National University of Singapore

Student Exchange - Policy on late returns to NUS campus

In situations where students anticipate that they will return from overseas student exchange after the beginning of the second semester at NUS, the following guidelines will apply:

1. Before students finalise their plans for student exchange, they should check with the host university's academic calendar to ensure that they will be able to return to NUS in time to resume studies at the beginning of the second semester.
   
   If the first semester of the host university overlaps with the beginning of NUS's second semester, students should undertake exchange with that university in the second semester. Thus any delayed return to Singapore would overlap with the holiday break between academic years.

2. As soon as students realise that they CANNOT avoid returning late from the exchange programme, they must inform USP administration and their academic advisors.

3. If students cannot avoid returning late to campus, they MUST provide USP with documentation of the host university's academic calendar to justify the late return to campus.

4. Once a late-returning student knows which modules he or she will be reading in the second semester, the student must contact the instructor by email to explain the situation and to ask the instructor's permission to join the module several weeks after the beginning of the semester.

5. Once a late-returning student knows which modules s/he will be reading in the second semester, the student must contact the instructor by email to explain the situation and to ask the instructor's permission to join the module several weeks after the beginning of the semester.

6. Instructors have the right not to accept a student who will be returning late. Excessive delays in beginning a module may make it impossible for the student to cope with or contribute to the module effectively.

7. Punctual on-line registration is essential, so that a late-returning exchange student can ballot for an alternative module, if the instructor turns down the student's request to join a particular module late.