The Choice Based Credit System was introduced in the University Teaching Departments from the academic year 1999-2000 and suitably modified as per recommendations of TANSCHE in 2008­2009. From 2014-2015, uniform frame work has been evolved and implemented.

Regulations

1. The regulations formed herein shall apply to all post graduate programmes and M. Phil, programmes conducted by Schools / Departments of the Madurai Kamaraj University.

2. The following terms regarding these regulations may kindly be noted:

“Academic Committee” means the Committee constituted under the CBCS regulations.

“Post-Graduate Programme” means a Master degree. The term excludes M. Phil and Ph.D. programmes. A P.G. program or a M. Phil, programme can be offered by an individual Department /School/Centre.

"Integrated Master Programme" means a 5-year combined U.G.-P.G. programmes in B.Tech-M.Tech. in Film and Electronic Media Studies offered by the Centre for Film and Electronic Media Studies and B.B.A.-M.B.A. in Tourism and Hotel Management offered by Centre for Tourism and Hotel Management.

“School I Department Council” means the team of teaching faculty and one or more experts from outside (including Subject experts from other Universities/ Research institute/ Industry/ Corporate/ Government/ Public sector / reputed NGO and Alumni). The Council is a statutory body and will have the necessary powers of the Board of Studies and the Controller of Examinations. The Chairperson of the School or the Head of the Department will be the Chairman of the Council. The Chairman will convene the council meeting and look after all the matters related to the implementation of the CBCS scheme. The Chairman may nominate one of the teaching faculties as the Controller of Examinations so as to look after the conduct of the Examinations. A Centre or any recognized body of the University with the permission of Syndicate may offer a PG programme with its own teaching faculty and / or one or more experts from outside the center. Here the Centre Council will have the same status as School / Department Council.

“Core Course” means a course that is offered by the parent Department / School / Centre and this will form the major component of the subject matter of the Programme. This cannot be substituted by any other course.

“Elective Course” is a course offered by either the parent Department / School / Centre or other Department / School / Centre. The student has the choice in selecting a particular elective course.

“SSS Course” (Soft Skill/ Skill based/ Supportive course) is meant to enhance the communication, personality and professional competency of each student. These courses are offered by competent departments/ schools/ centres. SSS courses will be of two levels (basic and advanced). Each student must take at least one SSS course in each semester. To opt for the advanced level SSS course, successful completion of same course at basic level is mandatory. A student cannot register for a SSS course offered by the parent or closely related department/school/centre.

“Self-study Course” is a course offered by the parent department. The student may be allowed to choose additional courses, enabling him to acquire extra credits through self-study (This course is not to be taken into account for awarding grades/class).

“Internship” : Students can opt for training program in an appropriate industry / corporate / government or public sector / reputed NGO / research institute for a minimum of one month and a maximum of six months. Prior registration is mandatory for internship through student advisor / programme coordinator with the permission from the consent organization where he/she will undergo the internship. Submission of report on the learning / project work during the internship is required and the same shall be evaluated for grading.

“Auditing”: Students are permitted to audit a maximum of two courses without assigning any credits. It is left to the discretion of the course teacher / individual faculty member to permit students.

The “Student Adviser” nominated by the Chairman of the School/ Department Council will give counseling and appropriate guidance to the students in selecting their elective courses and soft skill and supportive courses by understanding their aptitude, capability, etc.

Registration

1) Every School/Department will have faculty members as students advisors. The School /Department Council shall fix the number of students to be counseled by each faculty member. The student advisor will advise the student about the academic program and counsel on the choice of courses depending on the student "sacademic background and objective. The student will then register for the course he/she plans to take for the semester before the commencement of the classes. The student has to complete the pre-requisites for the course prescribed by the advisor concerned.

2) The University, on recommendation from the School/Department council shall prescribe the maximum number of students in each course taking into account the infrastructural facilities available.

3) The University shall make available to all students this CBCS handbook, listing the entire courses offered in every semester specifying the credits, the pre-requisites, the list of topics, the course contents, the name of the course teacher, the time and place of the classes for the course and the examination schedule. Each course will be assigned a code consisting of the following

For PG program:

* The first three characters will indicate the Department / Branch code.

* The fourth and fifth character will indicate the year in which the syllabus is introduced / modified by way of showing the last two digit of the year.

* The sixth character will indicate the semester number or the level of the course.

* The seventh character will indicate the course number in that semester.

* The last (eighth) character will be an alphabet indicating the type of course: C for core course, E for Elective, S for SSS courses and P for Project, D for Dissertation and I for internship.

For M. Phil program :

* The first four characters will indicate the Department /

Branch code.

* The fifth character will indicate the semester number.

* The sixth character will indicate the course number in that semester.

* The last (seventh) will be an alphabet indicating the type of course: C for core course, E for Elective, P for Project and D for Dissertation.

For the 5-year Integrated Masters programme:

* The first three characters will indicate the Department / Branch code.

* The fourth and fifth character will indicate the year in which the syllabus is introduced / modified by way of showing the last digit of the year.

* The sixth character will indicate the semester number or level of the course.

* The seventh character will indicate the course number in that semester.

* The last (eighth) character will be an alphabet indicating the

* Type of course: L for language, A for Allied, C for Core course, E for Elective, S for SSS courses, P for Project, D for Dissertation, N for Environmental Studies, V for Value Education, X for Extension Activities and I for internship.

Credits and Degrees

1) The normal duration of a Post Graduate Program shall be 4 semesters except MCA (6 Semesters) & M.Ed (2 Semesters) and five year Integrated Programmes (10 Semesters). The Normal duration of M. Phil programmes shall be 2 semesters.

2) The duration of each semester shall be 90 working days inclusive of examinations. Classes shall be conducted for 30 hours in five days per week with six hours per day.

3) There are three kinds of courses: Core courses, Electives courses and SSS courses. Core courses are offered from the Departments/ Schools concerned. All students shall undertake a project/dissertation with 4 credits. Dissertation / Project work forms part of the prescribed core courses. Weightage for the project is based on duration but not exceeding 14 credits for a candidate.

4) The School/Department Council shall report every year to the Academic Council on the courses offered in each School/Department under Choice Based Credit System.

5) In the choice of Electives, a student may opt for any Elective Course offered by the university Departments/Schools. However, the student shall be guided by the student advisor, who shall consider the relevance of the course for the student and also his/her abilities. In general, no student may register for more than two Electives in any semester.

Post Graduate Courses:

All one year Master programmes (2 Semester) shall have the following composition of course credits, viz.

Mandatory credits:

Core courses - Minimum 32 credits

Elective courses - Minimum 8 credits

SSS courses (Category A) - Minimum 5 credits (2 + 3)

Total - Minimum 45 credits

Additional credits:

Self-study courses - Maximum 6 credits (2 x 3) (each course carries 3 credits)

Self-study courses and internship are not mandatory. Students can opt for these courses apart from their core, elective and SSS courses, based on their interest and with the consent of the student advisor. The additional credits earned by opting SSS and self-study courses will not be considered for GPA / CGPA / grade / class.

All two years Master programmes (4 Semester) shall have the following composition of course credits, viz.

Mandatory credits:

Core courses

- Minimum 64 credits

Elective courses

- Minimum 16 credits

SSS courses (Category A)

- Minimum 5 credits (2 + 3)

SSS courses (Category B)

- Minimum 5 credits (2 + 3)

Total

- Minimum 90 credits

Additional credits:

Self-study courses

- Maximum 9 credits (3 x 3)

(each course carries 3 credits)

Internship

- Maximum 4 credits (2 x 2)

(each course carries 2 credits)

Self-study courses and internship are not mandatory. Students can opt for these courses apart from their core, elective and SSS courses, based on their interest and with the consent of the student advisor. The additional credits earned by opting SSS and self-study courses will not be considered for GPA / CGPA / grade / class.

All three years Master programmes (6 Semester) shall have the following composition of course credits, viz.

Mandatory credits:

Core courses

- Minimum 100 credits

Elective courses

- Minimum 24 credits

SSS courses (Category A)

- Minimum 5 credits (2+3)

SSS courses (Category B)

- Minimum 7 credits (2+3+2)

Total

- Minimum 136 credits

Additional credits:

Self-study courses

- Maximum 12 credits (3 x 4)

(each course carries 3 credits)

Internship - Maximum 8 credits (2 x 4) (each course carries 2 credits)

Self-study courses and internship are not mandatory. Students
can opt for these courses apart from their core, elective and SSS courses, based on their interest and with the consent of the student advisor. The additional credits earned by opting SSS and self-study courses will not be considered for GPA / CGPA / grade / class.

The B.Tech-M.Tech five years integrated Master programme in Film and Electronic Media (10 Semesters) shall have the following composition of course credits, viz.

Mandatory credits:

Core courses

- Minimum 122 credits

Elective courses

- Minimum 70 credits

Ancillary Subjects

- Minimum 19 credits

Language courses

- Minimum 24 credits

Internship

- Minimum 10 credits

SSS courses (Category A)

- Minimum 10 credits

SSS courses (Category B)

- Minimum 10 credits

Environmental Studies Value

- Minimum 02 credits

Education Extension

- Minimum 02 credits

Extension Activities

- Minimum 01 credits

Total

- Minimum 270 credits

Additional credits:

Self-study courses

- Maximum 15 credits (3 x 5) (each course carries 3 credits)

Self-study courses and internship are not mandatory. Students can opt for these courses apart from their core, elective and SSS courses, based on their interest and with the consent of the student advisor. The additional credits earned by opting SSS and self-study courses will not be considered for GPA / CGPA / grade / class.

The BBA-MBA five years integrated Master programme in Tourism & Hotel Management (10 Semesters) shall have the following composition of course credits, viz.

Mandatory credits:

Core courses

- Minimum 130 credits

Elective courses

- Minimum 24 credits

Allied Subjects

- Minimum 24 credits

Language courses

- Minimum 24 credits

Internship

- Minimum 03 credits

SSS courses (Category A)

- Minimum 10 credits

SSS courses (Category B)

- Minimum 10 credits

Environmental Studies Value

- Minimum 02 credits

Education Extension

- Minimum 02 credits

Activities

- Minimum 01 credits

Total

- Minimum 230 credits

Additional credits:

Self-study courses

- Maximum 15 credits (3 x 5) (each course carries 3 credits)

Attendance

The Minimum attendance for each semester is 75%. If a candidate does not have 75% of attendance, he has to produce a medical certificate for an absence of up to 65%. For less than 65% up to 60% the student has to produce a medical certificate and pay a penalty of Rs.500 for each paper. If it is less than 60%, the student has to repeat the semester.

Duration

The minimum duration for completion of a one-year Master Programme in any subject is two semesters. The maximum

The minimum duration for completion of a two-year Master Programme in any subject is four semesters. The maximum period for completion is ten semesters counting from first semester.

The minimum duration for completion of a three- year Master Programme in any subject is six semesters. The maximum period for completion is twelve semesters counting from first semester.

The minimum duration for completion of a five-year integrated Master Programme in any subject is ten semesters. The maximum period for completion is twenty semesters counting from first semester.

Even if a candidate earns the required number of credits in less than 4/6/10 semester, he/she has to necessarily study for 4 semesters for the two years Master programme, for 6 semesters for a three years Master programme and for 10 semesters for a five- year integrated Master programme.

Course duration:

Theory (Lecture) : 1 credit = 1 hr/per week

Practicals/Project/Field work : 1 credit = 2-3 hrs /perweek

Evaluation Process

1) Each end semester examination shall be conducted by the concerned the Department / School / Centre for all the courses run in the School / Centre.

2) The student who failed in a course may appear for end- semester examination in the respective semester, when the course is offered next time.

3) In addition, a supplementary examination shall be conducted in July every year only for out-going students who fail in a paper(s). However, no supplementary examination will be conducted at the intermediate stage of the course i.e. after 1^st/2^nd/3^rd semester for a 2-year PG program, 1^st/2^nd/3r^d/4^th/5^th semester for 3 year program and 1^st)2^nd/3^rd/4^th/5^th/6^th/7^th/8^th/9^th semester for 5 year program. All the out-going one-year PG and M.Phil students will be allowed to appear for supplementary examination, but not the earlier batch students. Except the outgoing students (every year), all other students (including who are completed the course and not passed the course, having arrear in a paper) are not eligible to appear for supplementary examination.

4) The Questions for core papers and elective papers shall be set by external examiners.

5) Evaluation of all semester examination shall be done by the course teacher along with the other faculty members in charge of the course.

6) For the theory papers, the marks for continuous assessment shall be 25% and marks for end semester examination 75%. For the practical papers, the marks for continuous assessment shall be 40% and marks for end semester examination 60%.

7) All rules regarding the transparency of internal assessment should be strictly observed by the course teachers and the schools. Supportive documents for the internal assessment shall be maintained at least for four semesters. It may be noted that the internal assessment is done throughout the semester.

8) There shall be three written tests in a semester. The continuous assessment (25%) shall comprise the best two written tests (15%), assignment (5%) and seminar (5%). Regarding the test, three tests are to be conducted for 25 marks, out of which the best two will be taken. The candidate should attend at least two tests and one seminar for each paper.

Note:

In case, a student has failed to attend at least two tests, he shall write the re-test(s) so as to become eligible to appear for the final examination.

9) The Chairperson of the School shall display the provisional results of the students as approved by the School/Department Council within two weeks after the examination. To ensure transparency, the photocopy of the answer scripts shall be made available to the students who are not satisfied with the marking, on payment of Rs.100/- for scrutiny. The student can seek clarification from the course teacher /Student advisor, regarding the evaluation of scripts within three days of publishing the provisional results in the School notice board. If any student has complaints about the evaluation, the same may be submitted to the Chairperson of the School in writing for reassessment along with the fee of Rs 100/- within a week after the publication of the provisional result. The student will be then asked to meet the School/Department Council. After hearing the views of the student as well as the course Teacher /Student Adviser, if the School/Department Council is convinced of the student "s grievance, the Council shall nominate one of the members

present in the meeting to reassess the paper. The marks awarded by the second examiner will be final.

10) The School/Department Council will prepare two copies each of the result sheets - including break-up for each semester and sectional categories - and send one copy to the University and retain the other copy in the School. After confirmation of the results of the examinations, the marks obtained by the candidate shall be sent to the Choice Based Credit System office for issue of mark statements, certificates etc.

Evaluation

Marks scored between

Letter Grade

95 and 100

0+

90 and 94

O

85 and 89

D++

80 and 84

D+

75 and 79

D

70 and 74

A++

65 and 69

A+

60 and 64

A

55 and 59

B+

50 and 54

B

0 and 49

U*

ABSENT

AA

U indicates “Reappear” in that course.

There is no passing minimum for all internal evaluations. However the student should undergo the continuous assessment process for the internal evaluation (by writing tests/ assignments, etc.) The passing minimum for the external evaluation (45%) is as follows:

Theory examination : 34 out of 75 marks

Practical : 27 out of 60 marks

Marks and Letter Grade

To get a pass in a course, students should obtain a minimum of 50 marks in the aggregate of the internal and external evaluations. The performance of a candidate in each course is consolidated at the end of the semester in which the course is offered. The marks scored by a candidate in each course will be graded into an eleven-point scale as per the details provided below:

Grade point

The marks obtained by the student in all the courses of each Part shall be combined by giving due weightage to each course so as to get an overall measure of his/her performance. For this purpose the mark obtained in a course will be converted to a numerical value known as Grade Point which is defined as

Grade Point = Actual Mark X 0.1

For instance, if the score is 83 then his Grade Point is 8.3.

Grade Point Average

The weighted average of the Grade Points of all completed courses in a semester by taking the credits as weights is called Grade Point Average. This shall be computed for courses in each Semester. In other words, for each Semester,

GPA= (Sum of the products of the Grade point and the respective credit of all completed courses) / (Sum of the credits of these

courses).

Mathematically, for each Semester,

GPA = ∑ j Cj (GP) / ∑ j Cj

where (GP)j is the grade point for course j

Cj is the credit for course j

∑j is the sum over all courses of that

Cumulative Grade Point Average

The Cumulative Grade Point Average gives an overall measure of the performance of a student in all semesters. This shall be calculated for each Semester by dividing the sum of products of Grade Point and the credit (of all completed courses) by the sum of the credits (of these courses). In other words, the weighted average of the Grade Points of all completed courses in a program by taking the credits as weights is called Cumulative Grade Point Average. That is,

CGPA= (Sum of products of the Grade point and the respective credit of all completed courses) / (Sum of the credits of these courses).

Mathematically, for each Semester,

CGPA= ∑ j Cj (GP)j / ∑ j Cj

where (GP)j is the grade point for course j

Cj is the credit for course j

∑j is the sum over all courses of that semester.

Classification

For each programme, the overall performance of the candidates shall be classified on the basis of the CGPA obtained as per the details given in the following table. The class of the students is specified based on the Grade and CGPA.

CGPA lies between

Grade

CLASS

9.50000 and 10.0000

O+

9.00000 and 9.49999

O

8.50000 and 8.99999

D++

8.00000 and 8.49999

D+

7.50000 and 7.99999

D

FIRST

7.00000 and 7.49999

A++

6.50000 and 6.99999

A+

6.00000 and 6.49999

A

5.50000 and 5.99999

B+

SECOND

5.00000 and 5.49999

B

Mark Statement

1) The CBCS Office under the seal of the University shall issue

to the students a mark sheet on completion of each

semester.

a) Title of the Course

b) The credits associated with the course

c) The marks secured by the student for each course

d) The letter grade for each course, and Grade point average for each semester

e) The total credits earned by the student in that Semester.

2) The CBCS Office also shall issue to the students a

consolidated mark statement with signature of the Controller of Examinations on successful completion of the course.

a) Title of the course

b) The credits associated with the course

c) The marks in percentage secured by the student for each course and the corresponding grade point.

d) The total credits earned by the student in all Semester/ Trimester.

e) The cumulative grade point average and the class secured.

3) The mark sheet issued at the end of the final semester shall

contain the details of all the courses taken. This shall include

the titles of the courses, the credits associated with each

course, the marks and the final class in which the student is placed.

4) In the case of those who do not complete all the course components, it will be indicated in the mark sheet as not completed. However, students will be permitted to complete the course with the concurrence of the Chairperson of the School with prior approval.

5) Those who fail in a particular course in any of the semester shall be permitted to reappear for the course in the supplementary examination conducted in July every Year.

M. PHIL COURSES

Program Duration One Semester

Accumulated minimum credits For successful completion of the Program

2 Semesters
90 Working days

36 credits (31+5)

Research Methodology

5 credits

General Core Course

5 credits

Elective Course related to project work

5 credits

Research Work (Internal Marks)

6 credits

Project

10 credits

Viva-voce

5 credits

Total credits (Minimum) : 36 Credits

The evaluation of a student on each course is based on Continuous assessment and End-semester examination with maximum marks 40 and 60 respectively for theory courses. 50 marks for Project Dissertation, 25 marks for viva-voce and 25 marks for internal. The passing minimum is 50% in aggregate with a minimum of 45% in the end semester examination.

The Dissertation / Project report must be submitted on or before 30^th April of the concerned academic year. Those who are not able to submit the dissertation by 30^th April of that academic year, is divided by the sum of the credits of all courses. On successful completion of the M.Phil programme, candidate will be declared to have passed the examination in the following categories.

Distinction: 80% and above

I Class : 60% and above but below 80%

II Class: 50% and above but below 60%

an extension of two months shall be given with one time penalty of Rs.500/-. After that period, the penalty is Rs.150/- for every month. Attendance is compulsory and student may leave for field work/data collection on prior permission only.

Minimum attendance required: 75%

The Project work may be given to the candidate even at the beginning of the M. Phil. Program, so that the literature collection and methodology on the research problem could be completed in the first semester leaving enough time (the whole of second semester) for the research work. The course registration for dissertation shall be in the first semester itself and a separate registration form shall be used for Registration.

Mark Sheet

The CBCS Office under the Seal of the university shall issue to the students a mark sheet on completion of each semester.

* Title of the Course

* The credits associated with the course

* The marks secured by the student for each course The total credits earned by the student in that semester.

* The total marks as weighted average in that semester.

The CBCS Office also shall issue to the students a consolidated mark statement with signature of the Controller of Examinations on successful completion of the course.

* Title of the course

* The credits associated with the course

The marks secured by the student for each course The total credits earned by the student in all semesters

The total marks as cumulative weighted average and the class secured.

To arrive at the cumulative weighted average of marks, the total of the product of the credits assigned to each course and the percentage of marks secured in the course be obtained. This total

School/Department Council:

1) Every P.G Program and M. Phil program conducted in the University shall be monitored by the School/Department Council. Subject to these regulations the School/Department Council shall be the authority to design courses and prescribe the mode of conduct of the courses, examinations and evaluation. Teachers declare the results and arrange to issue of mark statements. It shall be open to the Council to bring to the notice of the Vice-Chancellor any difficulty encountered in the conduct of the classes or evaluation or any other related matter.

2) Chairperson of the School shall be the Chairperson of the School/ Department Council. All other members of the faculty of the School shall be the members of the School/Department Council. If there is more than one PG course in the School, then the concerned Head of the Department shall be the Course Convener for the respective course. The course convener, in consultation with the faculty of the department, shall design courses, prescribe the mode of conducting courses, conduct examinations and evaluate the students and teachers. The School/Department Council shall be the authority to approve the course and to declare the results and arrange for the issue of statement of marks. However, the nomination of Course Convener will not be applicable in the case of Schools running common courses.

Academic Committee

1) An Academic Committee is constituted by the Vice­Chancellor to monitor and co-ordinate the working of the Choice Based Credit System.

2) The committee consists of

  a) The Vice-Chancellor

  b) Three members of the Syndicate

  c) Three Head of the Departments of the University other than the Syndicate members.

  d) One Associate Professor and one Assistant Professor among the University teachers other than Syndicate members and Head of the Departments.

3) The Vice-Chancellor shall be the Chairman of the Committee.

4) A senior member of the Syndicate nominated by the Vice­Chancellor from among the members of the committee shall be the Vice-Chairman of the committee.