The description of inclusion of study results

THE DESCRIPTION OF INCLUSION OF STUDY RESULTS

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The Description of inclusion of study results (hereinafter – Description) determines the principles of the inclusion and execution of study results from other Lithuanian or foreign higher education institutions in Vilniaus Kolegija/ University of Applied Sciences (hereinafter –VK) and describes the procedure of issuing study certificates and course module descriptions.
2. This Description applies to individuals who have completed, have studied or are studying higher education study programmes in higher education institutions of Lithuania or foreign countries and who wish to continue their studies at VK under the same or other VK study programmes with the inclusion of previously acquired study results.
3. Terms used in the description:
   • Lithuanian higher education institution – a higher education establishment, as defined by the Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania.
   • Partial studies – studying part of the complete study programme, which develops certain knowledge and skills which are evaluated and confirmed by the study certificate.
   • Partial studies agreement – an agreement signed between the Lithuanian and the foreign higher education institutions. It is signed by the heads or the authorised representatives of the institutions and the exchange student who is being sent to study to another institution. The agreement determines the obligation of the host country to create conditions for the student to study, the requirements for the student and the financial and other relations between the parties; if a student is sent for partial studies under European Union programmes, the partial studies agreement is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
   • Course unit (module) description – a document containing the name and the state code of the study programme, the name of the course unit (module) (hereinafter – course unit), the extent of the subject, the annotation, the expected learning outcomes and the form of payment (form VK-01SR) (Appendix 1).
   • Course unit requirements – requirements set by VK for the study objectives, expected learning outcomes, content and extent of each course unit.
   • Coordinator – the head of the corresponding study unit of the Faculty appointed by the VK Rector. He is responsible for the process of the inclusion of study results.
   • Study programme curator – the head of the study department supervising the respective study programme, who is appointed by the VK Rector to assess how the learning outcomes meet the course unit requirements.
   • Study certificate – a document, issued to students, which contains the study results (form VK-02SR) (Appendix 2).
   • Study programme type – a study programme classification parameter based on the study objectives, level of difficulty, the extent of the studies and the type of qualification a student acquires (first cycle college studies, first cycle university studies, second cycle studies; non-degree programmes);
   • Learning outcomes – the knowledge and skills acquired in the course of study, the extent of the studies is measured with credits and the level of qualification is evaluated with marks.
   • Card of inclusion of study results – the document recording the study results, where the names of the modules are entered in the original and Lithuanian languages, together with the extent and evaluation of the subject (form VK-03SR) (Appendix 3);
   • Level of qualification – a type of study programme classification based on the purpose of studies and the situation of the qualification in the national study qualification system; university and college study programmes are distinguished.
   • Foreign higher education institution – a higher education institution acknowledged by the laws of the corresponding country.
4. The terms used in the description are in accordance with the Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette, 2009, No 54-2140), “The Description of Inclusion of Study Results” by the Order of Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania of 12 November 2003, No ISAK-1603 (Official Gazette, 2003, No 109-4899) and other concepts defined in legal acts.

II. INCLUSION OF STUDY RESULTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COORDINATED STUDY PROGRAMME CONTENTS

5. The study results of an individual who has studied in another Lithuanian or foreign higher education institution under a partial studies agreement, on which or on the legal basis the study programme is coordinated, shall be credited without restrictions unless violations of the requirements of the agreement or other document were agreed.
6. A student seeking the inclusion of study results needs to submit a study certificate from a higher education institution in Lithuania or a foreign country to the coordinator.
7. The coordinator submits the study certificate to the curator of the respective study programme, after checking if the document matches all the formal requirements.
8. On the basis of the certificate issued by another higher education institution, the curator of the study programme fills in two copies of the card of inclusion of study results and submits it to the coordinator. The coordinator submits the card to the Dean for the approval. One copy of the card is issued to the person who requested their study results to be included and the other copy is kept in the student’s personal file.
9. If a student returns from partial studies without completing the coordinated course units due to the circumstances that the student is not responsible for the student has to be provided with the opportunity to finish the missing course units free of charge.

III. INCLUSION OF STUDY RESULTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH NON-COORDINATED STUDY PROGRAMME CONTENTS

10. Individuals who have studied or are currently studying in Lithuanian or foreign higher education institutions in accordance with a non-coordinated study programme contents and seeking the inclusion of study results, shall submit the necessary documents:
    • Students of VK – within two weeks of the new semester.
    • Students seeking to continue studies at VK on the same or other study programme have to deliver documents during the semester.
11. An individual seeking the inclusion of study results has to provide the following documents:
    • An appeal addressed to the Dean with the current or intended study programme and the courses units to be included.
    • documents confirming the study results:
      • the diploma, its Supplement (Appendix) and course unit descriptions if the individual has completed a higher education programme; individuals who have acquired higher education in foreign higher education institutions also have to  submit a certificate to the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education  (in Lithuanian “Studijų kokybės vertinimo centras” – SKVC) regarding the recognition of higher education qualifications acquired abroad;
      • individuals who have acquired foreign secondary education shall submit a SKVC certificate of the acquired qualifications abroad, which grant the right for higher education recognition;
      • a study certificate;
      • the descriptions of course units if the person is a student of Lithuanian or foreign higher education institutions or has studied but not completed the studies; course unit descriptions are kept in the student’s file until the student completes his/ her studies; course unit descriptions are not required if the person is studying, has studied but has not completed his/ her studies, as well as if he/ she has acquired higher education at VK.
    • Residents of foreign non-European Union members shall submit a residence permit in Lithuania.
12. The coordinator checks whether the documents comply with the formal requirements:
    • the status of Lithuanian or foreign higher education institution; if necessary, the coordinator may contact the competent authorities for the relevant information concerning that higher education institution;
    •  level of qualification, study programme type, form of studies, etc.
13. Following the assessment of the formal study requirements, the coordinator submits the following documents to the concerned programme curators:
    • a copy of the student’s request referred to in sub-paragraph 11.1;
    •  a copy of the diploma supplement (appendix) or study certificate;
    •  course units’ descriptions.

14. On the basis of the documents specified in paragraph 13, the programme curator evaluates the compliance of the study results with the course unit requirements:
    •  A course unit of the study programme is included if its extent is at least two-thirds of the extent of the current or intended study programmes and the learning outcomes correspond to the key parts of the content of the study programme. If there is no corresponding course unit, they have to match the same requirements and provide the same knowledge and skills;
    •  a general university of applied sciences course unit is included if it corresponds to the general university of applied sciences study course learning outcomes and the key parts of the course unit content and if not less than two-thirds of the similar general university of applied sciences study course unit corresponds to the studied course unit or intended to study;
    •  student’s optional course units are included with no restrictions;
    •  final thesis (project) and final exam are not included;
    •  no more than 75 percent of the extent of the studied course unit or intended to study can be included (in some cases, the curator of the programme may approve the request of the students who have studied at VK);
    •  for modular study programmes, a previously studied course unit might be included in the module and the missing parts of this module must be acquired through further studies.
15. If the course unit requirements of the programme being studied or intended to be studied are met, the curator of the programme provides the coordinator with the card of the inclusion of study results, where might be included:
    • several study course units as one;
    • one study course unit as several.
16. The card of the inclusion of study results issued in duplicate is approved by the Dean on the request by the coordinator.

IV. THE FORMALIZATION OF STUDY RESULTS

17. The decision on the inclusion of study results has to be formalised in duplicate of the cards of the inclusion of study results in one month after all the documents indicated in paragraph 12 are presented; one copy of the card is issued to the person who applied for the inclusion of study results, the other is kept in the student’s personal file.
18. Title(s) of the included course unit(s), extent(s) in credits, corresponding to the extent of the course unit(s) in the study programme, and evaluation(s) are included in the diploma supplement and study certificate instead of the course unit(s) intended in the study programme.
19. In the case defined in the sub-paragraph 15.1, where several subjects are counted as one, the extent of the credits of each course unit is indicated in proportion to the content of the included course unit.

V. THE ISSUE OF STUDY CERTIFICATES AND COURSE UNIT DESCRIPTIONS

20. An individual who has graduated, studied or is studying at VK and intends to receive the course unit description or (and) the study certificate shall submit a request to the Dean of the Faculty. An individual who has completed the study programme and received the diploma and the diploma supplement cannot be issued a study certificate.
21. Within 10 working days from the date of application, the study certificate is prepared by the coordinator; the course unit description is prepared by the curator of the corresponding study programme and submitted to the Dean of the Faculty for signing.
22. An individual who studies or has studied, but has not graduated from VK, is issued a study certificate free of charge once. An individual shall pay a fee set by the Council of VK for the additional preparation of the study certificate as well as the course unit description.

VI. FINAL PROVISIONS

23. If the student disagrees with the decision on the inclusion of study results, he has a right to appeal to the VK Rector. The appeal examination order is determined by the Academic Council of VK.
24. The VK Rector appoints a Commission consisting of 5 members to examine the appeals on the inclusion of study results. The Commission makes a decision within 10 working days and informs the applicant in a written form.
25. A person who has acquired higher education in a foreign higher education institution and disagrees with the assessment of formal requirements has the right to appeal the Appeal Commission for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications formed by the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, within 10 working days.
26. The Description shall become applicable from 1 September 2014.