Semester System Regulations

1.Semester System

Teaching at the University shall be done according to the Semester system of instruction. There will be two regular semesters (Fall and Spring) in an academic year. Fall/Spring semester will spread over 16-18 weeks (inclusive of 1-2 weeks for exams).
Teaching departments shall announce the courses being offered in a semester in advance and allow students to register in the courses after academic advising.

2. Academic Advising

Academic advising shall be done by faculty members designated as “Advisor” and shall consist of advisor’s review of student’s academic record with the student himself/herself. Advising shall lay particular emphasis on courses failed by the student, student’s CGPA and the steps student needs to take to fulfil his/her degree requirements within the stipulated time. Furthermore, student may be advised of pre-requisite and co-requisite relationship between courses relevant to him/her. University will provide academic guidance to all students throughout their academic career at University. Responsibilities of Student Advisor also include advising students with the general adjustments to university life and semester system, informing and explaining course registration, implication of credit transfer, attendance policy, withdrawal of courses. Additionally, Student Advisor is to serve as a resource person for university information and guiding students to meet graduation requirements.
Notwithstanding anything stated above with regard to advising, it will be the students’ responsibility to know their degree requirements, various deadlines/information announced through notices placed on Department/Campus Notice Boards, to be accountable for observing University policies and to obtain course-scheduling information. A student will be responsible for completion of all degree requirements, including pre-requisites. For any clarification, query or problem relating to any academic matter which may not be resolved at the HOD level, the student may contact Dean of the concerned Faculty.

3. Summer Semester

Summer semester will be offered as an optional semester of 8-9 weeks duration including exam. Students will be offered courses to remove deficiencies and can enrol in up to a maximum of 9 credit hours during summer.
The courses offered in the summer are decided by the respective HOD’s office keeping in view the number of students interested in taking a particular course.
In summer, teaching departments may offer courses for whole session as well as for repeaters. Students have to pay separately for registering in a summer course without crossing certain maximum Credit Hours limit.
Moreover, a student who has either failed or has been stopped to take the examination due to shortage of class attendance or wishes to improve his/her grade is allowed to register in the summer semester.
The contact hours per week during the summer semester will be doubled to ensure that the course is completely taught in a summer session with half of the duration as compared to a regular (Fall/Spring) semester.

4. Degree Duration

Minimum duration for

Undergraduate and master’s degree programs (16 years of education) shall not be less than four and two academic years, respectively.
Master’s degree programs (18 years of education) shall not be less than 2 years for full time students.The courses offered in the summer are decided by the respective HOD’s office keeping in view the number of students interested in taking a particular course.
Doctoral (PhD) degree programs shall not be less than 3 years (including course work duration and Research Dissertation). In summer, teaching departments may offer courses for whole session as well as for repeaters. Students have to pay separately for registering in a summer course without crossing certain maximum Credit Hours limit.

Maximum duration for

Undergraduate and master’s degree programs (16 years of education) shall not be more than six and three academic years, respectively.
Master’s degree programs (18 years of education) shall not be more than four years for full time students.
Doctoral (PhD) degree programs shall not be more than 8 years (including course work duration and Research Dissertation).

Extension Beyond Maximum Duration

The Vice Chancellor may grant extensions up to a maximum period of one year beyond the maximum duration for completing requirements for the award of degree. Students requiring extension may apply to the Vice chancellor for this purpose.
student would be separated from the University if he/she requires extension beyond one year.
Separated students can apply to the Vice Chancellor for re-admission.
A re-admitted student will not be granted second re-admission if he/she is separated second time from the University.

4. Degree Duration

Students have to register for their courses in a semester during the period specified for the purpose before the commencement of a semester. The office of the Examinations, before the start of every semester, will notify the course registration deadline i.e. course add and drop period, which in most cases will be the end of second study week of a semester. Requests for late registration for valid reasons can be entertained till the end of the third study week of a semester. However, such students shall be required to pay late registration fee. Students deciding not to register in a semester must inform the department of their decision. Failure to register without any prior intimation may result in separation from the University.

6. Student Status

Students shall be classified:

On the basis of number of credit hours registered in a semester and
On the basis of credit hours completed

The students are classified as per the following nomenclature on the basis of credit hours registered during a semester:

Students registering in at least 12 credit hours during Fall and Spring semesters and 6 credit hours during summer semester within the minimum duration of their respective degree program shall be called “Regular”
Students shall be classified as “Casual” students if they register in less than 12 credit hours during Fall and Spring semesters and less than 6 credit hours during summer semester; or they register in courses after completion of their minimum degree duration period

The students are classified as per the following nomenclature on the basis of credit hours completed:

“First Year” students if they have successfully completed less than or up to 32 credit hours of prescribed syllabus
“Second Year” students if they have successfully completed more than 32 credit hours but up to 68 credit hours of prescribed syllabus
“Third Year” students if they have successfully completed more than 68 credit hours but up to 104 credit hours of prescribed syllabus
“Final Year” students if they have successfully completed more than 104 credit hours but up to 136 credit hours of prescribed syllabus.

7. Credit Hour System

The credit hours assigned to a theory or a laboratory course are determined by the contact hours allocated to it per week throughout a semester. For a theory course one credit hour is equivalent to one contact hour of lecture per week, and for a laboratory course, three contact hours of practical work per week constitute one credit hour.

8. Credit Hours Requirement

The credit hours required for the award of a Bachelors degree may range from a minimum of 124 to a maximum of 140 for degree programs with minimum duration of four academic years.
The credit hours required for the award of M.Sc. degree may range from a minimum of 65 to a maximum of 72 for degree programs with minimum duration of two academic years.
The credit hours required for the award of MS degree may range from a minimum of 30 to a maximum of 36 for degree programs with minimum duration of one academic year.
The credit hours required for the award of PhD is 48 (18 Credit Hours of Course Work + 30 Credit Hours of PhD dissertation).

10. Curriculum and Classification of Courses

The curriculum, course identification numbers, the credit hours allocated to each course and detailed syllabus shall be according to the proposals made by the Board of Studies and the Board of Faculty concerned and approved by the Syndicate on the recommendations of the Academic Council.

Courses shall be classified as:

“Theory” wherein the primary mode of teaching shall be lectures given by teachers supplemented by home assignments. For the purpose of these regulations, courses of this type shall be referred to as Type-A;
“Practical” wherein the primary mode of teaching shall be experiments, studio laboratory, designs, drawings, assignments and projects conducted/executed by students as specified in the syllabus. For the purpose of these regulations, courses of this type shall be referred to as Type-B;
“Comprehensive Projects” wherein students engage in design and development of a project under direct supervision of teachers in a laboratory / studio / workshop / industry, spread over one or two regular semesters in an academic year. For the purpose of these regulations, courses of this type shall be referred to as Type-C.

Type-A Courses Evaluation and Contact Hours

In Type-A courses, there shall be a midsemester examination of at least one hour duration and a comprehensive end semester examination of at least one and a half hour duration. These examinations shall carry 30% and 50% weightage towards the course grade, respectively.
The teacher shall schedule additional assessment instruments such as quizzes, assignments, presentations, seminars, group discussions, field study reports, etc. as specified in the syllabus or as determined by the teacher. These assessment instruments shall carry the remaining 20% weightage of the course.
There shall be one contact hour per week during Fall and Spring semesters and two contact hours per week during Summer semester for each credit hour assigned to Type-A courses.

Type-B Courses Evaluation and Contact Hours

In Type-B courses, each Experiment, Studio work, Jury Presentation, Design, Drawing, Project or Assignment shall be considered as an independent assessment instrument. Cumulative performance in all independent assessment instruments shall form the basis for evaluating a student.
There shall be two to three contact hours per week during Fall and Spring semesters and four to six contact hours per week during Summer semester for each credit hour assigned to Type-B courses.

Type-C Courses Evaluation and Contact Hours

In Type-A courses, there shall be a midsemester examination of at least one hour duration and a comprehensive end semester examination of at least one and a half hour duration. These examinations shall carry 30% and 50% weightage towards the course grade, respectively.
Continuous Assessment and Terminal Assessment of Type-C courses may carry 60 and 40 percent weightage, respectively.
External Examiners / Jurors shall be involved in the assessment of all Type-C courses.

11. Semester Freeze

A student enrolled in four years bachelor’s degree program can freeze maximum of two semesters throughout the degree duration.
A student enrolled in two years master’s degree program can freeze maximum of one semester throughout the degree duration.
Freezing of first semester is prohibited in all cases.

12. Attendance Rules

Students are expected to attend all the Lectures and Laboratories work pertaining to their courses of study and are required to attend at least 75% of the total Lectures/Lab work for each course to qualify for appearance in the final examination.
In case a student fails to maintain 75% attendance in a course he/she shall not be allowed to appear in the Final Examination of that course and shall be placed under academic status F-SAT. A ‘W4’ grade shall be awarded in the course in which he/she is short of attendance and shall not be used in computation of SGPA/CGPA. However, course withdrawal option may be exercised (as per rules) by the student. Courses repeated after short of attendance will not be suffixed with “(Repeat)”.

13. Absconding Students

Procedure specified below is to be followed for student admission suspension and reinstatement:

If a student fails to register for classes before the end of fourth week of a regular semester (Fall/Spring) or is absent from classes for 30 days or more in a regular semester (Fall/Spring), without information and approval of the HOD, admission of such a student will be suspended automatically.
Such a student may only be reinstated to continue studies at the University on the recommendation of the HOD and approval of the Dean of the Faculty, subject to payment of prescribed reinstatement fee which shall be equivalent to the Admission Fee enforced at the time of reinstatement. All outstanding dues are also to be cleared by the student before the reinstatement. However, such a student shall only be allowed to join the classes from beginning of the next semester available after the reinstatement. For the current semester the student shall be treated as if he/she dropped the semester.
The Teaching Department concerned is to make absentee report of the student on the prescribed form to the Registrar Office giving details of absence of the student.
Registrar Office is to suspend the admission of the student and enrolment of courses forthwith, recording the same in the University information system for further disposal as per SOP. Student ID for login through LMS shall also be disabled.
Registrar Office is to dispatch a letter addressed to the student, with a copy to the parent / guardian of the student, intimating about suspension of the admission. Copy of the same is to be kept in student’s personal file.
Student desirous of reinstatement of admission is to apply for the same on the prescribed proforma.
Student may be reinstated after scrutiny of his/her academic record of study at the University, adjudging his/her ability to complete the degree requirement while remaining within the maximum period allowed for the same and clearance of all outstanding dues including reinstatement fee. In case the student is found ineligible for reinstatement, his/her admission will be cancelled.
On reinstatement, the student is to take appropriate action for course enrolment in the next semester and restoration of login ID for use of LMS, etc.

14. Changing Discipline After Admission

A student may apply for change in discipline. The minimum admission merit of the discipline, being opted for, must be equal or lower than the merit of the opting student at the time of his admission.
The student opting to change his discipline must apply to the Vice Chancellor through his Chairman and the Dean. Acceptance shall depend on the availability of seats in the opted discipline and student’s admission merit.
On acceptance of his/her request, the student shall start afresh with credit transfer for any course(s) studied in the original discipline which are applicable to the new discipline. He/she will be issued a new registration number and his maximum permissible degree duration count will start afresh.

15. Transfer of Credits of Courses for Migrated Students

a) Students from other HEC approved universities and programs accredited by PEC or PCATP, may apply for migration to this University in the same programs, in accordance with University's Migration Rules. Following conditions shall govern transfer of courses (credits) to the University for courses studied elsewhere. Courses that do not satisfy these conditions shall not be transferred nor given any credit.

The course must correspond to a course offered by the University or be deemed equivalent in depth and intensity.
The student must have earned at least “40%” marks in case of absolute grading system or a minimum of “C” grade or higher in a letter grading system similar to the one in this University. In case of any other grading system, the department shall decide with the above minimum limits in perspective. In case, both letter grades and marks are mentioned on the transcript, only letter grade will be considered for the purpose of transfer of semester credits.

The accumulative credits accepted for transfer in any program should not exceed one-half (50%) of the total credits required to complete that particular program, in any case.

b) The credits transferred are counted towards the degree requirements of the student. However, GPA of transferred credits shall not be counted towards the calculation of CGPA, and that only “Transferred” shall be written against those course(s) in which transfer of credits was allowed. In addition, migrated students shall neither be eligible for a merit position nor degree with Honours.

c) Migrating student may be deficient in courses as compared to the class which he has joined. Such a student shall repeat these courses. In case, he is studying a particular course for the first time, it will not be classified as repeated course for him.

16. Transfer of Credits of Courses for Double Degree Students

Credit hours of courses, as recommended by the concerned department, in which they have earned a minimum of 40% marks or a minimum grade of “C” (as the case may be) during their first degree program within the University shall stand transferred and they shall be placed in the semester recommended by the department. The credits transferred are counted towards the degree requirements of the student. However, GPA of transferred credits shall not be counted towards the calculation of CGPA, and that only “Transferred” shall be written against those course(s) in which transfer of credits was allowed. In addition, double degree students shall neither be eligible for a merit position nor a degree with Honour.

17. Exchange Students

Foreign students under student exchange program will be enrolled for any semester or for any single course and university will issue transcript with letter grades at the end of the semester.

18. Transfer of Credits of Courses for Exchange Students

a) Following conditions shall govern transfer of courses (credits) to the University for courses studied elsewhere as Exchange students under an HEC or University approved scheme. Courses that do not satisfy these conditions shall not be transferred nor given any credit.

b) The credits transferred are counted towards the degree requirements of the student. However, GPA of transferred credits shall not be counted towards the calculation of CGPA, and that only “Transferred” shall be written against those course(s) in which transfer of credits was allowed. In addition, such students shall neither be eligible for a merit position nor degree with Honours.

The course must correspond to a course offered by the university or be deemed equivalent in depth and intensity.
The student must have earned at least “40%” marks in case of absolute grading system or a minimum of “C” grade or higher in a letter grading system similar to the one in this University. In case of any other grading system, the department shall decide with the above minimum limits in perspective. In case, both letter grades and marks are mentioned on the transcript, only letter grade will be considered for the purpose of transfer of semester credits.

19. Temporary Students

University may enrol a duly qualified person as Temporary Student on the payment of the prescribed course fee and on the recommendation of the course teacher and the Head of the Department concerned for up to 9 credit hours of courses in a semester.
A temporary student will not be eligible for award of degree. However, the University shall issue transcript with the letter grades earned by the temporary student at the end of the semester.
Temporary student will be assigned a temporary registration number and registered according to rules and regulations for regular students but will not be classified as regular student.
Courses completed successfully as temporary student may be used for credit towards a degree program at the University within two years.
Temporary students shall have no special claim or right for admission into a degree program. In order to be admitted as a regular student in a degree program they shall have to meet the eligibility and merit criteria for admission into the program.

20. Interpretation

If any question arises regarding the interpretation of these regulations the matter shall be deliberated by the academic administration consisting of Head of the Department, Controller of Examinations, Registrar, Deans and Vice Chancellor and their decision thereon shall be final.

21. Removal of Difficulties

If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the provisions of these Regulations, the Vice Chancellor in individual cases may make such decision, not inconsistent with the spirit of these Regulations, as may appear to necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty, provided that such a decision is not ultra vires of the Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan Act 2014.