regulations for bs programs

regulations foR bs programs
II. REGULATIONS
6. SHORT TITLE, COMMENCEMENT AND APPLICATION:
(1). These Regulations may be called the Virtual University of Pakistan, Award of First Degree Regulations, 2003.
(2). These Regulations shall come into force with immediate effect.
(3). These Regulations shall apply to all students on the First Degree rolls of the University.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
7. Minimum Academic Requirements
(i) A candidate seeking admission to the Bachelor of Science (BS) Program must have passed the examination shown in prospectus against each course or an examination recognized as equivalent thereto from a recognized institution securing g at least 45 % marks in intermediate or equivalent examination excluding marks awarded for NCC and Hafiz-e-Quran; provided further that the requirement of minimum marks may be amended from time to time by the competent body of the university.
(ii) AGE: A candidate for admission has no limit on age.
8. Numbers to be Admitted: The Executive Council of the university shall determine the last merit of student to be admitted from the admission applications received by the due date.

9. Authority of Admission: The admission may be made by Registrar of the university in consultation with the Executive Council of the University.

10. Deficiency: If the schedule of courses pursued by a candidate does not provide adequate background for the 1st degree course, which he/she intends to take up, he/she may be required to make up the deficiency by taking one or more additional course (s) of deficiency level as may be prescribed by the Executive Council of The University.

11. Time for Admission

(i) Candidate may be admitted at the beginning of the fall or spring semester until the Executive Council of the university decides to have admissions once a year. If a candidate fails to enroll then his/her admission shall stand cancelled.
(ii) The Executive Council of the university may refuse admission to a student without assigning any reason.
(Explanation: All those students who are awarded minor penalty twice on account of misconduct during the course of their undergraduate studies will be debarred for postgraduate admission for a period of two years. After the lapse of two years, after completion of their undergraduate courses, their case will be considered for admission to postgraduate course on the recommendations of the Students Affairs Committee. The students who receive major penalties during their undergraduate courses will not be granted admission to postgraduate courses. However, they will be eligible for admission to postgraduate courses after a lapse of three years, on the recommendations of the Students Affairs Committee).
12. Enrollment
(i) A candidate admitted to the course shall for so long as he/she has not completed all the requirements for the degree, enroll himself/herself for each semester subject to the maximum admissible limit of 12 semesters, failing which his/her admission shall stand cancelled. In case a student discontinued without permission, he/she may seek re-admission, in the same semester, with the approval of the Rector and on the recommendations of the Registrar; or the subsequent year with the permission of the Executive Council of the university, provided that he/she has not already exhausted the maximum residential requirements for the course, and provided further that after the first eight semesters, a candidate may enroll in the semester in which his/her failing/remaining subject (s) is/are offered in accordance with his/her “Scheme of Studies” subject to maximum admissible limit of 12 semesters. (Explanation of Statute 3(i) and Regulation 7(i): The four semesters provided in excess of the normal duration of the course have to be treated as exactly identical to the original eight in matters of regulating the course conduct. This provision does not place any bar on the students’ right to discontinue their studies during these extra four semesters. But what is inviolable in their case is their consecutive nature. One cannot skip a semester during this extra period and recover it beyond the 12th semester after it has ended. For instance, if a student discontinues his studies in the 11th semester, and the course in question is not offered in the next 12th semester, he cannot claim a right to enroll in the further next (13th) semester. He/she would have come to the end of his/her studies. The law provides him/her no further chance).
(ii) For semester enrolment, a candidate shall deposit university dues, according to bank challan provided, in the specified bank and its branch on the days specified on challan form or displayed on VU website for the purpose; provided that the Director Finance, in special circumstances and on payment of a late fee of Rs.250/- permits a student to deposit dues within seven days after the commencement of the semester. Thereafter, Rs. 500/- would be charged as late fee, provided further that the Rector may allow enrollment of a student after the expiry of seven days of the commencement of the semester under special circumstances of individual cases to be recorded in writing with double late fee, till such time as it does not conflict with the prescribed requirements of 75 % attendance in classes of each subject.

Provided further that the students seeking admission for the first time in any of the first degree courses must deposit dues to fulfill enrolment formalities within the date displayed on VU website by the Registrar, failing which their admission shall stand cancelled; provided further that the admission of such students may be allowed by the Rector till such time as it does not conflict with the prescribed requirements of 75 % attendance in classes of each subject.

(Explanation: Enrollment will only be considered completed when the candidate deposits university dues in the bank).


(iii) The admission of a candidate to the degree program shall be provisional in the first instance and shall be confirmed only when he/she has shown satisfactory progress in courses taken and rectified the course deficiencies, if any.
(iv) Discontinuation of studies: A candidate admitted to the degree program shall, enroll himself/herself for each semester provided that he/she may discontinue studies on account of sickness (duly certified by a registered medical doctor) or due to circumstances beyond his/her control, before appearing in the final examination, with the permission of the Registrar. Provided further that a candidate shall not ordinarily be allowed to discontinue studies for more than a total of four semesters.
(Explanation: Candidates so permitted to discontinue will be allowed to resume their studies by the Registrar vide his office notification).
(v) If a student fails to enroll in any semester without permission of the competent authority, he/she shall cease to be on the rolls of the University and in case he/she desires readmission, he/she shall have to apply for the same.
(Explanation: Executive Council of the University may readmit such a candidate or refuse admission if the reasons advanced are not convincing).
(vi) Candidates seeking re-admission in the university will have to pay re-admission fee as prescribed by Executive Council of the university.
(vii) Withdrawal from course (s): A student shall not be allowed to add a new course, or substitute a course for another after the expiry of ten days from the commencement of the semester, but he/she may be permitted by the Registrar (provided the course load for the semester does not fall below the prescribed minimum credit hours), to drop a course within 35 days. In case a student gives up a course without such permission or intimation, he/she shall be deemed to have failed in that course.
(viii) Minimum and Maximum Credit Hours: Each student shall register himself/herself in the 1st and 2nd semester for all the credit hours prescribed for these semesters. Subsequently he/she shall have to register for courses carrying not less than 17 and not more than 27 credit hours. These credits will include the credits earned in respect of deficiency courses. In his/her last semester a student may register himself/herself for courses carrying the remaining credit hours; provided that the maximum does not ordinarily exceed 30 credit hours. Provided further that the Registrar may allow a student to exceed the maximum limit of 30 credit hours by 1 to 4 credit hours by which he/she may be falling short of the total prescribed credit hours of a program, in special circumstances to be determined in each individual case. These extra credit hours shall be allowed only in the 7th and 8th semesters.
Clarification of Regulation 6 (viii)

(a) Regular Semesters
i. Each student shall register himself/herself in the first and second semesters for all the credit hours prescribed for these semesters.
ii. Subsequently, he/she shall have to register for courses carrying not less than 17 and not more than 27 credit hours out of the courses being offered during the enrolled semester.
iii.In the 7th and 8th semesters of the degree program a student may register for courses carrying up to 30 credit hours. This limit may be extended by the Registrar up to 34 credit hours if the student will complete the degree programme after enrolment of these extra credits.
(ix) No student will take any course unless he/she has cleared the pre-requisite for it as determined by the University.
(x) Credits earned for a course shall lapse on the expiry of six years for students from the end of the semester in which the course was qualified. Executive Council of the university may, however, revalidate the lapsed courses for special reasons to be recorded. (Explanation: Deficiency courses once qualified will not lapse and shall not be called into question again and need not to be revalidated).

13. Improvement of ‘D’ Grade:
(i) In any of the subsequent semesters a student may repeat once, those courses of the previous semester(s) in which he/she had secured the lowest grade i.e. “D” only. However, a student is not allowed to improve ‘D’ grade of a deficiency course qualified.
(ii) Any improved grade will substitute “F” and “D” grades of the previous Semester for calculating CGPA but “F” and “D” grades will form part of the transcript.
14. Examination and Weightage:
(i) Midterm and final examinations shall be conducted in a formal, proctored environment at examination centers designated for the purpose by the Controller of Examinations.
(ii) A mid-semester examination up to 90 minutes duration will be held after the 22nd lecture of a course, which will carry 25-35% of the total marks allocated for the course.
(iii) In addition, home assignments shall carry 10-20 % of the total marks allocated for the course.
(iv) Participation in class discussions through the Moderated Discussion Board of each subject shall carry up to 5 % of the total marks allocated.
(v) The final examination of up to three hours duration will be held at the end of the course, and shall carry 40-50% of the total marks allocated for the course.
(vi) The teacher shall finally determine the marks allocation of a course.

15. Uniformity/Standard in Tests: In each department the senior most teacher will examine all problems regarding uniformity/standards in tests, examinations, assignments etc. before the declaration of the results for the semester, or any appeal from the student or teacher of any related matter.

16. Declaration of Result:
(i) The result of all the examinations shall be completed by the teacher(s) and delivered within 15 days of the date of examination to the Controller of Examinations at the end of each semester. Thereafter, result shall be displayed on VU website.
(ii) Grade Point Average (GPA)/Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA):
(a) At the end of first semester, a student securing GPA less than 0.50 shall cease to be on rolls of the University. He/she may, however, again seek admission in any degree course, for which he/she is otherwise eligible at the next following admission time, on merit; provided that this concession will be admissible to him/her only once.
(b) At the end of the second semester, a student must obtain a minimum CGPA of 1.00. In case a student is able to obtain CGPA of 0.75 or more but less than 1.00, he/she will be promoted to the third semester on probation.
(c) At the end of the third semester, a student must obtain a minimum CGPA of 1.25. In case a student is able to obtain CGPA of 1.00 or more but less than 1.25, he/she will be promoted to the fourth semester on probation.
(d) For all subsequent semesters, a student must attain a minimum CGPA of 1.25 so that the student feels impelled to get the minimum CGPA required for qualifying for the award of the degree, failing which, he/she would cease to be on the rolls of the University and shall not be re-admitted in the same field of specialization.
(e) A student, who obtains CGPA of 1.75 but less than 2.25, upon the completion of entire approved course work, may be allowed to repeat once the courses of the previous semesters in which he/she had obtained the lowest grades, in order to improve the CGPA so as to obtain the minimum of 2.25, failing which he/she shall cease to be on the rolls.
(iii) GPA/CGPA will be calculated at the end of each semester in accordance with the relevant regulations.

17. Minimum Pass Marks: In order to complete a course successfully, a student is required to obtain at least 40 % marks provided he/she avails 20% minimum marks each in semester work (including marks obtained for midterm, assignments and class discussions) and final examination.

18. Grades, Grade Points and Grade Point Average:
(i) Grade and Grade Points: Grade of a course is awarded by teacher, recorded as evaluative and their symbols/letters used are listed below; whereas quality of achievement in a course is measured as Grade Point, that is, points per course hour assigned to a passing grade, indicating numerical value of the subject grade.
(ii) Grade Point Average (GPA): It is widely accepted as a measure of academic achievement. GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of letter graded credit hours attempted. Each grade has a point value as follows: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0. W for withdrawal and I for Incomplete may also be used. Maximum grade point average=4.00 Minimum cumulative grade point average for obtaining a degree =2.25
Grade
Value
Marks Obtained
Remarks
A
4
80-100 %
Excellent
B
3-3.99
65-79 %
Good
C
2-2.99
50-64 %
Satisfactory
D
1-1.99
40-49 %
Pass
F
0
Below 40 %
Fail
(Fractional marks to be rounded to the nearest whole number)
GPA of a semester is calculated as: multiply each grade point you receive by the number of credit hours for that course, add up the totals, and then divide by the total number of credit hours taken in that semester.
Cumulative Grade Point Average: Cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is the weighted mean value of all grade points earned by enrollment or by examination in courses at VU. (Explanation: GPA and CGPA includes the number of credit hours at VU for a letter grade even if a grade of “F” was earned). The cumulative grade point average (CGPA) will be calculated on the basis of the following formula:
CGPA = Sum(Credit Hrs for course X Grade Point obtained in the course) / Sum(credit Hrs)
with the sum being taken over all courses taken by the student with the specification that repeated courses shall be counted once only. (Explanation: If a student repeats a course, it will only be counted once towards the grade point and that will be calculated in the CGPA).

19. Attendance Requirements:
(i) A candidate with less than 75 % of the attendance of each course separately shall not be allowed to take the final examination of the course in a semester.
(ii) Virtual campuses would be responsible to provide via e-mail a statement of monthly attendance of students in each course to the Registrar. The name of the students who are absent from the classes continuously for a week without prior information shall be highlighted in the statement of attendance by the Virtual Campus in order to take stern action against him/her that may lead to being struck off the rolls by the University. Provided that the period of absence in the case of participation in co-curricular/sports activities, with the permission of Registrar may not be counted.
20. Conduct of Examination:
(i) The examinations of each course shall be held at times and examination centers to be notified by the Controller of Examinations.
(ii) Teachers responsible for the courses will set their individual examination papers and submit them to the senior most teacher of the subject who shall set the final single paper from the examination papers so submitted. The respective teachers will mark the exam data file/answer papers individually or collectively as may be determined by the competent authority of the university and prepare the award list(s) to hand over to Controller of Examinations through the senior most teacher. The Controller of Examinations will arrange supervision of the examinations and declaration of results.
21. Marks/Grade of Deficiency Course: The marks/grade required to pass a deficiency course shall be the same as in the regulations relating to the examination/course concerned.
22. Rechecking of exam data file/answer papers: Students may apply, within a period of 18 weeks from the date of declaration of the result, for re-checking of their exam data file/answer papers by depositing the prescribed fee per subject. For this purpose, the Controller of Examinations shall preserve the exam data file/scripts for one semester after the declaration of the result. In such cases, the Controller of Examinations shall authorize the re-checking of exam file/answer book to ensure that:–
(a) totals have been rightly brought forward;
(b) there is no mistake in the grand total on the exam file/cover of the answer book;
(c) no portion of any exam file/answer book has been left un-marked; and
(d) the exam file/answer book has not been changed.
Re-assessment of exam file/answer book shall not be permissible in any case.
The Controller of Examinations shall show the exam data file/answer paper of each examination to the concerned student and the student will confirm re-checking of the paper(s) positively within three days after receipt of the said file(s) failing which no further query about the paper(s) shall be entertained. After rechecking, if a mistake or a discrepancy in marking of the scripts comes to the notice of Controller of Examinations, he shall take action to get it rectified in a suitable manner after obtaining due authorization from the Rector and the result(s) of the affected student will be re-notified.

23. VU Education for Pakistanis Abroad:
Virtual University of Pakistan has extended its services to foreign countries in order to provide opportunity to Pakistanis and their children to seek admission into its degree programmes. Admission requirements, rules and regulations will remain the same for such students as mentioned above. However, Executive Council of the university will formulate the instructions for their admissions, university dues, and conduct of examinations etc. for incorporation into VU Prospectus.