College Management

The Senate

The top governing body of the college is the Senate. The senate handles all the management aspects of the college both in terms curriculum management, examinations and general learning. The senate is chaired by the Executive Member or the Principal. It comprises of the following:

• The Executive Member

• The Principal

• Faculty Heads

• Departmental Heads

The Senate makes recommendations to the College Management which deals with all other aspects of college management which are of non-academic nature.
 

Registration Procedures

The Registration process starts once a prospective learner accepts a prospectus and accepts the terms and conditions of the college as well as specific faculty rules and regulations. The learner is deemed to be fully registered once he or she fills in a signed registration form and Deposits the registration fees.

 Registration can be cancelled if:

• The candidate does not provide all the requirements needed to register for a specific course including registration fees as well as tuition fees.

• The candidate fails to meet the requirements of a certain course and does not show enough evidence that he/she can complete the course successfully.

• The candidate Conceals material information or provides UNTRUE prior qualifications in order to enable him or her to register for the course.

• Continuously fails examinations for 3 consecutive seating. A full re-registration must be done. (See rules on examinations)

• Cheats in an examination or plagiarizes to pass an examination administered by the institution.

• Caught abetting cheating or plagiarizing in an examination room 

• Fails to attend lectures without a Doctor’s Certificate or Course Deferment Notice (CDN from the Deans Office) for more than a third of the course duration.

• Insubordinates members of staff, fellow learners or starts fights in the center

• Abets or performs criminal activities including theft, carrying prohibited weapons (including licensed) and fraud within the center premises.

• A learner de-registers voluntarily by filling in DE-REGISTRATION FORM.

•  Fails to pay tuition fees for more than a third of the course duration, and does not qualify for fees exemption

Once a registration is cancelled, the learner must re-register again and all Registration and Course Fees are FORFEITED to the College.
 

Voluntary Deregistration

Voluntary Deregistration can only be done if the student has not attended more than 10 Academic hours or one third of the total course duration (the lower of the two). If the student however has attended 10 or more academic hours (or a third of the course duration), then he/she will forfeit all course fees and registration fees paid.

Course fees for students wishing to Voluntary De-register can be transferred to another course or to another student who the learner may nominate to bring in to undertake such a course provided that the learner will pay a Registration Fee as well as a Course De-registration Fee equivalent to 20% of the total course fee already paid.

Examination Rules and Regulations

• All assignments must be typed and returned to the lecturer who issued them or to the administrator designated to return such assignments. They must be handed in on or before the return date.

• Assignments not returned in time will be entered as not done and hence can only be re-issued if a doctor’s certificate is appended or a CDN. In case there is no doctors certificate such an assignment will only be handed in upon payment of a penalty fee that will be determined from time to time but must be half of the examination fees for the module.

• No certificate or diploma will be issued where the candidate did not hand in all due assignments. The course will be deemed to not have been completed successfully.

• Plagiarisation or copying (examination cheating) is a serious offence. Such examination or assignment –if not a group assignment will be canceled and the perpetrators will have to pay a penalty equivalent to half the module fee on top of the examination fee (i.e. Examination Fee plus Penalty).

•  All practical assignments are part of continuous assessments and must therefore be accorded the same importance as they form a part of the overall marks. Practical assignments must be finished on time. Group practical assignments must have reports from every member of the group and learning outcomes strictly stipulated must be met and seen to have been met.

• In case of individual assignments, a report must be handed in after the assignment stipulating the outcome of the assignment and problems if any that the leaner encountered and how he/she was able to resolve them.

• Supplementary examinations can be done three times. If the Learner fails during the three times, the course must be registered for in full again. Supplementary examinations are Graded C regardless of the Marks obtained.

Examination/Assignments Return Dates:
 

As from 1^st of March 2005, all internal examinations booked before the 15^th of the month must be done on the following Friday or Saturday after 15^th. All examinations booked after 15^th will be done on the first (1^st) Friday or Saturday of the following month provided that in both cases such Friday or Saturday is not a public holiday. In case the following Saturday or Friday is a public holiday, the learner can undertake the examination on the next available examination date. All learners intending to undertake an examination must book 7 workdays in advance. They must show proof of fees payments including monthly installments and examination fees. Only when such fees are paid will the administrator provide an examination entry letter that will authorize a learner to seat for an examination. No one will be allowed to enter in the examination room without an examination entry form and a student card. Please note that you will also be required to book for your examinations online as from 1^st of June 2005. Examination Entry Letters will only print if the candidate has paid all applicable fees.

External examination dates will be available on the Student Notice Board.

Student Notice Board

Please check on the Student Notice Board for the Next examination date on the website: http://www.johannesburgpolytechnic.com/exams/.

Examination Results Notification

As from 1^st June 2005 all examination results will be available online on www.johannesburgpolytechnic.com. Please login in the website using your student ID number and Password. The college will however PRINT AND SEND examination results on request upon payment of an administration fee.
 

General Rules and Regulations

• No dangerous weapons allowed in the premises e.g. Guns, knives, machetes, pen knives. No fighting or disrespect

• No drugs allowed in the College. No stealing or vandalizing of either college property or other students property. Pornography is strictly prohibited in the college premises. Illegal Gaming, Internet Fraud, fraud and pedophiles will lead to deregistration and a report to the SAPS.

• Smoking and Drugs. Johannesburg Polytechnic is a smoke free educational zone. No smoking within and around the College premises is allowed. Drugs are strictly prohibited.

• Alcohol and alcoholic drinks are strictly prohibited in the premises. No eating or drinking in the lecture rooms

• Punctuality. Avoid spending more time in the computer and other facilities to the detriment of others after your time is over. Always carry your student card to be allowed to use the college facilities. Cell phone communication while in the class is strictly prohibited. Cell phones must be in vibrating mode or must be put off completely

• Language: uncouth language towards other students and lecturers and making excessive noise, etc not allowed, racial and derogatory terms including xenophobic terms, meant to humiliate sections of the community in a discriminative way are strictly prohibited. Johannesburg Polytechnic believes in non-racial, non-sexist, non-discriminative society where no one is discriminated on whatever grounds.

• Class Attendance: You must attend all lectures registered for before graduating. In case of absence without leave of absence, a doctor’s certificate must be provided. Otherwise full registration fees due as well as registrations will be demanded for non-completed courses.

• Fees are payable up-front on or before the 2nd of every month. Fees once paid are not refundable. Fees to external examination bodies are not received at the college and hence are not included in the tuition fees. Tuition fees do not include books and stationery.

• Student manuals are for sale. Manuals should not be duplicated. Full amount will be demanded for duplicated manuals when caught. They are copyrighted by Strathrand Technology cc.

• A student will remain designated as non-active after failing to attend for lectures for more than 1 month or a third of the course duration. Thereafter deregistration and forfeiture of any fees paid will follow without any further correspondence.

• Bursaries/Scholarships: Various bursaries and scholarships awarded to students will only be provided where there is adequate information that the student has been attending classes, and that he/she deserves the bursary or scholarship both on merit and on need. It is a serious offence to provide inaccurate information with an intent to gain unfairly on scholarships or bursaries.

• College Equipment: defacing, stealing, destroying or malicious damage of college equipment is a very serious crime which may lead to deregistration or prosecution. Students must respect college property at all times.

• Indemnity: I hereby indemnify Johannesburg Polytechnic, Strathrand Technology cc, its workers, employees, management and agents from any legal costs which may arise due to any risk, damage of property, accidents, loss of property or loss of life including death whilst I am in the their premises.

• These rules are but general. A full set of rules and regulations can be found on the registration form. General rules and regulations are subject to change from time to time and can be accessed through the student notice board on the college website.
   

Disciplinary and Arbitration Committee

• If for any reason there has been a breach of the above regulations and a situation which may call for:

  • Deregistration of a student

  • Hearing with an intent to Prosecute a student

  • Or a Student Charges another student/staff member of misconduct which might lead to any of the above

  • Grave misconduct of a staff member or a student which may lead to unrest or breach of peace within the college premises

or

• A student feels that he/she has been treated unfairly or been discriminated

Then a disciplinary or arbitration committee must call for a hearing. Before the hearing, all parties must be served with a summons from the Arbitration and Disciplinary Office showing clearly the following:

• The Complainant

• The Person Charged

• The Charge (Complaint)

• Consequences of the Complaint e.g. Expulsion

• The right of the defendant to have a legal representative

This summons must clearly show the cause and effect of the charge including any written regulation, rule or law which the defendant is accused of.  Under all circumstances the defendant should be treated innocent until found to be guilty. However in certain circumstances where the Disciplinary Committee may foresee likely events which may breach the peace within the academic community, the committee may recommend that either defendant or the plaintive or both may be suspended from coming to college until the case is heard and determined.

 The College Disciplinary Committee will be composed of:

• The Dean of Students or the Principal or a Senior Disciplinarian designated as such by the Senate

• In case the case has one of the parties being a student, two Representatives from the Student Representative Council (SRC) must be in attendance, otherwise if it involves staff members only, then two Johannesburg Polytechnic Academic or Support Staff representatives must be present.

• Four Independent Arbitrators-Chosen by the plaintiff and the defendant. Arbitrators must be chosen from within the Staff of Johannesburg Polytechnic or Johannesburg Polytech Institute. Under certain circumstances the Disciplinary Committee may allow an arbitrator from outside the college community at its own discretion where the parties involved may feel that justice will not prevail due to bias amongst the academic community. Such discretion must be approved by the senate once the first sitting of the Disciplinary/Arbitration Committee realizes the necessity. Under these circumstances the Senate will seek an arbitrator from a reputable institution preferably the Human Rights Commission or the Legal Aid Board.

• A Legal Guardian in case the defendant or plaintiff  is Under 21 years, is not married, is not the person responsible for fees payments or is still under legal guardianship

• A legal representative if the defendant or plaintiff so states that he/she will be legally represented

• A Secretary to record all the proceedings.

The chairperson of the Disciplinary/ Arbitration Committee will open the Disciplinary or Arbitration Committee Proceedings by making sure that the above people are present. Only when all are present will the proceeding start. In case the defendant is not present, the Disciplinary/Arbitration Committee shall make sure that the defendant is SERVED with the final summons after which a decision will be taken with or without their presence. The Chairperson will start by reading a charge sheet to the Defendant as put across by the plaintiff. He/She will require the Plaintiff to lay down any evidence including any eye witnesses that he/she may have against the defendant. He will then ask the defendant whether he is guilty of the charges and should he/she feel that he is not guilty he/she will be given time to counteract the charges by adducing evidence as well as witnesses. The defendant must have been given adequate time to read the sheet preferably seven working days before the proceedings. The Arbitration /Disciplinary Committee Decision based on the findings will be final and binding. Such a decision must be reached within 7 days excluding Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays. However the decision of the committee will in no way deny the defendant or the plaintiff from seeking justice in any court within the Republic of South Africa to whom jurisdiction all legal interpretation exists. All proceedings must be typed and incase the decision will involve deregistration from the college, prosecution or dismissal, then a tape recording of the proceedings must be kept while the secretary must give a true copy of the proceedings (verbatim) to both parties within 7 working days.
 

Student Representative Council

The Student Representative Council shall be constituted to offer a means for the students to voice their concerns to the college senate.

• The students will vote for their representatives based on the Departments they are attending.

• Each Department will have 3 representatives.

• The elected representative will serve for a period of 1year after which another election will take place.

• A member of a Student Representative Council can only serve for two terms only.

• Any student is eligible to seek election as a Student Representative Council member and to vote for SRC member of his/her choice. Voting will be by secret ballot and the voting process must be free and fair. A simple 51% majority will carry the vote.

• If a student who is a member of the SRC is no longer attending for more than one month or has been deregistered, he/she automatically ceases to be a representative in the SRC. 

• The SRC must meet at least once every month to deliberate on issues affecting the students. The Secretary of the SRC must carry an audit of all office bearers every beginning of a semester to make sure that all vacant seats from all the departments are occupied. Where there is a vacant seat for an SRC member, the secretary will inform the SRC executive and write to the senate for a replacement. Replacement of members from any department must be done through the ballot.

• All records of meetings and deliberations must be handed over to the college secretary within 2 after every meeting.

Apart from the SRC members, students will vote for the following Executive members: Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer of the SRC. A Full SRC will Constitute of:

• A Chairperson

• A Secretary

• Treasurer