ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

CREDIT HOUR SYSTEM

Courses are weighed in terms of credit hours. One semester credit hour is equivalent to 15 lecture hours per academic term, or from 30 to 45 laboratory or training hours. Courses are designated by an index of three numbers. The first number refers to lecture hours per week, the second to laboratory hours and the third to credit hours. Thus, if a course is indexed with (3-2-4) for example, this means that the three stands for lecture hours per week per semester, the two stands for laboratory hours per week per semester and the four is the sum of lectures and laboratory hours in terms of credits.

ACADEMIC LOAD

The number of credit hours the student carries during a semester is referred to as the academic load. Normally, the load for a full time student is between 12 and 19 credit hours, provided that the number of courses does not exceed six. Under special circumstances and for one semester only, however, the chairman of the department concerned may allow a full time student to register for less than 12 credit hours. Permission to register for 12 credit hours may be granted upon the approval of the Dean of the College and by satisfying one of the following two conditions:

• A GPA of not less than 3.00.
• That 12 credits are needed to complete graduation requirements.

A summer academic load is normally between 3 and 10 credit hours.

GRADING SYSTEM

The university has adopted a letter grading system that includes plus (+) and minus (-) indicators. The following table shows each letter grade with its equivalent in terms of grade points and percentage:

Four more letter symbols can also be allocated: “W”, “WP”, “WF” and “I”. For the first three, kindly refer to the section on Adding and Dropping Courses. As for “I”, it stands for incomplete work. This will be allocated to a student who does not fulfil all the course requirements by the end of the semester and who presents a valid excuse acceptable to the instructor of the course. In the case of undergraduate students, the course requirements must be completed any time before the end of the following semester; otherwise, “I” is converted to “IF” designating a failure resulting from an incomplete not made up, as prescribed above, by the student.

GRADE POINT AVERAGE

The Grade Point Average (GPA) is an index representing the students’ academic achievement. The computation of the GPA is determined as follows:
Each letter grade is assigned grade points (see grading system).
These points are multiplied by the credit hours of the corresponding course to obtain “quality points” for each course.
The total quality points are divided by the total semester credit hours officially undertaken by the student. A GPA may range from 0.00 to 4.00; calculations are carried only to two decimal points.
For purposes of academic evaluation, two types of GPA are used:
Semester GPA which is based on courses taken during a given semester.
Cumulative GPA (CGPA) which is based on all the academic work taken at the university.

REPEATING COURSES

A student may repeat courses completed with a grade of (C-) or less for the purpose of either improving the GPA or attaining a better understanding of the course. A student must repeat any major course (required or elective) which he/she has failed. When a course is repeated, all grades shall enter into the computation of the student’s overall grade point average.

ADDING AND DROPPING COURSES

Students are allowed to add and drop courses during the first two weeks of the semester and on the first day of the summer session. Beginning with the third week of a semester and until the end of the fourth, students may withdraw from the courses but the letter “W” will be inscribed on their records. As for the summer session, students are allowed to add and drop courses during the first week only, but a “W” will be inscribed on their records if they withdraw during the second week.
Depending on their average as of the time of withdrawal, students may withdraw from courses, with the letter “WP” (withdraw with pass) or “WF” (withdraw with failure) if the withdrawal occurs any time between the beginning of the fifth week of the semester and the end of the thirteenth. In the case of the summer session, the “WP” and “WF” period extends from the beginning of the third week until the end of the sixth. For computing purposes “WP” is neglected; the “WF” is computed as “F”.

ACADEMIC PROBATION

A student is placed on academic probation for poor academic achievement. The academic probation is effective as of the following semester. Scholastic probationary actions are suspended for summer work. Instead, summer grades are considered together with the following semester’s grades in the light of which the necessary academic action is taken. The probation is removed when the student raises his/her CGPA to 2.00 or above by repeating courses. A student on academic probation is not allowed to register for more than 14 credit hours per semester or more than 7 credit hours in the summer session. The following table shows the minimum CGPA at which the probationary action is enforced in terms of the credit hours completed by the student:
Less than 15 credits No probation
16 – 30 credits 1.50
31 – 45 credits 1.75
46 – 95 credits 2.00
96 and above No probation

DISMISSAL

A Bachelor’s or an Associate Diploma student who fails to clear his/her probationary state may be dismissed permanently from the programme in which he/she is enrolled.
A student, who is dismissed from a specific programme, may apply for transfer to another programme within the same college or to a different college according to the rules and regulations that govern transfers. If the student fails to attain a cumulative GPA above the minimum GPA in the new programme, however, he/she will be dismissed permanently from the University.
Upon transfer to a different college, a student may transfer courses (taken in the previous college) towards his/her new degree, provided these courses are part of the curriculum of the new programme. The grades of these transferred courses will count towards the student’s cumulative GPA.

UNDERGRADUATE ATTENDANCE REGULATIONS

Students’ attendance is evaluated according to the following rules:
1. A student’s absence from lectures, discussions, laboratories or classes in excess of 25% of the total assigned session will result in an enforced withdrawal of the student from the course, regardless of the causes for his/her absence. The grade will be as follows:
a. A grade of (W) is given to a student who misses 25% or more of the total sessions assigned to the course if he/she presents a valid excuse for his/her absence.
b. A grade of (WF) will be given to a student who misses 25% or more of the assigned sessions without a valid excuse.
2. A student must submit in writing to the instructor concerned the reasons for any absence. This should be done within a period of three days as of the resumption of attendance.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS AND COURSE SUBSTITUTION

Students are strongly urged to check carefully, by themselves and with their respective advisors, that all graduation requirements are fulfilled. To qualify for graduation, a student must meet all the requirements of an academic programme in effect during the time he/she is actively pursuing that programme. However, upon withdrawing from the Ahlia University for one or more semesters, a student who is re-admitted becomes subject to the rules of re-admission, and consequently, to new graduation requirements if, within this period, any changes have been introduced.
If, through no fault of his/her own, a student cannot complete the requirements of a particular programme for which he/she is otherwise eligible (courses are discontinued, new required courses are introduced for which the student does not hold suitable prerequisites, etc.), substitutions may be made by the department but should be approved by the college. The minimum credit hour requirements should not, in any way, be affected by course substitution.

REGISTRATION AND ACADEMIC RULES

For a student to graduate, he/she must complete the required number of credits in his/her programme. He/she should also:
Attain a grade of C (2.00) or better in his/her cumulative GPA in the programme requirements
Attain a grade of C (2.00) or better in his/her specialization requirements.
Undergraduate students working for a bachelor’s degree are expected to complete all the requirements of graduation within seven calendar years as of the date of admission to their respective programmes. In special cases the college concerned may allow an extension of one year.

DEANS HONOUR ROLE

To be placed on the Dean’s Honour List at the end of a given Fall or Spring Term, a student must:

• Have an academic load of at least 12 credits
• Not be repeating the term or on probation
• Have passed all the courses of the term and have attained an overall GPA of 3.5 or more in these courses
• Be deemed worthy by the dean to be on the Honour List
• Not to have been subject to any disciplinary action within the University

GRADUATION WITH DISTINCTION

In order to graduate with distinction, a student must have a CGPA of 3.50 or higher for all work undertaken since admission to the programme. For high distinction, a CGPA of 3.75 or higher is required.

FEES AND EXPENSES

Ahlia University’s policy on fees and expenses is to charge students at a minimum consistent with the provision of high quality instruction and superior facilities and equipment. THE UNIVERSITY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ANY OR ALL FEES AT ANY TIME WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. Such changes will be applicable to students currently registered in the University as well as to new students.

PAYMENT OF FEES

Tuition and registration fees are due on the dates indicated in the Academic Calendar. Other fees are due in advance of the service rendered.
Each AU student must pay all his/her tuition and other charges levies.
All students must finalize registration and settle their accounts with the University on time. Under exceptional circumstances, with prior approval of the President of the University, a student may be permitted, for one semester only, to pay in installments.
Otherwise, late payment incurs a late payment fee and the University reserves the right to charge additional successive levies on delinquent accounts. At the discretion of the President, a delinquent student is liable to having: his/her grades on final exams withheld by the Registrar, his/her requests for transcripts denied, and his/her registration cancelled for the period of the delinquency.

WITHDRAWALS

In the event that a student withdraws for justifiable reasons after registration, the following schedule will be applied for the Fall and Spring Semesters:
Before the official beginning of classes 100% of tuition

• During the first two weeks of classes 75% of tuition
• No tuition is refundable after the second week of classes.
• For the Summer Session the following refund schedule will be applied:
• Before the official beginning of classes 100% of tuition
• During the first week of classes 75% of tuition
• No tuition is refundable after the first week of classes.

In all cases, all other fees paid, including the Registration fee, are not refundable under any circumstance.