Information for teaching staff

Teaching staff of the Department of Philosophy will find all essential information and guidance here on managing courses and exams.

What is STiNE?

STiNE is the software used at the University of Hamburg to manage students, courses, and exams. All students, teaching staff, examiners, and administrative staff need access to STiNE.

I’m new to the department. How can I set up a STiNE account?

Use your username to access your STiNE account. The Regional Computing Center will send you your login details (username, default password, and iTAN list) by mail.

Email the academic office (philosophie"AT"uni-hamburg.de) to request activation of your STiNE access.

What do I need the iTANs for?

Entering an indexed transaction authentication number (iTAN) when you confirm legally binding transactions helps to protect your data. You’ll need an iTAN in STiNE to:

change your password

release exam results

request a new iTAN list

Note: Each iTAN can be used once only!

STiNE is available online: www.stine.uni-hamburg.de

Enter your username and password, then click on “Login.” Be sure to change your password when you log in for the first time. You can change the password again at any time.

Where can I find what in STiNE?

Use the light gray menu bar at the top to access the different information, for example:

“Teaching” for information on courses and exams.

“Scheduler” for the times and dates of courses and selected exams (daily, weekly, and monthly schedules).

“Account” to edit your personal details and change your password. You can also set up email forwarding here.

Why do I need email forwarding in STiNE?

Every STiNE account is linked to a University of Hamburg STiNE email address. Important: Your “...@uni-hamburg.de” address isn’t meant here!

Where can I get help with STiNE?

For example, if a password has been locked or I don’t have an iTAN list.

Contact the STiNE team at the Regional Computing Center (Room 121, Schlüterstraße 70). You’ll be provided with your access details upon presentation of a valid ID card. For data protection reasons, it isn’t possible to disclose access details or iTAN lists by email or telephone.

The STiNE team at the Regional Computing Center can be reached by telephone:

+49 40 42838-4474

Mon-Fri: 8:30 am–6 pm

Alternatively, use the online form to send the STiNE team questions and inform them of issues. Explain your issue in the support form and submit it. A member of the STiNE team will be in touch to help you resolve your issue.

Course information

Where can I find my courses in STiNE?

They are listed under the “Teaching” tab. Note: The current semester is set as default. Click on the desired semester, then on “Refresh” to view your courses in past and future semesters.

How can I add or edit a course description?

Log into STiNE as the teacher and go to the “Teaching” tab. Select the course (check that you’ve selected the right semester!). See the guide on how to add information to the course catalog for details.

Now click on the “Course descriptions” tab and edit the course details. Click on the section on the left that you want to edit (e.g., “Comments/contents”). You can edit course descriptions until the academic office has released the online course catalog.

Use the short cuts to adjust the layout (e.g., bold font, numbered bullets, etc.).

Be sure to click on “Save” after each entry. Click on “Print preview” to view and print the completed entry.

You can add comments, bibliographies, etc. for your courses in STiNE. You can add course descriptions until shortly before the online course catalog is published—see the email from the academic office for details. Changes are no longer possible once the academic office has released the course catalog.

Why is it suddenly no longer possible to change the course description?

The online course catalog has now been released.

Every year, the course catalog is made available in STiNE on 1 February for the summer semester and on 1 August for the winter semester. Changes are no longer possible once it has been published.

Where can I find the list of course participants?

Select the course (check that you’ve selected the right semester!). Click on “Participants” at the top right.

You can then see a list of the students registered and admitted for your course. Click on “Extended list” for more information on individual students (e.g., their degree program).

How can students get on the list of participants?

As a rule, students must register for modules, courses, and exams in STiNE during the registration periods. These periods are set centrally and communicated in STiNE under “Service” > “Registration periods”.

Students can register at any time during the registration periods. The time of registration is irrelevant (except during the changes and corrections period when places are allocated on a first come, first served basis). Places are allocated randomly (via STiNE).

A student wants to attend my course, but isn’t on the list of participants.

As a rule, students must register for modules, courses, and exams in STiNE during the registration periods. The academic office does not accept late registrations.

What should I do if a student is on the list of participants but doesn’t attend the course and/or doesn’t complete the coursework? What does setting a student’s status to “inactive” involve and what are the consequences?

The status of registered students is set to “active” by default.

If a student’s status is set to inactive as they haven’t attended the course or completed the coursework, they can’t complete the module and will have to retake the course in a future semester.

To set a student’s status to “Inactive,” click on

“Teaching” > “Courses” > “Select semester” > “Select course” > “Participants” > “Participation” and set a check mark. You can deactivate several students at once. Then click on “Save” > “TAN entry” > “Submit”.

Teaching staff are can change students’ status only once for the entire course. Students can then be reactivated only by the academic office.

Note: Students will receive an automatic message via STiNE that their status has been set to “Inactive.”

I set a student’s status to “Inactive” by mistake or need to reactivate a student as they did complete the coursework. Why can’t I do this?

Only the Examination Management staff in the academic office can change a student's status. Send an email to philosophie@uni-hamburg.de to request the change. Be sure to include the course name and number, student ID number and name, and a brief explanation.

How can I make course materials available to students in STiNE?

You can upload materials to your courses and make these available to students as follows:

Go to “Teaching” > “Courses.”

Click on “Add material.”

Complete the fields, select the file(s) for upload, and click on “Save.”

To upload course materials for specific dates or small groups, select the course, then the date or group, and upload the file(s) as described above. You can modify and/or exchange the uploaded materials.

How can I send students a message via STiNE?

You can send messages to course participants (e.g., about canceled classes, room changes, exam inspection dates, etc.).

Select a course, click on “Messages” > “New message”, then select who you want to send a message to (e.g., all course participants). Enter your message and click on “Send.”

Information about exams

Where can I find my exams in STiNE?

Click on “Exams” (check that you’ve selected the right semester!).

Why is the information on the individual exams different?

There are different types of exams. In philosophy, these are mainly written exams, individual exams, term papers, and comprehensive exams.

Exams become available in your STiNE account as soon as they’ve been saved in STiNE.

How can I see a list of exam participants?

Click on the exam and a list of participants will be shown that you can then print out. You also enter the grades here (see the section on how to enter grades).

Why do students appear in the list of course participants but not in the list of exam participants?

Students who registered for the course as part of their subject-specific elective area or free elective area or the Studium Generale must complete the coursework but not the exams. Hence they appear only in the list of course participants. “Completed” or “Not completed” is simply indicated.

Philosophy students can also register for complementary or core seminars as part of the philosophy module. If they register for the course as a complementary seminar, they also do not appear in the list of exam participants. If a student does not complete the coursework, their status must be set to “Inactive.” If they successfully complete the coursework, no further action is required.

Why are there sometimes several lists of exam participants for an exam date?

It isn’t always possible to group exams together. Lists of exam participants are normally merged in STiNE if all of the exam information is the same (room, time, examiners). Students might only appear in the list for the semester in which they took the course.

Which exam documents will the academic office send me?

You’ll be sent the exam supervision protocol and the marking protocol. Upon request, the academic office can also provide labels with the names and student ID numbers of the students registered for the exam. It can also send you lists of the exam participants (names, student ID numbers, and degree programs).

The information on conducting exams also contains important guidance on dealing with cheating and/or deception during exams.

A student has requested reasonable accommodations. How does it all work?

Pursuant to Section 11 of the examination regulations, students with disabilities or a long-term or chronic illness are entitled to reasonable accommodations if their disability or illness leads to a disadvantage during the completion of coursework and/or exams. Individual, appropriate compensation must be agreed based on the type of disability or illness and the exam or coursework planned for the module. In case of written exams, possible measures include: - extending the exam completion time;

- allowing breaks during the exam;

- completing the exam in a separate room

- personal or technical support (e.g., computer with a dictation program);

- change of examination format.

Send us a brief message to request reasonable accommodations for upcoming exams. We may need advance notice to organize an additional room or examiner, for example.

More information on reasonable accommodations

A student is on the list of exam participants but doesn’t show up for the exam or submit the written assignment on time.

As a rule, students must be registered for an exam to take an exam, i.e., they must be on the STiNE list of exam participants. Registrations are binding.

Click on the “Absent” box in the list of exam participants in STiNE. If a student registers for an exam, but then doesn’t attend, the exam will be deemed failed and they’ll be awarded the grade of 5.0. Send us a brief email(philosophie"AT"uni-hamburg.de) so that we can register the student for a new (technical) exam round.

Students can apply to withdraw from exams. They must submit this to the academic office without delay. The examinations board will decide whether to accept the application.

What should I do if a student calls in sick for an exam?

Tell the student to contact the academic office. If a student fails to attend an exam they’ve registered for due to illness, they must submit a doctor's note to the academic office without delay. Students must use the application form to submit the doctor's note and request to withdraw from the exam.

Click on the “Absent” box for the student to complete the list of exam participants. Examination Management will correct the entry once the doctor's note has been submitted to the academic office and make a note of the absence.

Note: By attending the exam, the student tacitly declares that she/he is fit to take the exam.

A student isn’t on the list of exam participants, but shows up for the exam.

As a rule, students must be registered for an exam to take an exam, i.e., they must be on the STiNE list of exam participants. Registrations are binding.

Contact the academic office and we’ll check the circumstances.

What types of grades are awarded?

The assessment system for the individual modules is defined in the examination regulations. There are essentially 2 options:

exams are not graded; a pass or fail is awarded instead.

Exams are assigned different possible grades.

The assessment is regulated in Section 15 of the examination regulations:

“(1) Examinations must be graded promptly—no later than four weeks after the examination is taken; Section 14 subsection 10 sentence 2 applies accordingly. Examination grades shall be assigned by the responsible examiners. Grades for examinations are assigned as follows:

1 = Very good Outstanding performance

2 = Good Performance materially exceeds standard expectations

3 = Satisfactory Performance meets standard expectations

4 = Sufficient Performance meets expectations despite deficiencies

5 = Insufficient Performance doesn’t meet expectations due to significant deficiencies

(2) The evaluation of performance may be differentiated by decreasing or increasing grades by an intermediate increment of 0.3. The grades 0.7, 4.3, 4.7, and 5.3 may not be used.”

How do I enter the grades?

Click on the exam and a list of participants will be shown.

- Click on “Absent” for participants, who didn’t attend the exam.

- Click on “Pass” or “Fail” for ungraded coursework.

- Enter the grades for graded exams.

- Click on “Save.”

- You must release the information you add to publish it—click on “Release.”

- Releasing individual and overall grades: Depending on the settings for each exam, you can release the grades for all or individual exam participants.

- Releasing individual grades: To release the grades for individual exam participants, click on the corresponding boxes in the “Release” column, then on “Release selected.” To release all of the results you’ve entered, click on “Release all.”

- Enter the requested iTAN and click on “Submit.”

You can no longer edit grades once you’ve released them.

You can also print the participant list and view the grade summary.

I’ve made a mistake and need to correct a grade. Why can’t I do this?

Only the Examination Management team in the academic office can change grades. Email the exam details (module name and number, exam date, student name and ID number) and a brief explanation of the required change to philosophie@uni-hamburg.de