Academic life: rules and procedures

Refer to Thammasat University's Regulations for Undergraduate Degrees, available online on the Registrar's Office website, for the formal requirements of your studies.

Course registration#

Students find out about course offerings for each year through programme announcements on the BIR website or Facebook (www.birpolsci.com (opens in a new tab) or facebook/birprogram). Once you've decided which courses to take, you must complete your course registration during the registration period, which is announced on the BIR website or Facebook.

Registration must be done online, on the date specified by the Registrar's Office for each semester.

All matters relating to course registration, including adding and dropping courses, are handled through the online registration form on the website of the Registrar's Office (www.reg.tu.ac.th (opens in a new tab)). Students log in to the registration system on the website and go to the "Enroll" menu. Full-time students must register for no fewer than 9 credits and no more than 21 credits in each regular semester, or no more than 6 credits in the summer session, according to the requirements in Item 10.4 of Thammasat University's Bachelor Degree Regulations, 3rd Edition (2012).

Adding a course#

With your advisor's or course instructor's approval, you may register for additional courses no later than the end of the adding/dropping period (the first 14 days of a regular semester, or the first 7 days of the summer session). Registration for additional courses after this period is permitted only in certain circumstances, with the Dean's approval.

Dropping a course#

You may withdraw from courses provided your overall registration doesn't fall below 9 credits, unless you obtain the Dean's approval. Dropped courses won't appear on your academic record if you drop them within the adding/dropping period (the first 14 days of a regular semester, or the first 7 days of the summer session).

Course withdrawal#

You may withdraw from a course within the withdrawal period: the first 10 weeks of a regular semester, or the first 4 weeks of the summer session. The course will be recorded with the letter "W" (Withdrawn) on your academic record.

Withdrawal after this period is permitted only in certain circumstances, with the Dean's approval.

Absence from an examination#

If you're unable to attend an examination due to unavoidable circumstances, you or a designated person may file a petition with the instructor of the course for consideration.

If the petition is approved, you may withdraw from the course with the letter "W" on your academic record, or be assessed as the instructor decides. If it's not approved, you'll be assessed based on your previous coursework.

Leave and suspension#

Leave

• You may apply for a leave of absence, with an appropriate reason, approved by the Dean.
• First-year students cannot apply for leave during their first 2 semesters, unless special permission is granted by the Rector.
• You cannot apply for leave for more than two consecutive semesters (not including the summer session), unless special permission is granted by the Rector.
• A leave results in one of the following: if applied for within the first 14 days of a regular semester, that semester is marked "LEAVE" on your academic record, and you must pay fees for maintaining student status.

Suspension

A student suspended from studying for a disciplinary reason must pay a fee for maintaining student status, as follows:

• If the suspension takes effect in the following semester, after tuition and fees have already been paid, the suspended student is refunded the tuition and fees, but must pay a fee for maintaining student status instead.
• Leave and suspension cannot be used as a reason to extend the maximum limit of 7 years to complete the degree requirements.
• If the suspension takes effect during the current semester, all enrolled courses are deleted from the academic record.

Warning and probation#

• You're required to maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00.
• If your GPA drops below 2.00 in any semester, you'll receive a WARNING.
• If you receive a WARNING for two consecutive semesters, you'll be placed on PROBATION the following semester.
• If you fail to bring your GPA back up to at least 2.00 after one semester on PROBATION, you'll be dismissed from the University.
• Grades from the summer session count as part of the second semester's grades, so they don't affect your academic status from the previous semester.

Worked example

For first-year students, additional rules apply:

• First-year students with a GPA of 2.00 will be given a WARNING (equivalent to WARNING 1).
• First-year students who receive a WARNING in the first semester, and then a GPA lower than 1.50 in the second semester, will be DISMISSED.
• If a first-year student fails to bring their GPA back up to at least 1.50 within their first two semesters, they will be DISMISSED from the University.

Plagiarism#

The BIR programme takes plagiarism seriously. Plagiarism is the inclusion of any material derived from published or unpublished work without acknowledgment of the author(s). Any student caught plagiarising, whether intentional or not, will face punitive measures at the course lecturer's discretion. In the worst case, plagiarism can result in the student failing that subject.

Examples of acts of plagiarism, not limited to the following, include:

• Copying someone else's work, in whole or in part, without proper referencing.
• Copying a fellow classmate's work, with or without their acknowledgement.
• Using statistics and tables without acknowledging the original source of the information.
• Summarising or paraphrasing someone else's work, ideas, arguments or thoughts without acknowledging the original source.
• Submitting one piece of work to two or more different subjects.

All assessed work must be referenced properly. Any referencing system is acceptable, including but not limited to the traditional and Harvard systems, as long as it's used consistently and correctly throughout an assessed piece of work. Consult your lecturer for guidance on correct referencing.