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UC Undergraduate
Studies Catalog 2019-2023 Section II Structural
Organization of the University |
The
following lists the main offices and departments which students should be aware
of, to help them during their time at The University of Cambodia.
To better
ensure that we meet these and other objectives, the Office of Internal Quality
Assurance monitors existing and emerging problems, based on feedback from
faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders. This results in the
compilation of an internal Self-Assessment Report each year; this is submitted
to the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport and to the Accreditation
Committee of Cambodia, as part of their requirements regarding the need for
quality control.
This section deals with the running of the various degree programs.
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Note that students should
normally approach their respective School or College regarding any issues
relating to their particular degree programs.
i. Office of
Academic Affairs Under the
Vice-President for Academic Affairs, this works with the Office of the School
of Undergraduate Studies, the Academic Foundation Department and the various
Schools and Colleges in order to prepare class timetables for each term; to
monitor the effective implementation of these by the faculty involved; to
oversee the effective running of centralized exams; and to regularly update the
content of various degree programs in the longer term.
As such, it is responsible for keeping abreast of changes in the policies
and regulations implemented by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and
by the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia and ensuring that all degree programs conform to these requirements.
It is also responsible for submitting reports to the latter bodies, including
data on student numbers; those filing for graduation; and exam results.
It is also in charge of processing requests for credit transfers.
ii. Office of the School of
Undergraduate Studies Under its Dean, this
Office works to coordinate the implementation of policies with regard to the
teaching-related activities of the various Schools and Colleges, together
with the monitoring of students’ performances and the counselling of those
who might be having problems.
In
addition, the Office of the School of Undergraduate
Studies works with the various Schools and Colleges and the Council for
Creativity and Research (see below) to promote and otherwise encourage student
research activities. This includes the publishing of a bi-annual journal, the Working Papers series,
to publicize undergraduate students’ research and thereby further promote
an interest in such activities at UC.
iii. Academic Foundation
Department In coordination with the Office of Academic
Affairs, the Academic Foundation Department is responsible for running the
Foundation Year program required to be taken by all new undergraduate students,
monitoring the performance of these students and counselling them when
necessary. During this year, students should normally approach the Director in
the first instance regarding any issues or concerns; where appropriate, they
will be referred to the relevant School or College.
The
University of Cambodia sets a high priority in developing a research culture
amongst our students. Thus, it has taken various initiatives to channel
students’ energies in this direction, through basic research courses as
part of the General Education program as well as organizing research
competitions and providing outlets for students to publish their results,
including through the Working Paper series, a biennial publication under
the auspices of the Dean for Undergraduate Studies which showcases papers
produced by undergraduate students as a result of their research
endeavors.
i.
Council for Creativity and Research In this initiative
of the President and with the active support of other full-time faculty
members, the Director is responsible for seeking to foster the development of
the research capacity of university faculty, staff and students including
through the allocation of funds for promising research proposals. The
university also provides the opportunity for the publicizing of the outcome of
these projects, including through the Cambodian
Journal for International Studies.
In order
to establish a solid foundation for the promotion of a research ethos, the
Director together with the Vice-President for Research, Development and
Policies is responsible for overseeing the curriculum for two General Education
courses, RES201
and RES301,
which serve to lay the groundwork for students to have a solid background which
will benefit their studies at UC as well as providing future benefits when they
apply for jobs or to study higher degrees.
ii. Institute for Research and Advanced Studies Under the
Vice-President for Research, Development, and Policies, this seeks to establish
an active role in supporting useful and productive research at The University
of Cambodia, and thereby develop the university as a center of excellence in
research. The aim is to bring recognized researchers on board who can
contribute to the country’s further development
through constructive research in areas such as education, gender issues, and
other aspects of the Rectangular Strategies of the Royal Government of Cambodia. Towards this goal, one aim is
to tap sources of outside funding for potentially expensive seed-studies in
coordination with the Council for Creativity and Research.
iii. ASEAN Study Center This has
been established as a think-tank and research institution on the continuing
evolution of coherent ASEAN policies with particular reference to the three
pillars of political, economic, and socio-cultural development and their
implications for Cambodia. Apart from a broadly academic framework, the Center
also seeks to provide a bridge for the translation of these objectives into
national adaptive responses, through research and the promotion of dialogues,
thereby serving as a means of promoting
awareness and understanding of ASEAN within Cambodia, and of Cambodia amongst
other ASEAN members. To this end, apart from publishing its research findings,
the Center is also responsible for organizing lectures by distinguished
speakers, workshops and other activities. It also aims to provide a source of
feedback for local stakeholders’ perspectives on the impacts of existing
policies and other initiatives to the Royal Government of Cambodia, the ASEAN
Secretariat and other member states in implementing and fine-tuning the community’s decisions.
Amongst many offices related
to the efficient running of the University (e.g. those for Archives,
Inventory and Assets Management, Planning) under the oversight of the Office of
Administration as a coordinator and facilitator, some are directly involved
with student-related issues.
i. Office of Admissions, Information and Registration This office (see Sections VI and VII) is responsible for:
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providing prospective
students and others with information about the University and its various
degree and other educational programs (including queries received by email and
Facebook), directing enquiries to other Offices, Schools or Colleges in the
University as appropriate;
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conducting campus tours for
new students and other interested parties;
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enrolling new students after
checking individual applicant’s files to ensure
that they have the necessary supporting documents for their application forms
(together with facilitating their taking of the English placement test in the
case of those applying for the International Track), issuing them with ID cards
and archiving hard-copies of their transcripts and other relevant documents;
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coordinating the processing
of applications from transfer students and their enrolment; and
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thereafter transcribing all new students’ personal records into a database and
updating these as necessary at registration each term thereafter, in
consultation with other Offices, Schools or Colleges when necessary.
ii. Office of Scholarships This is responsible for
facilitating and coordinating scholarship exams in collaboration with other
offices, schools and colleges as appropriate; together with the coordination of
compiling the results of these and the informing of successful candidates (see Section VI).
Thereafter, the Office of
Scholarships assumes the overall responsibility of the scholarship programs,
including sharing all information relating to scholarship policies. Working in
collaboration with colleges, schools, centers, and relevant offices, it maintains
statistics concerning scholarships (covering donors, years, gender, etc.)
for a report to the President each term and for other reports as and when
required. It is also responsible for monitoring the performance of individual
recipients, identifying those who fail to meet the required academic grades,
and referring individual cases to the Academic Foundation Department or the student’s School or College,
as appropriate, for counselling.
iii.
Office of Student Services In
coordination with the Office of Scholarships as appropriate, this Office tracks
the academic progress of each student; where students are falling behind with
their studies, it follows up with the Academic
Foundation Department or the student’s School or
College as necessary.
The Office of Student Services is also responsible for
helping to prepare for and run various student-organized activities related to
the Student Federation (see Section IV.1).
iv. Office
of the University Registrar This Office is responsible for the
collating and managing of the records for each student at the University. It
thus plays a coordinating role in identifying students who have become eligible
for graduation (see Section VIII), together with the subsequent processing of these through to graduation
itself.
Based on this, the Registrar
is also responsible for issuing provisional certificates, official transcripts
and letters of recommendation for individual students.
v. Office
of the Bursar This Office is responsible for matters related to the
payment of student fees.
vi. Office
of Information Technology Apart from its broad responsibilities regarding database development, the
maintenance of the University’s web-sites and
other portals together with free on-site WiFi access,
this Office is also responsible for setting up and maintaining five student laboratories (see Section III.3), as well as providing training to staff and students
as needed.
vii. Office of Public Affairs, Communications
and Alumni Apart from its remit to promote the University and our
degree programs and other activities, this Office is also responsible for
liaising with the UC Student Senate
(see Section IV.1.i) and others regarding organizing the Welcome
Week (for the orientation of new students), Career Fairs and other activities;
and with the UC Alumni Association (a body comprising all of The
University of Cambodia’s graduates: see Section
V.12) for an annual Alumni Reunion and other activities.