Academic rules

The credit-hour system

• The institute follows the credit-hour system. The academic year is divided into two semesters, whose start and end are set by the approved calendar, and the credit hour is the unit that measures the weight of a course.
• Students obtain the bachelor’s degree in any of the institute’s three programs on passing 132 credit hours, at 3 hours per course in every program.
• In each semester a student registers for at least 4 courses (12 hours) and at most 6 courses (18 hours). The institute’s board may authorize a change to the minimum and maximum registration load for graduation purposes or to avoid dismissal at any study level.
• By decision of the institute’s board, on the proposal of the departmental councils and after the approval of the sector committee, the registration requirements and the content of any course may be changed.
• Examinations are held at the end of each semester. At the start of each academic year the institute’s board sets how each course’s marks are distributed between attendance, coursework, midterm examinations and final examinations, according to the nature of the course.
• The institute’s board, on the proposal of the departmental councils, may specify which courses require practical sessions (these are not counted in the student’s total credit hours).
• After consulting the relevant departmental council, and depending on the nature of the courses, the institute’s board may decide to teach one or more courses in hybrid mode, with 50% of the course taught face to face and 50% at a distance, or in any other proportion after the approval of the relevant sector committee and the endorsement of the Minister of Higher Education.

Program structure

Study levels

• The study program is divided into four levels, taught over eight semesters plus four summer semesters across four years (levels); each level consists of two semesters and a summer semester.
• The institute’s board may decide to suspend or continue registration in any study program according to the number of students admitted to each program and the institute’s human and material capacity, on the proposal of the relevant departmental council.
• The departments’ academic councils set the minimum and maximum number of students per course, subject to the approval of the institute’s board.

Academic advising

• Students register for the courses they choose using the registration request forms, under the supervision of their academic advisor, before the start of each semester.
• After completing registration, a student may drop or add one or more courses within two weeks of the start of the semester, in coordination with their academic advisor and without breaching the minimum and maximum registration load for the semester.
• A student may not register for a course without having passed its prerequisite, except when graduating or when passing a level.
• Students who are late registering until the end of the third week of the semester have their case referred to the Education and Student Affairs Committee and then to the institute’s board, which considers the reason for the delay. They are considered absent for the period missed unless they present excuses accepted by the board, and they are responsible for catching up on the course material of that period.
• A student who is late registering until the fourth week of the semester is considered to have failed, unless they present an excuse accepted by the institute’s board explaining the delay, so that their enrolment can be suspended for that semester.
• A student may withdraw from registered courses within at most two weeks of the start of teaching and receives a grade of Withdrawn (W) in those courses, provided that their registered hours do not fall below the minimum load for one semester. A student who withdraws after these dates is considered to have failed (F), and this is taken into account in calculating their cumulative grade point average.
• A student who wishes to withdraw from a whole semester because of illness, or with an excuse accepted by the institute’s board, must apply to Education and Student Affairs for the institute’s approval. The courses withdrawn from are not counted in the cumulative grade point average; the student receives a grade of Withdrawn (W) in them and retakes these courses and their examinations in a later semester after paying the set tuition fees.

In addition to the above, students may drop and add courses within the set period in the following cases:

• If they change their specialization.
• If they expect to graduate in the semester in which they are registered and the drop and add is needed for them to graduate that semester. The courses they choose that they have already studied in the specialization they are leaving, and that are part of their new study program, are credited to them, and the marks they obtained are counted in their cumulative grade point average.

Attendance

Attendance must be at least 75% of each course’s total hours.

1. a

   A student may retake any mandatory or elective course already passed, to raise their cumulative grade point average. The retake and its examination take place after paying the required fees and obtaining the approval of the responsible office (Admissions and Registration), provided that the course is offered in the same semester at any study level. The grade obtained in the retake counts in the cumulative grade point average, where only the last grade is counted, while every grade the student obtained is recorded on their transcript.

2. b

   A student may retake a course within two regular semesters of first studying it.

3. c

   A student who fails the retake is considered to have failed the course and must study it in the following study level and sit its examination after paying the set fees. The grade obtained in the retake counts in the cumulative grade point average, and every grade obtained is recorded on the transcript.

4. d

   A student must retake any course they failed, in a later semester, and sit its examination after paying the set tuition fees. A grade of (F) is counted in their cumulative grade point average, and every grade obtained is recorded on the transcript.

5. e

   A student who takes an elective course and fails it may take another elective course instead, to complete the requirements of their study plan.

6. f

   A student who passes a course on retaking it may not retake it again.

7. g

   When a student transfers to the institute from an institute recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the courses they have already studied there are matched against the courses of the institute’s study plans.

8. h

   Courses accepted in transfer from other faculties or institutes may not be retaken.

Examination length

Two hours per course

Maximum mark

100 marks

Final examination

50%

Coursework

30%

Midterm examination

20%

• Each course examination lasts two hours, and each course is marked out of one hundred, distributed as 50% for the final examination, 30% for coursework and 20% for the midterm examination. With the approval of the institute’s board, the distribution of marks may differ according to the nature of the course.
• The final or midterm examination (if any) of any course may be held remotely. Examinations may also be held for students living in distant areas of the country in joint examination centres located between those areas, at public universities or educational institutions under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, under a cooperation protocol with those bodies, after the approval of the institute’s board and of the head of the education sector at the Ministry of Higher Education.

• A student whose cumulative grade point average is below (C-) receives an academic warning, except in their first semester
• A student under warning must raise their cumulative grade point average to (C-) or above within at most two study levels
• A student who fails to raise their average after those two study levels is dismissed from the specialization
• A student may not remain in the same level for more than two academic years
• Honours are awarded to a student with a cumulative grade of (A) or (B) who has not failed in any year

Students enrolled at the institute and those permitted to sit its examinations as external candidates are subject to the disciplinary system set out below.

• Investigating students

  No penalty under article (89) may be imposed until the student has been investigated in writing and heard. A student who does not attend at the time set for the investigation loses the right to be heard on the matters attributed to them.

• Objecting to decisions

  Decisions of the bodies competent to impose disciplinary penalties under the article on penalties are final. However, a decision issued in the student’s absence may be challenged before the disciplinary board within a week of its notification to the student or the student’s guardian; the decision is considered to have been made in the student’s presence if the summons was served on the student or their guardian in person and they failed to attend without an acceptable excuse. A student may also appeal a disciplinary decision by application to the dean of the institute within fifteen days of the decision, and the institute’s board may cancel or reduce the penalty.

• Lawyers attending with the student

  A student referred to the disciplinary board may bring a lawyer to attend the board’s sessions.

• Composition of the disciplinary board

  The disciplinary board is chaired by the dean of the institute or their deputy, with three members of the institute’s board, one of whom is a faculty member.