Rules and routines

Information about tasks, rules and routines for seminar leaders at the Department of Political Science (ISV). See Norwegian version (UiO webpage).

Table of Contents

Before and after the teachings

  • Attend the seminar leader meeting (usually week 4 in the spring, and week 34 in the autumn).
  • Meet with course convenor and the other seminar leaders on your course(s).
  • Contribute to the course evaluation, coordinated by the course convenor.

Change of seminar groups (students)

  • Students who wish to change seminar groups must apply within a deadline.

  • The administration reviews the applications prior to the start of the seminars. 

  • Students must participate in their initially assigned seminar group until their application is approved by the administration. Teachers cannot approve students' request for change.

  • Should they have questions about this, refer bachelor students to SV-info (faculty webpage) and master students to the ISV administration (post@stv.uio).
  • See deadlines and guidelines for bachelor students on the faculty webpage.

Change of seminar groups (staff)

  • We cannot change the timetable after it has been published to the students.

  • Need a substitute teacher to cover a seminar?

    • If you are a master student or a research/teaching assistant, you can ask another seminar leader to swap sessions with you.

    • If you are a PhD/postdoc candidate etc. you can ask another colleague to cover your seminar. You decide together whether to switch sessions or not.

    • Inform Jenny de Figueiredo (ISV page) when you have found a substitute. Please state the seminar group(s) and week number(s). You can also ask Jenny for help in finding a substitute.

    • If you are ill, contact Jenny de Figueiredo (ISV page) so that we can try to find a substitute, or, as a last resort, cancel the seminar session.

Compulsory activity

  • Compulsory activity is a work requirement students must complete in a course to be allowed to take the exam. It is specified on the course page if a course has compulsory activity. Additional activities are considered voluntary and are not to be presented as compulsory.
  • Seminar leaders must post information about the compulsory activity in Canvas. Collaborate with the other seminar leaders to communicate requirements and deadlines clearly.
  • Seminar leaders are responsible for creating submission folders in Canvas. Students must submit in Canvas so that other staff can access the assignments if necessary. If students experience technical issues when submitting, they can send the assignment to the seminar leader + SV-info or the ISV administration as a temporary solution. Note that the deadline still applies.
    • Use "Assignments" when creating submission folders where only you are supposed to assess the assignment (link to Canvas guide).
    • Use "Discussions" for submissions that must be accessible to students within the same seminar group, for example if they are doing peer reviewing (link to Canvas guide). 
  • Record attendance and other compulsory activities in Canvas during or straight after the seminar (see guide on UiO webpage).

  • Students are entitled to get feedback that explains why an assignment is not approved. It is common to offer second attempts if their first submission fails. Ask the course convenor about whether this applies the course you are teaching.

  • If a student is at risk of failing an assignment, especially if it is a second and last attempt, the course convenor must assess it. Contact Jenny (ISV page) for bachelor's or Tone (ISV page) for master's when you are unsure if a student meets the requirements.

  • NB! A registration deadline will be provided for each course on bachelor's level, by which all registrations must be completed. For master's courses, all compulsory activities must be registered no later than one week prior to the first exam.

Absence and extensions

  • Students must apply for valid absence from/postponement of compulsory activities.
  • It is the administration who handles the students' applications. You will be notified when students get their applications approved.
  • It is important that you communicate the rules on absence clearly and unambiguously to the students. See the rules on the faculty webpage. 

Individual adaptation in everyday study

Cheating and plagiarism

Curriculum

  • ISV will lend you the course curriculum if the course convenor does not have extra or if it is not available at the University of Oslo Library.
  • Lecturers and seminar leaders can purchase textbooks in two ways: either with their own research funds (driftsmidler) or by providing the sub-project code (delprosjektskode) when purchasing books in Norli Akademisk UiO Blindern.
  • Books purchased with the sub-project code must be returned by the end of the semester. Books purchased with research funds can be kept.
  • Contact Jenny de Figueiredo (UiO personal page) if you need the sub-project code to obtain curriculum literature.

Important notice

We aim for equal treatment for all students, and we apply the same guidelines across seminar groups. This is why they have SV-info/the administration as their single point of contact for non-academic inquiries.

Teachers shall not approve requests about absence from/postponements of compulsory activities, change of seminar groups, or individual adaptation.

Please be mindful when responding to students about administrative matters. We ask that you avoid phrases like: "It’s OK with me if it's OK with the administration", as it may create confusing situations should their request be declined later on. All staff are expected to adhere to faculty regulations.

More information

Published May 15, 2024 11:04 AM - Last modified June 3, 2025 1:05 PM
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