Effective: January 1, 2008

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture functions as a Degree awarding institute. The requirements for the Degree program entail both studio and theory/lecture based courses, to be taken over a period of 4 years and in the case of Architecture, 5 years.

The following grading system will be applicable to all academic programs.

Grading System
1.1 Incomplete Grades
1.2 Attendance
1.3 Failure
2. Course Assessment
3. Semester Assessment
4. Promotion / Probation / Repetition
5. Right of Appeal
6. Inter Departmental Transter Students
7. Financial Aid
8. Graduation

GRADING SYSTEM
- Numerical grades are a rating in terms of a percentage of marks awarded out of a total of 100 marks for the assignment.
- Alphabetical grades are the equivalent of numerical grades in terms of alphabets.
- Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated by multiplying points obtained in each course by the number of credit hours of the respective courses. Every hour, per week, attended in the classroom and every two hours, per week, of work in studio, workshop or laboratory is considered equivalent to one credit hour per semester.
- Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is obtained by adding all the Grade Points of courses taken during the 4 or 5 year programme and dividing the total by the total number of credit hours.

The assessors will initially award a numerical grade, which will be converted into an alphabetical grade, at the end of the semester. The SGPA and CGPA will then be computed by the Registrar’s office on the basis of this grading. The following key will apply in the case of all assessment.

Every piece of work completed by the student will be assessed by the relevant faculty member/ members and graded according to the key previously specified i.e. from a maximum grade of “A” to a minimum grade of “E”.

      Grade “A” will be awarded only to outstanding and excellent
       work.
      Grade “B” will be awarded to work of above average quality.
      Grade “C” grade will be awarded to work of average quality.
      Grade “D” grade will be awarded to poor yet pass quality work
      Grade “E” grade will be given to work that fall below the
       minimum standards set by the     assessors.

1.1 Incomplete Grades
Grade “I” or "incomplete grade" can be given by faculty for courses not completed due to any acceptable reason or any other, justifiable unavoidable circumstances. The faculty in conjunction with the department head will after review allow the student to complete the assigned work within specified deadline for assessment. Subsequently letter grade will be assigned by the faculty. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the assigned work is completed within the specified time, and letter grade is assigned within the following semester failing which the ‘I’ grade will automatically be converted to ‘E’ grade meaning ‘Fail’.

1.2 Attendance
Attendance is one of the criteria for evaluating a student's performance. Grade “U” is awarded when a student completes all requirements of a course and is otherwise qualifying but falls short of the required attendance. The required level of attendance for each course at the School is 90%.
- Students with attendance between 80% and 89% will have one grade point dropped as a penalty for short attendance e.g. an “A” will be converted to a “A-” or a “B+” will be converted to a “B” grade.
- Students with attendance between 75% and 79% will have two grade points dropped as a penalty for short attendance e.g. an “A” will be converted to a “B+” or a “B+” will be converted to a “B-” grade.
- Students with attendance falling below 75% and up to 50% will be awarded “U” grade along with an alphabetical grade between ‘A’ to ‘D’ such as, U/A, U/A-, U/B+, U/B, U/B-, U/C+, U/C, U/C-, U/D, corresponding to the numerical marks achieved by the students.
- Attendance below 50% will be treated as failure and graded ‘U/E’.

It is to be noted that ‘U’ grade though being a passing grade will carry zero GPA value. Accordingly, no remedials will be given to students with ‘U’ grade.

Failure to meet attendance requirements due to prolonged illness, supported by an appropriate medical certificate, may be condoned on the recommendation of the faculty.

1.3 Failure
- Grade “E” is awarded when there is inadequate or unacceptable submission of work and has zero GPA value.

- A student will be placed on Academic Probation for the next semester if he / she receives an “E” or “U/E” grade in any theory course.

- A student who has received an “E” grade in a studio course will not be promoted to the next semester and will be required to repeat the “Studio Course’ when offered next.

- A student who has received an “E” grade in a theory course will be re-examined in that course within the first 2 weeks of the following semester. All remedial work for theory courses will be graded either as “D” (Pass) or “E” (Fail).

- A student who has received a ‘U/E’ grade in a theory course will mean failure and will be required to repeat the course when offered next.

- If a Student’s Grade Report contains “E” or “U/E” in more than two theory courses, even after remedials, he / she will not be promoted to the next semester and will be asked to repeat the courses when offered next.

- However, a student who fails theory course(s) in the 7th or 9th semester will be allowed to take only one remedial per course within one month of commencement of the 8th or the 10th semester as the case may be. If the student fails the remedial he/she will be allowed to submit the thesis but will not be awarded the degree until he/she successfully repeats the course(s) when next offered.

- Fee as prescribed at the time of the test will be charged for appearing in each remedial exam.

2. COURSE ASSESSMENT

2.1 Studio Assessment
The normal (but not exclusive) method for understanding and evaluating Studio work will be through the Jury system. Studio work will be assessed by at least two persons. The final grade for that work will be the average of the grades awarded. The panel assessing studio work will be expected to convene, in private, after the completion of the day's Crit, to award the grades.

2.2 Theory / Lecture Assessment
Assignments done for the theory / lecture based courses will be assessed by the individual faculty member concerned.

2.3 Plagiarism
All academic work submitted by a student should be his or her own work. If a student submits work done by any other person, it is plagiarism, cause for formal school discipline and justification for any faculty member to award a failing grade and/or for the Board of Studies to cancel grades previously awarded.

3. SEMESTER ASSESSMENT
All work of students completed during a semester will be taken into account when arriving at a final grade. Faculty members will initially award numerical grades which will be converted to alphabetical grades for each assignment and these will be handed in to the head of the department one week after the end of semester, on a specified grade sheet. The head of department will then review final grades for each course on the basis of the grades submitted. The Head of Department will then hand in the list of final grades to the Registrar’s office within two weeks after the end of semester.  The Registrar’s office will then record the SGPA and CGPA and issue semester reports to the students. 

4. PROMOTION/PROBATION/REPETITION
The Foundation Year will be considered one complete academic year. In Foundation Year 1st semester transcript shall be provisional. GPA in the Foundation Year shall be calculated on the basis of an average of the cumulative of the 1st and 2nd Semester.
A student will not be promoted to the next semester if he/she fails to fulfill any of the requirements set below:

-     “D” is the minimum required grade for passing all the courses.
-     2.00 is the minimum required CGPA for promotion to the next
      semester.

4.2 Probation
A student receiving a CGPA below 2.0 but not less than 1.80 or an “E” grade in any theory course will be placed on probation for the duration of the semester. The probation letter will formally notify the student (s)he will be required to repeat the semester unless his/her performance fulfills the prerequisites for promotion outlined in article 4.1 above. A student will not be permitted more than two consecutive Academic Probations. A student promoted on probation must obtain the required CGPA of 2:00 to be promoted to the next semester.

4.3 Repeating a Semester
A student who fails a course/courses and is required to repeat a semester shall only repeat the failed subjects/courses. In that case (s)he will pay only the fee per credit hour as per the prescribed fee rates at that time.

A student will only be allowed to repeat a semester once, after that (s)he will be required to disenroll from the School.

4.4 Disenrollment
At the end of each semester cases of all students on probation will be reviewed in detail to ascertain if the students need to be disenrolled / promoted on probation due poor and unacceptable performance.

A student who drops out before completing the degree will be allowed to rejoin within a period of 3 years of  his/her dropping out. After the lapse of 3 years (s)he will not be re-admitted.

Any re-admission after 3 years will be subject to a detailed review.

5. RIGHT OF APPEAL
Students who have been failed or asked to repeat a semester have the right to appeal for re-assessment only on the basis of a proven administrative error.

6. INTER DEPARTMENTAL TRANSFER STUDENTS
Inter Departmental Transfer requested by students could be considered earliest after end of the 1st semester. Minimum required CGPA is to be 2:00. Transfer shall be subject to minimum required grades, available space in the department, approval of concerned Head of Department. Additionally, student’s performance at the time of admission as compared to minimum level accepted for other students in the new department would be taken into account along with the current performance.

Any student who fails in any “department specific course” in 1st semester will have an option to get transferred to another department, subject to the acceptance of the Departmental Head. The Head of Department will decide on the basis of portfolio review as well as an interview. If his/her transfer is denied at this stage then he /she has to repeat the semester whenever offered next.

7. FINANCIAL AID
Foundation Year students and students of all other semesters, whose SGPA is below 2.30 and 2.50 respectively at the end of the semester will not be entitled to receive any Financial Assistance. When their SGPA increases to the required level restoration of Financial Assistance will be considered.

8. GRADUATION
To graduate from the School the student must have passed all prescribed courses. Final grades at Graduation will be determined on the basis of the following weightage:

8.1 Credit Hours Distribution for 8th and 10th Semesters
- 35% will be based on the CGPA from Semester 1 to Semester 7 for Fine Art students, and Semester 1 to Semester 9 for Architecture students.
- In the case of Design students only, 30% of the grade will be based on the C.G.P.A.(Semesters 1 to 7) and 5% on internship.

     
Thesis Distinction                            -  90% above         -    A
Overall Distinction                           -  90% and above   -    A

A cumulative CGPA of 2:00 will be required for graduation.

 
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