Programme For Masters

Programme : M.A.

1. Admission : The students obtaining four-year B.A. Honours degree from a Department of Faculty of Arts, University of Dhaka will be eligible to take admission to the M.A. Programme of the particular Department within 15 days of publication of the B.A. Honours result.

2. Duration: One year Semesters: 2 Each Semester: 26 weeks
3. Week-wise breakdown of each semester of 26 weeks

a. Classes: 15 weeks b. Mid-Semester examinations: 1 week
c. Final Examinations (to be given at the end of each Semester): 3 weeks
d. Evaluation of scripts and publication of results: 3 weeks
e. Vacation: 4 weeks (Included within the scheduled summer and winter vacations)

4. Total Courses, Marks, Credits and Grades

Number of four-credit courses: 8 Marks: 8×100 = 800
Each course: 4 credit hours
Number of one-credit courses: 2 Marks: 2×25 = 50
Each course: 1 credit hour
Total Marks: 800+50 = 850 Total Credits: 8×4 + 2×1 = 34

N.B. a. 15-hour teaching is equivalent to 1 credit hour and will be treated as 1 credit.

a. Each four-credit course: 4 credit hours Required contact / teaching hours 60
b. Each one-credit course: 1 credit hour Required contact / teaching hours: 15
c. Minimum credit hours required for the two-semester M.A. Degree: 30

5. 8 courses of 4 credit each and 2 courses of 1 credit each will
be taught in 2 semesters as follows:

1st Semester: 4 four-credit and 1 one-credit courses Total: 16 + 1 credits
2nd Semester: 4 four-credit and I one-credit courses Total: 18 + 1 credits
Total credits in two semesters: 34
Total classes in a Semester for each four-credit course in 15 weeks:
60 of 60 minutes duration each
Total classes in a Semester for each one-credit course in 15 weeks:
15 of 60 minutes duration each

6. Teaching and Evaluation of the 8 four-credit courses of 100
marks each :

a. The courses earmarked for every semester must be taught and the mid-semester tests must be given in that semester.
b. Each course will be taught and evaluated by two teachers of the Department.

If a single teacher teaches a course then the final test held at the end of the semester must also be 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.

c. Both course-teachers will have 2 classes per week of 60 minute each.
d. If one teacher teaches a course, then he/she must have 4 classes per week of 60 minute each

The concerned teachers will post on the notice board marks in the
mid-semester tests as soon as the results are ready.
The course teachers will also post on the notice board the marks forattendance and participation immediately after completion of the courses

7. Marks distribution for each four-credit course
a. Two Mid’-Semester Tests of 15 marks each Marks: 15+15 = 30
One test of one-hour duration will be taken every semester by each course-teacher at his/her convenience. Marks of two tests will be added. If a single teacher teaches a course two tests will be taken by the same teacher.

b. Semester Final Examination Marks: 60

Semester final examinations of four-hour duration will be held for every course at the end of every semester.

Two teachers will set questions and evaluate the scripts. Marks obtained in the final examinations held at the end of the semester will be the average of the two marks.

There may be 5 broad questions or a combination of broad questions, short notes, etc.

g. Class Attendance and Participation Marks: 5 + 5 = 10

Both course-teachers will give marks out of 5. Marks of the two teachers will be added.
(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.

If a single teacher teaches a course, marks will be given out of 10.
8. Teaching and Evaluation of one-credit courses of 25 marks each

a. Each class may be divided into small groups of 10 to 15 students. As far as possible the students should be in the same groupthroughout the two semesters. In case of drop-outs, two or more groups may be merged.

b. In the first semester one teacher will meet the students of one group once a week for 15 weeks.

c. In the second semester the same teacher or another teacher will meet the students of the group for another 15 weeks.
d. The concerned teachers will post on the notice board marks for attendance and presentation as soon as the courses are completed.

9.Marks Distribution for each one-credit course

a. Class Attendance and Presentation Marks: 10

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.

The concerned teacher will give marks out of 10.

Subject to satisfactory Attendance and Presentation in 90% or above classes a student may be given 10 marks out of 10, 80% to less than 90% – 8, 70% to less than 80% – 6, 60% to less than 70% -4, 60% to less than 50% – 2, and below 50% – 00.

b. Oral Examination Marks : 15

The Examination Committee will hold oral examination at the end of every semester.

10. Examination Committee
a. The Academic Committee (AC) of the Department will form the examination committee for each batch of students for two semesters, i.e. one year. The committee will include a Chairman and three othermembers.

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 of the Department decides, the Chairman can also function as the coordinator without any monetary benefit for the latter.

c. 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, he/she may request the Course Coordinator to collect questions from the course teachers.

d. Course Coordinator: The 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 coordinator will also arrange to post on the notice board the marks in the oral part of the one-credit course signed by the chairman of the committee at the end of every semester final examination.

e. 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 (one male and one female) to maintain liaison with the coordinator and course teachers regarding their class progress and problems.

12. Attendance Requirements
a. Attendance in the four-credit courses only will be taken into consideration to determine the eligibility of the students 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. Tabulators 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 any two 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, marks for mid-semester tests, and marks for final examinations.

d. The mark-sheets submitted by the concerned course teachers for the one-credit courses will include marks for attendance and presentation.

e. Two tabulators will post marks in the tabulation sheets given by two course teachers for each four-credit course the total marks given by two course teachers for attendance, mid-term tests; the average of the two marks in the final examination, marks given in each one-credit course, which will include marks for class attendance and presentation, and oral examination, and process the examination results.

e. In the semester final examination if the difference of marks in any course is more than 20%, i.e. more than 12, the script will be evaluated by a third examiner. 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 is the same.

f. The tabulators will take to the controller’s office the tabulation sheets to help the office prepare three computerized tabulation sheets. The controller’s office will send one copy to the chairman of the concerned Department for preservation.

g. The controller’s office will publish the examination results at the end of every semester and issue the transcripts. The transcript for the first semester will include the GP for each four-credit course and the GPA. In addition to the GPs and GPAs (both four-credit and one-credit courses) the second semester transcript will also include the CGPA of the two semesters.

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 while 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 next higher whole number.

c. GPA and CGPA can be in fraction up to two decimals. The second decimal should be raised to the next higher number if the third decimal is 5 or above.

d. Results of the students will be published according to Examination Roll Numbers and not according to merit positions.

e. Transcripts issued to the students will include Letter Grades, Grade Points (GP), Grade Point Average (GPA). Transcripts will not include numerical grades.

f. 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 from first semester to second semester will be automatic provided the student has the minimum of 60% attendance in first semester.

b. The minimum GP 2.00 in each course and CGPA (Grade Point Average/Cumulative Grade Point Average) 2.00 will be required for award of the degree. GP of the 2 one-credit courses will be calculated only after the second semester final examination.

c. GPA of the two one-credit courses will be calculated by adding the numerical marks obtained in the two semesters and multiplying the total by two. The numerical marks obtained out of 50 will thus be converted into out of 100 to find out the corresponding Letter Grade and GP which in this case will be treated as GPA because it is the average of the two one-credit courses.

d. For obtaining the M.A. Degree a student must not have F, i.e. GP below 2.00 in any course.

e. GPA for each semester will be calculated by multiplying the course credits by the GP obtained in the courses and dividing the total figures by the total credits. CGPA of the two semesters will be calculated by adding the GPA of the semesters concerned multiplied by the course credits and dividing the result by the total credits.

16. Readmission

a. Readmission must be taken within 15 days of publication of results.
b. The students not getting CGPA 2.00 and so not qualifying for M.A. Degree will be allowed to take readmission and be in 2ndsemester if they obtain the minimum GPA 2.00 in the 1st semester.
c. The students must take readmission and be in 1st semester if they have inadequate attendance/fail to get GPA 2.00/get W in 1stsemester.

d. The students will take readmission and attend classes in the required 1st or 2nd semester and take examinations only with the students of the available next batch.

e. In the case of readmission all grades earned earlier in the four-credit and one-credit courses of the concerned semester/semesters will be cancelled.

f. A student may take readmission only two times, and the degree must be completed within 6 semesters, i.e. 3 years from the date of admission tosemester.

17. Retaking of Examinations and Improvement of Grades

a. Improvements of grade/grades are applicable only for the students — (i) who pass the M.A. Final Examination, or (ii) who have the minimum CGPA 2.00.

b. If a student passes the examinations getting less than B in any four-credit course/courses, he/she may improve his/her grades by retaking the examinations of the course/courses only once with the immediate next batch at his/her own risk because in such cases the grade/grades of the particular course/courses obtained earlier will be considered cancelled. But marks for attendance and mid-term tests may be retained.

c. If a student has the minimum CGPA 2.00 in the M.A. Final examination, but has F in any 4-credit courses or the aggregate of the two one-credit courses, which together is called ‘overall assessment’, his/her result will be treated as incomplete and the student will be allowed to retake the examination/examinations of the four-credit course/courses and the one-credit course with the following available batch.

d. A student with F grade only in any course/courses will be allowed to improve the grade/grades by retaking the examination/examinations for a maximum of two times if he/she gets F in the first improvement test.

In either case the marks for attendance and participation, attendance and presentation will be retained.

e. Retaking of mid-semester tests will not be allowed.

f. In addition to the usual fees, a fine will be imposed for each course to be retaken as per university rules.

g. 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.

h. The same rules will be applicable in the case of any student getting I.

18. Drop Out
a. A student failing to get a minimum GPA 2.00 even after readmission 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 he/she 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 M.A. Final Examination.

b. Dean’s Merit List of Honour
The list will include the names and particulars of students who have CGPA 3.75 and above but below 4.00 in the M.A. Final Examination.

Maximum of two students with the highest CGPA of any Department in a particular session will be included in Dean’s Merit List of Honour. 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 the names and particulars of the students who have the highest CGPA among the students obtaining CGPA 3.60 and above but below 3.75 in the M.A. 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.