Contents
| Certificate in Industrial Studies |
| Leave of Absence (=Temporary Withdrawal) |
| Important Notes |
Certificate in Industrial Studies
Introduction
The Certificate in Industrial Studies is a formal university qualification which can be taken between the second and third years of any of the School's degree programmes (exceptionally it may be taken between the third and fourth years of an MEng programme). It is one of the two ways in which the University of Birmingham allows students to gain recognition for an industrial placement. (The alternative, operated by some Schools but not by Computer Science, is a four year degree with a title containing a phrase such as "with Industrial Studies".)
The Certificate involves:
Finding a company willing to provide a placement which meets the School's requirements, which include providing an Industrial Tutor.
The School can provide assistance with finding a willing company -- see the Industrial Placements Tutor's web page. Companies select placement students, so we can't guarantee to find a willing company.
The placement must involve a component of skills training (approximately 40%) and technical project work (approximately 60%). The skills training can include formal taught and/or self study courses and apprenticeship style learning "on the job". The training and project work must be of a technical nature relevant to the degree programmes that the school offers. The project work will most typically involve programming but other types of project work are acceptable.
Successfully completing at least 30 weeks of the placement. Success is assessed during two visits by a member of the School (the Academic Tutor) and by a report from the Industrial Tutor.
Dates of the visits will be by arrangement between the Academic and Industrial tutors. However, the first visit should be in December or January and the second visit should be in May or June unless otherwise agreed with the Industrial Placements Tutor.
The report from the Industrial Tutor should be a short assessment of the student's performance during the placement with respect to skills learned, project work accomplished and general work.
Submitting a log book and a final report, which will be assessed by the School (on a pass/fail basis).
The log book can be maintained daily or weekly (but no less frequently) and must be signed off by the Industrial Tutor. The entries should identify what the student has been working on, studying or receiving training in for the periods in question.
The report should be approximately 4000 words in length and be the student's introspective reflection on his or her experiences during the placement. It should relate these experiences and lessons learned to the modules taken at University and comment on how these experiences have effected the students understanding of their course and their previous views of work in industry. The report should also be signed off by the industrial tutor.
The report and logbook are submitted at the time of the final inspection.
There is a formal specification for the Certificate in Industrial Studies.
Applications for the Certificate in Industrial Studies
Applications to undertake the Certificate of Industrial Studies will be accepted from the start of the Summer Term (after Easter) to August 31st of the year in which the placement starts (later applications may be accepted). Note that you must already have a placement arranged at a company in order to apply for the Certificate in Industrial Studies. If you have previously applied for Leave of Absence, you may apply to upgrade it to a Certificate in Industrial Studies.
To apply for a Certificate in Industrial Studies, please fill in the application form and send it to the Certificate in Industrial Studies Tutor (Behzad Bordbar), with an accompanying signed cover letter asking to undertake the Certificate in Industrial Studies. An e-mail is not sufficient.
The company involved will be contacted during the processing of the application to ensure that they are willing to support the student's applcation and the training and project work available meets the requirements of the Certificate in Industrial Studies.
Fees
Fees payable to undertake the Certificate of Industrial Studies are calculated as half of the standard annual fee for the student concerned.
Now read the Important Notes below.
See also the Industrial Placements Tutor's web page.
Leave of Absence
The term 'Leave of Absence' (also called 'Temporary Withdrawal') refers to being given permission to be absent from the University for a period of time, usually an academic year. You must have permission. You cannot simply 'disappear' -- if you do you will be awarded 0 for all the examinations you should have taken.
It is possible to ask for Leave of Absence for a year, and then work in industry. Although this is sometimes referred to as 'undertaking a placement', strictly speaking it is not. Unlike undertaking the Certificate in Industrial Studies, no qualification will be awarded and no fees are payable. To apply for Leave of Absence for these reasons, please complete the application form.
Overseas students should note that working fulltime in the UK while on Leave of Absence may be a violation of student visa requirements. The company you work for may need to make arrangements for you to have a work permit. Consult the University's International Office for the latest information. The Certificate in Industrial Studies is different as it counts as part of a four-year degree programme and hence you remain a student.
Leave of Absence may also be granted for reasons of health or other personal factors; in this case it may be for less than a year and it need not involve work in industry. The Welfare Tutor, Volker Sorge, handles applications for Leave of Absence for medical/personal reasons.
Now read the Important Notes below.
Important Notes
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Neither undertaking the Certificate in Industrial Studies nor being given Leave of Absence are a right. In both cases, you must ask for permission. You need to do this before you begin. Where possible, approach the School at start of Term 3 (i.e. the end of the Easter vacation). The latest date is normally 31 August.
In all cases, you need formal written permission from the appropriate person:
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Students wishing to undertake the Certificate in Industrial Studies need permission from the Industrial Placements Tutor, Behzad Bordbar. Complete the application form (see below).
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Students wishing to take Leave of Absence for a year in order to work need permission from the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Peter Tiño. Complete the application form (see below).
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Students wishing to take Leave of Absence for health or other personal reasons need permission from the Welfare Tutor, Volker Sorge. (3) below does not apply in this case -- the letter agreeing your leave will set out the conditions applying to examinations. You need to write a letter to him (see below).
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Asking for permission requires either completing the application form for the Certificate in Industrial Studies, the application form for Leave of Absence on non-medical grounds, or writing a signed letter. These should should be addressed to the relevant member of staff listed above and should be submitted to the School Office. An e-mail is NOT sufficient; the School must receive a signed form or letter. No-one other than these three members of staff can give you permission to take a 'year off'. Taking a 'year off' without proper permission will normally result in your being given 0 for all that year's examinations.
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Permission to undertake the Certificate in Industrial Studies or to take Leave of Absence in order to work does not allow you to be absent from resit examinations at any time during the year and is conditional on your not having any modules to repeat during the year. If you miss any examinations by being on a 'year off', then you will receive a mark of 0.
Serious problems have arisen when students did not undertand this rule. Suppose you were given permission at Easter to do the Certificate in Industrial Studies or to take Leave of Absence during the next year in order to work, and you then failed one or more modules in the May/June examinations.
If you were given a repeat, you would have to give up the 'year off'. If you were given a resit, you would have to take time off to do this. (Students who are permanently resident abroad can normally arrange to take examinations in their home country, but this has to be arranged with the University Examinations Office almost immediately the results are known. Home students working abroad have to return to the UK to take examinations.)