathematically-inclined school leavers. The
supervision
system is supported from teaching money and funds from unfilled posts (the
price we
pay is about one extra tutorial student each). It works only because the
Department
has a large graduate school from which to choose its supervisors.
First-year undergraduates are offered two supervisions a
week in their groups of four. The provision for
second year undergraduates is
Supervisors mark weekly assignments for credit in
several core
modules. (Third-
and fourth-year modules, which tend to be smaller and more specialised, are
supported
by Examples Classes, also taught by graduate students.) It is a good idea
to find
out how your students are getting on with their supervisors. If it seems to
be going
badly, discuss the problem with the Director of Undergraduate Studies,
Dave Wood,
who
will assign a new supervisor if it is appropriate. Find out who your tutees'
supervisors are, and, especially if a tutee does not turn up to regular
tutorials, ask the supervisor if they are going to supervisions and
doing their homework assignments.
Support Services in the University
The University has its own Senior Tutor, Stephen Lamb. His team includes six
counsellors
who are trained to deal with a wide range of students' emotional and
psychological
problems, from exam panic to an unwanted drug habit. Their offices are
in University House. More information
here
They also deal with
students'
academic, administrative, and financial difficulties, offering help to
students who cannot
penetrate the bureaucracy, get on the wrong side of the University (or
their department),
or need legal advice. Furthermore, a financial adviser is on hand four days
a week to help with all aspects of money, debt, Access Funds, etc. Stephen Lamb
has a small
fund at his disposal to offer temporary help to students in serious
financial difficulties.
Tactical Module Selection.
Examination marks in Arts and Social Science modules usually fall in a
narrower
band than in Mathematics; there are few firsts, and no zeros. By taking as
many
modules as possible in these subjects, weak students may well raise their
average
significantly, and they should be encouraged to do so. However, for strong
students the effect
will generally be the opposite.
Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA)
The Higher Education Funding Council (HEFC) assesses teaching quality in
British Universities
on a rolling plan by subject area. The Departments of Mathematics and
Statistics
were assessed five years ago, as a single unit. We scored 22 out of 24
and were furious that it was not higher.
We submitted gigantic quantities of
documentation, but at least convinced ourselves that we offer an unrivalled
quality of education. The results of a more recent audit, carried
out in 2004, can be found following a link from the
Frequently Asked Questions page
Things To Do In Tutorials.
There are as many ways of running a tutorial as playing Hamlet. The
suggestions below
are taken from a random sample of a few old hands I happened to consult.
Tutor's Mark
This module was abandoned in 1997 to release time in the first-year
programme for
a new compulsory module in Group Theory. The Tutor's mark was instituted in
1965
with several purposes in mind. It taught students how to write mathematics
with style
and clarity; it gave tutors early insight into their students' abilities;
it encouraged problem-solving;
it signalled the importance placed by Mathematics on tutorial teaching; and
it generated
resources for the Department through the operation of the University
matrix. It would be useful if some first-year tutorials could still offer
advice on
how to
write mathematical sentences and how to structure proofs. Some second-year
tutorials
should be devoted to good mathematical writing in preparation for the
compulsory
second-year essay.
The Undergraduate Workload
A typical undergraduate taking 120 CATS worth of modules over terms 1 and 2
will attend 15 1-hour lectures each week during those two terms. For each
hour, it is wise
to spend between half an hour and one hour after each lecture, going over
lecture notes - it is a rare student who has understood everything during
the lecture. There is plentiful evidence that putting in this effort shortly
after the lecture pays ample dividends in terms of understanding.
In particular, if you begin a lecture having understood the previous one,
you learn much more from it, so the process is cumulative. Of course,
there's a negative version of this process, as many students who have
neglected their studies only a little bit learn to their cost as
the term progresses. Together,
Unusual Options
In addition to the standard options listed in PYDC, Mathematics students
may take for credit virtually any module offered by any department
in the University. The only provisos are (i) that the department giving the
module
is willing to accept the student from Mathematics, and (ii) that suitable
credit
and examination arrangements can be made. Students wishing to take these
non-standard
options must complete a special Unusual Options Form
obtainable from the Undergraduate Office B0.01.
This form must
be signed
(i) by the module organiser from the department giving the module, and
(ii) by
the student's personal tutor. It must then be handed in to the Undergraduate Office
B0.01 by Week 12 at the latest. (Tutors are advised to keep a
photocopy in
their records.)
Withdrawal from a Degree Programme
A student wishing to withdraw is usually advised to apply for
temporary
withdrawal in the first instance; it can always be made permanent at a
later stage
when the student has had time for reflection. Withdrawal, either temporary
or permanent,
in the middle of an academic year can have serious consequences for Local
Education Authority (LEA) funding. If a student withdraws before the end of
Term 2, LEAs will
usually discount that year's partial funding and allow the student to
resume the
course and repeat the year without financial penalty. But in any case,
students should
be firmly advised to discuss the implications with their Local Education
Officer before
taking a firm decision to withdraw. Students with medical, emotional, or
financial
problems can often benefit from temporary withdrawal until the problem is
resolved.
Provided a student's withdrawal makes good sense in human and academic
terms, the Department
is usually willing to support the application. If you have a student who
wishes to
withdraw, you should consult the Senior Tutor (Peter Walters) or the Director
of Undergraduate Studies (Dave Wood). It is even possible for
students to take ``retrospective temporary withdrawal'' on medical grounds.
For example: your tutee has been slightly depressed for much of
his second year, and
only attending lectures sporadically. At the beginning of the third term,
as exams approach, he begins to panic as he realises how far behind he is,
and starts to feel seriously anxious and depressed.
Since the consequences of
failing his second year exams
are so serious,
- it may be a good idea for him
to take temporary withdrawal on the grounds that he was depresssed
and
not working to his full potential
all year, or from the start of the second term,
and re-start, correspondingly, in October or January of
the following academic year.
Writing References
At some stage, most of your tutorial students will ask you to write
references supporting
their job applications; these may be temporary vacation jobs, but are more
likely
to be career openings for finalists. (Tell your students they need to keep
in touch with you, for otherwise your references may not be very
convincing.) Although most
employers use many different indicators to judge the suitability of their
applicants,
there is nevertheless a heavy responsibility on tutors to write fair and
accurate
references. (Note that references tend to be more realistic in Britain
than in the United
States.)
Copies of all references must be placed in students' personal files
kept in the Undergraduate
Secretary's office.