Effective from January 2012
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, is a Degree awarding institute. The requirements for the undergraduate programme entail both studio and theory/lecture based courses, over the length of the respective degree programme.
The following grading system will be applicable to all academic programmes.
1. GRADING SYSTEM
Alphabetical grades reflect a particular Grade Point Average.
Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated by multiplying grade points obtained in each course by the number of credit hours of the respective course. 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.
Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) is obtained by dividing the total Grade Points of courses taken during a semester by the total number of credit hours.
Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is obtained by adding all SGPAs of the 4 or 5 year programme and dividing the total by the total number of semesters.
Letter Grade |
Grade Point Average |
Qualitative Key |
A |
4.00 |
Outstanding and exceeds expectations. |
A- |
3.70 |
Excellent. |
B+ |
3.30 |
Very Good, manifests a clear grasp and understanding of all concepts and application. |
B |
3.00 |
Good. Meets all criteria of assessment very well. |
B- |
2.70 |
Meets the criteria of assessment in varying degrees. |
C+ |
2.30 |
Adequate with Potential. |
C |
2.00 |
Adequate. |
C- |
1.70 |
Needs Improvement. |
D |
1.30 |
Poor/Barely meets criteria (in serious danger of Failing). |
E |
0.00 |
Unacceptable / Inadequate (Failing) |
U/Grade |
0.00/Acquired Grade |
Pass ( Applicable only for theory courses) |
I |
Incomplete Grade |
|
The assessors will grant alphabetical grade for all work done by students. The SGPA and CGPA will then be computed by the Academic office on the basis of the final letter grade awarded in a course. The above mentioned key will apply in the case of all assessments except thesis grading (Refer to article 8).
1.1 Incomplete Grades
Grade “I” or "incomplete grade" can be given by faculty for studio or theory courses not completed due to any acceptable reason or any other, justifiably unavoidable circumstances or for students who have received Special Consideration in a course(s).
(i) The faculty in conjunction with the Head/Coordinator of the department will after review allow the student to complete the assigned work within specified deadline for assessment. Subsequently a letter grade will be awarded by the faculty. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the assigned work is completed within the specified time and the letter grade is assigned after 2 weeks of the given deadline, failing which, the ‘I’ grade will automatically be converted to ‘E’ grade meaning ‘Fail’.
(II)
A student can be awarded any grade in accordance to the qualitative key.
1.2 Failure
Grade “E” is awarded when there is inadequate or unacceptable submission of work and has a zero GPA value.
1.2 (a) Theory:
(i)
A student who has received an ‘E’ grade in a theory course(s) will be re-examined in that course at the end of the same semester. A student cannot get more than a ‘C’ grade in the remedial exam.
(ii)
If a Student’s Grade Report contains ‘E’ in more than two theory courses, even after remedial, he/she will not be promoted to the next semester and will be asked to repeat the courses when offered next.
(iii)
A separate fee will be charged for appearing in each remedial exam as applicable.
1.2 (b) Studio:
(i) A student who receives ‘E’ in a studio course of 2 or more than 2 credits will be considered fail (Also refer 4.3(a).
(ii)In a 4/5 year degree programme a student can fail maximum 3 studio courses each of a value of less than 2 credits.
(a) A student who has received an ‘E’ grade in a studio course will be re-examined in that course at the end of the same semester. A student cannot be awarded more than a ‘C’ grade in the remedial.
(b) The grade awarded in the remedial will be considered in calculating SGPA and CGPA.
(C)A student can fail only one course in a semester.
(d)
No course failure in the Foundation Year or in the final semester of any programme is acceptable.
2. ATTENDANCE POLICY
(a) Students are expected to have regular and punctual attendance in all the courses in which they have enrolled.
(b)
Students are expected to have a minimum of 75% attendance in each course.
(i)
Students are expected to be on time in all lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops, lab/studio/practical session, professional placements and field trips. All late arrivals will be recorded and will constitute part of the student’s official profile in school records. (ii) (ii) Students who have passed a theory course but have poor attendance below 50% will receive a Zero GPA. U/Acquired Grade will reflect on their academic transcripts for that specific course.
(iii) This penalty will be valid for students who have missed their classes (more than 50%) habitually and have been able to pass somehow by handing in good assignments.
(iv)
Such students will not sit in the remedial exam or may not repeat the course, however if they want to repeat the course and want to improve their grade they can do so after graduation [See clause 4.3 (b)]
2.1Special Consideration
(i)
Sickness, misadventure, or other circumstance beyond the student’s control may prevent the student from completing a course requirement or attending or submitting assessable work for a course, or may significantly affect performance in assessable work, e.g. formal end of semester examination/submission, class test, studio presentation, etc.
(ii)
All applications for exemption, from class attendance must be made in writing to the Head or Coordinator of the respective department
2.1(a) Note of Discretion
(i) Depending on the circumstances, IVS may take action to allow students to overcome the disadvantage, e.g. give additional assessment or extend a deadline.
(ii)
Merely submitting a request for Special Consideration does not automatically mean that the student will be granted additional assessment, nor that they will be awarded an amended result. For example, if there is a poor record of attendance or performance throughout a semester/year, in a course a student may be failed regardless of illness or other reason affecting a final assessment in that course.
2.1(b) Applications for Special Consideration are accepted only in the following circumstances
(i) Where academic work has been hampered to a substantial degree by illness or other cause.
(ii)
Students are expected to give priority to their study commitments and any absence must clearly be for circumstances beyond their control.
(ii)
An absence from an examination/submission must be supported by a medical certificate or other document which clearly indicates that the student was unable to be present.
(iv)
An application for Special Consideration must be provided within 3 days of rejoining the School.
2.1(c) Requirements for Special Consideration
To give the School sufficient and appropriate information on which to base its decision about the request, the student must support the application with certified official documentation that contains at least the following key information:
(i) The dates/deadlines associated with these course requirements.
(ii) The basis of special consideration request i.e. the nature of student’s misadventure, illness, etc.
(iii)
The date/s on which the student was seen by the professional/authority providing the official documentation.
(iv) The date of the illness or misadventure or the dates of the period of time of the illness or misadventure.
2.1(d) Possible Actions of Special Consideration
If an application for illness or misadventure is approved, the following may ensue:
(i)
No action.
(ii) A remedial is given. Additional assessment may take a different form from the original assessment. If a student is granted additional assessment, the original assessment may be ignored at the discretion of the Course teacher. Consequently, a revised grade based on additional assessment may be greater or less than the original grade.
(iii) Marks obtained for completed assessment tasks may be aggregated or averaged to achieve a grade.
(iv)
The deadline for assessment may be extended.
(v)
In either of these cases if a sdudent has attained a pass in the course concerned from assessment tasks completed during session, it may not be regarded as necessary to grant her/him additional assessment.
3. ASSESSMENT POLICY
IVS acknowledges that the development, implementation and marking of assessment activities are a fundamental part of learning. IVS recognizes the importance of employing a range of assessment techniques appropriate to these purposes and encourages the development of innovative and contextually relevant assessment tasks that facilitate achieving these goals.
3.1 Assessment
IVS aims to preserve scholarly values and foster curiosity, experimentation, creativity, critical appraisal and integrity, and to cultivate these values in its students.
(a) Assessment should facilitate achieving the specified learning outcomes of courses and programmes.
(b) Enable the development of rules and procedures that facilitate the management of student assessment and related activities.
(c)
Specify minimum requirements for design and delivery of assessments.
(d)
It should not constrain the development of alternative or additional forms of effective assessment, provided such assessments are consistent with the principles stated in this policy.
3.2 Types of Assessment
Assessment is a fundamental part of academic life. Students will experience two types of assessment during their academic career at IVS. Some assessment is formative (e.g. critique) while others are summative.
3.2(a) Formative Assessment:
Formative assessment is intended to assist students to enhance their learning, for example by identifying weaknesses in their understanding and/or performance.
3.2(b) Summative Assessment:
The objective of summative assessment is primarily to pass judgment on the quality of a student's learning, generally in terms of assigned marks and grades.
3.3 Principle of Assessments:
The Assessments should:
(a)
Be inclusive and equitable.
(b)
Be designed to allow students sufficient time for completion of each task.
(c)
Be aligned to and consistent with the aims, desired learning outcomes and programmed activities of the course.
(d)
Provide an appropriate number of assessable tasks, in a range of formats that are aligned with developmentally appropriate learning experiences, to evaluate students' progress.
(e)
Include appropriate weightings according to the specific learning outcomes of the course.
(f)
Be spread in terms of both load and intensity across the course and be consistent with the overall credit value of the course.
(g)
Recognize the importance of employing a range of assessment techniques appropriate to course purposes and encourage the development of innovative and contextually relevant assessment tasks that facilitate achieving these goals.
3.4 Scope of Assessment:
The scope of assessment applies to:
(a)
Assessment of all courseworks offered by the School.
(b)
Students, academic and administrative staff of the School, with responsibility for designing, administrating and making decisions relating to assessment by or on behalf of the School.
3.5 Administration and Faculty Responsibilities
Administration and Faculty are responsible for ensuring that:
(a) Appropriate advice about avoiding plagiarism is provided.
(b)
No person should be involved in the setting or marking of assessment where a conflict of interest arises.
(c)
Assessment items are kept safe.
(d)
The outcome of any wholly summative assessment remains confidential to the student or student group and Faculty and Administration of the School.
(e)
Appropriate processes are followed for the safe recording, transfer, storage, retrieval, communication and reporting of information on student achievement, including final course results.
3.6 Responsibilities of Students
Students have their part to play in the assessment process. Students also have responsibilities to ensure that they are aware of, and comply with, the assessment requirements that apply to them, and to report any anomalies or problems.
(a)
IVS students are expected to:
(i) Adhere to high standards of academic integrity and honesty at all times.
(ii)
Comply with the School’s plagiarism policy (refer to the IVS Code of Conduct).
(ii)
Respect the rights of fellow students to learn in a safe and non-discriminatory environment.
(iv)
Respect the Schools’ Code of Conduct.
(v)
Note that the School emphasizes not only the knowledge content but also a range of attributes and the studio and classroom process, which will be assessed throughout their programme of study
(vi)
Strive to achieve the best results possible.
3.7 Course Assessment:
3.7(a) Studio Assessment
Studio work will be assessed by at least two persons following a precedent of jury systems (not exclusively). The final grade for work submitted will average of the grades awarded by the assessors. The panel assessing studio work will be expected to convene after the completion of the day's Critique, to award the grades.
3.7(b) Theory / Lecture Assessment
Assignments done for the theory / lecture based courses will be assessed by the individual faculty member concerned.
3.8 Semester Assessment
Work completed during a semester will be taken into account when arriving at a final grade.
a) Faculty members will award alphabetical grades for assignments culminating in a final grade for the course and these will be handed in to the head of the department at the end of semester, on a specified grade sheet.
b) All cases with ‘I’ and/or ‘E’ grades will be reviewed by the Head/Coordinator and the remedial will be taken in the following two weeks. The Head/Coordinator of department will then review final grades for each course on the basis of the grades submitted. The Head/Coordinator will then hand in the list of final grades to the Registrar’s office at the end of semester. The Registrar’s office will then record the SGPA and CGPA and issue semester reports to the students.
c) It is on Teacher’s discretion that the midpoint value and above between two grades can be rounded off to the nearest lower or higher grade for individual grading.
4. PROMOTION / PROBATION / REPETITION
4.1 Promotion
4.1(a) Foundation Year
(i) The Foundation Programme will be considered one complete academic year. GPA in the Foundation Year shall be calculated on the performance of the whole year.
(ii)
2.0 is the minimum required SGPA and CGPA for promotion in the third semester.
4.2 Probation ( 3rd to 7th semester )
A student receiving a
CGPA below
2.0 but not less than
1.80 or an ‘
I’ grade in any studio course will be placed on probation for the duration of the semester. The probation letter will notify the student that he/she will be required to repeat the semester unless his/her performance fulfills the prerequisites for promotion.
A student will not be permitted 2 consecutive Academic Probations.
a) A student promoted on probation due to CGPA below 2.0 but not less than 1.80 must obtain the required CGPA of 2.0 to be promoted to the next semester.
b)
A student promoted on probation due to an ‘I’ grade in studio /theory will have to pass the course within the specified Deadlines.
c)
A student cannot have more than 2 probations in an undergraduate programme. Whenever an undergraduate student’s CGPA decreases from 2.0 but not less than 1.80, he/she will be on probation for the next semester.
d)
If the student does not come out by increasing his/her CGPA to a minimum 2.0, he/she will go back to previous semester.
e)
The student cannot be promoted to the final semester on probation (8th semester in case of Textile Design, Communication Design, Fine Art, Interior Design and 10th semester in case of Architecture Department).
f)
A minimum of 2.0 CGPA is required for promotion to the thesis semester
4.3 Repetition
4.3(a) Repeating a Semester
A student, who fails a studio course of 2.0 or more than 2.0 credits, and is required to repeat a semester, shall only repeat the failed course(s) (Also refer 2.1(b)(i)). In that case he/she will pay only the fee per credit hour as per the prescribed fee rates at that time.
(i) If the student fails to maintain his/her CGPA to 2.0 in the second probation he /she will not be given any further probation and will be failed and repeat the semester.
4.3(b) Repeating a Course for improvement
(i) A student may be allowed to repeat course(s) if offered during summer in which he/she has obtained Grade ‘C-’ or ‘D’.
(ii)
A student may also repeat the course after graduation from IVS.
(iii)
In case a student repeats the course which has already been taken, the old grade will be substituted with the new grade or whichever is higher (for CGPA calculation).
4.4 Change of Course(s)
A student, with the consent of the concerned Head/Coordinator, may be allowed to change a course within first quarter after the commencement of that course.
4.5 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 to poor and unacceptable performance.
(a) A student who drops out before completing the degree will be allowed to rejoin.
(b)
Any re-admission will be subject to a detailed review by a panel comprising of Dean, Head/Coordinator of the concerned department, a member from BOS of the relevant department, a senior faculty member and the Registrar. Decision taken will be documented for future reference.
5. RIGHT OF APPEAL
Students who have failed or have been asked to repeat a semester have the right to appeal for re-assessment only on the basis of a proven administrative error.
5.1 Student Grievances against any Course Evaluation
a) An Academic/Grade Grievance Committee headed by the Head/Coordinator of the department, Senior Faculty Member, a neutral member from other department and Registrar will redress the grievances of the student. .A student must approach the Head/Coordinator of the Department for a grievance on grade within 5 days of the receipt of the grade. The Head/Coordinator of the Department shall forward the grade grievance to the committee. It is mandatory on the Committee to hear both sides (student and the instructor), and give a final decision within 5 days or before the start of registration for the new semester whichever comes early. The decision of the Committee will be final.
b)
A Departmental Committee headed by the Dean, Head/Coordinator and Senior Faculty Members may be constituted to periodically review some assignments, to ensure uniformity in evaluation.
6. INTER DEPARTMENTAL TRANSFER STUDENTS
Inter Departmental Transfer of the students will be considered after receiving a written application at the end of the foundation year. Minimum required CGPA has to be 2.0. Transfer shall be subject to minimum required grades, available space in the department and approval of concerned Head/Coordinator 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.
a) The transfer of a student(s), admitted on their second choice at the time of the admission will not be considered for transfer to any other department.
7. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE/QURZ-E-HASANA
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 pass all the 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
| |
Credit Hours |
Minimum Grade required for Graduation |
|
Architecture Department |
Other Departments |
|
Thesis |
12 |
10 |
C |
Dissertation |
4 |
4 |
D |
Internship |
2 |
2 |
D |
Total |
18 |
16 |
|
8.2 Thesis Grading:
a) Grade ‘A’ and ‘A-’will be considered as Distinction in thesis grading only.
b)
A student requires CGPA of 3.25 and above to get an overall Distinction at the end of semester 8th and 10th.
c)
A student requires a minimum of 2.0 CGPA to get a degree from IVS.
d)
Once promoted to the 8th and 10th semester the student cannot be barred from appearing for his/her thesis.
e)
If the advisor recommends the student(s) not to appear for thesis , he/she must be given a letter fully informing him/her of his/her weak academic position.
f)
The letter must be signed by the student, in which he/she voluntarily agrees not to appear for the thesis. Should the student decided to proceed with the thesis in any case; the advice of the mid-term internal jury should be made explicitly clear on the letter, and his/her file for the record. This advice will remain confidential and will under no circumstances be shared with the external jurors.
9. POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
If a student is found guilty of plagiarism, cheating or academic dishonesty the arbitration committee is liable to impose any one or more of the following penalties in addition to reporting the matter to the parents /guardian:
a)
Zero in that assignment/ course
b)
Can be suspended from school for a specified period
c)
Can repeat the semester
d)
Expulsion from IVS
Rashid Raza
Registrar
