About the guideline
The aim of this guideline is to provide additional provisions about compulsory activities.
1. What are compulsory activities
The Rector can set compulsory activities that must be approved before exams in certain courses can be attended. Students who do not meet these requirements do not have the right to attend the exam according to the regulations on admission, studies and examinations at University of Inland Norway § 6-2 second paragraph. Only activities that are made compulsory can lead to loss of the right to take exams.
Compulsory activities are intended to ensure that the student is adequately academically qualified, contribute to progression in the study, or serve as a help to achieve a specific learning outcome. Attendance can also be made compulsory if participation is important for the quality of study and students' learning outcomes. The compulsory activities must provide an academic outcome, a substantial competence or a skill that is necessary to fully benefit from the teaching.
Compulsory activities are assessed as "approved/not approved", and do not result in credits.
Requirements can be set that the work effort provides a relevant academic result that is proportional to the expected progression in the course. In a written submission assignment, formal requirements can be set for a certain number of pages and that all parts of the assignment are answered. Requirements can also be set for academic content such as the assignment being answered using concepts, theories, tools and/or methods that are relevant to the course. In a multiple-choice test, a certain percentage of correct answers can be set for the activity to be approved.
The criteria for an approved activity must be stated in the assignment text.
2. Description of compulsory activities
The number and form of the activities should be stated in the course description (written, oral, individual/group, compulsory participation etc).
For compulsory participation, it must be specified how much of the attendance (in percentage) is required for the activity to be approved.
3. Deadlines and number of attempts
The person with course responsibility sets deadlines and provides information about compulsory attendance on the learning platform.
The person with course responsibility may, upon application, grant an extended submission deadline or an alternative activity due to illness or other welfare reasons in courses where the work requirements are of such a nature that this is feasible. In many cases, there will be limited opportunity to grant an extension or alternative activity. This requires considering that a delay can affect other students' learning process, for example when a review of tasks in plenary or distribution of proposed solutions must be postponed. An extended deadline must not lead to delays in sending lists of approved / not approved work requirements for administrative treatment.
An alternative activity cannot involve a reduction in academic requirements.
Students who have received Not Approved for a compulsory requirement get one more attempt, where this is feasible. The student is notified by person with course responsibility either via email, or information is posted on the learning platform when a new common deadline applies to multiple students. Students who have not met the original deadline and have not been granted an extension due to illness or other welfare reasons will not have the opportunity to make another attempt.
4. Approval
The person with course responsibility provides students with feedback in the form of "approved/not approved" activities in the chosen submission tool.
The person with course responsibility must ensure that the registration of attendance for compulsory activities is done systematically.
"Approved/not approved" activities should also be registered in the student administrative system. The deadline for submitting an overview of approved activities to the student administration is set out in the instructions for the person with course responsibility and examiner.
5. Cheating
The rules on cheating in the University and University College Act § 12-4, as well as the Regulations on Studies, Admission and Examination at University of Inland Norway Chapter 9, also apply to compulsory activities.
In group work, everyone in the group is responsible for all content, cf. Regulations on Studies, Admission and Examination at University of Inland Norway § 9-1 fourth paragraph.
Signing attendance lists on behalf of others is considered dishonest behaviour, cf. University and University College Act § 12-4, for both the person signing and the person being signed for.
6. Group work
When compulsory activities are to be solved in a group, the group participants are jointly responsible for the response and all group members are obliged to actively participate in the group work. Students who do not see themselves able to fulfil their obligations to the group, or find that the group cooperation is not working, should inform the rest of the group members and the person with course responsibility about this. The person with course responsibility is responsible for contributing to a solution to the challenges in the group.
7. Exemption
If a student postpones an exam in a course or retakes the exam later, previously approved compulsory activities may still apply, provided that the course has not been significantly changed.
The student is responsible for checking that previously approved activities are registered in Studentweb.
8. Appeal
There is no right to appeal the assessment of a compulsory activity. The student can appeal the decision of loss of examination rights as a result of a compulsory activity not being approved according to the Public Administration Act section 28. The deadline for appeal is three weeks from the point of time the decision has been communicated to the party, cf. Public Administration Act section 29.
Superior documents
- Act relating to procedure in cases concerning the public administration
- Act relating to universities and university colleges
- Regulations on admission, studies and examinations at University of Inland Norway
This guideline has been approved by Director of Academic Affairs 1st August 2024.