Semester Regulations

2008

(UPTO DATE)

 

UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA

 

 

Semester Regulations 2007

 

University of Sargodha

1. Short title and commencement:-

The Regulations described hereunder shall be called Semester Regulations, University of Sargodha 2007 and shall come into force w.e.f. session 2007-2008.

 

2. Introduction:-

Following are the guidelines, rules, procedures and Regulations to be administered by all the departments, running Semester System.

Each department in the beginning of an academic session shall arrange an “Orientation Day” to familiarize the admitted students with semester system and their degree requirements. A copy of printed semester rules shall be made available in the University Library for guidance of students.

The Regulations inscribed here are subject to amendment/change and repletion by the competent authority.

 

3. Definitions

In these Regulations unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context following definitions shall apply:-

3.1    Semester means a duration of 18 weeks inclusive of examinations i.e; 16 weeks for teaching, one week for conduct of final term examinations and one week for preparation and submission of results.

3.2    Academic Year means a year consisting of two regular semesters namely; Fall and Spring Semesters.

3.3    Credit Hour means one hour teaching per week of the theory or two hours in practical / lab work per week. Provided that same shall be denoted as 01 credit hour.

3.4    Credit Course means a course of study to be completed as requirement for obtaining the degree.

3.5    Non-credit Course means a course that shall be mandatory to pass but shall not be counted in calculating GPA/CGPA and shall not have any effect on the academic position of a student.

3.6    Deficiency Course means a course in which a student has been adjudged deficient by the concerned department at the time of transfer of credit(s)/migration etc.

3.7    Pre-requisite means a course required to provide basic knowledge to students. Any student failing in pre-requisite cannot take advance course.

3.8    Department means institute, affiliated college, constituent college, department or division unless otherwise specified.

3.9    Competent Authority means any of the authorities of the University specified in the University of Sargodha Ordinance 2002.

3.10   Head means Chairman/Director/Head/Coordinator/Incharge of a Department / or Principal of a Constituent / Affiliated College.

4. Uniform Academic Calendar:-

The Fall Semester shall start no later than 1st week of October and Spring Semester shall start in 3rd week of February.

5. Admission:-

Admissions to various degree programs under semester system shall be governed by the admission policy laid down by the University.

6. Courses and Scheme of Studies

6.1    The courses of studies and syllabi of various degree programs of the University shall be developed and recommended by the respective Board of Studies for approval of the competent authority. Such courses and syllabi shall become effective from the date of approval by the Academic Council or any other date as determined by the competent authority and notified by the Registrar Office clearly mentioning the session from which it shall be effective.

6.2    All the courses shall be inconformity with HEC’s credit hour scheme.

6.3    The students shall pursue the notified scheme of studies to be approved by the Competent Authority from time to time.

6.4    No student shall take any course unless he has qualified/fulfilled the prerequisites   for it as determined in the scheme of studies.

6.5    Each Board of Studies shall determine the Scheme of Studies for the subject/s and prescribe the course code as per the following coding scheme:-

Course codes shall be divided into two parts i.e; letters and digits.

i)           Among letters, there shall be 03 to 04 characters representing the course concerned, for example;

CHEM  =      04 letters

MATH  =      04 letters

BIO    =      03 letters

ECO    =      03 letters etc

ii)          There shall be 03 digits, among which 1st shall represent the relevant year, whereas 2nd and 3rd shall represent the sequence of course. Provided further that Pre-requisite may be assigned zero and introductory course 01 and so on.

7. Organization of Teaching:-

7.1    Teaching in various courses shall be organized in a University Department through lectures, tutorials, discussions, seminars, demonstrations, practical work in laboratories, field work, project, and any other method of instruction approved by the University.

7.2    Teaching in each Department shall be conducted by the University teachers or such other persons as may be declared to be teachers by the authority.

7.3    Teaching in each Department shall be organized through courses specified for each subject.

7.4    No course shall be conducted unless there are at least 10 students enrolled for general courses and six for major areas. In special cases, however, if the students are less than the required number, permission of the Dean of the Faculty concerned shall have to be obtained to conduct the course/s.

7.5    English shall be the medium of instruction and examination except in the subjects of Islamic Studies/Ethics and Pakistan Studies (Compulsory subjects), where the candidates may have an option to select Urdu or English or in Languages other than English as the case may be.

7.6    Each teacher shall maintain his course file comprising the following:-

i)            Syllabi to be taught during each semester

ii)          Examination schedule / structure – objective, subjective portion.

iii)        Weekly lesson plan & quizzes.

The course files thus complied shall be approved by the Dean concerned and be made available to the students for guidance during 1st week of each semester by the concerned teachers. Copy of the same shall be kept at record in the office of Dean and Head of the Department. Course file must be compiled and submitted before the start of each semester.

8. Time Frame for completion of degree programs:-

Maximum duration for the completion of various programmes shall be as under:

 

Programme

Maximum Duration

One Year Diploma

 

Two Years

Two Years M.A/M.Sc/MS/M.Phil

 

Four Years

Three Years (Hons) Program

 

Five Years

B.A/BS Four Year Program

 

Six Years

Five Years Programs

 

 

Eight Years

Ph.D

 

3 – 5 Years

 

9. Change of Course(s):-

A student may be allowed to change the (elective) course(s) within two weeks after the commencement of the semester by the head of the department concerned. No change of courses shall be allowed beyond this time limit.

 

10. Withdrawal of Courses:-

10.1   A student may withdraw a maximum of 50% of the courses i.e; 02 out of 05 or 03 out of 06 or more to be offered during the semester after the announcement of result of mid term examination. For this purpose, the student shall apply in black & white for withdrawal of the course/s which shall be notified by the head of the department concerned under intimation to University Controller of Examination.

10.2   Withdrawal shall be represented by ‘W’ on the semester transcript.

10.3   A student who has taken the final term examination of an approved course shall not be permitted to withdraw the course.

11. Re-organization of various courses:-

   Re-organization of courses according to the requirements or availability of    teaching faculty in the department shall be permissible during the session.

12. Semester Break and Re-admission:-

12.1      A student may discontinue his studies by seeking semester break with the permission of Head of the Department concerned due to illness duly certified by a Registered Medical Practitioner countersigned by the University Medical Officer.

12.2      A student may also discontinue under the circumstances beyond his control to be determined by the Head of the Department, in each case on a written application by the student. The Head of Department concerned would duly notify it accordingly.

12.3      A student can discontinue only if he was enrolled or has passed the final examination of the previous semester with minimum prescribed GPA/ CGPA required for academic standard of the University to remain on roll. Provided further that he satisfies all other degree requirements of the University.

12.4      If discontinuation is sought prior to enrollment in the second or subsequent semester, the student shall have not to pay the dues.

12.5      A student who seeks discontinuation shall have to enroll in the program offered by the department as per the courses of reading in vogue at that time.

2.6       Discontinuation shall not be allowed for more than two years* in any case. A student who discontinues with the permission may enroll in the same semester the following year or the subsequent year with the written permission from the Head of Department concerned. Provided that this condition shall not apply on one year program.

12.7      In general, a discontinuing student will be allowed to start the studies where he left off. But in special circumstances, where the program has been discontinued or re-designed, the Head of the Department concerned will have the final authority regarding re-admission of the student.

13. Dropout and Re-admission:-

13.1      A student who fails to pass any course / subject in the three attempts (Regulation 8 applies) shall be dropped from the programme.

13.2      A student who fails to make up the deficiency in the number of chances permitted shall cease to be on the rolls.

13.3      A student who has been declared to be dropped out in 1st, 2nd or 3rd semester may be readmitted to the first or relevant semester on the recommendation of the Head.

13.4      A student who has been declared to be dropped out in fourth or above semester may be allowed to repeat / re-sit in that semester on the recommendation of the Head.

Provided that as per Regulation 13.3 and 13.4, this facility can be availed only once during the program of one year duration, and if the program pertains to be of two years or more only twice or thrice respectively during the whole program.

 

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* “If the name of a student is struck off due to any reason; for example, non-deposit of dues, protracted illness, shortage of lectures etc or on personal request of the student for freeze of semester / annual programme due to any of the aforesaid reasons, he may be allowed to seek re-admission in the same class, in the coming session, but not later than passing of next 02 academic years w.e.f. the session from which he has been dropped out. However, he shall have to pay all the dues including those of re-admission as per rules.”

(Syndicate decision dated 18.06.2005)

 

14. Evaluation

14.1   The evaluation of the students shall be done by term paper/assignments, presentation(s) and Quizzes etc (and its proper record shall be maintained for verification) mid-term and final term tests.

14.2   The teacher concerned is responsible for the evaluation of work/performance of the students of his class and for the award of grades to them on the basis of such evaluation.

14.3   The number and nature of tests and assignments depends on the nature of course. However, in each course, there shall be at least two tests, mid-term and final test in each course. The proportionate weightage shall be as under:

 

a.         

Final Term

50%

 

b.         

Mid Term

30%

 

c.

Assignments, Quizzes, Presentations, Term Papers etc

 

20%

 

 

14.4    The examination of a final term shall cover at least 25% of the course of previous term as well.

14.5   In view of the weightage for various examinations, the duration for various tests shall be as follows:

 

 

i)

Mid-Term Test

One hour to Two hours

 

 

 

 

 

ii)

Final Term Test

Two to Three hours

14.6   Schedule of examination for Mid, Final term and Assignments / Quizzes etc shall be notified by the Head of the Department in the beginning of a semester. In this regard each teacher shall submit his semester plan to the Head of the Department in advance. It shall be authorized by the Head of the Department concerned.

14.7   After holding the final term examination each teacher shall prepare three copies of the result/awards on the prescribed award list (annexed-‘I’). He shall retain one copy with him, shall send one copy to the Head of the Department and last to the Incharge Examinations alongwith scripts and question paper.

The Incharge Examinations shall prepare the final result and submit it before Departmental Examination Committee (see Regulation 20) for consideration and approval. After the approval, the result shall be notified by the HOD concerned and copy of the same shall be submitted to the Dean. After deciding the appeals / written complaints/incomplete results, if any, the scripts of each test shall be handed over to the University Controller of Examinations alongwith the copy of final result notification.

14.8   The Head of the Department shall notify the consolidated result of each semester concerned within 10 days of termination of final term examination.

14.9   Results of each semester alongwith scripts shall be forwarded to Controller of Examinations, as soon as, results are announced by the department after deciding the appeals if any.

14.10 Semester transcripts shall be issued by the department concerned, bearing signatures of Head of the Department and Incharge Examinations.

14.11 For the programs / degrees where research is optional, the students are required to submit the Thesis / Project report within two months from the date of last examination of the final semester. However, this time duration can be extended with the permission of the Head of the concerned Department. The evaluation of the project shall be made by the panel of three examiners comprising the Head, external examiner (to be recommended by the Board of Studies and appointed by the Vice Chancellor) and a faculty member nominated by the Departmental Examination Committee.

14.12 If the courses qualified by a candidate do not provide adequate back-ground for the degree course which he intends to take up, the deficiency* shall be met by taking one or more additional course(s) as may be prescribed/ determined by the concerned department.

______________________________________________________________

* [Deficiency / Pre-requisite course(s) shall be mandatory to pass but it shall not be counted in calculating GPA/CGPA and shall not have any effect on the academic position of a student. However, in case of transfer of credit hours/migration from any other institution, deficiency course(s) shall be considered credit course(s).]

 

15. Promotions and Award of Degrees

15.1   At the end of the first semester, a student must obtain a minimum GPA of 1.0 provided that he also passes 50% of the courses in order to be promoted provisionally to the second semester.

15.2   A student who has been provisionally promoted on the basis of GPA 1.0 shall have to pass those courses in the subsequent semester when the course(s) is/are being offered and he has to deposit fee as may be decided by the concerned Department.

15.3   In the second and subsequent semesters, the student shall have to obtain a GPA equivalent to 2.00 to be promoted to the next semester. However, if a student fails in a course(s) and gets a 2.00 GPA he shall be promoted provisionally to the next semester.

15.3   Award of positions shall be determined on the basis of CGPA.

15.4   Degree shall be awarded to those candidates only who have completed the degree requirements by obtaining at least a CGPA of 2.00 on official transcript issued by the Examination Department, it shall be mentioned that the student has completed all degree requirements for award of a particular degree.

16. Makeup Examination

A student may repeat the course(s) to improve the grades (if secures less than 2.00 GP) or pass the failed course(s) through make up examination with the permission of the Head of the Department. Such course(s) shall be marked under asterisk (R) in the transcript to be issued by the University Controller of Examinations. Such students shall not be considered eligible for a position in the relevant examination.

17. Comprehensive Examination:-

17.1   There shall be a comprehensive examination of core courses conducted internally / externally for Graduate & Postgraduate classes at the end of the Program and could comprise of oral or written evaluation. However, if the programme is consisting of more than two years the comprehensive examination shall be held every year, and it shall cover the courses taught during the year.

17.2   The question paper shall be set from the core courses or from courses to be notified by the department at the start of the program.

17.3   Head of the Department shall be responsible to inform the Controller of Examination at least 4-6 weeks prior to the scheduled /proposed dates of examination if the comprehensive examination is to be conducted externally.

17.4   To qualify Comprehensive Examination students shall have to secure a minimum of 50% marks whereas marks obtained shall have no effect on the grades obtained by the candidate.

17.5   The question paper shall comprise of subjective as well as objective type questions, preferably MCQs.

17.6   The duration of comprehensive examination shall be three to six hours.

17.7   A student must pass the comprehensive examination in two attempts at the maximum, however, the second attempt may be allowed with the break of a semester. Provided that degree shall not be awarded without passing the comprehensive examination.

17.8   For affiliated colleges, there shall be an external examination conducted by the University with the ratio of 20% marks in each course on yearly basis. The paper shall be set/ marked by the external expert(s) appointed by the University on receipt of examination fee as prescribed by the University from time to time. It shall cover all the courses offered in the semester/s. The dates for holding of such examination shall be decided by the Principal of the College and Controller of Examinations mutually

Note:  The Comprehensive Examination is optional for the teaching departments. They may require their students to appear in the comprehensive examination as a quality assurance measure.

18.  Attendance:-

18.1   A student having less than 75% of the attendance in lectures and practicals separately shall not be allowed to take the final test of the course. However, Head of the Department may relax this requirement in special circumstances up to 10% only beyond this limit.

18.2    At the end of each term, the teacher concerned shall submit the statement showing the total number of lectures delivered and practicals conducted by him together to the Head of the Department with the total number of lectures and practicals attended by each student.

18.3   A student may be allowed to avail Hajj leave during the currency of degree course subject to the condition that he should formally apply to the Head of the Department concerned alongwith intimation of the Hajj application acceptance (under the Private or Government Scheme). However, the students may avail this facility only once during the whole program. No Umra leave can be granted during the study period.

18.4   Further, the student shall avail the Hajj leave with the condition that no alternative arrangement for classes, laboratory work / studies shall be made by the department concerned. The student shall be responsible to make up the deficiency at his own. In the event of examination, falling during the Hajj period, no separate examination shall be held for such students, however, they may avail the prescribed number of chances as per Regulation 12 read with Regulation 13 of Semester Regulations, 2007. Attendance shall be calculated excluding the Hajj leave.

19. Grading System

19.1   The grading shall be done on a scale of 1 – 4.

19.2   Equivalence between Letter grading and Numerical grading shall be as follows:

 

Marks Range

Grade Points

Grade

Remarks

0 – 49

0.00

F

Fail

50 – 54

1.00

D

Passing, marginal achievements

55 – 57

1.70

C-

Average passing

58 – 60

2.00

C

Average / acceptable achievement

61 – 64

2.30

C+

Above average achievement

65 – 69

2.70

B-

Good but above average achievement

70 – 74

3.00

B

Good

75 – 79

3.30

B+

Very Good

80 – 84

3.70

A

Excellent

85 and above