Important Announcement

International Seminar on Communication & Culture in South East Asian Region 
 

The Faculty of Communication & Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, will be organizing the International Seminar on Communication & Culture in South East Asian Region Titled ‘Evolution, Development, and Challenges’ (ISCCSR).  This seminar is jointly organized between us and the Faculty of Social & Political Knowledge, Universitas Padang, Indonesia.  The seminar will be held on the 22-23rd  October 2009, at the Annexe Hall, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.  (Shah Alam is located 23km from Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia).

For More Information Please Click on the link below

http://masscomm.uitm.edu.my/

FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA STUDIES

GUIDELINES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

 Introduction

The guidelines outlined here are to assist graduate students in the duration of their studies at the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies.  To be read in conjunction with manuals produced by the Institute of Graduate Studies1 which always take precedence, these guidelines define the processes and procedures as practiced in the Faculty.

Registered Students

Once registered as graduate students until the completion of their studies, it is incumbent upon students to independently monitor their progress in terms of registration and validation of courses and payment of fees.  While the Faculty will assist students in problems encountered, the onus of ensuring students’ status remain active (1A) will be on the students.  An inactive student status has many implications, the most crucial being that the students will be barred from attending classes and the Faculty will not be able to key in students’ final results into the system at the end of every semester. Several students have been dismissed over the years due to their negligence in keeping their student status active.  This could have been easily avoided if students had been more diligent and take heed of the announcements and reminders by the Graduate Studies office via its website. Students are also reminded to update the Faculty with their latest contact numbers so that the Faculty can do its part in reminding students of their progress. 

Selection of Supervisor for Thesis Writing

Students are advised to start the process of writing the thesis proposal and selection of thesis supervisor as early as possible upon registration.  Students are reminded that procrastination normally results in not completing within the stipulated time.

Supervisors for thesis can be chosen by students themselves (but subject to approval by the Faculty’s Academic Committee of Graduate Studies) (Appendix 1 – Request Form).  If students are unsure about whom to choose, the Coordinator for Graduate Studies will assign them one.  To that end, students are required to discuss with the Coordinator on the topic they plan to work on until a supervisor is chosen.  (Please see Appendix 2 for a list of potential supervisors and their areas of specialization/ expertise to assist students in identifying a supervisor).

As Master by Research and doctoral students are expected to defend their proposals within the first year of their studies, discussions with thesis supervisors on the topic and the writing of the proposal should start immediately upon registration.

Changing Supervisors

Though students have the right to change supervisors during the course of supervision, this should be done in the proper manner. Not only does the Coordinator need to be notified of this, both the original supervisor and the new supervisor have to agree to the change. A form, available at the Faculty, has to be filled to get the approval of both supervisors (see Appendix 3).

Oral Examination (Viva voce)

Master by Coursework and Research (MC770 and MC780 respectively) students who have completed their thesis writing and have obtained the approval of their Supervisors for the oral examination (viva), need to give the Coordinator at least two weeks’ notice before a  viva could be conducted. Students need to fill a form (available at the Faculty) for the notice of submission (see Appendix 4). The selection of the examiners (TWO) will be done by the Coordinator in consultation with the Supervisor.

The deadline to submit a request for viva is the end of the first week of the UiTM-level final examinations.  No request will be entertained after this deadline as time is needed for the Coordinator to appoint the examiners; for the examiners to read the thesis and for students to do corrections after the viva.

After the viva, three hard-bound copies of the thesis (in dark green cover) should be submitted to the Coordinator/ Supervisor.

Viva for PhD (MC990) students will be organized by IPSis (refer to IGS Processes and Procedures).

Graduate Seminar

The Faculty conducts a Graduate Seminar at least once a semester to give students the opportunity to present and get feedback on their topics/ areas of study for thesis.  The seminar is open to students and lecturers within and outside the Faculty and  is compulsory for PhD and Master by Research students before they defend their PhD proposals at the Institute of Graduate Studies and Master proposals at the Faculty, and progressively over the course of their study.  Other students (Master by Coursework) are encouraged to present at least once during the course of their studies.  Attendance at such seminars is highly encouraged to expose students to discourses on current topics in media and communication and research and to enable students to broaden their academic horizon.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a phenomenon plaguing academic institutions worldwide.  Students are strongly advised to learn and discuss with lecturers and supervisors as to what constitutes plagiarism.  The Institute of Graduate Studies has subscribed to a web-based ‘plagiarism prevention’ software called TURNITIN which is able to detect plagiarized works by students.  Thus, students are strongly advised to take extreme care when writing and submitting assignments and thesis.  Neither the Faculty nor UiTM will compromise on this universal problem; the penalty for plagiarism is grave (please refer to Peraturan Akademik Institut Pengajian Siswazah).

Skim Khidmat Siswazah

Effective 1 July 2008, UiTM has approved a Skim Khidmat Siswazah (SKS) to enable qualified graduate students to earn some money while doing work for the Faculty.  Two categories of service are available for students under the SKS : research and teaching (please refer to Institute of Graduate Studies website – www.ipsis.uitm.edu.my - for further details).