BCom (PPE)

Structure of your BCom degree

Length of degree

Minimum time

 The degree extends over a minimum of three academic years of full-time study or, in the event of Senate requiring a student to proceed on a special curriculum, because, in the opinion of Senate, the student suffered a disadvantage because of illness or physical disability, or because of some other good and sufficient cause not arising out of illness or physical disability, for at least four academic years of full-time study.

Maximum

The maximum period of study is five years of full-time study.

Curriculum

In order to satisfy the requirements of the Bachelor of Commerce degree, a student must obtain at least 400 credits of which 128 must be at the third year (300) level, 128 at the second year (200) level and 144 at the first year (100) level; and satisfy the requirements of two major subjects. The first digit of a module code refers to its level. The third digit refers to the semester in which it is taught.

The following modules, each extending over one semester, are offered:

(1)           First year of study

Each module at the first-year level is denoted by the numeral I and carries 16 credits. Each fundamental module carries 8 credits. (The credit points are shown in brackets behind each module).

A student is required to complete the following 8 modules, plus two fundamental modules (STUD101 and STUD102) in the first year of study:

(Total: 144 credit points)

(2)           Second year of study

A student is required to complete the following 14 modules. Each module is worth 8 points (The credit points are shown in brackets after each module):

(Total: 128 credit points for the second year)

(3)           Third year of study

(Total: 128 credit points for the third year)

*For 2012, the College may, in light of teaching staff availability, offer a combined Political Science and Philosophy third level alternative to the third level majors specified above. This alternative will consist of a choice of five third modules: EITHER three from Political Science and two from Philosophy, OR three from Philosophy and two from Political Science. In the event that this alternative is offered, the Philosophy and Political Science Departments will each offer a suite of three modules from which the choice may be made.

The College reserves the right, within levels and subject to staffing considerations, to alter the allocation of modules to specific semesters.

Extended Curriculum for Students not meeting the Mathematics requirement for the Bachelor of Commerce

(1) A student who satisfies the conditions for entry in Rule BC.4(2), but who has not taken Mathematics for the National Senior Certificate and who has passed both Mathematics Literacy and English with a mark of at least 60%, may be admitted to Bachelor of Commerce degree with an extended curriculum.

(2) The extended curriculum will last for four years.

(3) Students on the extended curriculum will take in their first year:

PHIL103 Introduction to logic and philosophy (16)

PHIL104 Philosophy of the human person (16)

POLS101 Introduction to political science (16)

POLS102 Introduction to global politics (16)

STUD101 Communication and study skills (8)

STUD102 Basic computing and research methods (8)

MATH001 Mathematics conversion [This module is not credit bearing, but a pass in it is required before the student can proceed to ECON 101, ECON 102, MATH 101 and STAT 102]

(4) In the second year, the student must take:

ECON101 Microeconomics I

ECON102 Macroeconomics I

MATH101 Mathematics

STAT102 Statistics

and may take further modules for which he or she is qualified.

(5) To complete the degree, a student must pass all the modules in the Bachelor of Commerce curriculum.

Proceeding to next module in a subject

A student must pass Mathematics (MATH 101) and Statistics (STAT 102) before proceeding to any module in Economics (any module with an Economics code) at the second year level.

Save by permission of Senate, a student must pass all modules in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics [at one level] before proceeding to any module in that subject at the next level.

Repeating modules

A student may repeat any module that s/he fails, the next time it is offered, provided that s/he has complied with the rules pertaining to the minimum requirements of study, as set out in General Rule G.32.

Credit and withdrawal of credit

A student will be granted credit for any module that s/he successfully completes subject to the rules pertaining to a particular qualification and any special restrictions on credits in the rules for the degree. However, even if a student obtains such credit, s/he may be refused permission to renew his or her registration if s/he fails to comply with the minimum requirements of study for the degree set out in Rule G.32.

Senate may withdraw a credit obtained by examination or exemption in a qualifying module if a student allows his or her registration to lapse for a period of four years or longer.

Year of study

(1) A student shall be deemed to be in the first year of study until he or she has accumulated at least 96 credits.

(2) A student will be deemed to be in the second year of study in the period between the first and third years of study as defined in (1) and (3) hereof.

(3) A student will be deemed to be in the third year of study in the year when he or she is registered for modules that will enable him or her to complete the requirements for the degree in that year.

Proceeding to next year of study

A student may not proceed from the first year of study to the second year of study unless s/he has accumulated at least 96 credits in terms of these rules.

A student may not proceed from the second year of study to the third year of study unless s/he has completed all the modules prescribed for the second year of study and has no more than 32 credits outstanding from the modules prescribed for the first year of study.

Fulfilling the requirements for the award of the degree

A student qualifies for the degree by completing all the modules prescribed for the degree within the maximum time allowed for completing the degree and by complying with the requirements of General Rule 17.

Cancellation of registration

BC.13 (1) Unless Senate determines otherwise in exceptional circumstances, a student who cancels his or her registration for the degree later than four weeks prior to the commencement of the final summative assessment (invigilated traditional examination) session in which the assessments for the degree are held, will be deemed to have failed all the modules for which he or she was registered in that year, except those modules which he or she has already completed.

BC.13 (2) A student who cancels his or her registration for a module less than four weeks prior to the scheduled final summative assessment (invigilated traditional examination) session for that module, will be deemed to have failed that module unless Senate determines otherwise.

Publication of results

The final mark obtained by a student or candidate in a course or module will be published as a percentage and the result obtained by a student shall be described as a first, upper second, second or third class pass, or fail.

Award of degree with distinction

The degree will be awarded:

(a) with distinction to a student who:

- completes the requirements for the degree within the minimum period of study,

- completes all prescribed modules at first attempt,

- completed all the modules at St Augustine College,

- obtains a first class pass in each third-year level module of both (major) subjects taken at the third-year level,

- obtains an overall average of at least 68% for the remaining modules for the degree.

(b) or with distinction in a particular subject, to a student who:

- completes the requirements for the degree within the minimum period of study,

- completes all the modules at St Augustine College,

- obtains a first class pass in every module in the first, second and third years of study for a (major) subject* taken to the third year level.

* For the purposes of this rule, the three major subjects are deemed to consist of the modules set out under each title:

Economics

ECON302 Development economics

ECON321 Econometrics

ECON312 Economics of the public sector

ECON202 International economics

ECON212 Mathematics for economists

ECON102 Macroeconomics I

ECON211 Macroeconomics II

ECON311 Macroeconomics III

ECON101 Microeconomics I

ECON201 Microeconomics II

ECON301 Microeconomics III

Philosophy

PHIL103 Introduction to logic and philosophy

PHIL104 Philosophy of the human person

PHIL201 History of philosophy I

PHIL202 History of philosophy II

PHIL221 Philosophy of knowledge

PHIL222 Ethics

PHIL302 Contemporary philosophy

PHIL321 Philosophy of religion

PHIL311 Philosophy of science

PHIL331 Philosophy of mind and person

PHIL332 Philosophy of reality

Politics

POLS101 Introduction to political science

POLS102 Introduction to global politics

POLS201 Political philosophy I

POLS202 SA government and politics

POLS211 International relations I

POLS212 Politics of US and Latin America

POLS221 Modern political theory

POLS222 Comparative government and politics

POLS301 International relations II

POLS302 Political economics

POLS311 Political philosophy II

POLS312 Regional politics

POLS321 Modern theories of justice

POLS322 Democracy, autocracy, and modernisation

Comprehensive examination in mathematics and statistics

A third year student may elect to write a comprehensive examination in Mathematics and Mathematical Economics, and/ or in Statistics and Econometrics.

Neither of these examinations is compulsory but both are elective options open to students who in their third year of study would like to improve on the marks they had obtained for mathematics and/ or statistics in their first year of study.

The pass mark for these examinations is 65%. The mark a student achieves for either of these examinations will be recorded on his/her academic transcript to show his/her improvement in Mathematics and Mathematical Economics, and/ or Statistics and Econometrics. Only if a student’s mark in these elective comprehensive examinations has improved from his/her first year mark will it be recorded on the academic transcript.