Academic Information
ACADEMIC
POLICY
The basic principle of EAP is that you
should undertake a program of study that is as close as
possible to the program taken by your host university students,
while still making progress towards the completion of your
own major requirements at UC. You must meet the same academic
requirements as a regular British student, and take a full
course load. You are not a typical "JYA" student
- you are expected to follow the rules and regulations
of the host university, and must follow the academic regulations
for full-time enrolled students. This means that EAP students
will NOT be allowed to make special arrangements for substitute
examinations or papers with their instructors, even if
such options are available or encouraged for other foreign
students.
TO GET
CREDIT FOR YOUR COURSES, YOU MUST BE "DOUBLE" ENROLLED:
WITH YOUR HOST UNIVERSITY AND WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA.
UC will accept all courses you take
in your host university as UC courses. You do not need
to arrange to transfer units; you ARE taking UC courses.
But, it is YOUR responsibility to find out which host courses
fulfil home campus major and general education requirements.
EAP cannot do this for you. If you have any questions about
degree requirements, you must contact a departmental advisor
at your home UC campus.
Coursework, syllabi and course evaluations
are set by your host university, NOT BY EAP. The host university
instructors assess your performance and record final marks
for your coursework. The Study Centre Director is the official "Instructor
of Record", who has the responsibility of translating
these marks in to UC letter grades, using your final transcript
and other information provided by the host university.
This includes the assessment of papers, examinations, and
oral participation.
Registration
has two components:
1) You must complete
class registration at your host university at the start
of each academic term/semester (some hosts will register
you for the entire year at the start of the first term).
2) You must also
complete your UC course registration with the Study Centre
Director.
The Study Centre Director will visit
you 4-5 weeks in to the start of your Autumn and Spring
terms in order to complete your UC registration, after
you have registered for your classes at your host university.
The Director will meet with each student individually.
STUDY
TIPS
Assignments Essay
Writing Studying
for Exams
Assignments
The academic term/ semester is structured
in a different way in the UK to the UC system. There is
more focus on independent study, and often there are only
two or three assignments to be handed in during the term
(usually towards the end of the term). As a result, if
often appears to UC students that the British students
are doing very little work! Just be warned that
a) this is often a false impression
- you will find that the students study late at night,
or in the privacy of their own rooms, and it just seems
as if they do not study during daylight hours, and
b) British students are very used to
this system of study, following years of practice in high
school exams of revising (cramming) intensively as exams
approach. you should therefore be in a strong position
- you have experience of consistent hard work, which should
give you an edge over the students who leave it to the
last minute and cram!
Essay
Writing
It is different to what you are used
to. Instructors here typically expect more outside (secondary)
sources to be evident in essays. A good essay will attempt
to insert itself into the critical discourse on the topic,
not simply appear as the writer's own musings on the topic.
We've noticed that a typical criticism of UC student essays
is that the students are confined to their own opinions,
and don't pay sufficient attention to other ideas. This
does not mean that you should inhibit yourself from expressing
your own ideas and critical sensibility, but you will want
to research your topic thoroughly (or more thoroughly than
the hectic UC pace of life allows for), and let some of
that research show through in your essay. "Good writing" is
very much valued - you will lose marks for spelling and
grammatical errors. You should use British spelling!
Studying for Exams
Talk to fellow students in the class,
and feel free to ask the instructor for advice. You should
be prepared to put forward well-structured and informed
arguments, as well as to offer personal ideas. You will
be expected to include quotes and cite references. Go to
the library and check out past examination papers for an
idea of what you can expect. Attend any revision (review)
sessions offered by your instructor.
|
EAP
Home Page
