Prescriptions for Papers

Read a brief introduction to the subjects and papers offered by the University.

Subjects are set out in alphabetical order. A brief description may be given of the content of each paper as well as equivalents and restrictions, prerequisites and corequisites, required book information, and the internal assessment/examination ratio. Students also receive a paper outline when classes start, which provides more detail about the content, reading and assessment requirements for each paper.

In addition to the papers listed, departments may offer 800 and 900 level papers for MPhil and PhD students. Prospective students are advised to consult with Te Mata Kairangi School of Graduate Research and the Head of School or Dean concerned for more information.

The prescriptions refer to the papers which the University expects to offer. The availability of these papers is subject to change if the University encounters unexpected staffing or resource difficulties. For up-to-date details of 2024 offerings, see the online Subject Regulations.

In all cases where it is necessary to cancel papers, the Policy and Procedure for the Cancellation of Papers will apply, as approved by the Academic Board. Copies are available from the Academic Office.

In the prescriptions, each paper is identified by an alpha-numeric code.

For example:
HISTY107-24A (HAM) New Zealand Histories: Fresh Perspectives
HISTY This is the subject code, in this case History
  107

This is the level of the paper, followed by a unique identifier.

100 = 100 level

200 = 200 level

300 = 300 level

500 = 500 level    

    24A This is the year and trimester in which the paper is taught.
      (HAM) This is the location where the paper is taught.

 

A prerequisite must be passed before a student may enrol in the paper for which the prerequisite is specified. For example, JAPAN231 Basic Japanese 1 is a prerequisite for JAPAN232 Basic Japanese 2. Students may not enrol in JAPAN232 until they have passed JAPAN231. (A paper for which a Restricted Pass (RP) has been awarded will not be accepted as meeting the prerequisite requirements for any other paper unless the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the relevant Division or the Dean of the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies in which the other paper is offered approves otherwise).

A corequisite must be taken in association with the paper for which the corequisite is specified. For example ENGEE231 Electrical Circuits is a corequisite with ENGEN201 Engineering Maths and Modelling 2. You may enrol in ENGEE231 only if you have either already passed ENGEN201 or are concurrently enrolled in it.

Equivalent papers are in effect the same papers, one of which was taught in the past with a different paper code. For example ACCT331 Management Accounting is equivalent to ACCTN303 Management Accounting. Students who have passed ACCT331 may not enrol in and receive credit for ACCTN303.

Restricted papers share a significant amount of common content. Students may therefore receive credit for only one of the papers listed. For example DIGIB200 Tools for Managing Projects has a restriction with PRMGT301 Fundamentals of Project Management. Restricted papers may not be used to satisfy prerequisite or corequisite requirements.

The required books which may be listed under some of the prescriptions are a conservative list only. Additional required books may be prescribed during the academic year. Lists of recommended reading are usually included in the paper outline provided by the department concerned.

The internal assessment/examination weighting is provided for all papers. The weighting sets out how much of the paper is internally assessed and how much is formally examined, as percentages of the total mark. The weighting 100:0 means a paper is fully internally assessed, while the ratio 50:50 shows that the assessment for the paper is evenly weighted between internal assessment and an examination. Examinations are scheduled in a formal examination period. All A trimester papers which are not fully internally assessed will be examined at mid-year unless otherwise specified. Tests that form part of the internal assessment requirements may be held outside normal lecture hours.

Teaching activities for all undergraduate papers are listed in the Timetable. Teaching activities, including lectures, tutorials, laboratories and workshops, are scheduled to last 50 minutes and begin on the hour until (and including) 12 noon, and at 10 minutes past the hour from 1:10 p.m. This allows a lunch break of 20 minutes from 12:50 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. for students with continuous teaching activity commitments. Normal teaching hours are between 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.

A trimester is a period for which students enrol in papers, attend classes and submit assessment items. The University of Waikato has two standard trimesters (A and B), which each normally comprise 17 weeks. There are also two intensive summer teaching periods - Summer School 1 (H trimester), normally comprising seven weeks in January/February, and Summer School 2 (G trimester), normally comprising six weeks in November/December. The trimester period includes teaching as well as any study weeks and an examination period. The exact duration of trimesters in a particular year is defined by week numbers in the Teaching and Assessment Periods.

2024: A trimester weeks 9-25
  B trimester weeks 28-44
  C trimester weeks 46-6
  D trimester weeks 9-44
  G trimester weeks 46-51
  H trimester weeks 1-7

 

Some papers have start and end dates which differ from the standard teaching periods set out above. Papers which extend across both the A and B trimesters are annotated as D papers. Papers which are taught in non-standard periods have a X, I, or J etc. suffix.

The period for which a student is eligible for loans and/or allowances, is calculated on the basis of the exact start and end weeks of papers. Students are advised of the start and end dates of their papers in the relevant paper outlines.