Semester System Regulations of Pokhara University
1. Introduction
Pokhara University follows the semester system. The university adopts the practice of continuous evaluation of a students performance and allows the student, subject to the regulation of credit requirements, to progress at a pace suited to his /her individual ability and convince. The instructor is responsible for internal evaluation of the student and the office of the Controller of Examinations conducts the semester -end examination. Each course has a certain credit hours assigned to it depending on the number of lectures, tutorials and practical work hours in a week. Normally one credit is equivalent to one hour lecture per week per semester. The minimum number of class hours for a course of three credit hours in a semester is,therefore, appx. 48.If a course is taught by more than one instructor, one of the instructors will coordinate that course.
2. Academic Schedule
An academic year of the University consists of two semester of 16 weeks each. The fall semester starts in September and the spring semester in March. Fresh Admissions are normally made at the beginning of the fall semester.
3. Procedure For Admission
A notice inviting admission is publicly announced. the application forms and information brochures can be collected from the University office on payment of the assigned fee.
The concerned college scrutinizes the applications and invites the eligible candidates to take the entrance test, the date and time for the entrance test is informed to the prospective students by the college. The college may also interview the candidates for final selection for admission.
The candidates ,who are given provisional admission, pending the submission of the qualifying certificates, will be required to submit their qualifying certificates within a month of admission. In case of default the admission may be cancelled.
4. Normal and Maximum Duration of Stay At the College
The normal and the maximum durations for the completion of the requirements for the various programs are as follows:
| Nature of Program | Normal Duration | Maximum Duration |
|---|---|---|
| General Programs | 3/4 Years (6/8 Semesters) | 5/6 Years (10/12 Semesters) |
| Technical Programs | 4/5 Years (8/10 Semesters) | 6/7 Years (12/14 Semesters) |
5. Course Registration
The Academic record of a student is maintained in terms of the courses he/she has registered in a semester ,and the grades he/she obtains in those courses. Registration for courses is done at the beginning of each semester. Since registration is a very important procedural part of the credit system, it is essential that all students present themselves for registration at the college. In case of illness or any emergency circumstances, he /she must inform the principal or head of the institution. Only in rare cases, the principal/director may allow registration in the candidates absence. The student’s nominee cannot register for the courses but may complete other formalities.
6. Additions and Withdrawal from Course
Students wishing to add or withdrawal a course or courses must to so by petitioning to the principal’s office in the first week of the semester. A student wishing to withdraw from the course should apply on the prescribed form within one month of the start of the semester. A full time student must register all the courses, offered in the concerned semester. However he/she is allowed to register additional three retake courses, but a final year student is allowed to register four additional courses and non-regular student is allowed to register 24 credit hour course.
7. Semester Withdrawal
A student may apply for withdrawal from the entire semester on medical grounds only. The Principal / Director will examine the application for semester withdrawal and take the appropriate decision. No partial withdrawal of the courses registered in a semester will be considered.
8. Admission Requirements
The student is expected to attend every lecture, tutorial, seminar and practical class. However, to accommodate for late registration ,sickness and other such contingencies, the total attendance has to be at least 80% of the classes actually held. If the student is continuously absent from the college for more than four weeks without notifying the head of the institution, his/her name will be removed from the college rolls.
9. Repeating a Course
A course may be taken only once for a grade, except when a student receives a failing grade. Since passing each course is an essential requirement to obtain a degree, the student must retake the course in which he/she has failed when it is offered by the college and must successfully complete it.
Within the maximum duration allowed for the program, a student may be allowed to retake a maximum of two passed courses in order to achieve a minimum CGPA of 2 in the under-graduate level and 3 in the graduate level. The grade(s) earned on the retake exam will be substituted for the previously earned grade(s) in the course’s).
10. Evaluation System
A student’s performance in a course is evaluated in two phases: a) internally by the concerned faculty member through quizzes, tutorials, lab works, home assignments, class tests, class participation, term papers, etc. and b) externally by the office of the controller of examinations through semester -end examinations. The student must pass both the internal and the external examinations separately.
The grades awarded to a student in a course are based on his/her consolidated performance in both these types of evaluations. The weight age given to internal evaluation is 50% for the undergraduate program, and 60% for the graduate program. Similarly, 50% weight age in undergraduate programs and 40% weight age in graduate programs are assigned to the end of the semester examinations.
11. Grading System
Pokhara University follows a four -point letter grade system. Letter grades awarded for the undergraduate and graduate levels are as follows:
Undergraduate Level
| Letter Grade | Honor Point | |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4.0 | Excellent |
| A- | 3.7 | |
| B+ | 3.3 | |
| B | 3.0 | Good |
| B- | 2.7 | |
| C+ | 2.3 | |
| C | 2.0 | Fair |
| C- | 1.7 | |
| D+ | 1.3 | |
| D | 1.0 | * |
| F | 0.0 | Fail |
| * Work satisfying minimum requirement for credit |
Graduate Level
| Letter Grade | Honor Point | |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4.0 | Excellent |
| A- | 3.7 | |
| B+ | 3.3 | Good |
| B | 3.0 | Fair |
| B- | 2.7 | |
| C+ | 2.3 | |
| C | 2.0 | * |
| * Work satisfying minimum requirement for credit | ||
| F | 0.0 | Fail |
Only in very rare and unusual circumstances, if a student fails to finish all the requirements for a course, he/she may be awarded an incomplete grade. ‘I’ if all the requirements are not completed within the following semester ,the grade of ‘I’ will automatically be converted into an ‘F’.
The performance of a student is evaluated in terms of two indices: a) Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) which is the grade point average of the particular semester and b) Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) which is the grade point average of all the semesters taken together.
12. General Guidelines for Awarding a Grade
12.1 Awarding the Final Grade
Cumulative total score for the purpose of awarding the final grades in a scale of 0 to 100 is calculated as follows:
Graduate Level: 0.60 IEM + 0.40 EEM
Undergraduate Level: 0.50 IEM + 0.50 EEM
Where,
IEM= Internal Examination Marks
EEM=External Examinations marks
This rule is, however, subject to rule (12.5)
In a specific course, subject to approval of the examination board, direct final grade may be awarded based on the student’s performance as evaluated by the faculty.
12.2 Normal Criteria for Awarding Final Grade
The following criteria will normally be used to award a grade in each subject based on the cumulative total score on scale of 0 to 100:
| Undergraduate Level | Graduate Level |
|---|---|
| 1. A (90 and above) | 1. A (90 and above) |
| 2. A- (85 and above, but below 90) | 2. A- (85 and above, but below 90) |
| 3. B+ (80 and above, but below 85) | 3. B+ (80 and above, but below 85) |
| 4. B (75 and above, but below 80) | 4. B (75 and above, but below 80) |
| 5. B- (70 and above ,but below 75) | 5. B- (70 and above ,but below 75) |
| 6. C+ (65 and above, but below 70) | 6. C+ (65 and above, but below 70) |
| 7. C (60 and above, but below 65) | 7. C (60 and above, but below 65) |
| C- (55 and above, but below 60) | F (below 60) |
| 9. D+ (50 and above ,but below 55) | |
| 10. D (45 and above, but below 50) | |
| 11. F (below 45) |
12.3 Adjustment of Letter Grade:
The cut off point for each letter grade may be slightly adjusted on a particular examination based on the level of difficulty of the question set as determined statistically using standardized normal distribution and natural breakpoints. The examination board of students appearing in a particular examination is less than 30.
12.4 Pass Marks in Internal and External Examinations
The pass marks for internal examination are 45% for the undergraduate level and 60%for the graduate level. Students failing in internal examination will be “Not Qualified” to appear in the end of the semester examination. Pass marks for the end of the semester examination are also 45%for undergraduate level and 60%for the graduate level. The pass marks cut of points in the end of the semester examination for a particular course may be slightly adjusted statistically on the basis of break points in student’s scores. Such adjustment will be based on the relative performance of the student as recommended by the Scrutiny Board and approved by the examination Board.
12.5 Congruency Between Internal and External Marks
A slightly higher internal examination marks than external examination marks will not be considered abnormal. However, if the marks in internal examination substantially and unacceptably exceed the marks in external examination, the internal examination marks will be questionable. Internal examination marks in a subject of a batch of students of a particular college will be considered to substantially and unacceptably exceed the respective external examination marks, if the former exceeds the later on an average by more than 25%.
In order to discourage this tendency and to ensure greater fairness in student grades across various colleges and over a period of time, the occurrence of substantially and unacceptably higher internal examination score, no matter whatever is written in rule (12.2),will be penalized by reducing the weight age of the internal examination by50%.Correspondingly,the weight age of the external examination will be increased.
12.6 Normal Distribution of Grades
The university recognizes that there will be variations in the distribution of the students grades over the years. However, the university expects that on an average over a long period of time ,20%,30% and 40% of passing students in the undergraduate level will secure A, B, and C letter grades respectively in a course.Likewise,35% and 60% of passing students in graduate level examination are expected to secure A and B letter grades respectively in a course.
13. Degree with Distinction
To obtain a degree with distinction ,a student must obtain a CGPA of 3.60 or better in the undergraduate level and 3.75 or better in the graduate level.
14. Dean’s List
The Dean’s list recognizes outstanding academic performance. To qualify, a student must obtain a CGPA of at least 3.7 in the undergraduate level and 3.8 in the graduate level.
15. Dismissal from the Program
A student is normally expected to obtain a CGPA of 2.0 in the undergraduate level and 3.0 in the graduate level. The student ,whose performance in the past semesters does not show the possibility of maintaining this CGPA, may be dismissed from the program.
16. Transfer of Credit Hours
A maximum of up to 25% of the total credit hours of course work completed in an equivalent program of a recognized institution may be transferred / waived for credit on the recommendation of the head of the faculty. For transfer of credit, a student must have received a grade of ‘B’ or better in the respective course. Courses taken earlier than five years may not be accepted for transfer of credit .However, a student transferring from one program of Pokhara University may receive a credit transfer of all the compatible courses completed with at least grade ‘C’ in the undergraduate level and grade ‘B’ in the graduate level.
17. Unfair Means
Students are strictly forbidden from adopting unfair means in class assignments, tests, report writing and final examination. Any of followings would be considered as adoption of unfair means during examination:
Receiving unauthorized help from fellow students
Copying from another student’s script /report / paper.
Copying from disk, or palm of hand or other incriminating documents.
Possession of any incriminating document whether used or not.Any approach in direct or indirect form to influence the teacher / examiner concerning grade.
Unruly behavior, which disrupts academic program.
If the instructor / invigilator detects a student using unfair means, the student may be given an ‘F’ grade at the discretion of the examination board. Moreover, adoption of unfair means may result in the dismissal of the student from the program and expulsion of the student from the college and as such from Pokhara University.
18. Monitoring of Students Academic Performance
Students academic performance in each semester will be monitored and those doing poorly will be advised to improve their performance in subsequent semesters. In case a student fails to satisfy the minimum academic criteria laid down for continuation as a student at the end of each year, his/her registration will be terminated. The termination of registration of a student due to poor academic performance will be reviewed every year at the end of the even semester.
19. Examinations & Graduation
The Controller of Examinations is responsible for conducting all the end of semester examinations of the University. The examination timetable will be released no later than two weeks prior to the start of the examination period and the time, date, duration, and examination centers will be specified. It is the candidates responsibility to attend the end of the semester examination at the correct time and place and to comply with the examination rules.
The Controller of Examinations will publish the official results of the examinations and make the results available to the concerned college(s). It is the responsibility of the candidates to make themselves aware of their results. Students are responsible for reviewing records carefully to ensure that they are completing all degree requirements.
The Controller of Examinations will make arrangements for graduation ceremonies. A graduate wishing to attend the graduation ceremonies should complete a diploma request form with the office of the Controller of Examinations. Degrees, Diplomas, honors and medals will be awarded to graduates at the graduation ceremonies. Students who need official verification of apply for transcripts from the office of the Controller of Examinations.
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