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UC
Graduate Studies Catalog 2019-2023 Section V Overview of Graduate Degree Programs |
The
design of the graduate degree programs at The University of Cambodia follows
the standard practice adopted in the United States. Thus it follows the credit
system, being based on the number of hours spent in formal classroom teaching
for a particular course: unless otherwise indicated, all degree courses are 45
hours long, thereby constituting 3 credits each. One criterion for a student
being able to graduate is that they must have completed at least a minimum
number of credits, as pre-determined by the particular program in which they
are studying.
Each
program aims to provide students with a deeper knowledge and understanding of
their chosen field of study for the development of their careers and Cambodia’s
manpower resources. This is set against a broader set of foundational courses
which helps them to further develop their critical thinking and other soft
skills as well as providing an essential background in doing and writing up
research. To this end, students are expected to be able to have the capacity to
work conscientiously and independently.
Since
its opening in 2003, The University of Cambodia has offered a variety of
graduate programs taught through the medium of English: these now belong to the
so-called International Track. However, in recognition of the fact that many
deserving potential students have neither the requisite background in the
English language nor the time as busy professionals to take courses to upgrade
their skills in this language, the University has started to introduce
comparable or additional programs as a separate Khmer Track. Courses taught
through the medium of the latter language – at present only in certain
Education programs – have the suffix ‘K’ in their course number: e.g. FDN501K.
The
following gives a brief overview of some common aspects of graduate degree
programs in general. More detailed information will be provided in subsequent
Sections regarding particulars related to Master’s and Doctoral degree
programs.
1.
The University of Cambodia’s Overall Expectations of Students
All
students have rights and responsibilities, including being required to abide by
the University’s Rules of Civility and the Student Code of Conduct (see Section X). The following draws
attention to particular issues where students may unknowingly fail to abide by
these requirements.
i.
Academic Integrity and the Need to Avoid Plagiarism and Other Forms of Cheating
The University has strict rules regarding the running of
exams, in order to avoid problems with cheating. Thus mid-term and final exams
are tightly supervised, as are the Comprehensive Exams.
Students should realize that
plagiarism is another form of academic dishonesty. This is where someone copies
someone else’s work (with or without minor changes) and seeks to pass it off as
their own without the acknowledgement due. This is often due to laziness on the
student’s part, in which case they are missing the opportunity to better
develop their soft language skills. In addition, or alternatively, it may be
due to the need to take shortcuts in order to meet a looming deadline, in which
case the student needs to better develop their soft skills regarding
time-management.
Ø Regardless of the
reason(s), plagiarism is still a form of cheating and the University takes a
serious view of this academic offence.
Ø Students who are
found to be guilty of plagiarism will be required to resubmit their work within
a particular deadline.
Ø Persistent
offenders will not have this second chance and will suffer more serious
disciplinary action.
ii. Attendance
and the Timely Submission of Assignments Maintaining an adequate
level of attendance for classes is important in order to maximize the benefits
gained from doing each course.
This is especially so in
graduate classes, where attendance with active participation in classes
accounts for up to 20% of the final grade (see Section V.2). This
reflects the importance of class presentations and discussions as essential
components for the further development of students’ critical thinking and other
soft skills.
Ø Where conflicting demands from their
job are a real concern for students, then the University, if requested, can
issue a letter to their employers, advising the latter of the students'
academic commitments and the benefits accrued, and asking for the employers'
flexibility (including leaving work early on evenings when they have classes).
The
University is pro-active in such cases and, where monitoring of attendance
shows a poor record, students will be given a warning letter and constructive
guidance on how to better improve their future performance.
Ø Failure to improve will mean that students receiving scholarships will
forfeit their awards (see Section VI.2).
On
the other hand, the University
recognizes that students may have other short-term commitments on their time,
unforeseeable or otherwise, and thus there is the need for some flexibility. In
such cases, it is the student’s responsibility to keep the University informed
when they have to take time off due to other commitments during term, by
applying for a Short Leave of Absence, so that this may be taken into
consideration when evaluating their attendance and overall performance.
Ø Students
who cannot attend one or more classes (or a formal exam) due to unavoidable
circumstances should purchase the appropriate form from the University
Bookstore.
Ø They
should submit the completed form together with the appropriate
supporting evidence and the date of return to the Office of
Student Services.
Ø Where the application is for a pre-arranged
event (e.g. a wedding), then the student must plan ahead and apply
in advance: a delayed submission after the day in question will not be
accepted.
Ø If it is not possible for students to submit
the form in advance due to unforeseeable circumstances, they must do it at the
earliest possible time thereafter, as long as they provide evidence to justify
the delay.
Ø In each case, the form must be complete and
submitted by the student in person,
If the application is approved, then this
will be noted in the student’s academic record as a justifiable reason for not
achieving maximum attendance.
Ø
Ordinarily, it does not affect the minimum
level of attendance which the student needs to maintain (see Section V.2).
Ø
A special exception will be made in the case
of make-up classes, where students who submit a form with a justifiable reason
will not be considered to have been absent.
Ø
Further exceptions, where accumulated
leaves-of-absence exceed the maximum permissible, may be made on a case-by-case
basis.
Ø
It is important to note that these are the
limits of the University’s obligations: the
student alone is responsible for making up for the lost time and completing the
necessary homework and other assignments.
Ø
If the approved absence is from a Midterm or Final
Exam, then the student must do a new exam paper within the following week under
appropriate conditions.
2. Evaluation of Student
Performance
The University aims to
develop innovative teaching techniques in order to better increase our
students’ knowledge and understanding of particular fields and their increased
awareness of the possibilities that linking ideas from different (sub-)
disciplines may generate new insights.
Whilst such approaches seek
to encourage free-thinking, there is nevertheless the need to set benchmarks in
order to objectively compare the performance of individual students. Thus, on
the one hand, each class-based course has a formal end-of-term exam as one
component of the overall assessment of each student’s performance therein.
However, to counterbalance this narrow perspective-taking, a subsequent more
broad-based exam assesses the accrued general insights which Master’s students
have gained from the study of the different courses in their major – including
in the context of the Foundation courses – for their final Comprehensive Exam
(see Section VIII.6.ii); whilst
the same applies with regard to background of the Doctorate, Supplementary and
Oriented courses for the Intermediate Comprehensive Exam for doctoral students
(see Section
IX.3).
i.
Methods of Student Assessment As indicated in Table 1, various measures contribute
to the student’s final mark. The latter is then converted to a letter grade,
with a numerical weightage (Table 2) which can then be used to calculate the
student’s Grade Point Average (GPA).
The University expects graduate students to take their
studies seriously, in order to ensure that the quality of the University's
output is assured; and thus it expects these students to take attendance
seriously and attend all scheduled
classes in the relevant session. This is particularly important because of the
emphasis on active participation as an essential component of interactive
teaching, to further develop students’ soft skills through presentations and
discussions, for example.
To emphasize the
importance of attendance, this will be taken and positive participation
evaluated for each scheduled class; together, these will contribute towards 20%
of the student's final grade.
Ø For
attendance at a class to be counted, the student must be present for at least
2.5 hours of a 3 hour session; and at least 1.25 hours for a 1.5 hour session.
Students should be
realistic in the number of classes for which they enroll, to ensure that they
can attend them and also do the work required outside class.
Ø Otherwise,
their poor grades and the resulting low GPA will mean that they face problems
graduating.
To encourage our students to further develop their soft skills, various types of class assignment are also important. These are based on the realistic and realizable need to produce end-products within an agreed-upon time-frame.
ii. Student Presentations and Other Assignments These are meant to allow students to develop and demonstrate their analytical and critical-thinking skills, based on how much they have read and how well they understand a particular topic in depth. The basic assignment should be written as a paragraph-based essay, rather than just disjointed bullet-points, to develop the soft skill of writing (and thus the thinking processes underlying this). Where appropriate, it should be balanced in reviewing relevant evidence and the various interpretations of this; it should conclude with an evaluation of the latter.
When students think that they have met all the academic requirements required for graduation (see Sections VIII and IX), they should confirm this with the Registrar’s Office. They should also clear any outstanding financial obligations that they may have with the University.
Thereafter, they should complete the Graduation Application Form and the Student
Clearance Form, available from the Office of Student Services, and
submit this with all supporting documents, including a standard photograph, an
authenticated copy of their Bachelor’s certificate and an Alumni Association
Information form.