The University reviews its curriculum regularly in order to keep pace with social, economic, scientific and technological developments. Minor reviews such as the addition and revision of individual courses and programmes are on-going processes. The University adopts a five-year mandatory review cycle, with the review process starting at the beginning of the fifth year and revised curriculum package coming into force at the beginning of the sixth year. There is a mid-term evaluation in the third year of the cycle.
The cyclical curriculum review will cover such areas as:
- The vision, mission philosophy and objectives of the University/Faculty/School/Department
- Structure and content of the academic programmes
Programme Structure showing:
- Code/Title of Course and their Credits
- Semester-by-semester layout of Courses
Course descriptions (and course content outlines – for departmental consideration)
Resource Implications
Existing staff situation (name, qualification and rank)
Additional staff required (rank)
Existing space and equipment
Additional space and equipment required
Linkages with other institutions/departments, etc.
Cost Implications – Indicate the cost implications of the new programme for the first four years and how the new programme is to be financed
Suggested Readings List – To be done according to APA Referencing Style (6th edition). The list should include works by Ghanaian/African authors.
Format for the Review of Existing Academic Programme
- Heading of Document
- Designated Degree/Diploma/Certificate
- Rationale for the Review of the Programme
- Goals and Objectives of the Programme
- Goals of the Programme (General profile of the student at the end of the programme)
- Objectives of the Programme (Specific learning outcomes stated in measurable terms)
- Date of commencement
- Admission Requirements/Target Groups
- Admission Requirements
- Target Groups
Format for Introducing a New Course into an Existing Programme
- Heading of Document
- Rationale (Provide justification for the introduction of the new course)
- Code/Title of Course and their Credits
- Objectives of the Course
- Date of Commencement
- Pre – requisites (if any)
- Course descriptions (and course content outlines for – Departmental consideration)
- Suggested Reading List – To be done according to APA Referencing Style (6th edition). The list should include works by Ghanaian/African authors.
Examination Rules And Regulations
The following guidelines will govern the conduct of all examinations in the University. It is the duty of all concerned to acquaint themselves with these Rules and Regulations.
Qualifying to write University Examinations
A candidate shall qualify to write a University Examination if:
- He/she has registered and followed the approved course as a regular student and has not absented himself/herself for more than the equivalent of three weeks contact hours for the course.
- He/she has continuous assessment marks for relevant subject areas.
- He/she is not under suspension from the University.
- He/she does not owe fees to the University.
Examination Rooms and Seating Arrangements
- The examination will take place at approved venues indicated on the Time-Table. It shall be the duty of the candidate to consult the Time- Table and ascertain the papers to be written each day and make himself/herself available at the appointed place at least 30 minutes before the examination.
- It would be the sole responsibility of the Teaching and Examinations Section of the University to seat students in various examinations venues for all examinations.
Students Identity Cards
- Identity Cards of students will be inspected during examinations. Candidates are, therefore, requested to display their Students identity Cards on their tables for inspection by the examination officers.
- Candidates who have misplaced their Identity Cards should report to the Director (Academic Affairs) for replacement before the examination.
- Candidates who have no evidence of any University of Cape Coast Identity Card will not be allowed to take the examination.
Entering and Leaving the Examination Room
A candidate should make himself/herself available at the venue at least 30 minutes before the commencement of the examination. A candidate may not be allowed to write an examination if he/she reports in the examination room 30 minutes after the commencement of the examination.
Candidates who arrive after the examination has started will not be allowed extra time to complete the paper.
A candidate shall not bring to the examination room, washroom or the immediate vicinity of the examination centre, any books, paper, written information or any other unauthorized material. No bags, purses, wallets, mobile phones/organizers, programmable calculators or any memory card/USB device are to taken into the examination room(s). No student shall enter the examination room until he/she is invited or called and/or requested to enter the examination room. All candidates shall be searched before they are allowed entry into the examination room. A candidate who is suspected of hiding unauthorized material on his/her person may be asked by the invigilator to submit himself/herself to a thorough body search. Refusal to comply would constitute an examination offence.
Candidates may leave the examination room temporarily, but only with the permission of the invigilator. In such cases, the invigilator will be required to certify that the candidates do not carry on them any unauthorized material. An attendant designated by the invigilator will accompany a candidate who is allowed to leave the examination room temporarily.
Candidates should spend a minimum of 30 minutes in the examination room before submitting examination scripts. Similarly, no candidate shall be permitted to leave the examination room during the last 15 minutes of the examination.
A candidate who completes an examination ahead of time and intends to leave the examination room shall draw the attention of the invigilator/invigilation assistant who shall collect the candidate’s answer book before he/she is permitted to leave.
Candidates who fall ill in the examination room should inform the invigilator for the appropriate action to be taken.
Procedure during the Examination
Candidates must ensure that they sign the examination attendance sheet. On receipt of the answer books, candidates should carefully read the instructions on the front cover of the answer books and enter their index numbers and other details as required.
No part of the answer books may be torn off and all used answers books must be left on the table. Rough work must be done in the answer books and should be crossed out to show that it is not part of the answer.
It shall be the candidate’s responsibility to provide for themselves such materials as pen, pencil, eraser, ruler, calculator for the examination. Borrowing of these materials will not be allowed. Candidates are to ensure that they are given the right question papers and other material(s) needed for the examination.
The use of correction fluid in the examination room is prohibited.
Under no circumstances should a candidate write his/her name on any part of the answer book provided. Candidates are required to use only their Index Numbers throughout the examination period. Unless otherwise instructed, candidates are to sit according to their Index Numbers for all written papers.
There should be no verbal or any other form of communication between candidates during the period of the examination.
Candidates would be told by the invigilator(s) when to start answering the questions. Candidates would be allowed a reading time to check that the question paper is the correct one, all questions are readable and there are no missing pages.
As soon as the ‘Stop work’ order is announced, candidates are to stop writing. Candidates should remain seated for their answer books to be collected by the invigilator/invigilation assistant and permitted to leave the examination room before they do so. Candidates have personal responsibility for ensuring that their answer books are collected by the invigilator/invigilation assistant.
At the end of each examination, candidates should ensure that numbers of questions are entered in the order they have been answered in the space provided on the answer book. All used supplementary sheets should be fastened following the last page of the answer book.
At the end of each examination, candidates should not take away any answer books or supplementary sheets whether used or unused.
Absence from Examination
Any candidate who fail to attend any or part of an examination except on medical grounds or other legitimate grounds shall be deemed to have failed the examination. The following shall not be accepted as reasons for being absent from any Examination:
- Mis – reading the time – table
- Forgetting the date or time of the examination
- Inability to locate the examination hall
- Over – sleeping
- Inability to find transport to the examination venue.
In case of absence from an examination through ill health the candidate (or someone acting on his/her behalf) must submit a relevant Medical Certificate, which must relate to the day or period of the examination. Evidence of illness will not normally be taken into account unless substantiated by a Medical Certificate. Such evidence must be received within 14 days after the day of the examination.
It is the responsibility of the candidate to arrange with his/her doctor for any medical evidence to be certified by the Director, University Health Services to be sent to the Director (Academic Affairs).
In case of absence from an examination due to serious carious causes other than ill health, the candidate (or someone acting on his/her behalf) must submit to the Director (Academic Affairs):
- a written explanation of the absence and
- evidence of the cause, where possible.
A candidate shall uphold the highest standard of civility and courtesy in an examination centre. A candidate who flouts the instruction(s) of a Chief Invigilator or misconducts himself/herself in any manner to an examination official at an examination centre commits an offence. Such candidate shall either lose marks in respect of the particular paper being written or be banned from the examination.
Examination Offence
All cases of examination offences should be investigated by the various Faculty Examination Committees and detailed reports submitted to the Vice – Chancellor, not later than one month after the end-of-semester examinations. An examination offence shall be understood to be any attempt on the part of a candidate to gain an unfair advantage in examination. These include:
- Leakage of Examination Questions. Any knowledge or possession of examination questions before the examination.
- Possession of unauthorized materials related to the examinations and likely to be used during examinations. Copying from prepared notes or from a colleague’s script during examination.
- Copying from USB memory devices, i.e, programmable calculators, watches, mobile phones and any other electronic devices.
- Persistently looking over the other candidate’s shoulders in order to cheat.
- Impersonating another candidate or allowing oneself to be impersonated.
- Assisting and attempting to assist, obtaining or attempting to obtain assistance from a candidate.
- Consulting or typing to consult during examination an books, notes or other unauthorized materials.
- Persistently disturbing other candidate(s) or distracting their attention.
- Verbal or physical assault on an invigilator over alleged examination offence.
- Destroying materials suspected to help establish cases of examination malpractices.
- Writing after the examination has ended.
- Fabrication of data – Claiming to have carried out experiments, observations, interviews or any sort of research which obtained results which have not in fact been obtained.
- Plagiarism – Copying another student’s work and pretending it is one’s own or substantial use of other people’s work and the submission of it as though it was one’s own.
Students are advised to ensure that any material submitted for assessment is the original work that they have produced. Students are permitted to quote from the work of others. However, they must clearly acknowledge the sources in the body of their text with quotation marks (or other appropriate citation) and also indicate in the bibliography. The offence of plagiarism is committed if a student:
- Rewords another person’s work and presents it as his/her own
- Quotes extensively from someone else’s work
- Copies from the work of another person, including another student
- Uses another person’s ideas without proper acknowledgment.
Penalties For Examination Offences
| Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Leakage of examination question | Dismissal of offenders involved |
| Possession of unauthorized material relating to the examination and likely to be used during examination | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. |
| Copying from prepared notes or from a colleague’s script during examination | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. In addition, candidate shall be rusticated for two semesters. |
| Looking over other candidate’s shoulder in order to cheat | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. |
| Impersonation | Dismissal of candidates involved |
| Assisting and attempting to assist, obtaining or attempting to obtain assistance from a candidate | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. In addition, candidate shall be rusticated for two semesters |
| Consulting or trying to consult during the examination any book, notes or other unauthorized materials | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. In addition, candidate shall be rusticated for two semesters. |
| Persistently disturbing other candidate(s) or detracting their attention | Stopping candidate from continuing the examination |
| Verbal assault on invigilator | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. In addition, candidate shall be rusticated for two semesters. |
| Physical assault on invigilator | Dismissal of the offender |
| Destroying materials suspecting as evidence | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. In addition, candidate shall be rusticated for two semesters |
| Refusal to write a statement | Cancellation of paper. Candidate shall earn a mark of zero (0) for paper and therefore shall be deemed to have failed the examination. In addition, candidate shall be rusticated for two semesters |
| Writing after the examination has ended | Loss of 5 marks for the examination paper |
| Fabrication of data | Cancellation of candidate’s result. |
| Plagiarism | Cancellation of candidate’s Long Essay/Project/Thesis |
Submission of Long Essay/Project Report
- Long Essay/Project Report should be submitted to Heads of Department not later than one (1) month after the End-of-Semester Examinations.
- The result for a Long Essay/Project Report submitted later than one (1) month after the End-of-Semester Examinations will be considered after one (1) academic year.
Procedures for Appeal
A candidate who is not satisfied with the result of any University Examination affecting his/her may request for re-making by submission of an application to the Registrar and payment of the appropriate re-making fee.
An application for re-making shall be submitted to the Registrar not later than 21 days after the release of the said result and shall state the grounds for re-making. No action shall be taken on an application which is submitted outside the stipulated 21 days period. Re-making shall not proceed unless the re-making fee is fully paid.
The result of the re-making should be considered by the Faculty/School Board.
If it is established that a complaint for re-making is without merit or is ill-motivated, the Academic Board may prescribe appropriate sanctions against the complainant.