jason dykes : personal tutor
information and links for undergraduate tutees

who am i?

Dr Jason Dykes
Professor of Geographic Data Visualization
giCentre, Department of Information Science

I like to be called 'Jason'.

I am personal tutor to seven undergraduate Computer Scientists.

Use my homepage and diary if you want to find out more about me, where I am and what I am up to!

what is a personal tutor?

A personal tutor is an academic contact who can provide guidance on your studies, and help with any problems or difficulties that you may be experiencing.

They can be considered a first point of contact for academic issues and a 'friendly face' that you can turn to if you need advice on your course and progress.

A tutor's role is designed to help you succeed and fulfil your potential. Tutors have plenty of experience of Universities, studying at City and can provide helpful advice on the basis of this.

Your tutor can also help you identify support services and discuss any concerns, queries or particular interests that you have.

how do we communicate?

We will have four scheduled meetings each term - you must attend these and it is down to you to organise two of them.

In addition you are free to drop in to see me during 'open' office hours or to arrange a meeting at other times that are mutually convenient.

For advice on administrative issues please contact Nicola Daniel in the first instance.

Nicola is Courses Officer for Part 1 (first year) and provides all kinds of administrative support.

You can find Nicola in the Programmes Office (A302) or call on 8433.

As we all get used to who knows what, you may find Nicola sending you to see me and vice versa initially! It doesn't matter at all if you go to see the wrong person, but basically my expertise is more to do with your subject and studying whilst Nicola's is in how the course and your registration work.

initial meeting : 27/09/10 in C328

Thanks to those of you who attended the initial meeting on Monday 28th September.

It was good to meet Lawrence, Wasiq, Mohammed, Rob, Ibraheem and Ben.

I hope to meet Dominik shortly.

The key messages from me were as follows ...

• Please attend all lectures, academic tutorials and classes associated with your modules and all personal tutorials arranged with me as detailed here. Your attendence will be monitored and attendence is required to proceeed with your degree.
• Please consult the Quick Start Handbook. I also strongly suggest you consider the Course Handbook. These useful documents let you know the rules and regulations under which you must operate to succeed in the next 3 or 4 years. Be sure in particular that you understand :
  • The process for submitting coursework
  • How we deal with extenuating circumstances

We discussed a number of issues and you asked a number of good questions. I have answers to some of these and am in the process of finding answers to others - see below

• Are lockers available for undergraduates - if so, where?
  Unfortunately we don't provide lockers for postgraduate or undergraduate students. This seems a good idea though - perhaps it is an issue that could be raised through a course representative at the Staff student Liaison Committee?
• Are students able to take a year out from their course - for example at the end of Part 1.
  Nicola informs me that students can suspend their studies but only for valid reasons where a successful case for extenuating circumstances is made. Please bear in mind that there is a limit to the amount of time out that undergraduates can take - they are required to complete their degree within 6 years of their registration date.
• What are the dates of the exams for part 1 modules - or when do students find out?
  Exam week is 3rd-7th January 2010 for term 1.
  Exams are held between 18 April-13th May for term 2.
  You'll find out the exact dates before long and these will be announced in the modules.
  Incidentally, the University calendar is online and can be found with many other useful items of information on the undergraduate student intranet.
• Can students change courses at this stage to courses beyond the undergraduate computing programme (e.g. to "business & finance courses")?
  This is not straightforward, but any efforts to do so should take place immediately. Please contact the course officer who deals with the course you are interested in and check whether you meet their entry requirements. If you do, then you may want to make an application and if you ar successful then you would need to withdraw from your current degree in Informatics. It would not be wise to withdraw from your current degree before having a place confirmed on an alternative course at City. Note that different courses have different entry requirements and so your acceptance on a BSc Computing does not necessarily qualify you for entry on to other courses.
• When, and from whom, do students find out about the placement scheme?
  From the Professional Liaison Unit via the IN2015 module workshops (and add-ons). These are delivered in semester 1 of year 2.

The following may also be useful ...

• City E-Mail is available off-site here : https://outweb.city.ac.uk
• You can change the configuration of your City E-Mail here : https://uss2.city.ac.uk/mail/mailconfig/mailconfig.php
  However, I strongly recommend that you do not forward this e-mail to another address as you will receive important information in this Inbox and the University cannot guarantee that messages will be successfully forwarded to other accounts.
• The 'Extenuating Circumstances Form' is available from the Undergraduate Student Intranet : https://www.soi.city.ac.uk/schoolintranet/undergrad.html
  It gives examples of circumstances that may be considered by the panel. These must be "beyond the control of the candidate" and unforseeable, medical or legal in anture and supporrted by evidence.

second meeting

It is important that each of you arrange a second individual meeting with me before the end of week 3.

Due to my various commitments (including a research trip to the US in weeks 4/5) I suggest we meet either in week 2 (week commencing 4th October) or 3 (week commencing 11th October).

Mondays are best for me, so I have set up an online poll that enables you to select a 15 minute slot. See here :

• book your tutorial online

Simply add your name where it says "your name", select a time and turn up at A304C at that time on the day you have selected!

If none of these times are any good for you, check my diary (available up to 2 weeks in advance) and e-mail me a suggested alternative time.

third meeting

You should subsequently arrange a third individual meeting with me during weeks 7-9.

E-mail me to arrange an appointment.

Monday lunchtime between 12:00 and 13:00 is a good time for me - during the drop-in sessions.

fourth meeting : 29/11/10 room to be arranged

We will meet once more as a group on Monday 29th November at 13:00.

I'll let you know the room nearer the time.

useful links

I strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the undergraduate student intranet.

It is full of links to important and useful information including teaching timetables, times of 'open office' drop-in sessions and various forms and policies.

Look at the personal tutorial schedule for more details about the tutorials for this term.

Use my homepage and diary if you want to find out more about me, where I am and what I am up to!

Do undertake the actions listed here and keep me informed of your progress.

Good luck with your studies, and I'll expect to see and hear from you soon.