Sarhad
University of Science & Information Technology, Peshawar
Post Covid-19 Online Education and
Assessment Policy
1. In the wake of covid-19 lockdown from 13th March, 2020, the University started preparing to switch over to online education as per the guidelines of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). This policy, aimed at savings students’ precious time during the lockdown period,lays down the procedure for conduct of classes and assessment/evaluation using the online technologies including use of the SUIT’s LMS. This policy can be termed as SUIT Post Covid-19 Online Education and Assessment Policy. It bears approval of the Online Academic Committee (OAC) constituted for the purpose.
2.
Use of Learning Management System
(LMS):
Sarhad University has MOODLE based LMS that is continuously being populated by the faculty members. Minimum features of functional Learning Management System (LMS) required for Virtual Instructions are given in university. The University has planned hybrid mechanism wherein audio/video lectures, PowerPoint and MSWord/PDF documents, video clips etc are placed in the relevant folders (for use in asynchronous mode). The faculty members will conduct online classes as per the already shared timetable through Google Meet or Zoom (the synchronous mode). Attendance and recordings of these sessions will be recorded and students will be allowed to appear in the examinations only if they meet the attendance requirement.
3.
This policy document is divided into four parts.
3.1 Part-I relates to the Main Campus Students
who are deprived of the on-campus opportunity
due to the lockdown.
3.2 Part-IIconcerns the students studying at
various Distance Education Centres (DECs) all across the country.
3.3 Part-III covers the roles and
responsibilities of various offices for the purpose of quality assurance of the
online academic activities.
3.4 Part-IV covers online enrollment and attendance
procedure, timetables, Students’ Feedback, contact numbers and email addresses
of the faculty/staff responsible and a mechanism for Redressal of Grievances.
4.
Part-I: Policy for Main Campus Students
4.1 The
Fall 2019 Semester: At
the time of lockdown and closure of the institution, the Fall 2019 semester
examination of most of the departments were completed and their
Spring 2020 semester had just begun.
Their Fall 2019 semester is thus not affected. These include departments
of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer
Science & Information Technology, Business Administration, Economics, Chemistry,
Institute of Biological Sciences, Health Sciences, Urdu and Textile &
Fashion Design. The departments whose
Fall 2019 semester examinations were partly conducted and then halted due to
lockdown include Education, Library & Information Sciences, Sports Sciences&
Physical Education, Technologies and Pharmacy.
Their pending examination of the leftover courses will be conducted on
resumption of the on-campus activity.
However, students from these programs will be promoted provisionally to
the next higher semester so that their Spring 2020 semester is commenced
enabling them to complete their studies without wastage of time. They will be
required to appear in the deferred examination after 15th July, 2020
once the institutions are allowed to start face to face interaction.
4.2 The
Spring 2020 Semester: Immediately after the lockdown was imposed, the faculty members had been
directed to prepare and upload audio/video lectures of the courses scheduled
for the Spring 2020 semester. Students
were given access to the uploaded material and encouraged to interact with
their faculty using Google Meet/Zoom and WhatsApp groups. The purpose was to fine tune the online
activity before the Spring 2020 semester is launched.
4.2.1 Start of Spring 2020
Semester: The Spring 2020 semester is set to
commence with effect from Monday, 1stJune, 2020 as per the timetable
already shared. There was no restriction
for all those who did not have any connectivity issue. However, from 1st June, access
will be granted to only those who have paid their dues in full. Those who have paid partial dues will have
access but in order to appear in any examination, they will have to clear their
outstanding dues.
4.2.2 Provision
of Course Drop/Semester Off:In view of the concerns raised by many who faced connectivity
problem or did not feel comfortable with online education, anyone who paid
his/her Spring 2020 fee and is unable or unwilling to join the online classes
can apply for dropping of the whole semester (semester freeze) or particular
course(s) within four weeks of commencement of the semester (i.e., by 28thJune,
2020). Such students will be able to
have the paid fee adjusted against courses taken in Fall 2020 or subsequent
semesters. However, students opting for
course drop/semester off will not be entertained if they subsequently express
desire to change their option and join the semester.
4.2.3 Assessment
and Evaluation: The
students will be required to appear in online quizzes and submit assignments
during the online conduct of the semester.
In case the institutions are allowed to function after 15th
July, 2020, mid semester as well as semester final examinations will be
conducted at Campus. However, in case
the lockdown is prolonged further, the mid and final examinations will also be
conducted online. The duration of each
online examination paper will be two hours.
It will be open book examination in which students will be allowed to
appear in their own time (within a 24 hour bracket). Questions will be selected from a bank of
questions already prepared and saved. The paper once opened will have to be
attempted within two hours. Grading will be based on curving rather than the
usual fixed point method.
5.
Part-II: Policy for Distant Students: This part of the policy applies to those
students who were admitted in distance education programs of the University and
are currently pursuing their degree programs through various DECs.
5.1 The
Fall 2019 Semester:At
the time of lockdown and closure of the institution, the Fall 2019 semester
examination was in progress and had to be discontinued. The assessment of the students enrolled in
Fall 2019 semester is planned to be as per the following:
5.1.1 Those
papers that were conducted prior to the lockdown will be evaluated and graded as
per the prevailing procedure.
5.1.2 As
regards the courses that were enrolled on regular basis but their semester
final examinations could not be conducted due to the lockdown, these courses
will be reflected in the transcripts on audit basis (with S representing Satisfactory or U representing Unsatisfactory) depending
on marks in the mid semester examination.
The Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade will not contribute towards the
GPA/CGPA. Reason for award of the letter
Grade on audit basis will be reflected in the “Remarks” column on the transcript.
Those students who do not desire to be awarded Satisfactory Grade need
to convey their unwillingness through their respective DECs within one month
time (by 28 June, 2020).
5.1.3 For
those who had enrolled in course(s) as reappear students for the purpose of
improvement will be allowed to appear in the examination of the same paper(s)
in Fall 2020 semester without paying any extra dues.
5.2 The
Spring 2020 Batch: Those
admitted in Spring 2020 semester will start and continue their education online
as per the university distance education policy. Necessary instructions to this
effect have already been issued to the DECs.
Students will be given access to the material (video lectures,
PowerPoint and MSword/PDF documents, video clips etc) uploaded by the
University on the University Portal.
These students will have to interact with the faculty from their
respective DEC using Google Meet/Zoom and WhatsApp groups. The Spring 2020 semester is scheduled to
commence with effect from 1stJune, 2020.
5.2.1 Start
of Spring 2020 Semester for Continuing Students: Those students who were admitted
prior to Fall 2019 and had already taken at least two semesters at the DECs and
whose Fall 2019 semester examination was discontinued due to lockdown, are
being provisionally promoted to the next semester. They will receive their Fall 2019 result
compiled as outlined in Para 5.1 above. The Spring 2020 semester is set to
commence with effect from Monday, 1stJune, 2020 as per the timetable
to be shared by the respective DEC.
Those who have paid their fee for the Spring 2020 semesterwill be
granted access and allowed to attend online classes.
5.2.2 Provision
of Course Drop/Semester Off: Any student who faces connectivity
problem or does not feel comfortable with online education or is unable or
unwilling to join the online classes can apply for dropping of the whole
semester or particular course(s) within four weeks of commencement of the
semester (i.e, by 28thJune, 2020).
Such students will be able to have the paid fee adjusted against courses
taken in Fall 2020 or subsequent semester.
However, students opting for course drop/semester off will not be
entertained if they subsequently express desire to change their option and join
the semester.
5.2.3 Assessment
and Evaluation: The students will be required to
appear in online quizzes and assignments during the semester. In case, the DECs are allowed to function
after 15th July, 2020, mid semester as well as semester final
examination will be conducted as per previous practice. However, in case the
lockdown is prolonged further, the mid and final examinations will be conducted
online. The duration of each online
examination paper will be two hours. It
will be open book examination in which students will be allowed to appear in
their own time (within a 24 hour bracket).
Questions will be selected from a bank of questions already prepared and
saved. The paper once opened will have to be attempted within two hours. Grading will be based on curving rather than
the usual fixed point method.
6.
Conduct of REC and Graduate Studies
Committee Meetings: The concerned Head of Department in collaboration
with ICT staff is to ensure:
(a) that
all members of the Research Evaluation Committee or the Graduate Studies Committee (whichever the case may be) as well
as the candidate have the appropriate
technology to participate in the meeting;
(b) that
the technology is tested prior to start of the meeting;
(c) that
remote participation is uninterrupted and, if interrupted, the proceedings of the meeting shall be paused until the connections
are fully restored;
(d)
that the proceedings of the
online meeting are recorded with prior information to all the Committee members and the candidate; and
(e) that
the recording is maintained as confidential record, for possible review/verification by the HEC or
the concerned regulating council.
7.
Convening of Meetings of BOASAR:
The Registrar Office is to prepare and send the agenda of the Board of
Advance Studies and Research (BOASAR) to all the members and seek their
observations in writing/through electronic means within a reasonable time. Online BOASAR meeting is to be scheduled and
conducted subsequently and its proceedings recorded.
8.
Graduating Students/Scholars:
8.1 As per HEC’s guidelines, the University
will allow and facilitate conduct of PhD/MPhil/MS defense or the presentation
of undergraduate project work through videoconference or electronic meetings.
8.2 Research/Project Report Submission: The
students/scholars can submit their theses/project reports online to their
respective supervisors who will forward these online to the Registrar Office
for online submission to the external and internal evaluators. The Registrar Office will be responsible for
collection of evaluation reports from external and internal evaluators and will
also be responsible to keep the Director QEC on board. All other prescribed requirements for the
submission, including format, deadlines, and contents, will remain unchanged.
8.3 Evaluation: The submitted documents
(i.e., PhD dissertations, MPhil/ MS theses, or final year project reports) are
to be circulated electronically to
both internal and external evaluators for review, comments and evaluation.
8.4 Protection of Privacy: Those
receiving the electronic copies of theses or reports are to adopt appropriate
security measures to safeguard against possible misuse, breach of privacy, or
unauthorized leakage of evaluation reports and other documents.
8.5 Open
Public Defense: In order to ensure the open public defense of
dissertations, theses, and projects, the University will make adequate
arrangements to enable the participation of all interested persons, including
faculty, students, and staff of the university as well as members of the
public. These arrangements will include an open call for registration on the
university website, and subsequent communication of online joining link to all those
who express interest in participation.
8.6 Participation of Examiners: The
University will arrange electronic defense once all the members of the Defense
Committee confirm their willingness and ability to join the electronic defense
at proposed date and time. If for any reason (including technical
difficulties), one or more of the required examiners are not able to
participate fully in the session, the defense would need to be re-scheduled
until all formalities are met.
8.7 ICT Tools: Online defense can be
conducted using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Google meet, Video
Conference, or other tool agreed upon by all the prospective participants.
8.8 Uninterrupted Proceedings and Recording:
The concerned supervisor in collaboration with ICT staff is to ensure:
(a) that
all members of the Defense Committee as well as the candidate have the
appropriate technology to participate in the defense;
(b) that the
technology is tested prior to the defense;
(c) that
remote participation is uninterrupted and, if interrupted, the defense shall be
paused until the connections are fully restored; and
(d)
that the proceedings of the
online defense are recorded with prior information to all the Defense Committee
members and the candidate, and maintained as confidential record, for possible
review/verification by the HEC or the concerned regulating council.
8.9 Electronic Signatures: The digital signatures of the Defense Committee shall be sufficient to certify the results of the defense.
8.10 Announcement of Result: The usual procedure of approvals is to be followed prior to the announcement of results.
9.
Part-III: Roles and Responsibilities: For the purpose of quality
assurance of the online academic activity during the lockdown period (as per
the HEC guidelines on Quality Standards for Online Higher Education for HEIs/DAIs
Continuing Online Teaching during COVID-19 Pandemic).
|
General Standards |
Specific Review Standards |
Points |
Responsibility |
|
Course Design |
Benchmarking the course outline and
various course components (relevant, up-to-date, incorporate latest
techniques and trends) |
3 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies) |
|
Well-documented learning objectives
and intended learning outcomes and level of the course. |
3 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies) |
|
|
Teaching methodology and pedagogies
communication strategy: discussion forums, social network groups, emails
(ensuring quality of interaction). |
3 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies and with support from Learning Management Department) Additional |
|
|
Course
policies and link with institutional mission and vision statements |
2 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies)
|
|
|
Prerequisite of faculty and student
skill assessment to use digital skills and expectations |
2 |
Learning Management Department Additional |
|
|
Prerequisite knowledge in the
discipline and any required
competencies, academic and social values |
2 |
Head of
Department
|
|
|
Instructional Material |
Benchmarking of the instructional
materials and learning methodologies (up to date, modern and addressing the
need and the level of the learner and relevant to the national and
international trends) |
2 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies) |
|
Sources of instructional materials
used and teacher’s own contribution in development of learning audio-visuals,
quizzes, assignments, etc. |
3 |
Course
teacher Additional |
|
|
Implementation of academic values
like trust, respect, academic honesty and integrity expected as an outcome of
the course. |
3 |
Course
teacher (through Code of Conduct for students published in prospectuses) Existing but emphasized |
|
|
Learning Activities and Learner
Interaction |
Relationship between learning
objectives and learning activities. |
3 |
Course
teacher |
|
Time and opportunities allocated for
the supervision of the students and teachers support and institutional
support (Library Support) |
3 |
Head of
Department Existing but emphasized |
|
|
Submission of lecture plans and post
lecture assessment (problems faced while delivering the lecture contents) |
3 |
Course
teacher (with Learning Management Department) Additional |
|
|
Course Technology |
Technology requirements and
alignment with the available technology |
3 |
Learning Management Department |
|
Audio-visual aids and technology
required for delivering the course (access to multimedia) |
3 |
||
|
Essential technology for increasing
the students’ engagement |
3 |
||
|
Information on protecting students
privacy |
2 |
||
|
Course material availability
policies, readability, access, ease of use |
3 |
||
|
Learner
Support |
A clear description of the technical
support available and how to learn and use |
3 |
|
|
Institution’s accessibility policies
and services available on software (license) and hardware (photocopy), etc. |
3 |
Learning Management Department Existing but emphasized |
|
|
Academic support services and resources
available |
3 |
||
|
Student support center and data
support center, book banks, student loans etc. |
3 |
1. Learning Management Department (for data support center) 2. Student Affairs Department (for
other student support) |
|
|
Assessment and Measurement |
The assessment methodology and
policy (rubric guidelines for assessment) |
3 |
Assessment
methodology and policy shall be developed at Faculty level (through
respective Dean) |
|
Students’ competency measurement and
analysis plan |
3 |
Course
teacher Existing but emphasized |
|
|
Assessment techniques and
relationship with the course objectives and class strategies |
3 |
Course
teacher |
|
|
Course grading policy and
institutional grading policy alignment |
3 |
Course
teacher Additional |
|
|
Curriculum Standards |
Effectiveness of the curriculum
(International best practices and relevant to the national needs and aligned
with the HEC’s guidelines) |
3 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies)
|
|
Expected behavior of the faculty and
the students |
3 |
Head of
Department (Awareness through meetings, seminars, workshops, etc.) Additional |
|
|
Efficiency in terms of students’
learning abilities |
3 |
Head of
Department (Awareness through meetings, seminars, workshops, etc.) |
|
|
Implementation
reports |
3 |
Head of
Department Additional |
|
|
Assessment
and accountability |
3 |
Head of
Department Additional |
|
|
Monitoring Systems |
Allocation of course to the faculty
member well before the actual teaching (time required for course preparation,
planning and collecting all the relevant resources) |
3 |
Head of
Department |
|
Assessment of all the teaching
facilities and ensuring availability before commencing the classes |
3 |
Learning Management Department Additional |
|
|
Scheduling
the course at appropriate level and with appropriate scheme of studies |
3 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies) |
|
|
Course
content assessment |
3 |
Head of
Department (through Board of Studies) |
|
|
NOC for
course content quality |
3 |
Head of
Department shall issue NOC for each course |
In addition to the above
review standards, the Director QEC, SUIT is responsible to pursue progress on
SARs and other quality related activities as per the prevailing practice.
10. Part-IV: This part covers the Online Enrollment, Attendance Procedure, Time
Tables, Students’ Feedback, Important Contact Numbers & Email Addresses and
Procedure for Redressal of Grievances.
10.1 Online Enrollment: This will be carried
out by the Assistant Director, QEC through LMS by enrolling the students in the
next semester and also to allocate respective courses of the next semester to
them.
10.2 Attendance Procedure: SUIT’s LMS
already has the provision of Synchronous/ asynchronous mode. For Synchronous
mode, attendance of the students will be maintained through the participation
in virtual class to be conducted through MS Zoom/Google Meet. Each Faculty
member is responsible to provide attendance on every weekend to the
Departmental Coordinator for onward submission to the Concerned HoD. For
asynchronous mode, attendance of the students will be maintained through Log
Report which can be seen/printed from the LMS.
10.3 Time Table:
10.4 Students’ Feedback: The Departmental
Coordinator will be responsible to get students’ feedback from LMS on weekly
basis and to discuss the same with the Concerned HoD for further improvement in
teaching and learning, if any.
10.5 Important Contact Numbers: The
Departmental Coordinators are responsible for academic assistance to their
students. Therefore, all the students can contact them in case of any academic
problem. Their Contact Numbers and Email addresses are available on University’s
website.
In addition to
above, the following offices can also be contacted for any sort of Technical,
Financial and General Complaints:
Technical: Director, Data & Communication SUIT,
091-5230931 (333); director.dnc@suit.edu.pk
Financial: The Deputy Controller of Finances SUIT,
0315-9599400, 0300-0700275, 0300-5861300; mansoor.accounts@suit.edu.pk
General
Complaints: Admissions Section
SUIT, 0321-5777412, admissions@suit.edu.pk.
10.6 Procedure for Redressal of Grievances: In
order to address the grievances of the students related to assessment, the Controller of Examinations, SUIT is
designated as Focal Person to receive the grievances and place before
the following Grievances Redressal Committee for consideration:
i. Prof. Dr. S. Ghias-ul-Haq, Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, SUIT (Convener)
ii. Prof. Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Khan, Director, Quality Enhancement Cell, SUIT (Member/Secretary)
iii. Dr. Muhammad Saleem, Director General, Distance Learning Management, SUIT (Member)
The Committee will carry out the following activities:
a. To draft SoPs for
redressal of students’ grievances related to assessment; and
b. To consider/redress the grievance(s) and submit its recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for perusal/approval. The complainant will be informed about the decision in one week’s time.
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