Programme : B.A. Honours

Programme : B.A. Honours

1. Admission: Students are admitted to Bangla Departments under the Faculty of Arts as per the university approved admission rules.
2. Duration of the programme : 4 years, Each year : 2 Semesters, Total Semesters: 4×2=8, Each Semester: 26 weeks
3. Week-wise breakdown of each semester of 26 weeks
   a) Classes : 15 weeks b. Break : 2 weeks
   b) Semester Final Exams : 3 weeks
   c) Evaluation of scripts and publication of results : 3 weeks
   d) Vacation : 3 weeks (included within the scheduled summer and winter vacations)
4. Total Courses, Marks, Credits and Grades
   Number of four-credit Courses : 28
   Marks : 28×100= 2800
   Each Course : 4 credit hours
   Number of one-credit Courses : 8
   Marks : 8×25=200
   Each Course : 1 credit hour
   Total Marks : 2800+200=3000
   Total Credits : 28×4+8×1=120
5. N.B. a. 15 hours teaching is equivalent to 1 credit hour and will be treated as 1 credit

b. Each four-credit course : 4 Credit hours Required contact/ teaching hours : 60
c. Each one-credit course : 1 Credit hour required contact/ teaching hours : 15
d. Total classes in a Semester for each four-credit course : 60 of 60 minute duration each
e. Total classes in a Semester for each one-credit course : 15 of 60 minute duration each
f. Minimum credits required for the Four-Year B.A. Honours Degree : 120

5.28 courses of four-credit each and 8 courses of one-credit each will be taught in 8 semesters as follows :

6. Teaching and Evaluation of the 28 four-credit courses of 100 marks each

a. The courses earmarked for a semester must be taught in that semester, and mid-semester and semester final exams must be given in that semester.
b. Each course will be taught and evaluated by two teachers of the Department.
c. Both Course-teachers will have 2 classes per week of 60 minute each for 15 weeks.
d. If a single teacher teaches a course then he/she must have per week 4 classes of 60 minute each.
e. Even a single teacher teaches a course, the semester final test scripts are obligatorily evaluated by two teachers, one of whom must be the course teacher, and another, a suitable second examiner who may be either from DU or outside DU.
f. Each course will have 4 classes per week of 60 minutes duration each.
g. Total classes in a semester for each course in 15 weeks: (15×4=60)
h. Total Contact Hours in a semester for each course : (60)
i. The concerned teachers will post on the notice board the marks obtained by the students in the mid-semester test as soon as the results are ready.

The course teachers will also post the marks for attendance and participation on the notice board immediately after completion of the assigned part of the four-credit courses.

7. Marks Distribution for each four-credit course

a. Two Mid-semester Tests of 15 marks each: (15+15=30 Marks)
One test of one-hour duration will be taken by each course teacher at his/her convenience. Marks of two tests will be added. Ifa single teacher teaches a course, two tests will be taken by the same teacher.
b. Class Attendance and Participation: (5+5=10 Marks)
Each teacher will give marks out of 5. Total of the given marks will be counted as the final marks of class attendance and participation.
For attendance, in 90% or above classes may be given 5; 85% to less than 90%-4; 80% to less than 85% -3; 75% to less than 80% – 2; 60% to less than 75% – 1; below 60% – 00.
Ifa single teacher teaches a course, marks will be given out of 10.

c. Semester Final Examination of 3-hour duration: (4 x 15 = 60 Marks)
Two teachers will set questions and evaluate the scripts. Marks obtained in the semester final examinations will be the average of the two marks. (There may be 4 broad questions or a combination of broad questions, short notes, etc.)

8. Teaching and Evaluation of 8 one-credit courses of 25 marks each
a. Each class may be divided into small groups of 10 to 15 students.
b. One teacher will meet the students of one group once a week for one hour and will give marks out of 5.
c. The students will not be given any written test. They will be encouraged to discuss some topics and/or make oral presentations on some topics included in the syllabus.
d. The Examination Committee will hold oral examination at the end of every semester.
e. Total classes in a semester for each course in 15 weeks: 15
f. Total Contact/Teaching Hours in a semester for each course: 15

9. Marks Distribution for each one-credit course

Total Marks: 5+20=25
a) Class Attendance and Presentation: 5
b) Oral Examination: 20

10. Examination Committee

a) The Academic Committee (AC) of the Department will form the examination committee for each batch of students for oneyear, i.e. two semesters. The committee will include a Chairman and three other members. In special cases, out of the three members the committee may have an external member who may be from DU or outside DU.
b) The AC of the Department will also select a Course Coordinator for one year, who may be a member of the examination committee, for smooth functioning of the programme. If the AC decides, the Chairman and the coordinator may be the same person, but in such a case there will be no remuneration for the latter.
c) If the AC decides each batch of students may have a fixed course coordinator for all the eight semesters, i.e. four years.?
d) Chairman of the Examination Committee: He/She will be responsible for getting questions from the course teachers, moderating and printing the questions, holding of examinations, and publication of results. If the Chairman desires, the coordinator may collect the questions from the course teachers.
e) Course Coordinator: The Course Coordinator will prepare class routine, arrange and monitor classes and attendance of students, ensure smooth functioning of the academic work, and help the chairman in getting questions from the question setters, holding examinations and publishing examination results. The Course Coordinator will also arrange to post on the notice board the breakdown of marks in each 1-credit course (attendance and oral examination) at the end of every semester-final examination. Apart from the signature of the coordinator, the mark-sheet should contain signature of the chairman of the examination committee as well.
f) In the case of any member of the committee falling sick, going on leave, or is unwilling to be on the committee, the academic committee of the Department will nominate a substitute.

11. Class Representatives
Each batch/section of students will have two class representatives (preferably one male and one female) to maintain liaison with the coordinator and the course teachers regarding their class progress and problems.

12. Attendance
a. Attendance in the four-credit courses only will be taken into consideration to determine eligibility of a student for examination.
b. Students with 75% attendance and above in each course will be eligible to sit for examinations. Students with attendance below 75% going down to 60% will be considered non-collegiate and will be allowed to sit for the examinations only after paying the required university fines.
c. Students with attendance below 60% will not be eligible to appear at the examinations.

13. Tabulator and tabulation of examination results
a. Two teachers of the Department will act as tabulators. The chairman of the examination committee and the course coordinator will select the tabulators who should preferably be members of the examination committee.
b. The course teachers will submit two copies of mark-sheets to the chairman of the examination committee, and one copy to the controller of examinations.
c. The mark-sheets submitted by the course teachers for the four-credit courses will include marks for attendance and participation, mid-semester tests, and final examination.
d. The concerned course teacher will submit marks for attendance and presentation in the one-credit course.
e. Two tabulators will prepare average sheets and insert marks in the respective tabulation sheets. Both the tabulators will process the examination results. The semester final part of each course must go through double examination process. If the difference of marks in any course (Semesters final) is more than 20% of full marks (60), the script will be evaluated by a third examiner.
f. The final marks obtained will be the average of the nearest two marks, or the third examiner’s marks if the difference between his/her marks and the two other examiners’ marks are the same.
g. The tabulators will help the Controller’s office to prepare three copies of computerized tabulation sheets. The Controller’s office will send one copy to the Chairman of the Department for preservation.
h. The controller’s office will publish the examination results at the end of every semester and issue the transcript.

14. Grading Scale and Grades
a. At the time of evaluation all marks will be posted in numerical form. Only at the time of submitting the final grade sheet and finalizing the results in the tabulation sheet grades will be posted in both numerical form and letter form.
b. Marks can be given in fraction up to two decimals. If the total marks of a course are in fraction, they should be raised to the higher whole number.
c. GPA and CGPA can be in fraction up to two decimals. The second decimal will be raised to the next higher number if the third decimal number is 5 or above.
d. Transcripts issued to the students will include Letter Grades, Grade Points (GP), Grade Point Average (GPA)/Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Transcripts will not include numerical grades.
e. Numerical Grades, Letter Grades, and Grade Point Average (GPA), and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) will be given according to the following scale.

15. Promotion and the Final Degree
a. Promotion will be year-wise. The minimum CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) 2.00 in the four-credit courses will be required for promotion from 1st year to 2nd year (2nd semester to 3rd semester), 2nd year to 3rd year (4th semester to 5th semester), 3rd year to 4th year (6th semester to 7th semester). In such cases grades in the first seven one-credit courses will not be taken into consideration.
b. Promotion from 1St semester to 2nd semester, 3rd semester to 4thsemester, 5th semester to 6th semester, and 7th semester to 8th semester will be provided automatically to students having minimum of 60% attendance in the concerned semester.
c. For obtaining the B.A. Honours degree after the 8th Semester (4thyear) final examination a student must not have ‘F’ grade in any of the four-credit courses as well as in the combined eight one-credit courses. The minimum GP 2.00 in each four-credit course and GPA 2.00 in the eight one-credit courses altogether will be required for awarding the B.A. Honours Degree.
d. GPA of the eight one-credit courses will be calculated only after the 8th Semester (4th year) final examination by adding the numerical marks obtained in all 8 semesters and dividing the total by 2. The numerical marks obtained out of 200 must be converted into out of 100 to find out the corresponding Letter Grade and Grade point which, in this case, will be treated as GPA because it is the average of all 8 credits.
e. The Degree must be obtainedwithin the limit of 12 semesters, i.e. six years from the date of admission to First Semester.
f. GPA for each semester will be calculated by multiplying the course credits by the GP obtained in the courses and dividing the summation of the multiplied figures by the total credits. CGPA of more than one semester will be calculated by adding the GPA of the semesters concerned multiplied by the semester credits and dividing the result by the total credits of the semesters.

16. Readmission

a. If a student is not eligible to appear at the examination due to inadequate attendance, he/she must seek readmission to study with the next batch.
b. A student failing to get the requisite CGPA, i.e. 2.00, for promotion from one year to the next year must seek readmission and will attend classes and take examinations with the first semester students of the concerned year if he/she fails to obtain GPA less than 2.00 in the 4-credit courses of 1st, 3rd,5th and 7th semester respectively. But if he/she has the minimum GPA 2.00 in the four-credit courses of 1st semester of any year he/she will take readmission and attend classes and take examinations with the students of the 2nd semester of the following year.
c. In the case of a student getting W in any course, he/she must go for readmission to continue in a class. The AC of the Department must be convinced of the genuineness of his/her absence.
d. A student may take readmission only two times. If required a student may take readmission twice in the same class and thus remain in the same class for three years, but the degree must be completed within twelve semesters, i.e. six years.

e. Time limit for readmission is up to a maximum of 15 days after the publication of result. In the case of readmission all grades earned earlier in the four-credit and one-credit courses of the particular semester/semesters will be cancelled.

17. Retaking of Examinations and Improvement of Grades
a. Improvement of grade/grades is applicable only for the students who get promoted.
b. A student getting less than ‘B’ may improve his/her grades of any four-credit courses by retaking the examination/examinations of the course/courses only once with the available immediate next batch at his/her own risk because in such cases the grade/grades obtained earlier in the concerned course/courses will be considered cancelled although marks for attendance and mid-semester test will be retained.
c. A student with F grade in any course/courses will be allowed to improve the grade/grades by retaking the examination/ examinations of the concerned course/courses for the second time with the available following batch if he/she gets F in the first improvement test/tests.
d. In the case of failure to take mid-semester test, the concerned course teacher will arrange a supplementary mid-semester test within two weeks of the first test. The students taking the supplementary mid-semester test must pay to the department office a fine of Tk 500.00 (Tk. Five Hundred) for each test.
e. Retaking of mid-semester examinations will not be allowed.
f. If a student has CGPA 2.00 in the 4th year, i.e. 7th and 8th semesters combined but has ‘F’ in any of the 7th or 8th semester four-credit courses or the aggregate of one-credit courses his/her result will be treated as Incomplete. To receive the degree the student will have the opportunity to improve his/her grade by retaking the four-credit courses with ‘F’.
Besides, if a student has ‘F’ in the aggregate of eight one-credit courses, which together is called ‘overall assessment’, he/she must retake the final part of the 8th semester one-credit course. In either case marks for attendance and presentation will be retained
g. In addition to the usual fees, a fine will be imposed for each course to be retaken as per university rules.
h. The student will have to be mentally prepared to take the test of a particular course even if it is held on the same day of his/her other examination.
i. The same rules will be applicable in the case of any student getting ‘I'(Incomplete) in any course/courses.

18. Drop Out
a. A student failing to get a minimum CGPA 2.00 even after readmission to the semester of the same year for two times will be dropped out of the programme.
b. If a student getting ‘F’ in any course fails to improve his/her grade even after retaking the examination twice will not be given any further chance for improvement and will be dropped out of the programme.

19.Dean’s List of Meritorious Students
a. Dean’s Merit List of Excellence
The list will include the names and particulars of students who have CGPA 4.00 in the B.A. Honours Examination.
b. Dean’s Merit List of Honour
The list will include the names and particulars of students who have CGPA 3.85 and above but below 4.00 in the B.A. Honours Examination.
Maximum of two students with the highest CGPA of any Department in a particular session will be included in this list. In the case of more than one student getting the same CGPA the number will increase.

c. Dean’s Merit List of Academic Recognition
The list will include name of the student who has the highest CGPA among the students obtaining CGPA 3.60 and above but below 3.85, in the B.A. Honours Examination of a particular session of any Department which does not have anyone eligible for a or b.
In the case of more than one student getting the same CGPA the number will increase.
Students who have taken readmission or have taken any improvement examination will not be considered for the Dean’s list of meritorious students.

20. Any major changes in the above rules will require approval of the Arts Faculty meeting and the Academic Council of the University. Minor changes may be made by the Dean and Chairmen of different departments of Arts Faculty with approval of the Deans’ Committee.

The Guidelines are based on Resolution No. 57. of the Syndicate meeting of 10.8.2011 on the basis of the recommendation of Faculty meeting of 28.7.2011 and Academic Council meeting of 7.8.2011, and Resolution No. 92 of the Academic Council meeting of 29.4.2013 on the basis of the recommendation of the Faculty meeting of 21.4.2013.