Students who wish to enroll in the University may be better be introduced to important academic terms and concepts they might encounter there.

Academic Administration

Vice President for Academic Affairs is the academic administrator in the University. He is responsible for all programs and administrative offices related to academic affairs such as the Registrar Office and Information Technology Office.

The Dean is the head of the faculty, and who is responsible for managing its programs and the quality of education offered.

Department Chair is the manager of the academic program and the administrative matters in a faculty department.

Academic Advisor is responsible for guiding students and advising them regarding their academic stream at the University; he helps them choose their courses, supports them to overcome any obstacle in their studies and advises them to abide to the University’s regulations and policies. The academic advisor is usually a member of the teaching staff chosen by the faculty or department.

Academic Program

General Requirements are the courses each student is required to study in all programs.

Core courses are the common courses for the same academic program; they are the base for concentration courses.

Concentration Courses are the theoretical and practical specialized courses specific to each concentration.

Department Electives are the courses appropriated among the faculty courses, which are chosen by students. These are either courses from other concentrations, or courses presented by the faculty to provide them with additional knowledge relevant to their fields of study.

General Electives are courses from other programs, chosen by students to provide them with general knowledge that is not relevant to their fields of study.

Prerequisites are the courses each student must complete successfully before being allowed to register for other dependent courses. These are usually either one course or several courses or a certain number of credits.

Academic Honesty, The University bans plagiarism (i.e., a student copying other persons’ works and presenting them as his own). New students are introduced to the University’s academic ethics policies by their instructors who are responsible for guiding them through the process of dealing with quoted texts and ideas.

Registration

Academic Year consists of two main semesters (Fall and Spring), and one exceptional semester (Summer). Fall and spring extend over a period of 15 weeks, whereas summer is a maximum of 7 weeks.

Study Load is the number of credits a student takes in one semester. The maximum number of credits allowed is 18, while the minimum is 6 in both fall and spring. The maximum number of credits allowed in summer is 9.

Credit is the unit of measuring the number of weekly instruction hours for each course in one semester. Each credit equals 15 classroom instruction hours, each against two hours of student’s out-of-class work in the form of homework, fieldwork, or any other form of self-learning.

The number of credits registered for by students has several effects on their academic stream, for they must complete a certain number of credits required by the chosen program before graduation. It may also affect the study load for the semester, the residency period at the university, the study fees and the CGPA.

The number of credits differs from one course to another, since most of the courses require 3 credits -45 classroom instruction hours- while others require one credit for projects, lab work, training or any other academic activity. A student must successfully complete between 95 and 105 credits for graduation.

Drop/Add Period is the period during which a student is able to drop any course with the advantage of refunding all fees, or adding courses without the head of department’s approval. This period extends over the first week of study (five study days) of fall and spring, and the first two days of summer.

Academic Withdrawal – AW is the decision taken by the faculty for prohibiting students from continuing their studies in a course after exceeding the maximum number of absences

Transcript is the official academic student record in the university.

Tuition is the cost of education at the University. It is relevant to the credit fees regardless of other expenses (registration fees, entrance exams…).

Registrar Office is the link between students and the academic staff, through which they may communicate with the faculty’s academic administration they registered for, whether it be a petition, a grievance, or any other request related to their academic stream. The registrar office is responsible for documenting students’ records in the University, and providing them with graduation documents.

Student Affairs Office is the students’ gate to non-academic life at the University. It is responsible for promoting their participation in the University life, and helping them adapt to the requirements of practical and personal lives they shall face during their academic stream. A student may join clubs, apply for scholarships and financial aids and seek psychological and social counselling through this office.

Grading System

GPA is a unit for measuring a student’s academic performance in a semester. It is computed by dividing the total grade points earned by the student in a course by the total number of credits studied in that semester. Grade points for courses are computed by multiplying the number of credits by the number of points earned as follows:

(final grade point average for each course) * (number of credits in that course) / (number of credits for all courses) = GPA

CGPA is the unit for measuring students’ academic performance throughout the semesters they studied. CGPA is computed by dividing the number of points earned by students in all courses since the beginning of their studies, over the total number of credits for those courses.

Probation Period is the period given to a student whose CGPA became less than 2 in any semester (except summer), during which regulations of academic probation period are applied.