These General Regulations are to be read in conjunction with all other Statutes and Regulations of the University and the Qualification Regulations specific to each Postgraduate Degree, Diploma and Certificate offered by the University.
Admission
19. Admission to a Postgraduate certificate, Postgraduate diploma, 120-credit Bachelor (Honours) degree or a Master’s degree requires that the student will:
(a) have made formal application for admission to postgraduate study for the specified programme; and
(b) meet one of the following academic criteria:
(i) have qualified for the award of a relevant Bachelor’s degree with a grade average that demonstrates an adequate level of preparation for the postgraduate programme; or
(ii) have an approved academic qualification of similar standing to the relevant Bachelor’s degree; or
(iii) have been granted admission with equivalent status as entitled to proceed to the specified Postgraduate qualification.
(c) Where appropriate to a specific qualification:
(i) provide evidence of practical/professional experience of an acceptable standard in an area(s) relevant to the qualification; or
(ii) on the request of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate), carry out such work and satisfy such assessments as the Academic Board may determine to be necessary for admission.
(d) For qualifications requiring a GPA for admission, the calculation must follow only one of these two approved methods:
(i) GPA will be calculated using 75 credits of the highest-level taught courses. Where the qualification used for admission only comprises 60 credits, all 60 credits will be used.
(ii) Alternatively, GPA will be calculated using 75 credits of the highest-level taught specialisation courses. Where the qualification used for admission comprises of only 60 credits, all 60 credits will be used
(iii) Where more than 60 or 75 credits of courses are available, the highest graded courses will be counted. For example, if a student has 60 credits at 300-level and 60 credits at 200-level, all 300-level courses are counted, and the highest graded 200-level course is included.
(iv) Failed courses are excluded from GPA calculations used for admission and progression.
Academic Requirements
20.
(a) A postgraduate qualification will consist of a number of credits accumulated from taught courses and/or research courses, at 700-level or above, as specified in the Qualification Regulations.
(b) For the award of the degree, diploma or certificate a passing grade is required in each course in the qualification. A student can re-enrol and be re-examined only once in a failed course.
Research Reports and Theses
21.
(a) A research report will consist of a minimum of 30 credits; a thesis will consist of a minimum of 90 credits.
(b) The research component of postgraduate programmes will be 0, 30, 45, 60, 90 or 120 credits with the proviso that the Bachelor (Honours) degree will have a minimum research component of 30 credits and those Master’s degrees that require a research component will have a minimum of 45 credits of research.
(c) Postgraduate diplomas and certificates may have a research component of zero credits and consist entirely of taught courses.
(d) For thesis courses that are offered for enrolment as Part One and Part Two, candidates are required to precede their enrolment in Part Two with enrolment in Part One.
Student Progression
22.
(a) Students will have completed the 700-level Part One qualification requirements as listed in the qualification regulations, prior to enrolling in the 800-level course/s.
(b)
(i) 120-credit Bachelor (Honours) degrees will be awarded as First Class Honours, Second Class Honours Division I, Second Class Honours Division II or Third Class Honours. Bachelor (Honours) degrees must be completed within one year of first enrolling in full-time study or within three years of first enrolling in part-time study.
(ii) Postgraduate diplomas and 120-credit Master’s degrees will carry the award of Distinction if completed at a superior standard (equivalent to First Class Honours), or Merit (equivalent to Second Class Honours, Division One) within one year of first enrolling in full-time study or within three years of first enrolling in part-time study.
(iii) 180-credit Master’s degrees will carry the award of Distinction if completed at a superior standard (equivalent to First Class Honours), or Merit (equivalent to Second Class Honours, Division One) within eighteen months of first enrolling in full-time study or within four years of first enrolling in part-time study.
(iv) 240-credit Master’s degrees will be awarded with First Class Honours, Second Class Honours Division I, Second Class Honours Division II or a pass. To qualify for the award of honours, 240-credit Master’s degrees must be completed within two years of first enrolling for full-time study or within five years of first enrolling for part-time study.
(v) These periods can, in special circumstances, be amended/ extended by the Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate). The Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate) can also in special circumstances permit students to suspend their programme of studies for an approved period. The duration of the suspension of study will be excluded from the time used for the calculation of honours or distinction.
(vi) Failed courses are included in calculations for Honours, Distinction and Merit.
23. The Academic Board (or delegate) may, under such conditions as it may determine and taking into account the recommendations of the Chief Examiner(s), admit any candidate to a supplementary assessment in a course in which the candidate failed to gain a pass.
24. Students who wish to take a course for which they do not have the prerequisite(s) may make a case for admission to the relevant Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate), and the decision will not set a precedent for future requests.
Academic Progress
25. All students are expected to achieve at least Satisfactory Academic Progress in each enrolment period. Unsatisfactory Academic Progress is governed by the Academic Progress Regulations and the Academic Progress Policy which sets out the minimum (satisfactory) thresholds.
Specialisations
26. Qualifications for which specialisations, such as endorsements or subjects, are listed may have these specified as specialisations at the time of programme approval. The Postgraduate qualification completed by the student will state the specialisation.
Maximum Time to Completion
27. Unless otherwise specified in the Qualification Regulations there will be time limits for completion as follows:
(a) 60-credit Postgraduate Certificates must be completed within a maximum of two years.
(b) 120-credit Postgraduate Diplomas must be completed within a maximum of four years.
(c) 120-credit Masterates must be completed within a maximum of four years.
(d) 180-credit Masterates must be completed within a maximum of five years.
(e) 240-credit Masterates must be completed within a maximum of six years.
(f) 120-credit Bachelor (Honours) must be completed within a maximum of three years.
Where credit has been transferred in accordance with the Recognition of Prior Learning Regulations , the above time limits may be pro-rated when calculating maximum time limits for completion. Time limits may be waived, at the discretion of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate), where a student exits with a qualification of lesser credit.
28. Students who have not enrolled in a qualification, or who have withdrawn from all courses in the qualification over a period of three consecutive years will be deemed to have abandoned their qualification. Abandonment releases the University from its obligation to ensure a qualification can be completed. Students will be permitted admission to a current qualification should they meet the entry requirements at the time of admission; credits previously achieved will be assessed and applied in accordance with current regulations.
Variations and Personal Programme Approvals
29. The Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate) may, at their discretion, approve a personal programme of study which does not conform with the General Regulations or the Regulations for that degree, diploma or certificate while still conforming to the academic standards of the qualification (subject to specific rules).
(a) The following rules will apply:
(i) There must be a compelling academic case to merit the variation, or;
(ii) There must be evidence of exceptional circumstances and/or hardship to the student.
(iii) Variations are authorised under formal delegation from the Academic Board, and must comply with institutional academic governance and be formally documented.
(iv) The variation will be recorded on the student’s academic record.
(v) Personal programme approvals will not permit a reduction in the total amount of credit required to complete a qualification.
(vi) The extent of variation cannot jeopardise the integrity of the qualification. To this end there will be a limit on the extent to which a qualification can be varied. The maximum amount of credit variation normally permitted for qualifications which have a total credit value higher than 60 credits is 30 credits.
(vii) Variations will not normally be permitted in qualifications which have a total credit value of 60 credits or lower.
(viii) Variations will be considered only on a case-by-case basis and will not set any precedent, unless special circumstances affect an entire student cohort (for example, programme closures or course availability)
(b) Notwithstanding Regulations 29 (a) (vi) (vii) and (viii), and at the discretion of the relevant Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate), students exiting a programme may have a personal course variation approved in excess of the stated limits to meet the requirements of the proposed exit qualification through the substitution of courses from the schedule for the qualification being exited.
Transitional Provisions
30. The University reserves the right to introduce such changes as it may judge to be necessary or desirable, including the addition, restructuring or withdrawal of qualifications, specialisations, regulations and/or courses. Reasonable provisions will be made to enable students to complete any such qualification or specialisation. Such provisions include, where necessary:
(a) allowing course substitutions
(b) exempting students from taking new compulsory course requirements
(c) exempting students from fulfilling new schedule requirements when those requirements involve additional credits
(d) exempting students from fulfilling the requirements of newly introduced cores
31. Notwithstanding Regulation 30, colleges may require a student to complete some or all of the new requirements, as long as the student does not need to take more credits than would be required to complete their programme.
32. Unless otherwise stated in the regulations for a particular qualification, where the name of a qualification or specialisation changes, previously enrolled students will graduate under the new name of the qualification or specialisation.
33. The provisions under Regulation 30 will allow students to complete their qualifications in a reasonable time. The timeframes for completion under transition regulations will relate to the qualification, as follows:
(a) Up to 120 credits: two years
(b) 180-240 credits: three years
34. Notwithstanding Regulation 33, in such circumstances where the University has made the decision to cease activities in a discipline area (including staffing, postgraduate teaching, research, and infrastructure) shorter timeframes may be established that take into account:
(a) transfer of students to other institutions
(b) transfer of students to alternative qualifications
(c) exiting students with a lesser qualification
(d) options for teaching-out of selected years of the qualification.
Limitation of Entry
35. For any programmes of study offered by the University, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (or delegate) has discretion to limit the number of students enrolled in one or more programmes of study or training each year because of insufficiency of staff, accommodation, or equipment, or for other reasons that may arise. Accordingly, where the number of applications for the particular programme(s) exceeds the number of places available, then Massey University will select from the applicants the students to be enrolled in the programme of study.
Public Health Considerations
36. Under any Government orders or Massey University Council directives, admission to specified programmes of study at Massey University - and continued enrolment and progression in those programmes - may require evidence of full and current vaccination status for any mandated vaccinations. This requirement will be applied to all relevant programmes in accordance with Government orders or Massey University mandates.