II. REGULATIONS
6. SHORT TITLE, COMMENCEMENT AND APPLICATION:
(1). These Regulations may be called the Virtual University of Pakistan, Award of First Degree Regulations, 2003.
(2). These Regulations shall come into force with immediate effect.
(3). These Regulations shall apply to all students on the First Degree rolls of the University.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
7. Minimum Academic Requirements
(i) A candidate seeking admission to the Bachelor of Science (BS) Program must have passed the examination shown in prospectus against each course or an examination recognized as equivalent thereto from a recognized institution securing g at least 45 % marks in intermediate or equivalent examination excluding marks awarded for NCC and Hafiz-e-Quran; provided further that the requirement of minimum marks may be amended from time to time by the competent body of the university.
(ii) AGE: A candidate for admission has no limit on age.
8. Numbers to be Admitted: The Executive Council of the university shall determine the last merit of student to be admitted from the admission applications received by the due date.
9. Authority of Admission: The admission may be made by Registrar of the university in consultation with the Executive Council of the University.
10. Deficiency: If the schedule of courses pursued by a candidate does not provide adequate background for the 1st degree course, which he/she intends to take up, he/she may be required to make up the deficiency by taking one or more additional course (s) of deficiency level as may be prescribed by the Executive Council of The University.
11. Time for Admission
(i) Candidate may be admitted at the beginning of the fall or spring semester until the Executive Council of the university decides to have admissions once a year. If a candidate fails to enroll then his/her admission shall stand cancelled.
(ii) The Executive Council of the university may refuse admission to a student without assigning any reason.
(Explanation: All those students who are awarded minor penalty twice on account of misconduct during the course of their undergraduate studies will be debarred for postgraduate admission for a period of two years. After the lapse of two years, after completion of their undergraduate courses, their case will be considered for admission to postgraduate course on the recommendations of the Students Affairs Committee. The students who receive major penalties during their undergraduate courses will not be granted admission to postgraduate courses. However, they will be eligible for admission to postgraduate courses after a lapse of three years, on the recommendations of the Students Affairs Committee).
12. Enrollment
(i) A candidate admitted to the course shall for so long as he/she has not completed all the requirements for the degree, enroll himself/herself for each semester subject to the maximum admissible limit of 12 semesters, failing which his/her admission shall stand cancelled. In case a student discontinued without permission, he/she may seek re-admission, in the same semester, with the approval of the Rector and on the recommendations of the Registrar; or the subsequent year with the permission of the Executive Council of the university, provided that he/she has not already exhausted the maximum residential requirements for the course, and provided further that after the first eight semesters, a candidate may enroll in the semester in which his/her failing/remaining subject (s) is/are offered in accordance with his/her “Scheme of Studies” subject to maximum admissible limit of 12 semesters.
(Explanation of Statute 3(i) and Regulation 7(i): The four semesters provided in excess of the normal duration of the course have to be treated as exactly identical to the original eight in matters of regulating the course conduct. This provision does not place any bar on the students’ right to discontinue their studies during these extra four semesters. But what is inviolable in their case is their consecutive nature. One cannot skip a semester during this extra period and recover it beyond the 12th semester after it has ended. For instance, if a student discontinues his studies in the 11th semester, and the course in question is not offered in the next 12th semester, he cannot claim a right to enroll in the further next (13th) semester. He/she would have come to the end of his/her studies. The law provides him/her no further chance).
(ii) For semester enrolment, a candidate shall deposit university dues, according to bank challan provided, in the specified bank and its branch on the days specified on challan form or displayed on VU website for the purpose; provided that the Director Finance, in special circumstances and on payment of a late fee of Rs.250/- permits a student to deposit dues within seven days after the commencement of the semester. Thereafter, Rs. 500/- would be charged as late fee, provided further that the Rector may allow enrollment of a student after the expiry of seven days of the commencement of the semester under special circumstances of individual cases to be recorded in writing with double late fee, till such time as it does not conflict with the prescribed requirements of 75 % attendance in classes of each subject.
Provided further that the students seeking admission for the first time in any of the first degree courses must deposit dues to fulfill enrolment formalities within the date displayed on VU website by the Registrar, failing which their admission shall stand cancelled; provided further that the admission of such students may be allowed by the Rector till such time as it does not conflict with the prescribed requirements of 75 % attendance in classes of each subject.
(Explanation: Enrollment will only be considered completed when the candidate deposits university dues in the bank).
(iii) The admission of a candidate to the degree program shall be provisional in the first instance and shall be confirmed only when he/she has shown satisfactory progress in courses taken and rectified the course deficiencies, if any.
(iv) Discontinuation of studies: A candidate admitted to the degree program shall, enroll himself/herself for each semester provided that he/she may discontinue studies on account of sickness (duly certified by a registered medical doctor) or due to circumstances beyond his/her control, before appearing in the final examination, with the permission of the Registrar. Provided further that a candidate shall not ordinarily be allowed to discontinue studies for more than a total of four semesters.
(Explanation: Candidates so permitted to discontinue will be allowed to resume their studies by the Registrar vide his office notification).
(v) If a student fails to enroll in any semester without permission of the competent authority, he/she shall cease to be on the rolls of the University and in case he/she desires readmission, he/she shall have to apply for the same.
(Explanation: Executive Council of the University may readmit such a candidate or refuse admission if the reasons advanced are not convincing).
(vi) Candidates seeking re-admission in the university will have to pay re-admission fee as prescribed by Executive Council of the university.
(vii) Withdrawal from course (s): A student shall not be allowed to add a new course, or substitute a course for another after the expiry of ten days from the commencement of the semester, but he/she may be permitted by the Registrar (provided the course load for the semester does not fall below the prescribed minimum credit hours), to drop a course within 35 days. In case a student gives up a course without such permission or intimation, he/she shall be deemed to have failed in that course.
(viii) Minimum and Maximum Credit Hours: Each student shall register himself/herself in the 1st and 2nd semester for all the credit hours prescribed for these semesters. Subsequently he/she shall have to register for courses carrying not less than 17 and not more than 27 credit hours. These credits will include the credits earned in respect of deficiency courses. In his/her last semester a student may register himself/herself for courses carrying the remaining credit hours; provided that the maximum does not ordinarily exceed 30 credit hours.
Provided further that the Registrar may allow a student to exceed the maximum limit of 30 credit hours by 1 to 4 credit hours by which he/she may be falling short of the total prescribed credit hours of a program, in special circumstances to be determined in each individual case. These extra credit hours shall be allowed only in the 7th and 8th semesters.
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