Programme Handbook For BSc. Actuarial Science And BSc .

circumstances. It will also allow us to slowly and safely phase the return of students andstaff on to our campuses, when conditions allow.As campuses reopen, there will be increasing opportunities for on-campus teachingactivities. Labs, studios and maker-spaces will, when safe to do so, be opened to allowstudents to engage in practical activities. Tutorials and other class teaching will alsoresume on campus, when space and safety guidance allows this. Whenever you canreturn, we will be here to welcome you and support you to adjust to campus life.You can discuss any issues around your learning or your wellbeing with your personaltutor (see below) and with the University’s support services (see section B6 below).As part of the University’s Responsive Blended Learning approach, in 2020/21 learningand teaching activities may be recorded for academic purposes. Students will haveaccess to these recordings for use in their studies, but must not download, access oruse these recordings for any purpose other than their studies at the University. Equally,students must not copy or share the recordings, in whole or in part, in any way with anyother party. New and continuing students will be invited to sign up to these requirementsas part of the Student Declaration at the point of enrolment.A4.Personal TutorsEvery student has a member of academic staff allocated to them as a personaltutor who will be a key source of advice, guidance and support during your time atHeriot-Watt. Your personal tutor is your first point of contact if you need advice onany issue, both academic and non-academic, and can refer you to other supportservices where relevant for non-academic matters. Personal tutors provide a clearpoint of contact for you throughout your degree.While social distancing is in operation, or if you are off campus, you can stillarrange to meet your personal tutor remotely and contact them by email or viaMicrosoft Teams.Personal Tutor Contact Points for New and Continuing Students.Key contact points for new students (first year) Welcome Week: during your induction programme you will find out about thepersonal tutoring system and have the opportunity to ask any questions.End of teaching week 2: you will be invited to a meeting to discuss settling in andcheck that things are going well.Week 7 or 8: you will meet with your personal tutor to discuss end of semesterassessments. It is an opportunity for you to discuss any anxieties you have overassessments, seek guidance on revision, and reflect on your learning and theacademic skills they need to develop to be successful in your assessments.Post-assessment: early in semester 2, you will be invited to a meeting to discussyour semester 1 results. This is an opportunity for you to discuss what has gonewell, or not so well, and how the 1st semester experience will help in semester 2and beyond.In addition, you may be invited to other meetings throughout the year and shouldattend. You may request meetings at other times if you need to talk to your personaltutor, you don’t have to wait until the scheduled meeting.5

Key contact points for continuing studentsBy the end of teaching week 5: you will be invited to discuss how you are settlinginto the new academic year, and if there are any points of discussion arising fromthe previous semester’s assessments.Semester 2 post assessments: early in semester 2 you will be invited to a meeting todiscuss your semester 1 results. This is an opportunity for you to reflect on what hasgone well, or not so well, and how your 1st semester experience will help you insemester 2 and beyond.In addition, you may be invited to other meetings throughout the year and shouldattend. You may request meetings at other times if you need to talk to your personaltutor, you don’t have to wait until the scheduled meeting.More details about personal tutoring can be found here.Help and AdviceEvery year a few students run into serious personal difficulties (e.g. family illness,accommodation, financial, etc.). As well as being generally supportive, your personaltutor can help in a number of practical ways. For example, if you are prevented fromcompleting project work or sitting exams, your personal tutor can sometimes help withre-scheduling or making alternative arrangements for assessment. However, you mustnotify your personal tutor as soon as possible, or there is very little that can be done.This is particularly important if the difficulty affects your sitting Level 9 or 10 honourspapers, as once taken there are no resits allowed for honours papers. Also, it isessential to submit a Mitigating Circumstances Form.With other problems, your personal tutor can put you in touch with the appropriateUniversity support service (e.g. Student Support Services or Student Union). Personaltutors are there to help; do not hesitate to contact yours if you need help.A5.MALAYSIA Campus InformationUniversity contact detailsAddress:Heriot-Watt University Malaysia,No 1 Jalan Venna P5/2, Precinct 5, 62200, Putrajaya, MalaysiaPhone: 603 8894 3888Fax: 603 8894 3999Website:www.hw.edu.myThe programme is supported through the School Administration Office and StudentService Centre. Staff in the office can help with administrative information andprocedures.School Administration OfficeMs Nuryati Fazrina ZahariLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3870Email:n.zahari@hw.ac.uk6

Student Service CentreLocation:Student Service Centre, E1.12, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3610Email:MYStudentCentre@hw.ac.ukSignificant Dates in Academic Year *to be confirmed by registryHWUM Campus session dates for September Intake 2020/21Dates1 September – 4 December 202019 - 23 October 20207 – 18 December 202021 December 2020 – 8 January 202111 January – 23 April 2021TBCActivitySemester 1 teachingConsolidation WeekSemester 1 examsSemester 1 breakSemester 2 teachingConsolidation Week26 April – 21 May 2021Semester 2 exams24 May - 3 September 2021Semester 2 break5 - 13 August 2021Resits*TBCGraduation* Note: The dates stated above are tentative and subject to change.Please refer to the University's website at htm, which contains detailed information about the Malaysia Campus sessiondates and holidays.Consolidation WeekThe Consolidation Week is an opportunity to pause within the semester. It will allow both staffand students to reflect on courses, catch-up with outstanding pieces of work and consolidatematerial that has been covered in the first half of semester to determine aspects of the coursethat may need to be revisited, re-enforced, etc. There will also be the opportunity for studentsto engage in additional induction and wellbeing activities, careers sessions, etc.The following outlines the main expectations for both staff and students: The Consolidation Week is not a vacation/break. It is intended to slow the pace,somewhat, and allow reflection and consolidation of learning. Support activities will stilltake place during this week.No new material will to be covered during Consolidation Week.There will be no assessment submissions for students during Consolidation Week.Schools can continue to actively support student learning activities, for example,laboratory, studio and workshop sessions as this helps to consolidate theoreticallearning that has taken place.For example, during Consolidation Week, instead of providing activities which staffactively lead, students can be asked to work independently, catch up withcoursework/tasks, undertake some revision and reflection activities, and so on.Staff are not expected to fill the timetable up with additional activities in ConsolidationWeek – remember this is meant to be a change of pace at a point in the middle ofsemester.7

A6.Key Staff Contact DetailsProfessor Beatrice Pelloni is the Head of the School of Mathematical and ComputerSciences, and Professor Damian Clancy is the Head of the Department of Actuarial andMathematical Statistics. The School is led by Associate Head of School and eachProgramme is led by the Programme Director of Studies, who is supported by anexperienced team of academic staff located at the University’s Campus in Putrajaya.Associate Head of School (AHOS)Dr Alistair Robert WallisLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17.2, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3705Email:A.Wallis@hw.ac.ukAssociate Director Learning and Teaching (ADLT)Mr Karamjeet Singh Kranthir SinghLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17.20, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3857Email:k.kranthir singh@hw.ac.ukProgramme Director (PD) – BSc. Actuarial Science (AS)Mr Lawrence John O’BrienLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17.4, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3794Email:L.OBrien@hw.ac.ukProgramme Director (PD) – BSc. Statistical Data Science (SDS)Dr Marjan QazviniLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17.21, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3882Email:m.qazvini@hw.ac.ukYear Coordinator – Year 1Dr Laila El GhandourLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17.7, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3880Email:l.el ghandour@hw.ac.ukYear Coordinator – Year 2Dr Roberto Pulmano BrionesLocation:Staff Office 1, E1.17.46, Level 1, East WingPhone: 603 8894 3867Email:r.briones@hw.ac.ukYear Coordinator – Year 3Dr Suzan Jabbar Obaiys8

Location:Phone:Email:Staff Office 1, E1.17.7, Level 1, East Wing 603 8894 3858s.obaiys@hw.ac.ukAcademic StaffStudents are encouraged to contact directly any member of staff whose lectures theyhave attended if further help or advice is needed.The AMS academic staffs for 2020-21 are listed below, together with their offices andtelephone extensions.A7.NameDr Alistair Robert WallisEmaila.wallis@hw.ac.ukExtension43705Mr Karamjeet Singh Kranthir Singhk.kranthir singh@hw.ac.uk43857Mr Larry O’Brien, ASAl.obrien@hw.ac.uk43794Dr Marjan Qazvinim.qazvini@hw.ac.uk43882Dr Laila El Ghandourl.el ghandour@hw.ac.uk43880Dr Roberto Pulmano Brionesr.briones@hw.ac.uk43867Dr Suzan Jabbar ObaiysDr Soo Huei Chings.obaiys@hw.ac.ukh.soo@hw.ac.uk4385843703Dr Ong Kai Link.ong@hw.ac.uk43793Dr Teoh Wei Linwei lin.teoh@hw.ac.uk43879Dr Sarat Chandra Dasss.dass@hw.ac.uk43706Dr Mahendran Shitanm.sshitan@hw.ac.uk43881Dr Hamidreza Farhadih.farhadi@hw.ac.uk43912Dr Abdullah Almasria.almasri@hw.ac.uk43920Programme OverviewA7.1IntroductionThis handbook provides a reference to degree programme structures and otherdepartmental information for students on Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics (AMS)degrees. This handbook is intended as a summary of AMS Programme Structures, butnote that the University Regulations and Programme Structures take precedence incase of any discrepancy between them and the guide.Information concerning examination timetables, University regulations and other cal-computer-sciences.htm and the MACSOrganisation section on VISION (see Section A6.4).9

A7.2Programmes OfferedThe following three years undergraduate programmes are offered: F723 BSc (Hons) in Actuarial ScienceF740 BSc (Hons) in Statistical Data ScienceThe degrees may be awarded at honours or ordinary level. Study for an honours degreeusually takes three years, and for an ordinary degree, two years.All the degrees are designed to make it easy in most cases to transfer from one toanother during the first years. In addition, the Heriot-Watt course scheme is compliantwith the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). This makes credittransfers between Scottish universities easier.A7.3Programme StructureThe academic year is divided into two semesters. In Semester 1 there will normally bearound 12 weeks of teaching (including a Consolidation Week, and revision time at theend) followed by a 2-week exam session. In Semester 2 there will be around 12 weeksof teaching (including a Consolidation Week, and revision time at the end), followed by a3-week break and then a 4-week exam session. Students must register for four courseseach semester. These courses are listed in the relevant tables overleaf.Each course has a five-character code; the first two characters indicate thedepartment, the third is the level (0, 1 indicate Levels 10, 11 respectively). Usually,but not always, Level 8 courses are taken in the 1st year, and Level 9 and 10/11courses in the 2nd and 3rd years respectively.A course is regarded as requiring 150 hours of student effort, and is worth 15 SCQFcredits.AssessmentEach course is awarded a grade in the range A-F: grade E is the minimum requiredfor the award of credits, but at least a grade D is needed for progression tosubsequent courses. Other grades are interpreted as follows:A - excellent, B - very good, C – good, F - inadequate. (See University Regulationsfor further details).The minimum mark needed to gain a grade D is usually 40%. The correspondencebetween marks and other grades varies from course to course, but is approximatelyas follows: grade A, 70% or over; grade B, 60-69%; grade C, 50-59%; grade D, 4049%.Level 7 and 8 CoursesCourse assessment is generally based on either coursework, an exam at the end ofthe semester, or a combination of both. Details for individual courses can be foundin the relevant course description. If you do not obtain a grade D (or higher) in aLevel 7 or 8 course at the first attempt, you are entitled to one further attempt.10

Level 9, 10 and 11 CoursesAssessment of Level 9, 10 and 11 courses is generally as for Level 7 and 8.However, in some cases, the exam for a first semester course may take place at theend of the second semester. Also, note that some pairs of courses are synopticallylinked; that is, both courses are assigned the same grade, based on the averagemark for the individual courses. Details are in the relevant course description. AllLevel 9, 10 and 11 course marks count towards the final degree classification (seealso Section A6.4 Final Degree Assessment).A7.4Communications MediumContact DetailsIt is essential that the School and the University are kept informed of any changes tostudents’ contact details, particularly term-time and home addresses. It is theresponsibility of the student to ensure that the University has the most up-to-datecontact information.Please inform the University of any changes to personal details to ensure that we holdup-to-date records.If you wish to change your address, please login to Student Self Service atwww.hw.ac.uk/selfservice.If you require your name to be changed, please inform the Student Service Centre andprovide the appropriate paperwork.Please note that letters from the University are automatically sent to students’ termaddresses as recorded on the student record system, so it is particularly important toensure address details are kept up to date.E-mailNew students will be issued with instructions on how to set up their e-mail accountduring enrolment. Returning students will have continued access to their e-mail.Please note that students’ Heriot-Watt e-mail addresses are used by academic andadministrative staff to send important information throughout the year. Staff will only useofficial Heriot Watt e-mail addresses when writing to their students.Students are expected to check their HW e-mail regularly (at least once a day). Moreinformation regarding Heriot-Watt’s I.T. facilities and regulations can be found rvices.htm.VISIONHeriot Watt University has a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called VISION. Each ofyour courses will have a space on the VLE and your lecturers will use this space to postclass materials, such as reading lists, details of assignments or announcements ofrevision sessions.11

You may also be required to use VISION to upload your work through Turnitin, aplagiarism detection programme which is in regular use by the Schools. Many courseswill also include online assessment which is accessed and submitted through VISION.Other important information, such as the AMS Code of Practice can be found in theMACS Organisation section of VISION.Once you have registered and have your username and password, you can accessVISION here: http://vision.hw.ac.uk/.Social Media and Personal ChannelsStudents should communicate with academic and administrative staff via approvedHeriot-Watt University internal channels (e.g. official Heriot-Watt email and telephone,Skype for Business, MS Teams, Collaborate Ultra and Vision). Students should NOTuse personal social media profile (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) or otherpersonal channels for any communications with staff (e.g. personal mobile use for calls,text / WhatsApp, personal emails, etc.).Staff-Student CommitteeThe Staff-Student Committee provides an additional channel of communication betweenstaff and students within the AMS department. It consists of the School Officer, the YearCo-ordinators, the President of the Students' Actuarial Society and two studentrepresentatives from each of the three undergraduate years. Student representativesare elected annually.The committee meets once or twice each semester. One of its major functions is toconsider any concerns about current lecture courses, including teaching quality, and totake appropriate action for their resolution. Other matters of interest, such as theprovision of computing facilities or the timing of lectures, may be discussed. Minutes ofthe meetings are available on VISION.Course EvaluationAt the end of each course you take, you will be asked to complete a course evaluationquestionnaire, normally through VISION. Your views are important to us and theinformation gathered from these evaluations is analysed by the University and theresulting information is then fed into an annual review of the programme.FeedbackFeedback is a two-way process. Feedback is provided to students in a variety of ways inorder to help you to reflect on and to evaluate your progress and to assist you to takesteps to improve before the next relevant assessment. For most courses, students canexpect feedback on assessed coursework within three teaching weeks of thecoursework due date. Feedback is sought from students via Student-Staff LiaisonCommittees and various surveys so that the School can continue to enhance thestudent learning experience. Your feedback is valued by the School, so please be sureto provide feedback whenever it is sought.12

Computing FacilitiesAll students are issued with accounts on the University Desktop Service.Students are expected to use the computer facilities in an appropriate and considerateway. Abuse of the facilities is subject to various disciplinary measures, ranging from aban on access to the facilities to, in extreme and flagrant cases, expulsion from theUniversity. Examples of abuse include monopolising a terminal for non-academic relatedpurposes, running excessively long or inappropriate print jobs, and displaying,circulating or printing offensive material on or from the Internet. Computer games andrelay chat are specifically forbidden. Further information on policy regarding the abuse ofcomputer facilities is available from Information Technology ns-facilities-acceptable-use.pdf.A7.5Course RequirementsAttendancesIn order to achieve course and programme learning outcomes, students are expected toattend all scheduled course learning sessions (e.g. timetabled lectures, tutorials, labsessions, etc).Students who fail to satisfy course attendance requirements may, after due warning, bedisallowed from presenting themselves for examination in the course lprocedures.pdf.Mitigating CircumstancesShould you have to miss a number of timetabled classes due to ill health or otherlegitimate reasons, or there are any circumstances which could adversely affect yourexamination performance, it is very important that you notify your personal tutor as soonas possible.You should also submit an application for consideration of Mitigating her with any supporting documents (e.g. medical certificates) to the StudentService Centre.The Examiners will always take such circumstances into account where appropriate, butthe later the notification, the less scope there is to do so. In particular, notification shouldbe as soon as possible after the mitigating circumstances have arisen, and certainly nolater than the Examiners Meeting (usually at the end of the assessment period, or midAugust in the case of re-sits). Late notification will mean that either no account can betaken, or that formal procedures have to be invoked. In the latter case, final yearstudents will not be permitted to graduate until these procedures have been completed.For further details, see the University Regulations.Temporary Suspension of StudiesIn certain situations it may be in your best interests to suspend your studies tempo

Programme Handbook for . BSc. Actuarial Science and BSc. Statistical Data Science . PART A: SCHOOL INFORMATION . A1. How to Use This Handbook 2 . A2. Welcome and Introduction 2 . A3. COVID-19 and Responsive Blended Learning 4 . A4. Pe