About the Wits Academic System

The Wits Academic Calendar

The academic year at Wits parallels the calendar year, meaning that it begins in January and ends in December. Wits operates on a semester system, with two semesters a year, each comprising about 13 weeks of classes. The second semester usually runs from the beginning of July through the middle of October, although final exams take place into November.

A semester is divided into two "blocks," quarters of six/seven weeks each, with the second semester being composed of the third and four blocks of the year. Between the third and fourth blocks there is a one-week break, during which no classes are held.

For a more detailed calendar, including a list of holidays when classes will not meet, see the 2008 Wits Almanac.

Structure of Courses: Lectures and Tutorials

Undergraduate classes at Wits typically have two components, lectures and tutorials. During lectures, of which there will be at least two and at most three during a week, the instructor runs the class and speaks more than students do, whereas the opposite is true for tutorials, which meet once a week. This is not to say that there is no student participation at all during lectures; indeed, many instructors invite lots of questions and comments when "lecturing." Normally, however, tutorials are conceived as the time when students have the primary responsibility for speaking, largely among themselves. Homework is often required to prepare students to participate in tutorials. The IHRE programme dioffers from other Wits programs in that most classes are run on a seminar format. However, students should not be surprised to encounter lecturing in the IHRE core course or in other Wits classes. The instructor who does the lecturing may or may not be present during tutorials, which could be run by doctoral students or other qualified persons affiliated with the course.

Interacting with Lecturers

Lecturers, or "academic staff," in South Africa are not called "faculty" (a term that instead refers to a collection of schools, where a school is a collection of departments—e.g., the Faculty of Humanities). In addition, not all academic staff students encounter will be properly called "professors," a term reserved for senior academic staff. Those without a doctoral degree are rightly addressed as "Mr." or "Ms." Those with a doctorate who are at the lecturer or senior lecturer level (the equivalent of "assistant professor" in the U.S.) should be called "Dr." Only those who are at the associate or full professorial level should be called "Professor." If in doubt, ask your lecturer how s/he would like to be addressed.

Computing and Library Information

Internet access at Wits is not as widespread as on the average U.S. campus. Wireless access is not widely available, and most dorms do not have Ethernet connections. Therefore, students must rely on the Wits computer labs for much of their Internet time. A list of computer labs is available on the Wits Student Computing page.

Wits has a number of well-appointed libraries across campus, although they typically are not open as late as the average campus library in the U.S. A list of Wits libraries can be found on their library webpage.

Grading and Transcripting at Wits

Wits awards marks based on a "percentage" system that does not directly correspond to methods used in the US. The following explanation of the Wits marking system is provided so that you will understand how you will be assessed in class. However, all participants from North American institutions will receive grades for the IHRE Program from Bard College, not from Wits. The Bard Registrar will use a conversion chart that can be provided upon request to assign you letter grades for IHRE courses.

The Wits Marking System

At Wits, the highest possible mark for an assignment (or for a course overall) is 100%, and the lowest is 0%. However, it is not the case that marks are based on ranges of ten percentage points so that an A is 90% or above, a B is 80% or above, etc. It is more complicated than that.

The range of a "first" is 75%-100%. The higher the mark, the better the work, with a mark of 100 or in the 90s being extraordinarily rare and a mark in the 80s being unusual. Most firsts are in the high 70s. Typically only ten % or so of a given class receives a first.

An "upper second" is 70%-74%. A "lower second" is 60%-69%. Finally, a "third" is 50%-59%. A large majority of students at Wits earn marks in the range of 50%-69%, which is perfectly respectable. Marking is not inflated as it is in the U.S. system, meaning that A's might not come as easily to U.S. students as they would expect.

Similar to the U.S. system, anything under 50% is a failure. However, there are better and worse failures, so that receiving a 48 on an assignment is much better (and will have a more positive impact on the averaged, overall mark for the course) than a 30.

Basis of Wits Marks (Grades): Papers and a Final Exam

Wits follows the UK model in having a certain percentage of a student's coursework "examined" by someone other than the instructor. Specifically, 50% of a student's mark (grade) must be reviewed by an examiner, who is usually an instructor at another university in South Africa. The examiner not only approves assignments that the instructor proposes to distribute, but also ensures that a student's work done for an (approved) assignment has been awarded a proper mark by the instructor.

To simplify the examining procedure, most courses at Wits (and all the IHRE electives—though not the Core or Engagement Courses) include a comprehensive final exam that is worth at least 50% of a student's overall mark. This way, only one assignment needs to be approved from outside, and only one batch of scripts needs to be couriered. Of course, this system places a lot of weight on the final exam, which is usually an essay exam that in principle covers anything discussed in the course and that lasts two hours. Sometimes instructors will distribute study guides, but not always. The other 50% of a mark for a second-year course at Wits is typically a function of a paper written at home. Please note that students do not receive their final exams back after they have been marked, although they can petition the lecturer to go over their exams with them.