THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Quick Guide on Online Application for Leave of Absence for Research Postgraduate Students (For Students)

Prepared by: ITS

Graduate School

Last Updated: May 2021

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Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ 1

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Workflow of the Online Application for Leave of Absence for RPg Students .................................... 3

Online Application for Leave of Absence for Research Postgraduate Students ................................ 4

Home Page for RPg Student ........................................................................................................... 4

Apply Leave ..................................................................................................................................... 5

View Leave ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Upload Supporting Documents .................................................................................................... 10

Appendix ........................................................................................................................................... 12

Appendix I: Leaves of Type ........................................................................................................... 12

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Introduction

Purpose of this document

This document aims at giving clear guidelines to research postgraduate

(RPg) students to submit and view leave applications via Online

Application for Leave of Absence for Research Postgraduate Students.

Scope of this document

This document covers “Apply Leave”, “View Leave” and “Upload

Supporting Documents” in Online Application for Leave of Absence for

Research Postgraduate Students.

Access Role

To access Online Application for Leave of Absence for Research Postgraduate Students, “RPG_ STUDENT” access role is required for “RPg

Student”, and “RPG_ SUPERVISOR” or “DEPATEMENT” or

“FACULTY” or “GRADSCH” access role is required for Supervisor/

Department /Faculty /Graduate School users.

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Workflow of the Online Application for Leave of Absence for RPg

Students

1. Awardees of Hong Kong PhD Fellowships (HKPF) have to observe the rules stipulated by the Research Grants Council (RGC) regarding leave of absence. RGC’s approval is required for (i) study leave exceeding 90 consecutive days or an aggregate period of 183 days over 3-year fellowship period; and (ii) non-study leave exceeding 30 consecutive days in each 12-month period over 3-year fellowship period.

2. Joint PhD students may be granted study leave up to half of their study period. 3. Relevant units include:

Academic Support and Examinations Section (Student Records Office), Registry Admissions Office, Registry (for visa matters) CEDARS (for accommodation matters) Finance and Enterprises Office (for PGS matters)

May 2021

Relevant units will be informed of approved leave applications, as appropriate (see note 3)

Approved leave records will be transferred to SIS > RPg system automatically

Student submits applications & upload supporting documents online

Supervisors to approve/disapprove applications

DRPC/DRPC proxy to approve/disapprove applications

FHDC/FHDC proxy to approve/disapprove applications(only for leave exceeding 1 month)(see note 1)

GS to approve/disapprove applications(only for leave exceeding a cumulative period of

12 months )(see notes 1 & 2)

Approve

Approve

Approve

Disapprove

Disapprove

Disapprove

Disapprove

Email on application

result will be sent to student,

and c.c. to supervisors, Department

and Faculty, as appropriate

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Online Application for Leave of Absence for Research Postgraduate Students

Home Page for RPg Student

1. Navigate: HKU Portal > SIS Main Menu > Online Applications > Application for Leave

Note: It is recommended to access the Application Interface with Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Firefox.

2. Your leave balance will be shown on the Home page.

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Apply Leave

1. Click the ‘Apply Leave’ on the RPg Student menu.

2. Select Leave Type – Study Leave, Non-study Leave, Sick Leave, Vacation Leave, and Maternity Leave or Paternity Leave

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3. Complete the leave application form by filling in the details. Below are some examples:

a. Study Leave

i. Specify the start date and end date of the leave, the number of leave days will be

calculated automatically.

ii. Select the appropriate type of academic activity and destination.

iii. If the destination institute is not available on the list of Institutions, please select

‘Others’ and input the institute manually, and select its respective ‘Country’.

iv. Specify whether or not you will leave Hong Kong, and the destination (if applicable).

v. Input additional information (if any).

vi. Click the ‘Submit’ button.

vii. The page will be redirected to the ‘Upload Supporting Document’ page where

supporting document(s) can be uploaded to the leave application (if any).

viii. Upload supporting document(s) (if any).

Note: Please submit one application for each academic activity, even if the leave periods are consecutive

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b. Sick Leave

i. Specify the start date and end date of the leave, the number of leave

days will be shown automatically.

ii. Specify whether or not you will leave Hong Kong, and the destination

(if applicable).

iii. Input additional information (if any).

iv. Click the ‘Submit’ button.

v. Upload supporting document(s) (if any) after being redirected to the

‘Upload Supporting Document’ page.

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View Leave

1. Click ‘View Leave’ on the menu.

2. Your leave application records submitted (via the System) will be shown.

Note: Cancellation of leave application or change of leave dates / leave period after a leave application is submitted has to be done by the ITS at the back end. If

your leave application is still pending for approval, please ask your leave approver to disapprove your leave application. If your leave application has been

approved, please inform your leave approver(s) (i.e., supervisor / Department / Faculty) of your cancellation. Your Department / Faculty should ask the Graduate

School to request the ITS to cancel your leave application. You can submit a new leave application afterwards, as appropriate.

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3. Leave application details and approval history could be printed by clicking the ’Print’ button on the “View Leave”.

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Upload Supporting Documents

1. Click ‘Upload Supporting Document’ on the menu if you wish to provide supplementary information to support your leave application after submission.

2. Click the ‘Upload Supporting Documents’ icon to upload additional supporting documents or ‘View Supporting Documents’ icon to view uploaded supporting

documents on the respective leave application.

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Upload new supporting documents

View uploaded supporting documents

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Appendix

Appendix I: Leaves of Type

Type of Leave Relevant Regulations / Rules

Vacation Leave

(For full-time students only)

Up to 14 days (excluding Saturday afternoons, Sundays and public holidays) in each 12-month period

during the normative study period (Notes 1 & 2)

Study Leave

Min. leave period Nil

Max. leave period A cumulative period of 12 months for study leave for the entire period of study

Non-study Leave

Min. leave period 7 calendar days

Max. leave period A cumulative period of 12 months for non-study leave for the entire period of study

Sick Leave

(w.e.f. January 1, 2012)

An MPhil/PhD student who needs to be away from his/her study because of illness shall take sick leave.

The student shall inform his/her supervisor and Department immediately of his/her sick leave.

For sick leave of 3 days or above, the student shall submit an application for sick leave with a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner as far as possible.

For sick leave over 7 days, the student shall submit an application for sick leave and it must be accompanied by a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner.

If the student needs to be away from his/her study because of illness for a longer period of time where his/her study progress may be affected, he/she should take non-study leave instead of sick leave.

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Maternity Leave

(w.e.f. September, 2018)

A pregnant student is provided flexibilities to decide either to continue to take the existing category of non-study leave or opt for the new category of maternity leave, based on her own needs.

Maternity leave is

10 continuous weeks for students whose child’s expected or actual date of birth is before March 27, 2019; and

14 continuous weeks for students whose child’s expected or actual date of birth is on or after March 27, 2019. Maternity leave should start on or before the actual date of birth of the child. Calendar days are counted, including

any intervening Sundays and public holidays.

Postgraduate Scholarships (PGS) will be paid during maternity leave. The PGS provided during maternity leave is not extra financial support, and will be counted towards the total amount of PGS available to cover a student’s normative study period.

A student on maternity leave will not have her study period interrupted, i.e. her normative study period will not be

automatically extended by the period of maternity leave. Nonetheless, if the student needs a longer period to

finish her thesis at the end of her study period, she can apply for an extension of candidature. The differences between non-study leave and maternity leave are summarized as follows:

Options of leave PGS during

leave Liable to University

fees during leave Automatic

extension of study

period

Non-study Leave No No* Yes

Maternity Leave Yes Yes No

* Students whose study period is suspended are not liable to University fees. However, University fees shall be paid

in advance. Credit(s) arising from the taking of non-study leave will be carried forward to offset composition fee

in the ensuing instalment.

A medical certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner certifying the pregnancy and specifying the

expected date of confinement has to be submitted together with the maternity leave application.

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Paternity Leave

(w.e.f. September, 2018)

A student may apply for up to 7 days of paternity leave for each confinement of his spouse/partner, and he may

take all 7 days of paternity leave in one go or on separate days (note: paternity leave is up to 5 days for students

whose child’s expected or actual date of birth is before March 27, 2019). Paternity leave can be taken any time

during the period from 4 weeks before the expected date of delivery of the child to 10 weeks beginning on the

actual date of delivery of the child.

Any period of paternity leave granted will be counted towards the period of study. PGS will be paid during

paternity leave, and the student is required to pay the normal fees.

Supporting documents required:

(a) A medical certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner specifying the expected/actual date of delivery of the child; and

(b) marriage certificate of the student and the child’s mother*.

* If a marriage certificate is not available, please submit a written statement signed by the student stating the

name of the child’s mother, the expected/actual date of delivery of the child; and that the student is the child’s

father.

Notes:

1. Leave on a weekday is counted as a whole day, i.e. no half-day leave. If students would like to take more than 14 days of vacation leave in one year, they may be allowed to advance the following year's vacation leave, subject to approval from the supervisor and the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC). The maximum number of days of vacation leave that can be advanced is 5 days. If students would like to advance more than 5 days, they are advised to take non-study leave on top of the vacation leave instead.

2. In addition to the above regulations/rules, holders of Hong Kong PhD Fellowships (HKPF) have to observe the terms and conditions as stipulated by the Research Grants Council regarding leave of absence.

3. Students enrolled in joint programmes are expected to spend half of their study period at the partner institution, and are allowed to take study leave of up to half of their period of study. For students who need to spend more than half of their study period at the partner institution, as approved by the relevant authorities of both the home and partner institutions, a blanket approval has been granted by Graduate School to allow them to take study leave exceeding half of their study period.