University Undergraduate Awards (Amendment) Regulations, 2011

L.N. 369 of 2011

EDUCATION ACT

(CAP. 327)

University Undergraduate Awards (Amendment) Regulations, 2011

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred upon him by articles 74 (5) and 75

(6) of the Education Act (Cap. 327), the Chancellor of the University of Malta has

promulgated the following regulations made by the Senate of the University of Malta

by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by articles 75 and 79 of the said Act

Citation

These regulations may be cited as the University Undergraduate Awards

(Amendment) Regulations, 2011 and shall be read and construed as one with the

General Regulations for University Undergraduate Awards, published as Legal

Notice 127 of 2004, hereinafter referred to as “the principal regulations”.

Applicability

Regulations 4, 5 and 6 of these regulations shall be applicable from 6 th

May, 2011 onwards.

Regulations 7 and 8 of these regulations shall be applicable from 23 rd June,

2011 onwards.

Amendment to regulation 50 of the principal regulations

The following paragraph (2) shall be added after paragraph (1) of regulation

50 of the principal regulations

“(2) Bye-laws may provide that in courses comprising two main areas of

study, units in one area declared to be compensatable may be passed by compensation

if students obtain a mark of not less than 35% in the unit and their Average Mark in

the programme of study for the same area for the current year is at least 50%. In such

cases, eligibility for a compensated pass shall not be based on the Year Average Mark

as provided for in paragraph (1) of this regulation.”

Paragraph (2) of regulation 50 of the principal regulations shall be

renumbered as paragraph (3).

Amendment to regulation 69 of the principal regulations

For regulation 69 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted the

following

“69. Students shall be allowed to repeat a year of a Course once only and

shall not be allowed to repeat another year in the same Course, unless in exceptional

circumstances and with the approval of Senate.”

Addition of regulation 82 to the principal regulations

The following regulation 82 shall be added after regulation 81 of the

principal regulations

“Supervision of dissertations

82. (1) In the case of a dissertation study-unit, the Board shall appoint a

supervisor for each student, provided that if required a co-supervisor may also be

appointed.

(2) A supervisor shall not be related to a student by consanguinity or by

affinity to the third degree inclusive or have a dual relationship with the student.

(3) The supervisor or the supervisory team when a co-supervisor is

appointed shall be responsible for providing guidance to students under their care in

the following areas

(a) assisting students to select and elaborate a research problem and to

formulate a written proposal for their dissertation;

(b) offering ideas and providing guidance and encouragement on the planning

and progress of research, submission of the dissertation, and publication of results;

(c) providing or arranging instruction in research methodology, including use

of information technology;

(d) guiding students in acquiring and improving appropriate generic

skills, including written and oral communication, numeracy, decision-taking and

organisational and management skills;

(e) ensuring that the students are aware of the manner in which research

results are reported and that they understand the implications of plagiarism and other

unbecoming academic practices; and

(f) any other matters which require the attention of the Board or Senate.

(4) Supervisors shall meet students regularly to review progress.

Meetings may be substituted by other means of communication.

(5) Supervisors are not responsible for proof-reading dissertations.

Neither is it their responsibility to ensure that dissertations do not contain plagiarised

parts.

(6) If plagiarism is detected by a supervisor in drafts or in the final version

of a dissertation prior to formal submission, the supervisor shall use discretion as to

whether to reprimand the student and demand corrective action or to report the matter

to the Assessment Disciplinary Board, depending on the gravity of the offence.”

Amendment to Schedule 1 of the principal regulations

For Schedule 1 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted the

following

“Schedule 1

UNIVERSITY OF MALTA

SENATE RESOLUTION

System of Assigning Codes for Study-Units

A study-unit can be described as the building block of a University award scheme. It

is the basic unit of instruction - a self-contained component of a certificate, diploma or

degree programme. It is normally made up of a series of lectures/tutorials/practicals

but may also be made up entirely of private study, as is the case, for example, in a

dissertation study-unit. Each study-unit has its specific aims and learning outcomes, a

syllabus, a teaching/learning pattern and a means of assessing a student’s progress.

Study-units are taught at different levels, reflecting the academic standard of the

study-unit and the demands placed on students as they progress from year to year.

In the first instance, the responsibility for ensuring the academic quality of each

study-unit, including its content, delivery and assessment, lies with that academic

entity, normally an academic department or division or unit. The Faculty, Institute

or Centre to which the department, division or unit is assigned is responsible for

academic quality control at the next higher level over the study-units offered under

the Faculty’s or Institute’s or Centre’s responsibility.

The University, through Senate, remains ultimately responsible for ensuring academic

quality control, external examining, examination boards, admission to a Course

programme, including the study-units that compose the programme, and seeing that

resourcing (including staffing) is adequate. It authorises all changes to the content

and structure of the programme and may from time to time conduct a formal review

of any programme.

The coding system reflects the principles listed above and is applicable from October

2002 onwards.

Assigning Codes

Each study-unit shall be assigned a unique code, comprising three letters indicating

the department, division or unit and four digits.

Letter codes are assigned to each entity, that can be a department, division or unit, to

which Senate assigns the responsibility for teaching and research in a given discipline

or sub-discipline. Thus, any study-unit bearing a code commencing with particular

letters denotes that the department/division/unit concerned assumes academic

responsibility for that study-unit. Conversely, it is to be assumed that Senate will only

authorise entities to offer study-units in that subject/area of study that falls within the

academic responsibility assigned to them.

The list of codes for Faculties, Institutes and Centres as well as departments, divisions,

units and areas of study as approved by Senate and Council will be published on the

Office of the Registrar website at

http://www.um.edu.mt/registrar/dept-codes.pdf

Assigning Digits

The first digit shall indicate the level at which the study-unit is offered, assigned by

the department/division/unit concerned according to the following criteria

Pre-tertiary or foundation or proficiency study-units.

Study-units normally offered in Year 1 of an undergraduate Course

where it is assumed that the students have a general level of education

at least meriting the award of the Matriculation Certificate. In courses

where admission is dependant on students being in possession of

special Course requirements, such as a pass in a subject taken at

Advanced Level, lecturers can assume that students possess the pre-

required knowledge.

Levels 2 & 3 Study-units offered in Years 2 and 3 of an undergraduate Course.

Level 3 credits are also offered in Year 4 of an undergraduate non-

professional Course. Lecturers can assume that students have the

required skills associated with studying at tertiary level.

Study-units offered in Years 4 and 5 of a professional Course. Such

study-units, normally imparting specific professional competencies

although given at a level higher than Level 3, are still considered as

being at undergraduate level.

Study-units offered at postgraduate level such as study-units

exclusively required for the award of Postgraduate Diplomas and

Master’s degrees.

Study-units offered as postgraduate level for studies at doctoral level.

The second, third and fourth digits are the numbers assigned to each study-unit by the

department / division / unit offering the study-unit.”

€0.36