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Department of Statistics

DEPARTMENTAL & GENERAL INFORMATION

SMIS STUDENT RESOURCE CENTRE

The main point of contact for undergraduate students is the Student Resource Centre. The city campus Student Resource Centre is located in B01, Basement of the Maths/Physics Building, 38 Princes Street. The Tamaki Campus Student Resource Centre is located in building 710.1.

The Resource Centres have been set up specifically to deal with student-related activities. These include:

  • dealing with assignment distribution and collection
  • handouts
  • selling books, disks, additional pages for printing in the Computer Laboratory, etc.
  • updating student records and marks

If you encounter a problem and you do not know what to do, enquire at the Resource Centre.

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COMMUNICATION AND STUDENT REPRESENTATION

This section discusses:

  • The Staff/Student Consultative Committee
  • Noticeboards (their locations and use as a means of communication)
  • Complaints
  • Students with disabilities

Staff/student Consultative Committee

At the beginning of each semester each class elects a representative to attend meetings to discuss matters concerning students and the department. At least two meetings are scheduled each semester. Those meetings are attended by the elected student representatives and departmental staff. We use the meetings as a means of getting advice from students about how to improve the way the Department is run so that it can serve students better. We often have more than one representative from a paper - we are keen to involve any student who wants to help. Class representatives also raise problems affecting students that have been brought to their attention. Students are able to approach their class representatives if they want a matter raised. You may contact your class representatives through the Statistics Office if you are unsure who they are. A graduate and an undergraduate representative are asked to volunteer to attend Faculty of Science Liaison meetings and Departmental meetings. In addition, the Stage 1 team invites student representatives to attend one of their meetings each semester. Tamaki Campus has a separate committee.

Noticeboards

The noticeboards for Stage 1 Statistics are located in the basement of the Maths/Physics Building, outside the Statistics Assistance room. Special notices, term test marks, staff/student consultative meeting minutes, are placed there. Noticeboards for Stage 2 and 3 papers are located on the first floor, beside lecture theatres MLT2 and MLT3. For 475.210 and Stage 3 courses, many lecturers post notices on their own office doors. At Tamaki the Statistics noticeboards are in the Student Resource Centre building, 701.1.

Complaints

If you have any complaints about the way you have been treated by the Department, our Head of Department invites you to discuss them with him directly. If you find the prospect of approaching the HoD daunts you, other avenues for making complaints are through your class representative, or Constance Brown (ext 5756, Room 209), chair of the Staff/Student Consultative Committee, or any lecturer that you do find approachable. (Small complaints like inaccurate marking of tests or assignments are usually best dealt with by the Stage 1 Course Administrator or your Lecturer).

Students with disabilities

People with disabilities are encouraged to attend and accomplish at the University of Auckland. James and Sherilene Arkwright are Coordinators for students and staff with disabilities and would like students with disabilities (both permanent and temporary) to contact them. They can offer current information on facilities available and ways in which they can be of assistance to you. They are located in the Recreation Centre and can be contacted on extension 8808.

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GETTING HELP DURING THE YEAR

This section contains information about help systems operating for:

  • 10x papers in the City
  • 20x papers in the City;
  • all other papers in the City
  • 10x papers at Tamaki
  • all other papers at Tamaki.

CITY CAMPUS

10x Papers

The assistance available at Stage 1 is described in detail in the Study Guide for Stage 1 Statistics. Some elements include:

Assistance Rooms

During the year the Statistics Department operates several Assistance Rooms for its first year papers which are staffed 40 hours or more per week to help students with problems arising with assignments or understanding some aspect of work covered in lectures. These rooms are situated in the basement of the Maths/Physics Building. Tutors are available in the Computer Laboratory at certain times who can assist with the computer-based parts of your assignments.

Voluntary Tutorials

Tutorials are available for those who think that they need regular additional explanation of ideas in a classroom environment.

Student Learning Centre

The Student Learning Centre (SLC) is located on the first floor of the Main Library Building, and it is staffed by tutors with special skills for helping students to develop better learning strategies. Twice each semester a brochure is published by the SLC, advertising the workshops that will be held for that half of the semester. The Centre has statistics and mathematics skills workshops for those students who do not have the background knowledge normally assumed in these areas for Statistics 10x papers. SLC activities are also well advertised in 10x Statistics lectures. You may register for workshops, or make individual appointments with tutors at the SLC office (phone 3737 599, extension 8850 or 8967).

Tutorials for Maori/Polynesian Students

Small group tutorials will be held for Maori/Polynesian students to assist them with their statistics. Announcements will be made by lecturers of the time and place early in the first semester. Notices will also be placed on noticeboards.

 

20x Papers

There are two main sources of help for students in 475.201/8. For most hours in the day there is at least one demonstrator in the Undergraduate Computing Lab (where students carry out the computing for their assignments) who is fluent in both the course material and the computer package we use. They can provide a valuable source of assistance to students, especially if approached outside "rush hour" times in the laboratory. Stage 2 students can also use the Assistance Rooms, they are manned 40 hours per week. And of the course, you can always approach any of the lecturers for help.

Detailed descriptions of the services available will be given in the Study Guides for 475.201/8.

Help For All Other Papers

For assistance with courses other than Stage 1 and 475.201/8, see your lecturer. Lecturers will post

"Office Hours" for student-help on their doors. Most are happy to help you at any time when you find them in their office and they are free. Office hours are simply times when they promise to be there.

 

TAMAKI CAMPUS

10x Papers

Students on the Tamaki Campus are welcome to make use of the assistance services offered on the City Campus. i.e. Tutorials, the Statistics Assistance Room, and the Student Learning Centre. A full range of services are also provided on the Tamaki Campus.

Tutorials On Tamaki Campus

There are weekly tutorials for all students at Tamaki. Tutorials complement the work covered in lectures. In tutorials you can receive help with any aspect of the course with which you are experiencing difficulty. Often there will be a very brief review of the current work being covered in lectures. Question(s), from a handout, from the Review Exercises in the text, and from previous semesters' term tests and examinations will be worked in tutorials as class exercises. Revision work will be done prior to terms tests and the examination.

Throughout the year, as the need arises, some tutorials may be tagged as special purpose tutorials. E.g. there may be a need to give extra assistance on basic (mechanical) statistical skills to students who have insufficient mathematical background.

Tutorial Help in the Computer Laboratories

As well as being able to gain assistance from tutors who are on duty in the computer laboratories, students are able to attend computer tutorials which are held at specified times in the computer teaching room.

Individual Assistance from the Teaching Staff

In the first lecture of the year you will be advised of the staff members on the Tamaki Campus who have major involvements with the 475.107/8 courses. Office hours for these people will be posted on their office doors and the 475.107/8 noticeboard, or ask for their office hours at the Student Resource Centre.

Student Learning Centre

The Student Learning Centre (SLC) also operates at the Tamaki Campus. Brochures are published each semester advertising the workshops and activities that will be held for that semester. We advertise the SLC workshops and activities involving mathematics and statistics in Statistics 10x lectures.

All other papers

In addition to normal office hours, the lecturers may offer weekly tutorials in which students are encouraged to ask about any aspects of the course content (including assignments) or administration, and examples are worked through and discussed in greater detail than is possible in lectures. Tutors with skills in Statistics and the R Statistical Computer Package are on duty in the Tamaki Computer Laboratories throughout most of the day on weekdays.

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USING THE COMPUTER LABORATORIES

The Department has two computer laboratories which it shares with the Department of Mathematics. The undergraduate laboratory situated in the basement (Room B48) has 62 Macintosh Power PC microcomputers and two laser printers. The advanced laboratory situated on the floor above (Room G45) currently has 30 X terminals connected to a SUN Sparcstation10 running UNIX and a laser printer. There are booking terminals in the laboratories.

All Tamaki Computer Laboratories are accessible to Tamaki students. There is no booking scheme in operation at Tamaki.

Because the laboratories are used by a large number of students and will be very busy around assignment due dates, we strongly encourage students to work on their assignments early. If you leave it till the last day, you may find all the machines are booked!!

Access

All Statistics students are able to use the computer laboratory, but unless you are in a paper which sets lab assignments, you won't be able to book a machine or print. Students who are enrolled in papers with a laboratory content are given a print quota which should be ample. Should students exhaust their quota, more "pages" can be purchased (@10c/page) from the Resource Centre. In addition, students who will use the advanced computer laboratory will have a UNIX account set up for them.

Opening hours

During term-time, the Undergraduate Computer Laboratory will be open from 7:30 am - 8:00 pm on weekdays (except for a 6:00 pm close on Fridays) and 10:00 am - 4:00 pm on Saturdays. The Advanced Laboratory is open every day from 8am until 9:30 pm.

Assistance

Demonstrators are rostered in the Undergraduate Laboratory at all times and in the Advanced Laboratory from 9am to 5pm on weekdays. They are there to help you. However, their role is not to do assignments for students; rather to assist students to a better understanding of the computer package being used, and of course to cope with technical problems. Specifically, if the computer being used is, or becomes, faulty (e.g. disk jams in the drive), do NOT attempt to remedy the fault yourself but inform a demonstrator of a problem.

Rules for laboratory use

We attempt to provide a pleasant and productive working environment, and we rely on the support of our users. To that end we encourage students to work quietly and cooperatively and look after the laboratory. We restrict use of our laboratories to our own students, running software supplied by the department. Students are bound by the Computer System Regulations (stated in the University Calendar), which are very broad in scope and include the following specific prohibitions.

One may not:

  1. Attempt to breach the security of equipment, software or data.
  2. Steal software or hardware.
  3. Alter the characteristics of computers or terminals so as to make them difficult for others to use.
  4. Play computer games.
  5. Eat, drink, smoke or chew gum.
  6. Misuse the booking system.

Students must provide proof of identity if requested by staff or laboratory demonstrators, and promptly comply with all reasonable requests.

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COURSEWORK

You cannot learn statistics without doing statistics. Statistics papers involve a considerable amount of assignment work. In applied courses, much of this involves the use of computers. Coursework consists of assignments and tests. Credit is given for coursework as well as for final exams; the proportion varies from paper to paper -- this information is listed in the paper descriptions.

How much work am I expected to put into each paper?

In addition to time spent on assignments, you should plan a minimum of two hours' reading and working on problems for every hour of lectures.

Late Assignments

For Statistics 10x and papers 475.201/8, follow the procedures laid down in your paper's Study Guide. For other courses, if for some reason you were unable to hand your assignment in on time, approach staff in the Student Resource Centre and ask for their advice. Depending on the time which has elapsed after the due date, arrangements may be made. If you missed the date owing to sickness or other medical reasons notify the staff at the Student Resource Centre. The lecturer in charge will be notified and your marks will be adjusted accordingly. Please note that you will be required to produce a medical certificate.

Please note: Pressure of coursework is not an acceptable excuse for handing in an assignment late.

Working together versus cheating

You are encouraged to discuss problems with one another and to work together on assignments, but you must not copy another person's assignment nor use another person's computer output.

Generally acceptable forms of collaboration

  • Getting help in understanding from staff and tutors.
  • Discussing assignments and methods of solution with other students.

Generally unacceptable forms of collaboration ("cheating")

  • Copying all or part of another student's assignment or test paper or examination paper
  • Allowing someone else to copy or do all or part of your assignment.

The department has a number of ways of dealing with students involved in cheating, e.g.,

  • Loss of all marks for the assignment.
  • Loss of all coursework marks.
  • Requesting that the student(s) involved withdraw from the paper.
  • Referral of the student(s) involved to the University Discipline Committee, followed possibly by a reprimand, fine or expulsion from the University.

If you are in any doubt about the permissible degree of collaboration within a particular paper please discuss it with a staff member involved in that paper.

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SICKNESS, BEREAVEMENT ETC., TESTS & EXAMS

What to do if you cannot sit a Term Test

For Statistics 10x and papers 475.201/8, see the Course Administrator as laid out in your paper's Study Guide. For other courses, as soon as you find out that you will be unable to sit your term test, approach your lecturer. Your lecturer may be able to arrange another time for you to sit your term test, or make other arrangements for you. If owing to exceptional circumstances (e.g. medical reasons) you miss a test, you will have to apply for special consideration. Application forms for special consideration are available from the Enquiries Counter of the Registry, and they are to be submitted within seven days of the test.

Please note: Pressure due to workload is not an acceptable excuse for missing term tests.

What to do if you are sick, etc., prior to, or at the time of a final exam

Forms are available from the Enquiries Counter at the Registry at 24 Princes Street and from the Tamaki Student Resource Centre. Applications, including medical details, must be completed on the forms provided.

Eligibility for award of an aegrotat or compassionate pass

Academic Performance

To recommend an aegrotat or compassionate pass a student's teacher must be able to certify either that

(a) work done during the course of instruction has been well above average; or

(b) if work during the course of instruction has not been well above average, after taking into consideration the semester's work and the student's performance in the current examinations, including an examination in another subject, the student is clearly worthy of a pass.

Refer to the University Calendar Regulations for a more comprehensive explanation of the regulations.

Medical or other evidence

The medical or other evidence submitted must be sufficient to make it clear that the student was either unable to attend the examination(s), or that his/her performance was affected at the time of the examination(s).

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UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND LIBRARIES

The University of Auckland Library system consists of the General Library, on the corner of Alfred and Princes Streets and 14 divisional libraries including one at the Tamaki Campus. Over 1.4 million volumes are available in the University Library system.

The library aims to provide an effective and properly managed information resource for the teaching, learning and research needs of all members of the University. The range of materials available includes books, serials, videos, microfilms, newspapers, theses and electronic resources. A computerised catalogue, Voyager, links the Library system.

Your ID card is all you need to borrow books. Guides to Library services, facilities and resources are available in the various libraries.

Introductory tours will be held at the beginning of each semester. General Library tours cover the collections and service points including Lending Services, Information Services, the Short Loan Collection, the New Zealand & Pacific Collection, the International Commerce, Official Publications, Statistics Collection and a short demonstration of Voyager.

For further information come and visit your library and enjoy this University of Auckland facility.

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AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION

Auckland University Students' Association (AUSA) offers many services to support students and to provide discounted goods. AUSA runs training workshops for Class Representatives throughout the year and publishes a monthly newsletter available through the Department. Students may also contact a Student Advocate, the AUSA Education Coordinator or the Education Vice President regarding academic concerns. If interested in creating a club and receiving funding, contact the AUSA Clubs Liaison Officer. Phone 309 0789 or visit the AUSA House, 4 Alfred Street, across from the General Library on City Campus.

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IMPORTANT LOCATIONS

Student Resource Centre, School of Mathematical and Information Sciences, City Campus

Students main contact with the Statistics Department will be through the Student Resource Centre which is located in B01, Basement of the Maths/Physics Building, 38 Princes Street.

Statistics Departmental Office

At the Student Resource Centre you may be directed to the Statistics Departmental Office. This is located on the second floor of the Maths/Physics building, Room 203, straight opposite the lifts.

Offices of Statistics Department Lecturers

These are located along the main corridor of the second floor of the Maths/Physics building.

School of Mathematical and Information Sciences

The office of the School Secretary (Rm 202), and the Director, are located on the second floor of the Maths/Physics Building straight ahead or to the right as you come out of the stairwell or lifts. The School is an administrative grouping of the three Departments of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics.

Mathematics and Statistics Computer Laboratories

The main undergraduate laboratory is located in B48, Basement of the Maths/Physics Building at the Wellesley Street end of the building. The Advanced Computer Laboratory is on the ground floor above the Undergraduate Laboratory in G45. After-hours access is through the basement level doorway on Princes Street, near the corner of Princes and Wellesley Streets.

Assistance Rooms

These are located in the basement of the Maths/Physics Building in rooms B09, B10 and B11 beyond the Student Resource Centre

Science Library

Most of the Statistics books and journals are housed in the Science Library. Desk copies of most prescribed texts for Statistics papers are available here. The Library is located on the first floor of the Maths/Physics Building. The main access is from the outside door opposite the Chemistry Building.

Tamaki Campus

The Tamaki Campus is located at the corner of Merton and Morrin Roads in Glen Innes. (There are free buses which leave from the City Campus and Tamaki Campus approximately every hour, operating on a reduced schedule during the holiday period. The buses depart from Alfred Street, outside the General Library on the City Campus and depart from behind building 732 at the Tamaki Campus at thirty-five minutes past the hour).

The Registry

Located at 24 Princes Street, the Registry is the administrative centre for the City Campus. If you need advice on scholarships, allowances, academic details, aegrotats or bursaries call at the Enquiries Counter at the Registry. You will then be directed to the appropriate area to receive information.

Main Library

The main library is found at 5 Alfred Street.

Lecture theatre locations

Within the Maths/Physics Building, 38 Princes Street:
B08Masters Lecture Theatre, Basement Maths/Physics Building
B25(M/P)Small Tutorial room in the basement of the Maths/Physics Building
MLT1Large Mathematics Lecture Theatre, Maths/Physics Building (ground floor)
MLT2Second Mathematics Lecture Theatre, Maths/Physics Building (first floor)
MLT3Third Mathematics Lecture Theatre, Maths/Physics Building (first floor)
PLT1Large Physics Lecture Theatre, Maths/Physics Building (ground floor)
PLT2Second Physics Lecture Theatre, Maths/Physics Building (ground floor)
PLT3Small Physics Lecture Theatre 3, Maths/Physics Building (basement)
PLT4Small Physics Lecture Theatre 4, Maths/Physics Building (basement)
SLT1 Science Lecture Theatre, Maths/Physics Building (ground floor)

Others:
ALRArchitecture Lecture Room, Architecture Building, 22-26 Symonds Street
ArtsNew Arts (Arts1) Building, 14A Symonds Street
Lib B10Library Building Basement Theatre 10, 28 Princes Street
Lib B15Library Building Basement Theatre 15, 28 Princes Street
Lib B28Library Building Basement Theatre 28, 28 Princes Street
BLT100Biology Building Room 100 (previously Botany Lecture Theatre)
BLT204Biology Building Room 204 (previously Zoology Lecture Theatre)
CACommerce A, (formerly Geology) 3A Symonds Street
CBCommerce B, (formerly Classics Building) 5 Symonds Street
ChemChemistry Building (corner Symonds and Wellesley Streets, 23 Symonds Street) contains the Large and Medium Lecture Theatres (LgeChem, MedChem)
CMBioLTCellular and Molecular Biology Lecture Theatre, Room 220 Thomas Building (Access from 3A Symonds Street)
EngEngineering School, 24 Symonds Street
HSBHuman Sciences Building (entry from 10 Symonds Street)
LawLaw Buildings, 5-17 Eden Crescent
LibLibrary Building, corner Princes and Alfred Streets
LLTLower Lecture Theatre, behind Old Arts building
LargeChemLarge Lecture Theatre, Ground Floor Chemistry Building
MedChemMedium Lecture Theatre, Ground Floor Chemistry Building
OAOld Arts Building, 22 Princes Street
OCHOld Choral Hall, corner Symonds and Alfred Streets, 7 Symonds Street
OldGovLTOld Government House Lecture Theatre, 3A Symonds Street
StoneLaw Buildings, 9-17 Eden Crescent
TamTamaki Campus, Morrin Road, Glen Innes
ULTUpper Lecture Theatre, behind Old Arts Building
Uni HallUniversity Hall (Old Arts Building)
01Wyn1 Wynyard Street

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GLOSSARY

The following are terms often used to describe aspects of the university system.

Points System

Each bachelor's degree BSc, BA, and BCom is composed of 42 points. Precisely how the 42 points are to be made up differs slightly between faculties. All statistics papers are 2 point papers.

Conjoint degree

A special course of study in which students study for two bachelor's degrees with credit being given in each component degree for work done in the other.

COP (Certificate of Proficiency)

Recognition of the successful completion of a paper which has been studied and examined in the normal manner but which has not been taken as part of a prescribed course of study. It is shown on the record as COP.

Corequisite

A paper that must be attempted in the same semester as another, unless it has previously been satisfactorily completed.

Coursework marks / credit for coursework

During the semester, you will have to do assignments and sit tests. Marks for these activities that can count towards the final grade are called coursework marks. "Credit for coursework" is the number of marks out of the 100% making up the final grade which are taken from coursework.

HoD

Head of Department

Limited Entry Paper

A paper for which the number of students that can be accepted is limited because of constraints on resources (such as the availability of staff and/or teaching and laboratory space).

Major

A specified number of points in a subject or programme taken to the highest stage for a particular certificate, diploma or degree (see page 16).

Plussage

A system by which students are credited with a final result for the year, which is either the final examination grade, or a combination of final grade plus coursework, whichever is to the advantage of the student. Some form of plussage is operated in many Statistics papers.

Prerequisite

A paper at Stage 2 or above will normally require you to have passed other lower papers before you can enrol. These required papers are called prerequisites. (See also corequisite above.)

Restricted Paper

A paper in which the learning objectives, content and/or assessment are so similar to a second paper that a student should not be credited with both towards a certificate, diploma or degree. In some cases a restricted paper may be taken and credited as COP.

Streaming

If you are enrolling in undergraduate papers in the Arts, Commerce, Education, Law or Science Faculties a computer programme will assign you to specific lecture, laboratory and tutorial times (streams). The programme takes into account all the papers in which you have enrolled, provided you enrolled at the appropriate time.

Student Resource Centre of the School of Mathematical and Information Sciences

This, the primary point of contact for undergraduate enquires, is located in B01, Basement of the Maths/Physics Building, 38 Princes Street, phone (09) 373 7599 ext 5510.


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Last updated on 12 April 1999
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