MS/M.Phil Degree Rules

Academics

1. ADMISSION CRITERIA

1.1 Minimum Academic Requirement: A candidate seeking admission to the degree must have sixteen years of education or 4 years education after F.A./F.Sc./ A-Level or equivalent (at least 130 credit hours) with at least second division/CGPA 2.50 in the degree on the basis of which admission is requested and qualified a GRE / GAT (General ) Type Test as may be prescribed by HEC or adopted by the Advanced Studies and Research Board of GC University, Faisalabad. For LLM, the minimum academic requirement is LLB (3 / 5 years).

1.2 Domicile: For morning programmes the candidate must have a domicile of the Punjab. Candidate with domicile other than the Punjab province has to produce a nomination letter from his/her respective provincial government against the reserved seats if any. For evening programmes, there is no such requirement.

1.3 Medical Certificate: The candidate must produce, at the time of the first enrollment, a certificate from the University Resident Medical Officer to the effect that he/she is free from any communicable (contagious) disease or mental or physical disability which is likely to stand in the way of his/her pursuing the chosen field of study.

1.4 Age: A candidate for admission has no age limit as long as there is no physical or mental handicap.

1.5 No Objection Certificate (NOC): NOC is required from degree holders from other universities for the registration in GC University, Faisalabad

2. MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

2.1 The medium of instruction and examinations shall be English (Except Faculty of Islamic and Oriental learning, which shall be Urdu or their subject language).

3. DURATION OF THE COURSE

3.1 The duration for the Degrees of MS/M. Phil / LLM shall not be less than four and more than six semesters in full residence and not less than six and more than eight semesters for the university employees admitted as part time students.

3.2 The employees of the government/ other agencies nominated for MS/M. Phil/ LLM degree at this University shall have to take study leave to pursue studies as a regular student, failing which he/ she will not be admitted. However, after getting admission by a nominee in the university, it would be obligatory for the parent department to sanction the study leave or extension in the leave in favour of the nominee within one semester failing which, his/her admission shall stand cancelled.

4. DURATION OF THE SEMESTER

4.1 There shall be 2 semesters (Fall and spring) of 18 weeks each. The commencement of semesters shall be regulated by the Academic Council.

(Explanation: Out of 18 weeks, 16 weeks shall be actual teaching time. The rest may be utilized for enrollment, conduct of examinations and declaration of results, etc.)

5. SCHEME OF STUDY

5.1 The subjects of study for the degree programmes may be amended from time to time. A student shall present an acceptable thesis in addition to completing his/her approved course work in order to qualify for the award of the degree.

6. MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR THE VARIOUS DEGREE PROGRAMS

6.1 A student admitted to the degree programme shall be required to take minimum 24 credits (excluding 06 credits for thesis research). Deficiency course(s) shall not be counted toward the minimum credit hours requirement.

7. ROUTING OF ACADEMIC MATTERS

7.1 All the academic matters shall be routed through proper channel i.e. through the Chairman of the Department/Director, Principal and Dean of the faculty concerned.

8. DEFICIENCY COURSES

8.1 If the course(s) studied by a candidate in his /her previous degree (on the basis of which admission is requested) do not provide adequate background for the degree programme of study, he/she may be required to make up the deficiency by taking additional course(s) as determined by the respective Departmental Board of Studies.

9. TIME FOR ADMISSION

9.1 Candidates may be admitted at the beginning of each semester. If a candidate fails to complete enrollment, his/her admission shall stand cancelled. However, nominees of HEC, GCUF, foreign countries and other Government organizations, may be admitted up to the end of each semester with the condition that they will have to enroll by taking seminar, special problem and research.

10. UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEE

10.1 The Academic Staff: A teacher/researcher of the GC University, Faisalabad (regular) may be allowed to enroll himself/herself for post graduate courses (after getting permission from the competent authority). He/she under this arrangement will be a part time student and full time employee. He/she will be allowed to enroll maximum of two courses and one seminar or special problem in a semester and will be exempted completely from university dues except the examination fee. In case, he/she intends to take maximum credit hours allowed to a full time student then he/she will have to take leave from the University and pay full university dues.

10.2 Administrative Staff: The administrative staff of the GC University, Faisalabad (regular) will be treated at par for admission to various post graduate courses under evening programme. He/she will take maximum of two courses, one seminar or special problem and will be exempted completely from the university dues except the examination fee. He/she, under this arrangement will be a part time student and a full time employee. In case, he/she intends to take maximum credit hours or take morning courses he/she will have to take leave from the university and pay full dues. However, the number of seats for admission to various degree programmes for administrative staff may be fixed by the Vice Chancellor.

11. AUTHORITY OF ADMISSION

11.1 The admission to a degree programme shall be made by the Advanced Studies and Research Board on the basis of merit list prepared and checked by the Directorate of Advanced Studies.

11.2 Lists of selected candidates would be displayed by the Director Advanced Studies and if needed subsequent lists would be displayed till the last seat is filled up.

(Explanation: The last list would be displayed keeping in view that 75% attendance in lectures would not suffer).

11.3 The Advanced Studies and Research Board may refuse admission to a candidate without assigning any reason.

12. DISCONTINUATION/FREEZE OF STUDY/SEMESTER

12.1 A student may discontinue an enrolled semester before appearing in the final examination with the permission of the Vice Chancellor, obtained through the Director, Advanced Studies on the recommendations of the Chairman/Director/Principal and Dean, on account of sickness duly certified by the University Medical Officer or due to circumstances beyond his/her control, subject to fulfillment of condition that the student has passed the final examination of previous semester with minimum prescribed GPA/CGPA required for the said degree programme.

12.2 The facility of discontinuation can be availed only once during the whole degree programme and that too for one semester only.

12.3 A candidate shall not ordinarily be allowed to discontinue studies during the first semester.

12.4 A student permitted to discontinue is required to resume his/her studies from the next semester on the recommendation of Chairman/ Director/ Principal/Dean concerned and notified by the Director of Advanced Studies.

12.5 During the semester freeze, bonafide status of the student shall remain suspended. He/she will not be entitled to avail any privilege as that of a regular student.

12.6 A HEC fellowship awardee will be allowed to join a training programme with the condition that his/her training would not disturb his/her enrollment in the University and will remain intact. On his/her return and rejoining the University, he would have to meet the enrollment formalities (Ex-post-facto) of this period (the whole period of HEC scholarship) and it would also be included in the period of residential requirements of the scholar.

13. ENROLLMENT

13.1 An application for enrollment on the prescribed Course Registration Form accompanied by proof of fee payment (bank receipt) shall be presented to the office of the Director Advanced Studies on the day(s) notified for enrollment.

13.2 The Director, Advanced Studies under special circumstances and on payment of late fee of Rs.500 may permit a student to enroll within ten days after the commencement of the classes.

13.3 The Vice Chancellor may allow a student to enroll till the last day of the 4th week after the commencement of classes, with double late fee of Rs.1000.

13.4 Enrollment in absentia is not allowed. Student is required to be present in person with a proof of identification (University Identity Card or Computerized National Identity Card etc.) for enrollment.

13.5 Enrollment shall only be considered complete when Course Registration Form is submitted to the office of the Director, Advanced Studies. Depositing of fee only will not serve the purpose.

13.6 A candidate admitted to a degree programme shall, so long as he/she has not submitted thesis, has to enroll for each semester.

13.7 The students who will enroll 5th and 6th semesters shall have to pay additional fee of 50% and 100%, respectively over and above the regular fee.

14. REVISION OF COURSE REGISTRATION FORM

14.1 A student may be permitted to revise his/her Course Registration Form within 20 days from the commencement of classes. After this period he/she may be allowed to revise Course Registration Form up to 28th day from the commencement of classes on payment of Rs.1, 000/- as Course Registration Form revision fee.

14.2 The students of first semester may be allowed to revise his/her Course Registration Form within 30 days of the last date of enrollment.

15. RE-ADMISSION

15.1 If a student fails to enroll in any semester(s) without permission of the competent authority, he/she shall cease to be on the rolls of the university and in case he/she desires re-admission, he/she shall have to apply for the same.

15.2 The Advanced Studies and Research Board may re-admit such a candidate subject to the payment of Rs. 2,000/- as re-admission fee and Rs. 10,000/- as per semester gap fee, if applicable.

15.3 The Advanced Studies and Research Board may refuse the re-admission if the reasons presented are not convincing.

Note: The period of gap semester will not be counted towards residential requirements.

16. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE

16.1

(a) The supervisory committee of a student shall be proposed by the respective Board of Studies of the Department/Institute during 1st semester.

(b) Supervisory committee shall consist of two teachers from the major field of study and one from the minor/elective field of study. However, if an outstanding specialist in a major or minor/elective field of study is available outside the university, he/ she may be taken as a member of the supervisory committee in place of a teacher or as an additional member.

(c) Supervisor of the student will act as chairman of the supervisory committee.

(d) Supervisory committee proposed by the respective Board of Studies and recommended by the Chairman/ Director of the Institute/ Principal and Dean of the faculty concerned, shall be approved by the Advanced Studies and Research Board and notified by the Director Advanced Studies.

(e) Supervisory committee may be revised according to the regulation (16.1 (a) to (d)) with the reasons of change to be recorded.

16.2 In case, a student duly recommended by the Chairman Director/ Principal and Dean of the faculty concerned to conduct his/her complete/part of thesis research in other institution/laboratory, is allowed by the Director Advanced Studies the helping scientist may be taken as co-supervisor/special member on the supervisory committee of the student. However, the university will not bear any financial liability in this context.

16.3 The Professor Emeritus may act as supervisor/member of supervisory committee of postgraduate students if he/she is stationed at Faisalabad.

16.4 Foreign Faculty members, HEC National Professors/HEC Eminent Scientists may act as supervisor/member of the supervisory committee provided that they are appointed at this university for three years.

16.5 Retired teachers of the GC University, Faisalabad may continue as supervisor/member of the supervisory committee to their previous postgraduate students if they had supervised the student up to the approval of the synopsis. However, on re-employment for three years they may be given supervision of a new student.

16.6 Adhoc/contract teachers may act as supervisor / member of the supervisory committee only where there is a shortage of regular faculty members. Faculty on Tenure Track System (TTS) / Interim Placement of Fresh Ph.D Program (IPFP) will be considered as regular faculty for the subject purpose.

17. COURSE OF STUDY

17.1 All post-graduate courses will be designated an appropriate course code number and will be preceded by the suitable alphabets indicating the name of the respective department.

17.2 A full time student can enroll up to 15 credit hours in a semester. However, the Vice Chancellor may relax enrollment up to 2 credit hours for a semester.

17.3 Out of the total number of credits referred to the Regulation 6.1, only one credit each shall be earned through Seminar and Special Problem.

17.4 A course can be repeated three times (enrolled four times) at the most. The Controller of Examinations office will mention corresponding repetitions in the result notification and the student shall mention repetition status in the Course Registration Form.

17.5 Transfer of Credits: The Advanced Studies and Research Board, may consider credits earned by a student at another HEC recognized institution, subject to a maximum of 50 per cent of the minimum credit requirements for the degree, on the recommendations of Equivalence Committee provided that:

a) The contents of the course(s) for which credit is claimed, are identical or similar to the course included in his/her planned course work.

b) The course for which credit is claimed should not have been used for any other degree.

c) Courses with less than B grade shall not be considered for transfer of credit hours.

17.6 Students would submit their Course Workduring first semester and Synopsis should be approved by the 3rd semester of their programme of study.

17.7 A course studied to qualify a degree will not be taken / considered for any other higher degree programme.

17.8 Credit earned for a course shall laps on the expiry of five years for regular student and seven years for part time student from the end of the semester in which the course was qualified. The Advanced Studies and Research Board may revalidate the lapsed courses for special reasons to be recorded.

Explanation: Deficiency course once qualified will not lapse and shall not be called in question again and need not to be revalidated.

17.9 No course shall carry more than 4 credit hours.

18. EXAMINATIONS

18.1 Examination Fee: University examination fee shall be charged at the time of enrollment of each semester.

18.2 Tests and Examinations:

a) There shall be two examinations mid and final in each semester. In addition to these examinations the teacher shall give home assignments and quizzes etc. to the students. The form of these examinations will be left to the teacher who will be solely responsible for the conduct of examination as well as evaluation in his/her course. The grade given in the course by the teacher shall be final but.

b) Only those students, who have at least 75% attendance in theory and practical separately in each course, shall be eligible to appear in the final examination.

c) A teacher shall report to the Dean/Director/Principal concerned through the Chairman of the concerned department the names of students who are absent from the lectures/practicals continuously for seven days to enable Director Advanced Studies to strike off the names of such students. He/She may be readmitted under the university rules or refused admission if the reasons given for readmission are not convincing enough.

18.3 The final examination for a semester shall be held on a date, time and place to be notified by the department in advance.

18.4 To pass a deficiency course, a student is required to obtain at least “C” grade.

18.5 The scripts of each examination shall be discussed with the students.

18.6 The mid-semester examination shall be held during 9th week of the semester which shall carry 30 per cent of the total allocated marks for the course. This examination shall be held by the teacher concerned who shall determine the form of the examination.

18.7 For the purpose of evaluation, one credit will carry 20 marks e.g. a four credit course will carry 80 marks. These marks will be divided in accordance with the credits assigned to theory and practical for each course.

18.8 The following weightage shall be given to the examinations and home assignments;

A	Mid-semester examination	30%
B	Home assignments, quizzes, presentations	20%
C	Final examination	50%
	Total:	100%

(Fraction in total marks of a course will be rounded to the nearest whole number)

18.9 The duration of examination shall be as under;

Mid-Semester Examination	One hour
Final Examination	Two to three hours

18.10 Final examination covering the full syllabus with at least 25% of the course of mid-semester as well shall be held at the end of each semester.

18.11 Question paper for the mid and final semester examinations shall be set by the respective teacher. However, Chairman/Principal/Director shall ensure the quality and standard of the question paper set by the teacher.

18.12 To qualify a course, it is essential to pass separately in the theory and practical examinations.

18.13 The teacher shall send the final award list along with answer sheets of mid, final and practical for the course to the office of the Controller of Examinations within 10 days after the end of a semester. Advanced Studies and Research Board may condone the delay in result submission. A soft copy of the award list should also be sent to the office of the Chairman, Director, Principal of the College and Director Advanced Studies.

18.14 On receipt of the award list, the Controller of Examinations shall notify the results and send copy to the Director Advanced Studies, Dean, Director, Principal and the Chairman of the Department concerned.

19. Grade Point Average

19.1 Grade point and Equivalence between letter grading and numerical grading shall be as follows:

Grade	Value	Marks(%)	Remarks
A	4	80-100	Excellent
B	3	65-79.99	Good
C	2	50-64.99	Pass
F	0	Below 50	Fail

19.2 If a student fails to obtain CGPA of 2.75 at the end of each academic year (fall, spring and following summer) his/her admission shall stand cancelled. However he/she may seek fresh admission.

Note: The student who avails only one regular semester (fall/spring) must obtain GPA of 2.75 at the end of summer session of the same academic year to remain on roll.

19.3 A student, who obtains CGPA of 2.75 or more but less than 3.00 upon the completion of entire approved course work, may be allowed to repeat once the courses of the previous semesters in which he/she had obtained the lowest grades in order to improve the CGPA so as to obtain the minimum of 3.00 failing which he/she shall cease to be on the rolls.

19.4 CGPA of 3.00 out of 4.00 is required to qualify for the award of degree.

20. Thesis Examination

20.1 Thesis must be submitted latest by the 60 days grace period after the closing date of the semester as otherwise candidate admitted to a degree programme shall so long as he/she has not submitted thesis, has to enroll for each semester

20.2 A student shall be entitled to submit thesis for examination after he/she has qualified the approved courses work. He/she is required to submit thesis examination fee before the submission of semi-final thesis.

20.3 The thesis shall be prepared according to the guidelines approved by the Advanced Studies and Research Board and shall be submitted to the office of the Director Advanced Studies.

20.4 The thesis duly certified by the supervisory committee that the contents and form of the thesis are satisfactory for submission shall be sent to the external examiner by the office of the Controller of Examinations (CE) for evaluation. A panel of three examiners per student shall be submitted to the Controller of Examinations office by the Chairman of the respective Board of Studies on or before the submission of thesis.

20.5 The thesis shall be evaluated by a Board of Examiners comprising members of the supervisory committee and one external examiner appointed by the Vice Chancellor from the panel of names recommended by the Board of Studies. At least three members of the Boards of Examiners of whom one must be an external examiner shall “for the purpose of evaluating the thesis,” hold a viva voce examination and such other tests as they consider necessary. The external examiner shall be given reasonable time to go through the contents of the thesis critically. The viva voce examination would be conducted at least one week after the receipt of thesis by the external examiner.

20.5.1 There shall be 120 marks corresponding to 6 credit hours allocated for thesis.

20.5.2 Total marks so awarded will be converted into a letter grade as prescribed in regulation No. 19.1 and average grades on the basis of course work and thesis will then be worked out to calculate the final CGPA.

20.5.3 The thesis evaluation will be conducted within six months from the date of dispatch of thesis from the Controller of Examinations to the quarter concerned failing which the student will be declared/assumed fail in the thesis examination and shall be notified by the office of the Controller of Examinations. However, the Vice Chancellor may allow extension for thesis evaluation up to one year in hardship cases.

20.5.4 The thesis evaluation should be completed within six months from the date of dispatch of thesis by the Controller of Examinations to the quarter concerned. The Controller of Examinations shall get the approval of the external examiner from the Vice Chancellor and thesis shall be dispatched to him/her accordingly. In case of regret from the first External Examiner nominee (s), second approval of External Examiner nominee (s) shall be sought within eight weeks from the Vice Chancellor by the Controller of Examinations. However, the Vice Chancellor may allow extension for thesis evaluation up to one year in hardship cases.

20.5.5 Supervisor after consultation with external examiner shall write to the Controller Examination for notifying the date, time and venue of thesis evaluation.

20.5.6 The supervisor shall send the award list of thesis examination after counter signature of the Chairman to the office of the Controller of Examinations after making sure that the student has incorporated the suggested improvements. The Controller of Examinations shall notify the result of the student after receiving three bound copies of thesis.

20.5.7 Original Plagiarism report along with the certificate from supervisor and declaration by the student must be submitted while submitting the thesis to the Directorate of Advanced Studies. The Directorate of Advanced Studies shall notify the dates for the semi final and final phases of thesis submission

20.5.8 The color of hard bound cover of M.Phil. / MS program shall be Black.

20.6 In case of disagreement between the Supervisory Committee and the External Examiner regarding the acceptance of the thesis it shall be referred to another external examiner, with the due approval of the Competent Authority (the Vice Chancellor), whose decision shall be final.

20.7 If a candidate fails in the thesis examination, he/she may enroll again and will submit a revised thesis within six months after the date of declaration of the result of the last thesis examination, on payment of the prescribed thesis examination fee. He/she can avail this chance only once.

20.8 If the thesis, submitted by a candidate for final evaluation, is proved to be copied/ plagiarized at the time of viva-voce examination, it will be liable to be rejected on the report of Board of Examiners and the Controller of Examinations will declare the candidate fail in thesis examination. The admission of such candidate shall be cancelled and he/she shall not be readmitted under any circumstances.

20.9 If the thesis of a candidate is proved to be plagiarized after its evaluation and declaration of result, previous result of the candidate will be cancelled and he/she will be declared as fail in thesis examination. Such a candidate shall not be readmitted to M.Phil. / M.S. under any circumstances.

21. General

21.1 The students who enroll extra semesters beyond their minimum residential requirement will not be allowed hostel accommodation.

21.2 After submission of the thesis, the students will not be allowed to stay in the University hostels.

21.3 Directorate of Advanced Studies will maintain student record for 3 years after the declaration of final result. After that period, the record may be disposed off with the permission of the Vice Chancellor.

21.4 Office of the Controller of Examinations shall keep scripts of students’ examinations for one semester.

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