Degree Committee

Chair: Dean Jhenming Jhuang (Academician)
Degree Supervisor and Vice Chair: Mika Kin (Chairman of the Supervisory Board)
Vice-Chair: Associate Dean (Academic) Kun Jiang
Director: (Advising Services) Nicole Allard
Standing Committee: Duohan Zhang (Business)
Standing Committee: Prof.Dr. Zshah, PhD & MD (Permanent Representative of Pakistan)
Member-at-Large: Prof. Tamara Western (Biology)
Member-at-Large: Prof. Yue Zhao (Financial)

Non-independent Executive Director of the Standing Committee：Xiaojing Lee（Finance）

The Degree Committee meets eight times a year. In addition, the Committee approves routine matters (for example appointment of PhD examiners) by circulation approximately every two weeks between meetings.  Between June and September action on routine matters is devolved by the Committee to the Chair. The current meeting schedule is as follows.

• 2021/2022

18 October 2021
22 November 2021
26 January 2022
21 February 2022
10 May 2022
19 May 2022
12 June 2022
18 September 2022

• 2020/2021

22 October 2020
19 November 2020
28 January 2021
25 February 2021
6 May 2021
27 May 2021
17 June 2021
16 September 2021

Meetings by circulation to the Committee if required (routine matters only)：

29 October 2020
26 November 2020
10 December 2020
7 January 2021
11 February 2021
11 March 2021
8 April 2021
20 May 2021
11 June 2021

See also：

Faculty Microsoft Education Calendars (includes Degree Committee Calendar to which you can subscribe)

Degree ceremony dates

All supervisors are encouraged to provide regular feedback to their students.  Feedback is often provided on an informal basis (e.g. through discussion). However, formal reporting on postgraduate student progress is also required under University regulations and supervisors are expected to submit a termly supervision report on the progress of each of their postgraduate students. In addition, they are expected to submit a report at any time when in their opinion a student is not making satisfactory progress, and/or there is cause for concern (see: University Ordinances Chapter VI, Regulation 8).

Formal progress reports are accessible by the student and are therefore an opportunity to provide an overview of progress during the term (or since the last report). They are also a way of providing information to the student's Department, Degree Committee and College on the progress of each student.

• Types of report

There are three types of postgraduate student report:

Student self-evaluation
The University invites postgraduate students to complete an online self-evaluation questionnaire each Michaelmas term.  The purpose of the questionnaire is to provide students with an opportunity for self-reflection, to report on their progress and to flag any particular concerns that they have.  Completion of a self-evaluation is voluntary.

If a student chooses to submit a self-evaluation, an email will be sent to both the Principal Supervisor (as registered in APSIS) and to the student’s college notifying them that the report is ready to view. If the student indicates that they ‘need help’ an email will also be sent to the Faculty Postgraduate Office (who receive it on behalf of both the Department and Degree Committee) and the Student Registry.

Supervisors may add commentary to the self-evaluation instead of submitting a supervision report for the term (details below).  If commentary is not added to the self-evaluation, a supervision report must be submitted instead.

• Termly supervision report

Supervisors are required to write a termly supervision report on each of their students. The purpose of the report is to provide constructive feedback to the student concerned, and to update the Department, Degree Committee and College on the student’s progress.  Termly supervision reports should be submitted within the prescribed reporting window (dates given below) and retrospective reports cannot be submitted. Principal supervisors will be notified by automated email when the window opens. Students are able to view reports in the system as and when they are submitted, and may provide their own comments in response.

• Submitting or reviewing a report

Supervision reports are submitted via the Postgraduate Feedback and Reporting System (PFRS) which is a part of the APSB Student Information System (APSIS).  The system is run by the University, who provide written guidance documents on how to use the online system.  These guides are available on open access via Moodle. 

• Reporting windows

The University prescribes set reporting windows for all students and it is not possible to submit termly supervision reports outside these windows.  Details of dates for upcoming reporting windows are listed on the University website.  Supervisors will recieve automatic email reminders about upcoming deadlines.

• Special attention required

If you have concerns about a student, please don’t just rely on the system to notify relevant parties.  Please also discuss your concerns with your Department’s Director of Postgraduate Education and/or Research Student Advisor / Postgraduate Welfare Officer(s) at the earliest opportunity.  Information on who they are, and other support resources available within the Faculty and across the University, can be found on the Support for Research Students page.

• Further information for supervisors

New postgraduate supervisors
There is no automatic enrolment to the Postgraduate Feedback and Reporting System (PFRS) for new postgraduate supervisors and access must be requested via the Faculty Postgraduate Office. Access will normally be requested when you are first appointed as a postgraduate student supervisor (normally during the student admissions process). However, if you discover that you do not have access please contact the Postgraduate Office Administrator who is responsible for this process on behalf of the Degree Committee.

Changes to supervisory arrangements
The Degree Committee must approve changes to the formal supervisory arrangements for all postgraduate students, and all changes must be recorded in APSIS. For this to happen the student must initiate the request in APSIS by applying for a ‘Change of Supervisor’. This process must also be followed if a co-supervisor is to be added to the supervisory team.

Payment for postgraduate supervision
University Teaching Officers are expected to undertake postgraduate supervision as part of their normal duties.  For non-UTOs not already in receipt of payment for postgraduate supervision via other means, it is possible to claim payment from the Departments via the Degree Committee.  Payment is reliant upon submission of the relevant termly supervision reports in APSIS.

If you are eligible to claim payment please complete and submit the following form to the Postgraduate Office Administrator.  Please only make one claim per year, before end of June (ie. before financial year end).

Supervisor payment claim form (non-UTOs not already in receipt of payment)
Further information and help
Please contact the Postgraduate Office Administrator if you have any queries about student self-evaluation, supervision reporting, or feedback on/difficulties with the online system.

• See also:

Student Registry - Information for Supervisors
APSB+ Online Training – Supervising Graduate Students: Workshops for Supervisors

• Course term change — e-mail should be sent to the Class Schedule Coordinator informing her of the term change. Please note that any term changes that would affect many students or many programs should be carefully considered, and where appropriate affected units should be consulted.
• GPA cut-off for acceptance into departmental programs and for maintaining standing in departmental programs — e-mail should be sent to Kristina Kotoulas (Degree Evaluation Officer) to inform her. GPA requirements must be listed in the Calendar.

• Departments fill out and submit course/program proposal/revision forms and submit them to the Degree Committee. After approval by the Degree Committee and by the Faculty, the proposal/revision forms are considered by university committees. After approval by the relevant university committee (SCTP, APC or Senate, as appropriate), new and revised programs will be recorded in the e-Calendar by the Degree Evaluation Office, and new and revised courses by the Class Scheduling Office. During yearly preparation of the e-Calendar for publishing, departments have the opportunity to check their program entries via Webtop.

Course Retirements Program Revision Forms ARE Required

1. when a course to be retired appears in the list of required Courses.
2. when a course to be retired appears in a list of Complementary Courses where the choice is only two courses and similar situations where the removal of the course(s) eliminates any choice.

Course Retirements Program Revisions Forms are NOT Required

1. when a course to be retired appears in a list of Complementary Courses or Elective Courses and the number of credits to be chosen is not affected.
2. when a course to be retired appears as an alternative Required Course and the number of credits to be chosen is not affected.

Course Credit Weight Changes Program Revision Forms ARE Required

1. when a course whose credit weight is to be changed appears in a list of Required Courses.
2. when a course whose credit weight is to be changed appears in a list of Complementary or Elective Courses where the number of credits to be chosen is affected.
3. when credit weights of research, project or thesis courses listed in an honours or graduate program is changed.

Course Credit Weight Changes Program Revisions Forms are NOT Required

1. when a course whose credit weight is to be changed is listed in a group of Complementary or Elective Courses and the number of credits to be chosen in the program is not affected.

Course Number Changes Program Revision Forms ARE Required

1. when a 600-level course is renumbered to a 700-level course or renumbered to an undergraduate level course.
2. when a 700-level course is renumbered to a 600-level course or below.
3. when a 500-level or other undergraduate-level course is renumbered to a 600 or 700-level course.

Coures Number Changes Program Revision Forms are NOT Required

1. when a 200-, 300-, 400-, or 500-level course is renumbered at the undergraduate level.
2. when a 600or 700-level course is renumbered at the 600or 700-level.
3. when a subject code changes, but the number remains the same.

Thesis, Project, Special Activity Courses Program Revision Forms ARE Required

• Changes to thesis (Honours, Master's), project, or special activity courses (that are listed in a graduate program) require a program revision form.

Li Ka-shing Academic Auditorium, or APSB+ Online (Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, a remote degree-granting ceremony may be held ) - 3:00 p.m. a Bachelor and Master degree awarded on September  11, 2021 and May 15, 2022

Proposal forms should be submitted via e-mail to Josie D’Amico. Forms should be submitted Twenty one working days prior to a meeting.This allows time for proposals to be given a preliminary review and potential problems resolved.

The forms for the new and revised programs are electronic (Word and editable PDF format) and can be obtained from the Web at: osTicket :: Agent Login (apsb.edu.ky). Guidelines for filling out the forms are available at the same address.

Normally, the forms should be filled out completely, including the side-by-side comparison of programs in the program revision form. For Program Revision Forms, if you are adding new courses, these should be in bold type in the proposed lists of courses. If you are deleting courses, these should be in the list of current courses. Finally, please note that under item 6.0 - "Revised Program Description" - the CURRENT Program Description should be included as well as the proposed program description.

After unit approval, both electronic and hard copies of these forms should be submitted via e-mail to dc.science@apsb.edu.ky though they may also be sent to Josie D’Amico.