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Domestic Students

Master of Urban and Regional Planning with Honours

1.       Admission to Candidature
1.1.         Admission to candidature shall be determined by the faculty on the recommendation of the course coordinator and the appropriate head of school.
1.2.         A candidate for the degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning shall have qualified for the award of:
               (a)    the degree of Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning with Honours in this University; or
               (b)    the Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning in this University at the level of Pass with Merit or Pass with Exceptional Merit; or
               (c)    the award of a degree of this University or other qualification awarded by another university or institution at the level of honours or equivalent, which is acceptable to the faculty and which included the following:
(i)      a discipline related to urban and regional planning; and
(ii)     included course work equivalent to the units ENVE 237; GEPL 322, 301/401, 302/402, 316, 320, 345/445, 350/450; or
               (d)    the award of a degree or other qualification not accepted under Rule 1.2.(c) but acceptable to the faculty and have successfully completed a preliminary examination under Rule 5.
1.3.         An applicant shall not be admitted to candidature unless the appropriate head of school has approved the applicant’s research topic in outline and has appointed one or more supervisors. At least one such supervisor shall be a member of one of the schools contributing core units to the Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning. Where two or more supervisors are appointed, one shall be nominated the principal supervisor.

2.       Course of Study
2.1.         The candidate shall proceed to the degree by thesis only.
2.2.         Each candidate shall submit, to the satisfaction of the course coordinator and the appropriate head of school, a detailed proposal on the research to be undertaken for the thesis.
2.3.         (a)    The research proposal referred to in Rule 2.2. shall be completed within six months of the date of commencement of the period of candidature by a full time candidate or within one year of the date of commencement of candidature by a part time candidate, provided that in exceptional circumstances and on the recommendation of the candidate’s supervisor or supervisors, the course coordinator may grant an extension of time for completion of this requirement.
               (b)    A candidate who is considered by the course coordinator not to have completed satisfactorily the requirements of Rule 2.2. shall be considered as having made unsatisfactory progress and the candidature may be terminated unless the Higher Degrees Research Committee determines otherwise on the basis of written or other evidence placed before it.
               (c)    The supervisor(s) shall report annually to the Higher Degrees Research Committee on the progress of the candidate’s research. Where progress is considered unsatisfactory, the candidate shall be informed of the circumstances and may be required to show cause why he or she should not be withdrawn from candidature.
2.4.         The candidate shall:
               (a)    complete requirements in one year of full-time study or not more than eight semester of part-time study.
               (b)    spend periods in ‘face-to-face’ consultation with his or her supervisor(s). The nature and extent of such consultation will be determined by the supervisor(s) and head of school after consultation with the candidate prior to commencement of each year of candidature.

3.       Presentation of Thesis
3.1.         Except with the permission of the course coordinator on the recommendation of the candidate’s supervisor, a thesis submitted by a candidate shall not exceed 30 000 words of text excluding appendices, references, tables and diagrams.
3.2.         The candidate shall submit one unbound and two bound copies of the thesis in a form approved by the faculty. On approval of the award of the degree the unbound copy shall be deposited in the Dixson Library.
3.3.         (a)    The candidate shall state generally in a preface and specifically through references or other documentation the sources from which the information is derived, the extent to which the work of others has been used, and the portion of the work the candidate claims as original.
               (b)    The thesis shall be submitted together with a statement from the candidate’s supervisor(s) certifying that it is in a form suitable for examination.
3.4.         The candidate may not present as the thesis any work which has been the basis of the award of a degree at this or another university but will not be precluded from incorporating such in the thesis provided that, in presenting the thesis, the candidate indicates the part of the work which has been so incorporated.

4.       Examinations
4.1.         The degree shall be awarded at honours level only.
4.2.         On the recommendation of the head of school concerned, and after consultation with the supervisor(s) the Higher Degrees Research Committee shall appoint three examiners of whom one may be within the University and the others must be external to the University. The thesis shall be sent to two of the examiners who shall report on its merits. The remaining examiner, who must be external, shall be held in reserve.
4.3.         (a)    Each examiner shall make a separate written report to the Higher Degrees Research Committee.
               (b)    The examiners’ reports shall be sent to the candidate’s supervisor(s) who may, if they wish, submit comments to the Higher Degrees Research Committee. The Higher Degrees Research Committee may request comments from the supervisor(s).
4.4.         In the event of a disagreement between the examiners, they normally will be asked to consult and report to the Higher Degrees Research Committee. If the examiners are unable to reach an agreement, following their consultation, the Higher Degrees Research Committee, on the recommendation of the head of school, shall refer the reports to an examining committee appointed by the Higher Degrees Research Committee for a recommendation.
4.5.         (a)    After considering the examiners’ reports and any comments from the supervisor(s) and any recommendation from the examining committee, the Higher Degrees Research Committee may:
(i)      recommend that the degree be awarded; or
(ii)     recommend the award of the degree with amendments to the satisfaction of the supervisor(s) and/or head of school; or
(iii)    refer the thesis to an additional examiner or examiners who may be or include the reserve examiner; Higher Degrees Research Committee; or
(iv)    require the candidate to sit for such written or practical examinations as the Higher Degrees Research Committee may prescribe; or
(v)     allow the candidate to revise the thesis for re examination if, in the opinion of the Higher Degrees Research Committee, the work is of sufficient merit to warrant this concession; or
(vi)    recommend that the candidate be failed.
               (b)    The candidate, the candidate’s supervisor(s) and the examiners shall be informed of the decision and, in addition, the candidate shall be provided with copies of the examiners’reports.
               (c)    A candidate who has revised the thesis in terms of paragraph (v) and who fails the re-examination shall not be eligible for any further examination.

5.       Re-enrolment
5.1.         A candidate who withdraws from candidature shall be eligible to apply for re-admission to candidature, provided that:
               (a)    the proposed topic of study is unrelated to that of the original candidature; and
               (b)    one year has elapsed since withdrawal from candidature.
5.2.         A candidate who has failed in a previous candidature or whose candidature was deemed to have lapsed shall be eligible to apply for re-admission to candidature, provided that:
               (a)    the proposed topic of study is unrelated to that of the original candidature; and
               (b)    three years have elapsed since the submission of the earlier thesis or the date on which the candidature was deemed to have lapsed.

6.       Preliminary Course
                Candidates must complete a course of study sufficient to enable them to meet the normal requirements for entry to the course. The program for the preliminary course shall be determined by the faculty on the recommendation of the course coordinator and shall provide that the candidate, upon successful completion, will have a background that shall include course work equivalent to the units GEPL 322, 320, 316, 301/401, 302/402, 330, 345/445, 350/450; and ENVE 237. The general rules of the faculty shall apply to the preliminary program