Master’s Program
University of Chittagong
Faculty of Biological Science
Ordinance for the Degree of
Master of Science (M.S.)
THE NATURE OF DEGREE:
The Degree of Master of Science will be awarded by the University of Chittagong under the provision of this ordinance will be called M. S. and it will be a specialized degree of the subject. If there is any branch in a specific subject the name of the branch will be written in parenthesis after the name of the subject.
DURATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF STUDY:
Duration of the M. S. programme will be one academic year and shall be completed by a student in not more than 2(two) academic years.
SUBJECTS:
- There shall be the following subjects in the Faculty of Biological Science of this University; I Zoology; ii Botany, iii. Microbiology; iv. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; v. Geography and Environmental Studies; vi. Soil Science; vii. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; viii. Psychology and any other subjects as may be approved by the University Authority from time to time.
- BRANCHES
There shall be not more than four branches in a Department. The number of branches will be decided by the Academic Committee of the concerned Department on the basis of the diversity of the courses and the availability of sufficient numbers of branch-related qualified teachers. The courses of each branch should be independent.
QUALIFICATION FOR ADMISSION:
The qualification for admission to the M. S. programme is four-year B.Sc. (Honours) degree obtained in the same subject from this University. The candidates who have appeared at the 4th year B. Sc. (Honours) examination may be admitted provisionally to the M. S. Programme. The confirmation of admission of such students into the M. S. Programme is subject to their passing the B. Sc. (Honours) examination. Student who has not been admitted within two years after obtaining their four-year B. Sc. (Honours) degree is not eligible for admission to this programme.
REGISTRATION:
- A candidate shall attain studentship of the University on admission to aprogramme as per rules S/he shall be required to be registered separately with the University through such processes and on payhment of such fees as determined by the University from time to time and it will be valid for two years.
- A student shall never take admission in more than one subject other than certificate/diploma courses. If it is so reported/found, his/her studentship and examinations, even if appeared., shall be immediately cancelled.
GROUPS:
Each Department/branch will have two groups, i. General Group and ii. Thesis Group, Considering the facilities and the number of teachers in the subject a limited number of students, on the basis of merit, may be taken in thesis group. Number of students and minimum CGPA for thesis will be decided by the Academic Committee of the Department in every academic year. Students willing to undertake thesis shall apply to the Chairman through the supervisor for approval of the Academic Committee of the concerned Department.
COURSE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM:
Each course shall be designated by three/for letters for the subject/discipline as decided by the concerned department followed by a three digit number starting with 5, i.e Zool-501 for the first course in Zoology, BoT.504 for the fourth course in Botany and so on.
MARKS AND CORRESPONDING CREDITS:
Theoretical/practical/project/thesis/sessional/viva-voce of 25, 50, 75 and 100 marks is equivalent to 1,2,3 and 4 credits, respectively.
NATURE OF COURSES AND DISTRIBUTION OF MARKS:
- The M. S. degree programme shall be carrying a total of 600 marks as distributed below:
| Group | Theoretical | Practical | Thesis | Sessional+, Viva-Voce |
Thesis, Viva-Voce |
Credits | Total Marks |
Total Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 300 | 200 | – | 50+50=100 | – | 12+08+04 | 600 | 24 |
| Thesis | 300 | – | 150 | 50+50=100 | 50 | 12+06+06 | 600 | 24 |
- The Committee of Courses and Studies of the concerned Department shall prepare the syllabus.
- The courses may be chosen from sets of choices to be determined by the academic committee of the concerned Department, if applicable.
- Sessional means tutorial, terminal, class test, field works, field tour, study tour, class attendance etc.
- For general group, 20% of the practical marks shall be awarded on the basis of class performance during the course of study evaluated by the course teacher and the rest 80% on the basis of performance in the examination.
- For thesis group, 20% of the thesis marks shall be awarded on the basis of research performance during the research period evaluated by the supervisor and the rest 80% on the basis of thesis evaluation.
- Reports of project works, field works, etc. considered as part of practical courses shall be submitted as asked by the respective Department. These will be evaluated internally on the basis of marks allocated.
CLASS HOURS (45 MINUTES EACH)
Theoretical and practival courses shall be so designed as to be completed in minimum of the following class hours
- theoretical course of 25 marks (1 credit) in 20 class hours, 50 marks (2 credits) in 40 class hours, 75 marks (3 credits) in 50 class hours and 100 marks (4 credits) in 60 class hours.
- Practical course of 25 marks (1 credit) in 8×3 class hours, 50 marks (2 credits) in 15×3 class hours, 75 marks (3 credit ) in 20×3 class hours and 100 marks (4 credit) in 30×3 class hours.
DURATION OF EXAMINATION
Examinations will be held on academic year basis. Time allotted for examinations will be as follows;
- Theoretical courses; 2 hours for 25 marks, 3 hours for 50 marks and 4 hours for 75 and 100 marks.
- Practical courses: 4-6 hours for 25-50 marks, 8-12 hours for 75 marks and 12-18 hours for 100 marks.
MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION AND EXAMINATION
The medium of instruction and answer in the examination scripts shall be English.
ELIGIBILITY FOR APPEARING AT THE EXAMINATION
- In order fof be eligible for appearing at the examination, a candidate shall be required to attend on an average not less than 70% of the lectures. The Academic Committee of the Department may recommend marginal cases of shortage of attendance (not below 60%) on special ground with documentary evidences. In this case, the candidate shall have to pay the requisite non-collegiate fee as determined by the University Authority.
- The course teacher shall submit the class attendance register to the Chairman of the Department be fore processing the examination entry forms. The Department shall verify the eligibility of the candidates and send these to the provost of the concerned hall for necessary action.
- The Provost of the concerned hall shall make necessary verification on the forms and send them to the Comptroller of Accounts for necessary action.
- The Controller of Examinations shall issue admit card only to the eligible candidates as per rules and send these to the concerned Department and the Chairman shall distribute the same to the candidates. If the examination entry forms remain incomplete, admit cards shall not be issued. Each student shall mention his/her registration/ID number with session and previous examination roll/ID number in the entry form, if any.
GRADING SYSTEM
Letter grades and corresponding grade points shall be awarded as follows.
| UPTO 2005-2006 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Numerical grade | Letter grade | Grade point |
| 80% and above | A+ | 4.00 |
| 70% to less than 80% | A | 3.75 |
| 60% to less than 70% | A- | 3.50 |
| 55% to less than 60% | B+ | 3.25 |
| 50% to less than 55% | B | 3.00 |
| 45% to less than 50% | B- | 2.75 |
| 40% to less than 45% | C | 2.50 |
| 36% to less than 40% | D | 2.25 |
| Less than 36% | F | 0.00 |
| Incomplete/Absent | x | x |
| UPTO 2006-2007 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Numerical grade | Letter grade | Grade point |
| 80% and above | A+ | 4.00 |
| 75% to less than 80% | A | 3.75 |
| 70% to less than 75% | A- | 3.50 |
| 65% to less than 70% | B+ | 3.25 |
| 60% to less than 65% | B | 3.00 |
| 55% to less than 60% | B- | 2.75 |
| 50% to less than 55% | C+ | 2.50 |
| 45% to less than 50% | C | 2.25 |
| 40% to less than 45% | D | 2.00 |
| Less than 40% | F | 0.00 |
| Incomplete/Absent | x | x |
PASS MARKS
| UPTO 2005-2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Marks | 100 | 75 | 50 | 25 |
| Pass Marks | 36 | 27 | 18 | 09 |
| UPTO 2006-2007 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Marks | 100 | 75 | 50 | 25 |
| Pass Marks | 40 | 30 | 20 | 10 |
GPA CALCULATION
- No credits are granted for grade less than D. Calculation of GPA ( Grade Point Average) is shown in Appendix-A. To calculate GPA, on grades from any source other than that of the prescribed credits will be considered.
- In the Academic Transcript/Grade sheet, only Letter Grade (LG), corresponding Grade Points (GP), Points Secured (PS) and finally GPA, not the numerical marks, shall be shown.
SUBMISSION OF THESIS/PROJECT
A student shall submit thesis/project in quadruplicate within 90 days from the date of last theoretical examination. This time limit may be extended (if necessary) by the recommendation of the Academic Committee of the concerned Department. The thesis shall be examined independently by two external examiners ( from another public University/Govt. Research Organization) to be nominated by the relevant Examination Committee. One copy of thesis will be preserved in the Departmental Seminar Library.
DEGREE REQUIREMENT
For the M. S. degree, a student shall require to fulfill the following conditions:-
- A Student must earn a minimum GPA 2.50 up to 2005-2006 and 2.25 from 2006-2007, failing which s/he shall be declared failed in the programme.
- A regular student must earn a minimum GP 2.25 up to 2005-2006 and 2.00 from 2006-2007 at the thesis/project and thesis/project viva-voce examination separately, failing which s/he shall be declared failed in the programmee.
- A regular student must earn a minimum GP 2.50 upto 2005-2006 and 2.25 from 2006-2007 at the sessional and viva-voce examination together, failing which s/he shall be declared failed in the programme.
A student earning GPA 4.00 shall be awarded M. S. with Distinction and citation so made in the academic transcript.
FAILED STUDENT
- If a student fails to earn required GPA, s/he will be treated as failed. The failed student shall be allowed to appear in the failed course/s with the batch that immediately follows as an irregular candidate, failing which s/he shall be dropped out of the programme.
- If a student fails to appear at the examination after depositing examination fees, shall be allowed to appear at the examination with the batch that immediately follows as an irregular candidate without re-admission, failing which s/he shall be dropped out of the programme. In such case, previous marks of his/her sessional will remain valid.
- The failed student shall appear at the examination as an irregular candidate, generally as per syllabus in force without re-admission. If any drastic changes in the syllabus are made, the irregular candidate shall appear at the examination in his/her original syllabus on the recommendation of the Academic Committee of the Department.
- A student failing to earn required GP in thesis/project shall have to resubmit it and reappear at the thesis/project viva-voce examination with the immediate next batch only as an irregular candidate, failing which s/he shall be declared failed in the programme.
- A student failing to earn required GP at the sessional and viva-voce examination together, shall have to appear at a comprehensive examination of 50 marks instead of sessional and at viva-voce examination of 50 marks with the immediate next batch only as an irregular candidate, failing which s/he shall be declared failed in the programme.
- A student failing to earn required GP at the thesis viva-voce examination shall have to appear at the thesis viva-voce examination with the immediate next batch only as an irregular candidate, failing which s/he shall be declared failed in the programme.
READMISSION
If a student fails to appear at the examination due to shortage of required percentage of class attendance or any other reason, s/he shall have to get himself/herself re-admitted as an irregular student with the batch that immediately follows on recommendation of and within the date fixed by the Academic Committee of the Department. S/he must have to fulfill the requisite class attendance for appearing at the examination as an irregular candidate.
The student shall be allowed to appear at the examination only once with the batch that immediately follows as an irregular candidate, failing which s/he shall be dropped out of the programme.
IMPROVEMENT OF RESULTS
- A student can also improve his/her result after the degree is awarded by appearing only once at the examination of the course/s earning grade B-, C, D and F upto 2005-2006 and C, D and F from 2006-2007 with the immediate next batch. If a student improves his/her grade/s, the word `Improvement’ and `the year’ of improvement examination should be mentioned in his/her academic transcript and certificate. If such student fails to improve his/her grade/s, his/her previous grade of the same course will remain valid.
- A re-admitted student shall not be allowed to improve results under any consideration.
- No improvement shall be allowed in project/thesis/sessional/terminal/viva-voce examination.
- A student willing to cancel his/her improved results and have the previous results reinstated shall apply in this respect to the Controller of Examinations through the Chairman of the Department and the Provost of the concerned hall with necessary fees prescribed by the University Authority from time to time.
- For improvement of his/her results, the student shall apply to the Chairman of the Department at least 4 weeks before the start of the next examination.
FORMATION OF THE EXAMINATION COMMITTEE
There shall be one Examination Committee for each branch. The Committee shall consist of one Chairman, Three internal Members and one External Member (from another public University)
GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE HONOURS, MASTERS, M. PHIL. AND ANY OTHER DEGREE/CERTIFICATE/DIPLOMA EXAMINATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY
- Functions of the Academic Committee/Chairman/Director of the Departments/Institutes/RCMPS shall be according to General rules and regulations no. 1.
- Functions of the Examination Committee shall be according to General rules and regulations no. 2.
- Functions of the Chairman of the Examination Committee shall be according to General rules and regulations no. 3
- Functions of the course teacher/examiner shall be according to General rules and regulation no. 4.
- Functions of the tabulators for finalization of the results shall be according to General rules and regulations no. 5.
- Functions of the Controller of Examinations regarding examinations and publication of results shall be according to General rules and regulations no. 6.
ADMISSION OF THE EXPELLED STUDENT
If a student is expelled from the university for any reason as the case may be, s/he shall have to get himself/herself re-admitted in Masters class for once only. Generally, the syllabus in force for the examination concerned will be applicable for such a student. If any drastic changes in the syllabus are made, s/he shall have to appear at the examination with his/her original syllabus on the recommendation of the Academic Committee of the Department.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR
The Academic Committee of the concerned Departments shall prepare an Academic Calendar showing the beginning of each academic year, date for commencement and suspension of classes, commencement of each examination. Classes will be suspended at least 30 days before the commencement of each examination. There will be a gap of at least 30 days from the date of publication of results of previous year and date of commencement of the current year.
REVIEW OF THE ORDINANCE
The ordinance may be reviewed by the Academic Council on recommendation of the Faculty through Ordinance Committee.
EFFECT OF THE ORDINANCE
This ordinance shall be effective from the Academic session 2002-2003 and shall supersede any decision taken before.
Prof. Dr. M. A. Gafur
Convenor
Ordinance Sub-Committee, C.U.
Sd/ Illegible
Prof. Dr. M. Mozaffar Hossain
Member
Ordinance Sub-Committee, C.U.
Sd/Illegible
Prof. Dr. Ali Ashraf
Member
Ordinance Sub-Committee.C.U.
APPENDIX-A
COMPUTATION OF GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA)
Example: GPA calculation
| Course No. | No. of credits | Marks (%) | Letter grade | Grade points | Points Secured | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-501 | 4 | 58 | B+ | 3.25 | 13 | 60.00/24=2.50 |
| C-502 | 4 | 43 | C | 2.50 | 10 | |
| C-503 | 4 | 35 | F | 0.00 | 00 | |
| C-504 | 4 | 57 | B+ | 3.25 | 13 | |
| C-505 | 4 | 68 | A- | 3.50 | 14 | |
| C-506 | 4 | 42 | C | 2.50 | 10 | |
| Total | 24 | – | – | – | 60 |
(As per recommendation of 217th Extra ordinary Academic Council meeting vide resolution no. 1 held on 15.09.2008 & approved by 457th Syndicate meeting vide resolution no. 3 held on 23.09.2008 and later on amended and revised as per the Syndicate empowerment.)