Academic Requirements and Credit Transfer

COURSES

Courses include 40 hours of class contact. Students are expected to carry out a minimum of 80 hours of preparation work, compulsory book readings, computerized self-learning, and research.

DISSERTATION

A dissertation in the final year is compulsory for most degree-seeking programs.

ASSESSMENT

A variety of teaching and assessment methods are used including assignments, case studies, presentations and examinations. These will be presented to the students at the beginning of each course.
Coursework counts for 50% of the end of year grade.
Examinations are administered at the end of each session and count for 50% of the end of year grade. Students must obtain a minimum grade “C” in all subjects in order to be admitted into the following year of study.

ATTENDANCE

Class attendance is an obligation, and students are expected to attend regularly and punctually all classes in which they are enrolled.
Each professor will check the register at the start of each class and will keep a permanent attendance record. Student absences will then be reported to the Student Services office.
A student shall submit written excuses for all class absences immediately. Only documented excuses will be accepted, e.g., illness verified by a physician.
Absences for authorized trips or to do special duties or activities at the school may be excused by the Head of Program.

EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM (ECTS)

Introduction
The European Union promotes inter-university co-operation to improve the quality of education for the benefit of students and higher education institutions, and student mobility is a predominant element of that inter-university co-operation.
The recognition of studies and diplomas is a prerequisite for the creation of an Open European area of education and training where students and teachers can move without obstacles. That is why the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) was developed within the Erasmus program as a means of improving academic recognition for study abroad. The external evaluation of ECTS has demonstrated the potential of the system and the European Commission has decided to include ECTS in its proposal for the Socrates program, in particular on higher education (Erasmus).
ECTS creates transparency between institutions and widens the choices available to students. The system allows institutions to recognize the learning achievements of students through the use of commonly understood measurements i.e. credits and grades and it also provides a means to interpret national systems of higher education. ECTS is based on three main principals: information (on study programs and student achievement), mutual agreement (between the partner institutions and the student) and the use of ECTS credits (indicating the student workload).

What are ECTS Credits
ECTS credits are a numerical value (between 1 and 60) allocated to course units to describe the student workload required to complete them. They reflect the quantity of work each course unit requires, in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to successfully complete a whole academic year of study at the institution, including, lectures, practical work, seminars, tutorials, fieldwork, private study in the library or at home and examinations or any other assessments. ECTS is therefore based on a full student workload and is not only limited to contact hours.
ECTS credits are a relative measure of a students workload. They only specify how much of a year’s workload a course unit represents at the institution or department allocating the credits.
In ECTS, 60 credits represent the workload of an academic year of study and normally 30 credits for a semester and 20 credits for a term.