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 Academic
Council.
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 available in the
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 five 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-II concerns 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.
3.5 Part-V relates to the admissions policy and
procedure to be adopted for Fall 2020 and continued for subsequent admissions
till the situation comes to normalcy.
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, Library & Information Sciences
and Textile & Fashion Design. The
departments whose Fall 2019 semester examinations were partly conducted and
then halted due to lockdown include Education, Urdu, Sports Sciences&
Physical Education, Technologies and Pharmacy.
The 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. For assessment in the courses
whose final exam could not be conducted the students’ average marks in the
theory courses previously conducted will be added to the Internal Process
Evaluations (IPE) and grades will be awarded accordingly. In case of first semester students who could not
appear even in a single examination, the result will be held till the end of
second semester and the average of the marks earned in the final examination of
the second semester theory papers will be used as the final examination marks
of first semester.
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 commenced with
effect from Monday, 1st June, 2020 as per the timetable already
shared. There was no restriction for all
those who did not have any connectivity issue.
However, from 1st July, 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 28th
June, 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 Conduct
of Online Classes: From1st
June, 2020, the Spring 2020 semester will commence and the classes will be
conducted online. For this purpose, each
faculty members detailed to teach a course will upload the reading material
(word/pdf documents, PowerPoint slides), share links of useful material/video
clips available on the Internet. The
teacher will also be required to prepare an audio/video clip in his/her own
voice preferably using PowerPoint presentation.
For a 3-0 credit hour course, one audio/video lecture of one hour or two
clips of 30 minutes each would suffice for each week. These clips will be uploaded at-least 24
hours prior to the online class to be conducted strictly in accordance with the
timetable uploaded on the university web by the concerned departmental
coordinators. The online class will be
conducted using Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Team or any other such tool but
each online session has to be recorded and students’ attendance taken. The links of all such recordings have to be
placed on the university portal to facilitate the students as well as to allow
the university management/HEC to verify conduct of online classes. Responsibilities of the concerned teachers,
departmental coordinators, Heads of Departments and the Deans are documented
separately.
4.2.4 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 48 hour bracket). The students will be
required to upload their mid semester document file just like the assignments
within 48 hours as per the date sheet. Those
who fail to upload the mid semester examination (assignment) files can submit
the same in their respective departments within 72 hours at the Campus in a
sealed and signed envelop. Instructions
to this effect will be issued to all the departments.
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, the marks earned
out of the previously conducted final examinations (of other courses) will be
added to the IPEs and grades will be awarded on the basis of the aggregate. In
case of first semester students who could not appear even in a single
examination, the result will be held till the end of second semester and the
average of the marks earned in the final examination of the second semester
theory papers will be used as the final examination marks of first semester.
5.1.3 Those
who had enrolled in course(s) as reappear students for the purpose of improvement
will also have marks assigned as per para 5.1.2 above.
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 1st July, 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 Wednesday, 1st July, 2020 as
per the timetable to be shared by the respective DEC. Those who have paid their fee for the Spring
2020 semester will 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 28th July, 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 mid semester examination will be conducted by the teachers involved
in teaching the scheduled courses while the final examination will be conducted
by the examination section in the usual manner. The duration of each online
examination paper will be 48 hours. The
mid-semester examination will be open book examination in which students will
be allowed to appear in their own time (within a 48 hour bracket) as per the
datesheet notified by the University/concerned DEC.
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 Dir D&C) 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 |
Concerned HoD and respective Group Leader 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 in consultation with HoD and respective Group Leader Additional |
|
|
Course Technology |
Technology requirements and
alignment with the available technology |
3 |
Dir D&C |
|
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 |
HoD and respective Group Leader |
|
Institution’s accessibility policies
and services available on software (license) and hardware (photocopy), etc. |
3 |
Respective HoD,
Dir D&C Existing but emphasized |
|
|
Academic support services and
resources available |
3 |
HoD, respective Group Leader, Dir D&C |
|
|
Student support center and data
support center, book banks, student loans etc. |
3 |
1.
Dir
D&C (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 |
HoD, respective Group Leader, Dir D&C 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: The Departmental
Coordinators are to upload time tables of their respective departments on
SUIT’s website for facilitation of students and faculty members.
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.
**********