Assignment Section (Formative Assessment)

The preparation and registration of all written, electronic and MCQ (Multiple choice question) assignments and assignment marks, in order to render an effective service to Unisa’s clients.

Assignment Management Team
Mr Chris Opperman Deputy Director: Assignment Section Tel: 012 429 2961	Mr Aubrey Nkumane Manager: MCQ (Multiple Choice Assignment) Section Tel: 012 429 2680
Mrs Maki Nyandeni Manager:  Florida Office (Assignments submitted at Regional Offices) Tel: 011 471 3157	Mrs Nancy Songo Manager: myUnisa Section (on-line assignments) Tel: 012 429 2820

General information

Unisa wants its students to succeed in their studies and to come to their examinations properly prepared. This is why we insist on all our students submitting a certain number of assignments per course before being allowed to take an examination. Tutorial Letter 101 (102 for first-year B Com) normally contains details of the assignment questions. More details concerning assignment requirements will be provided by the lecturers.

Available assignment submission methods

A. Facsimiles and e-mail submissions

Unfortunately, it is not possible for the University to receive and process assignments that are transmitted by means of facsimile machines (telefax) or e-mail. Rather use myUnisa to submit your assignments. You can use e-mail to enquire about your assignments. No assignments submitted by facsimile or e-mail will be marked.

E-mail address (for enquiries only) is assign@unisa.ac.za. Indicate your student number in the subject heading.

B. Postal Submissions
Due to the sporadic non-delivery of postal items and postal strikes, postal submissions should rather be made via registered mail, courier or submitted at a regional office of Unisa, where the sumission cannot be made via myUnisa. With registered mail it is possible to track the location of a parcel.

Requirements for postal submissions

• Where an assignment involves the use of a MARK-READING SHEET, you should read the section ‘INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE USE OF MARK-READING SHEETS’ in the my Studies Brochure.
• For written assignments, students who wish to compile their assignments on a word processor must provide their own paper, which must be the same size as the official assignment pads (i.e. A4). The quality of the type (font) should be legible and the format of the assignment should be in double spacing. A blank space of 5 centimetres must be left on the right-hand side of each page (for the lecturer’s feedback). The other requirements applicable to the completion and submission of assignments must still be strictly adhered to.
• Students who do not have access to a word processor must complete their assignments on the writing paper provided.
• Take careful note of the lecturer’s instructions given in tutorial letters and the printed instructions on assignment covers.

Requirements for assignment covers

Please ensure that all the information you have given is correct: (Each hard-copy assignment must have it’s own assignment cover. Do not attach assignments to each other.)

• your student number
• the course code
• the assignment number

Incorrect or incomplete information will certainly delay the marking of your assignment and may even result in it not being marked at all.

Each page of the completed assignment must be numbered consecutively. Make sure that the pages are in the correct order before you staple them inside the cover. Insure that your student number, study unit code and assignment number appears on the first page of your assignment, even it is a fill-in assignment.

Each assignment must be stapled inside its own cover and posted separately. Do not attach different assignments to one another and do not submit different parts of the same assignment separately

Marked written assignment will be posted back to you. Your name, address and postal code must therefore be clearly and correctly filled in on the assignment cover.

Marked assignments are usually returned approximately five weeks after the closing date for the assignment.

Assignment boxes for postal submissions

If you live near Pretoria, Midrand, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Polokwane (Pietersburg), Nelspruit or Durban and prefer to deliver your completed assignments personally, please post your assignments in the assignment boxes indicated below. Please do NOT post envelopes containing money in any of the assignment boxes. Prove of receipt of an assignment by the University remains the responsibility of the student. For this reason the submission of assignments either via registered mail, courier or myUnisa (on-line) or submitted at a Regional Office of Unisa, are the prefered methods of submission.

Unisa does everything possible to ensure that assignments reach us safely, but the University cannot take responsibility for loss of assignments if assignment boxes are damaged or set on fire.

Assignments posted to the University must be in the envelopes supplied to you when you registered. You must retain copies of all your assignments to make provision for the unfortunate event if your assignment is not received by the lecturer, you may be required to re-submit a copy.

Except for weekends and public holidays, the assignment boxes are emptied daily by Unisa staff. The collection time is approximately 07:00.

C. Online Submissions

Requirements for online submissions

Assignments can be submitted online (via the Internet) using the UniversityÂ’s myUnisa site.

Join myUnisa

Before you can use the online assignment submission functions on myUnisa, you have to join as a myUnisa user and allocate yourself a password. Only students who are registered for the current academic year may use myUnisa. You will find a detailed explanation of how to join as a user on the myUnisa site. Go to https://my.unisa.ac.za/ and look for the Join myUnisa link.