Procedure of Studies at Vilniaus kolegija/University of Applied Sciences

                                                                                       APPROVED
by Resolution No ATN-5 of the Academic Board of 04 May 2016 (amendments approved by the Academic Board’s
Resolution No ATN-8 of 30 September 2016,
Resolution No ATN-11 of 23 November 2016; Resolution No ATN-12 of 19 December 2016,
Resolution No ATN-5 of 04 May 2017,
Resolution No ATN-8 of 14 May 2018,
Resolution No ATN-14 of 12 December 2018,
Resolution No ATN-6 of 21 June 2019,
Resolution No ATN-4 of 18 May 2020)

 

PROCEDURE OF STUDIES AT VILNIAUS KOLEGIJA / UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

 

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

  1. The purpose of the Procedure of Studies at Vilniaus Kolegija / University of Applied Sciences (hereinafter – Procedure) is to establish the system, conditions, organization and implementation of the studies at Vilniaus Kolegija / University of Applied Sciences (hereinafter – VK), rights and duties of its students and unclassified students.
  2. Main concepts of this Procedure:
    • Academic Council shall mean a management body of academic affairs of VK that carries out the functions provided in the Statute of VK and other legal acts.
    • Appeal shall mean a written and reasoned application of the student addressed to the dean to reconsider his/her final evaluation of the studied subject (module).
    • Higher college education shall mean education acquired in the Lithuanian higher education institutions, upon completion of the college study programmes that grant higher education qualification or education recognized as equivalent by a competent authority.
    • Faculty’s dean (hereinafter – dean) shall mean a faculty’s manager, who carries out the functions provided in the Statute of VK.
    • Business day of the session of extended studies shall mean a calendar day of the month, on which the sessions for students of extended studies are held.
    • Faculty shall mean a unit of VK that is responsible for organization of studies of related fields, applied scientific research and / or artistic activities, quality assurance of academic activities, and planning of the faculty’s activities.
    • Department shall mean a main organizer and implementer of studies, applied scientific research and / or artistic activities at VK.
    • Unclassified student shall mean a person, who is studying in VK according to the non-formal adult educational programme or who is studying individual subjects (modules) of the college study programme.
    • University of Applied Sciences shall mean a higher education institution that conducts college studies, develops applied scientific research and / or professional art.
    • Director of VK (hereinafter – director) shall mean a one-person management body at VK that is acting in the name of VK, representing it and performing other functions and duties provided in the Statute of VK.
    • Competence shall mean a capacity to perform certain activity according to all the skills, knowledge, capabilities and values.
    • Qualification shall mean professional preparation granted by a higher education institution in accordance with the legal acts. The qualification consists of all the competences needed for professional activities.
    • Module shall mean a multiple unit of certain number of study credits that has a common purpose and intended learning outcomes.
    • Full-time studies shall mean a mode of studies’ organization when teaching and learning take place at different time in different places, while the application of information communication technologies creates a learning environment and safeguards the course of learning and teaching processes.
    • Diploma of professional bachelor shall mean a higher education diploma issued for the persons, who completes college studies and acquire professional bachelor’s degree or a professional bachelor’s degree and qualification.
    • Supplement of the diploma of professional bachelor shall mean a document that complies with the model created by the European Commission, European Council, and UNESCO/CEPES, that supplements the diploma of professional bachelor with the data necessary for international academic and professional recognition, that describes the essence and content of the completed studies, national higher education system, and that is issued together with the diploma in Lithuanian and English.
    • Professional bachelor shall mean a higher education qualification degree conferred to the person, who completes the college study programme or a person, who has a qualification degree of professional bachelor.
    • Student shall mean a person studying in VK according to the study programme.
    • Studies shall mean studying of the person, who has at least secondary education, at the University of Applied Sciences according to certain study programme.
    • Studies subject (module) shall mean an independent study object. Practice is an independent subject (module).
    • Tuition fee shall mean an annual payment fixed by the VK Council and approved in certain study programme.
    • Study credit (hereinafter – credit) shall mean a unit of studies’ volume that measures academic achievements and student’s work time.
    • Contract for studies shall mean an agreement signed by the director (authorized person) and the student that is drafted in accordance with standard conditions for the contract of studies approved by the order of the Minister of Education and Science separately for the students in the State-funded places and for the students, whose studies are not funded by the State.
    • Academic certificate shall mean a document in the established form that is issued to the student, who was studying at the University of Applied Sciences but who has not completed the whole college study programme, or to the person, who was studying individual subjects (modules).
    • Study programme shall mean totality of implementation of the study field (fields) in the higher education institution and its description providing the intended learning outcomes and the content of studies, learning activities, methods, tools, human and other resources necessary to achieve those outcomes.
    • Committee of the study programme shall mean a group of competent persons formed by the director’s order to prepare the planned study programme or to improve the present study programme.
  3. Other concepts used in this Procedure shall correspond to the concepts defined in the Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania.

II. ADMISSION OF STUDENTS AND UNCLASSIFIED STUDENTS

 

  1. The persons, who have at least secondary education, may compete for admission to college study programmes in accordance with the rules approved annually by the director.
  2. VK shall admit the students, whose studies are funded by the state (hereinafter – State-funded students), and the students, whose studies are not funded by the state (hereinafter – students not funded by the State). The contracts for studies in the established form shall be signed with all the admitted students.
  3. The students not funded by the State shall pay the tuition fee fixed by the Academic Board of VK.
  4. Total number of admitted students shall be suggested by the faculties, in consideration to the possibility to assure quality of the studies, and approved by the Academic Board of the VK.
  5. The students to the college study programmes shall be admitted by the director: to the first semester of the first year – upon submission of the admission commission, to the second semester of the first year and higher courses – upon submission of the deans.
  6. Upon coordination with the Student Representation, VK shall form and announce a list of competitional subjects according to the fields of studies, formation principles of the competitional mark, and other admission criteria not later than 2 years before beginning of certain school year.
  7. Foreign citizens shall be admitted to the paid studies organized in the foreign language in accordance with the Description of Admission Procedure of Foreign Citizens to the Places not funded by the State at VK approved by the director.
  8. The unclassified students shall be admitted by deans. The admission shall be organized by appropriate units of the faculties. The contracts in the form established by VK shall be signed with the unclassified student.

 

III. SYSTEM OF STUDIES

 

  1. Forms of studies
    • The studies carried out in the University of Applied Sciences may be full-time and part-time. The education acquired after completion of studies of different forms is the same.
    • The ordinary volume of one year of full-time studies is 60 credits and it cannot be smaller than 45 credits. The full-time studies shall be organized on business days. The timetable of full-time studies may be day, evening or session-based.
    • The volume of one year of part-time studies cannot be smaller than 45 credits; however, the total duration cannot exceed full-time studies by more than one and a half times. The part-time studies shall be organized in the evenings of business days, on Saturdays or in sessions; the students shall study independently between the sessions, consult the professors, interim examination may be held; the lectures, workshops, practices, examinations and defences of individual works (projects) are organized during the session.
  2. Study programmes
    • The studies in VK shall be carried out according to the college study programmes of the first cycle that grant a professional bachelor’s degree or a professional bachelor’s degree and a qualification.
    • The study programmes may be subject-based or module-based.
    • The volume of a study programme is calculated in credits. One credit is equal to 25-30 work hours of a student. The volume of college study programmes may be 180, 210 or 240 credits.
    • The study programmes shall be prepared in accordance with descriptions of certain fields of studies (groups of fields), general requirements for study programmes, descriptions of study programmes intended for studies, results of surveys of need for specialists and expected competence.
    • The study programme shall be prepared by the committee of the study programme operating in accordance with the regulations of the committee of the study programme.
    • The study programme consists of the studied subjects (modules).
    • The subjects (modules) of the study programme shall be divided into compulsory, elective (alternative) and optional according to their status:
      • compulsory subjects (modules) shall mean the subjects that provide fundamental skills and competences in the selected study field;
      • elective (alternative) subjects (modules) shall mean the subjects (modules) that supplement essentially general college education in the selected study field. The specialization subjects are also attributed to these subjects (modules). The student has to choose these subjects (modules) from the list provided in the curriculum, as determined by the faculty;
      • the student may choose optional subjects (modules) from the list of subjects offered in VK.
    • The descriptions of subjects (modules) shall be prepared according to the sample form approved by the director’s order.
    • The study programme shall be renewed periodically with regard to the needs of students, professors, employers, objectives of the faculty or VK, etc.
    • Only the accredited study programmes are conducted in VK. External assessment and accreditation of the study programmes shall be performed in accordance with the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.
  3. Modes of organization of the studies
    • The modes to organize the studies used by VK to implement the study programmes are contact work and independent work of students. These organization modes shall be indicated in the programmes of studies subjects (modules):
      • contact work shall mean the student’s work (lectures, practical training, accounting for performed tasks) under direct supervision of the professor at the time stated in the timetable. The duration of contact work shall be measured in academic hours (45 min.). Minimal duration of contact work shall be 2 academic hours (1 academic hour in the study programmes in the field of art);
      • independent work shall mean independent studies of the students according to the tasks provided in the description of the subject (module);
      • practice shall mean the part of studies when the student’s knowledge, skills and capacities are tested and improved in practical professional activities. The practices are divided into training, cognitive and professional.

IV. PROCESS OF STUDIES

 

  1. Teaching language
    • The teaching language in VK shall be Lithuanian.
    • Other languages may be used to teach in VK when the intended learning outcomes are related to foreign language skills; when lectures are given or other academic activities are supervised by foreign professors; when foreign students are studying; when studies are carried out according to the joint study programmes with foreign higher education institutions.
  2. Calendar of studies
    • An academic year in VK is divided into semesters and holiday periods. An academic year has two semesters – autumn and spring. The Academic Board shall determine a beginning and end of the academic year and semesters.
    • The average duration of a semester of full-time studies is 20 weeks (average volume – 30 credits), where 2-4 weeks are attributed to examination session.
    • The students’ holidays may be (unless the Academic Board decides otherwise):
      • Christmas and New Year – from the 24th of December until the 1st of January;
      • winter – one week after the examination session of autumn semester (may not be granted for students studying in the modular study programmes);
      • Easter – one week before/after Easter according to the calendar (Easter holidays may not be foreseen);
      • summer – from the 1st of July until the 31st of August (if practice is not provided in the curriculum).
    • The contact work and examination sessions shall be carried out in accordance with the timetables approved by the deans. The timetables shall be announced at least one week before the beginning of the semester or the examination session.
    • The duration of a contact work shall not exceed 28 academic hours per week. The contact work cannot exceed 8 academic hours per day (12 academic hours on the business day of the session, not more than 4 h in the evenings of work days, and not more than 10 academic hours on Saturdays in case of part-time studies).
    • Contact work may also be remote.
    • With regard to the agreement between a professor and students, the examination timetables of distance learning shall be formed by heads of certain units and approved by the deans.
    • The practices shall be organized according to the procedure approved by the dean. The practices may be performed in July and August.
  3. Registration for the semester’s studies
    • The students shall be registered for the semester’s studies in the studies departments:
      • the students, who do not submit written application to terminate the studies, shall be considered registered and shall continue the studies;
      • the students, who return after academic leave or suspended studies, have to register for studies one week before the beginning of appropriate semester;
    • The students shall register for elective (alternative) and optional subjects (modules) in the academic information system until the 15th of March.
  1. Semester’s studies
  1. Assessment of academic achievements
  1. Academic debts and their liquidation
    • Academic debt shall mean the threshold level of the subject (module) not achieved repeatedly within the set period, i.e. at least one examination (interim and/or final) provided in the description of the subject (module) has not been evaluated positively and final evaluation of the subject (module) has not been received.
    • The academic debt may be liquidated by retaking the exam twice, having paid the fee in the fixed amount.
    • It is allowed for the students to liquidate academic debts not later than until the end of the next semester, and in the last semester – not later than 2 weeks before beginning of preparation of the graduation thesis (project) fixed in the schedule of studies.
    • The students are allowed to retake academic debts in the volume not exceeding 20 study credits. If the academic debts are not liquidated in the end of the fixed term, the faculty’s dean may allow to liquidate them by repeating the course of the subject (module) and by paying for the study credits. The liquidation term of academic debts shall be postponed for 1 year.
    • The timetable for examination related to academic debts shall be made by the heads of the studies departments and approved by the faculty’s dean. The timetable shall be announced 2 weeks after the beginning of a new semester.
    • The students, who do not liquidate academic debts on time, shall be expelled from the University of Applied Sciences.
  2. Coordination of different study programmes and individual schedule of studies.
    • The persons, who want to study according to different study programmes at the same time, shall be admitted to each study programme in general procedure (except for the students, who were studying in higher education institution for one semester at the least and have the supporting academic achievements).
    • Upon request of advanced students, the dean may permit studies according to the individual schedule of studies after the first semester. The draft individual schedule shall be prepared by the student, coordinated with professors of respective subjects (modules), and approved by the faculty’s deans.
  3. Record of studies

22.1. The documents recording the studies shall be a register of evaluations of the subject (module), sheet of academic examinations, summary of the group’s academic achievements of a semester, and summary of final evaluations of all the subjects (modules).

22.2. The records of academic achievements of the subject (module) in the register of evaluations shall be made by respective professor(s).

22.3. The evaluation of the examination of the subject (module) shall be entered into the registers and sheets of academic achievements in numbers (mark) and words (mark’s equivalent in words shall be entered into the brackets).

22.4. The registered sheets of academic achievements shall be issued to the students in the studies departments of the faculties.

The students, who have liquidated (or not liquidated) academic debts, differences in credits of subjects (modules) and who have (not) received evaluations after the examination shall return the sheets of academic achievements to the studies department.

22.5. The entries in the documents recording the studies shall be valid if they are clear, timely and approved by the signature of the professor, who has assessed the academic achievements.

22.6. When the semester ends, the employees of certain studies department shall form a summary of academic achievements of the group in a semester not later than within 2 weeks.

 

V. CHANGING OF THE STUDY PROGRAMME OR FORM OF STUDIES

 

  1. Changing of the study programme
    • The student has to complete the first semester in order to be eligible to change the study programme.
    • The student who wants to change the study programme has to finish the semester without any academic debts.
    • The study programme may be changed if free places are available in the selected study programme.
    • The person, who intends to study according to the study programme in the field of art, has to pass the examination of skills verification, provided that person has not taken a preliminary examination to the artistic study programme.
    • The faculties organizing the studies may set additional conditions for changing of the study programmes or forms.
    • The student who wants to change the study programme has to submit an application to the dean not later than 10 days before he beginning of a new semester.
    • The study programme may be changed under the terms and conditions established by VK.
    • Upon receipt of the consent to study according to the selected study programme in another faculty, the student changing the programme has to notify thereof the studies department of former faculty within 3 business days.
    • The changing of the study programme shall be executed by an agreement to amend the contract for studies and by the dean’s order. If the study programme is selected in another faculty, the changing of the study programme shall be executed by the aforementioned agreement and by the director’s order.
  2. Changing of the form of studies
    • The student who wants to change the form of studies has to submit an application addressed to the dean to the studies department of appropriate faculty.
    • The changing of the form of studies shall be executed by an agreement to amend the contract for studies and by the dean’s order.
  3. The student shall be notified about permit or prohibition to change a study programme or form of studies not later than within 5 business days after receipt of the application.
  4. The differences in credits of subjects (modules) of the current semester resulting from changing of the study programme, course or form of studies shall be liquidated until the end of the semester. Regardless of the funding character of the studies, the students shall pay the fixed fee for the credits of the subjects (modules) in question.
  5. When the semester ends and a vacant State-funded place appears, it shall be given to the students not funded by the State, who are studying in the same study programme, in the same academic year and in the same form of studies. The priority shall be established according to the academic achievements. If there are no candidates to take a vacant place studying in the same form of studies, the students studying in another form of studies may apply. If the students were admitted to the first-year studies in 2017 and later, when the semester ends and a vacant State-funded place appears, it shall be given to the students not funded by the State, who are studying in the same field of studies, in the same academic year and in the same form of studies and who would satisfy the criteria of god studying.
  6. Students may study simultaneously in other higher education institution recognized by the State, while the students from other higher education schools recognized by the State may study in VK. Under the agreement of higher education institutions, the students of VK may fulfil part of the requirements of the study programme in another higher education institution, while the students of another higher education institution may fulfil them in VK.
  7. The person, who was studying in higher education schools abroad, may be admitted to continue the studies according to the study programme of VK by the director’s order. The academic achievements shall be recorded according to the record procedure of the academic achievements. The differences in credits of subjects (modules) of the current semester resulting from changing of the study programme or form of studies shall be liquidated until the end of the semester. The students shall pay the fixed fee for the credits of the subjects (modules) in question. Such person may apply only to a place not funded by the State.
  8. The State-funded student of VK or another University of Applied Sciences may change the study programme in the same field of studies (if the student was admitted to the first-year studies in 2017 and later – in the same group of studies in the same field) at VK without losing the State funding not earlier than after completion of the first semester of the first academic year without academic debts. The student of VK or another University of Applied Sciences admitted to the first-year studies in 2017 and later, who receives a scholarship, may change a study programme in the same group of study fields in VK in the established procedure, without losing the State funding not earlier than after completion of the first study year without academic debts.

 

VI. CANCELLATION, RENEWAL OF STUDIES, ACADEMIC LEAVE AND SUSPENSION OF STUDIES

 

  1. The studies shall be cancelled and the students shall be removed from the lists of students of VK:
    • on personal request;
    • when the studies become impossible because of objective reasons (disease, death, etc.);
    • when they are expelled from VK under Clause 38 herein.
  2. Upon application to the dean, the students may be granted academic leave or permission to suspend the studies:

32.1. academic leave is granted:

32.1.1. in case of pregnancy and birth giving, disease, military service for one year; when the medical commission recommends to continue the leave, it may be extended upon appropriate application;

32.1.2. in case of child care, until the child attains 3 years;

32.1.3. because of personal reasons – once in the course of studies for the term not exceeding one year.

32.2. the dean of the faculty may allow the student, who cannot continue studies temporarily, to suspend the studies for the period not exceeding one year.

  1. In the cases described in Clause 32.1.3 on academic leave and Clause 32.2 on suspension of studies, the student shall be allowed to leave in the last semester of the studies not later than before beginning of preparation of the graduation thesis (project) fixed in the schedule of studies.
  2. The duration of the academic leave and suspension of studies shall be counted from the day when the order to grant them is issued. The students, who are granted academic leave or who are permitted to suspend the studies in the first semester shall be returned to the first semester.
  3. The academic leave and suspension of studies shall be legitimized by the dean’s order stating the reason and duration of the academic leave or suspension of studies.
  4. The funding form of the studies of the students, who return after academic leave or suspension of studies shall not change. If the study programme or curriculum has changed in the course of academic leave or suspension of studies, the students shall liquidate the differences until the end of the current semester. The students granted the academic leave in cases described in Clauses 32.1.3 and 32.2 herein, shall pay the fixed fee of credits for the accumulated academic differences (credits).
  5. In the end of academic leave or suspension of studies the student has to submit an application to the dean to continue the studies and to register on the time indicated in Clause 17.1 herein. The return of the student after academic leave or suspension of studies shall be formalized by the dean’s order.
  6. The student shall be expelled from VK if:
    • the student is not fulfilling the requirements set in the study programme;
    • the student is not fulfilling financial obligations to VK;
    • the student does not register after return from academic leave or suspension of studies;
    • the student violates the Statute of VK or documents governing studies and internal procedure.
  7. The studies shall be cancelled by the order of the director of VK upon proposal of the dean. In exclusive cases, the director shall expel the student without the dean’s proposal.
  8. The reason and date of expelling shall be indicated in the dean’s proposal to expel the student. The director shall expel the student after the deadline specified in Clause 72 for submission of the application for dispute resolution has been reached or when the student’s application has been rejected in the procedure described in that article.
  9. The expelled students have to account with VK and to submit an accounting sheet to the studies department.
  10. The person expelled from VK may resume and continue the studies under Clause 29. Such a student shall not be funded by the State; the differences in the credits of the subjects (modules) shall be liquidated until the end of the current semester (one month before defence of the final work in the last semester of studies). If the person was expelled because of failure to fulfil financial obligations, that person has to cover the debt to the University of Applied Sciences before the contract for studies is signed.
  11. The validity of the academic achievements of the students renewing the studies shall be determined according to the procedure of the recognition of the academic achievements.
  12. The persons shall not be returned to the first semester of studies, save for the cases listed in Clause 32.1 herein.

 

VII. COMPLETION OF STUDIES

 

  1. It is considered that the student has completed the studies after fulfilment of all the requirements of the selected study programme.
  2. The study programme shall end in evaluation of academic achievements provided in the study programme through defence of the graduation work (project) (hereinafter – graduation work) and final exam (when established in the normative legal acts). The preparation and defence procedure of the graduation works shall be governed by the Description of the Procedure on Preparation and Defence of the Graduation Works (Projects) at Vilnius University of Applied Sciences.
  3. In order to assess the graduation thesis (and to grant qualification if provided so in the legal acts), the commission of defence of the graduation thesis shall be formed every academic year by the director’s order.
  4. The student shall choose the topic for the graduation thesis from the list offered by the department or shall suggest it himself/herself, having coordinated it with the department and the supervisor of the graduation thesis
  5. The faculty’s dean shall approve the topics of the graduation thesis in English and Lithuanian and their supervisors upon submission of the department.
  6. The structure, volume, execution and other requirements of the graduation thesis shall be governed by methodical guidelines for preparation, execution and defence of the graduation thesis approved by deans.
  7. If final examination is also taken:
    • the tasks of the final examination shall be prepared by a group of professors formed by the order of the dean of the faculty, upon proposal of the committee of the study program or appropriate department; the examination tasks shall be confirmed by the chairperson of the qualification commission;
    • the final examination may be conducted in writing or orally; if required by the task, the practical work may be demonstrated in the examination.
  8. The students shall be permitted to defend the graduation thesis and to take the final examination by the dean’s order and only at the time stated in the schedule of public defence of graduation thesis / examination.
  9. The diploma “with honour” (cum laude) shall be issued to the student, whose final evaluations of all the subjects (modules) are not lower than “good” and the weighted mean is not lower than “very good”, and whose graduation thesis and final examination was evaluated as “very good” or “excellent”.
  10. If the students cannot or could not prepare and defend the graduation work or take the final examination (when applicable) because of important reasons (disease, birth giving, accident, death of close family member) at the set time, they may apply to the dean:
    • to postpone the defence of the graduation thesis or final examination until the next meeting of the qualification commission;
    • for academic leave or suspension of studies. If some differences in the study programmes appear after return from the academic leave or suspension of studies, they have to be liquidated not later than one month before the beginning of the repeat defence (preparation) of the graduation thesis or examination; the students shall not pay any fee in this case.
  11. If the students do not prepare the graduation thesis on the set time, they shall be expelled under Clause 38.1 herein; in such a case, the State-funded students shall have to refund the money to the State budget of the Republic of Lithuania intended to pay the tuition fee. The students, who do not come to defence of the graduation work (and / or final examination) without a sound reason, and who do not defend the graduation thesis (and / or do not pass the final examination) shall be expelled under Clause 38.1 herein; however, the State-funded students shall not have to refund the money intended to pay the tuition fee to the State budget.
  12. The degree of professional bachelor or the degree of professional bachelor and professional qualification in certain field of the studies (in the group of study fields in case of admission in 2017 and later) shall be granted to the students upon completion of the studies, and the diploma of professional bachelor with a supplement shall be issued.
  13. When the students complete the studies, they shall be removed from the list of students by the director’s order.
  14. When the students complete the studies, they have to settle with VK by submitting a signed accounting sheet.

 

VII. QUALIFICATION IMPROVEMENT

 

  1. The programmes of qualification improvement and requalification (courses, seminars, etc.) shall be approved by the deans.
  2. The contracts shall be entered into with attendees of the courses and seminars of qualification improvement and requalification. They shall pay the agreed price for the training services.
  3. The faculty shall issue the certificates confirming the completion of programmes of qualification improvement and requalification to the attendees.
  4. If the unclassified student was studying individual subjects (modules) of the college study programme and collected at least 30 credits, the director of the University of Applied Sciences may allow to continue studying according to the college study programme, to prepare and defend a graduation thesis, and to take a final examination, upon proposal of the dean.

VIII. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE STUDENTS

 

  1. The students have to take care about their rights and to fulfil their obligations properly.
  2. The students shall have the right:
    • to study according to the selected study programme;
    • to study according to the individual curriculum in accordance with the terms and conditions established by the Academic Board;
    • to study according to more than one study programme or other subjects in the VK or in another higher education institution;
    • to assess the quality of subject teaching and provision of studies;
    • to choose a professor if several professors are teaching the same subject;
    • to propose their own topics for the graduation thesis or to select from the topics offered by the department;
    • to account for the works in alternative modes, if the student has certain disability not permitting usual accounting and if the alternative mode guarantees achievement of the intended learning outcomes;
    • to ask the faculty’s administration to recognize the academic achievements of the studies in VK, another Lithuanian or foreign higher education institution;
    • to refer to the administration of VK or the faculty and the commission of dispute resolution regarding violations of rights and legitimate interests;
    • upon completion of the selected study programme that fulfils the standards for volume and quality defined in the normative documents, to receive a diploma of professional bachelor;
    • to change the study programme and form of studies, to cancel and renew the studies;
    • to take part in international academic exchange;
    • to use the methodical and scientific literature, material and technical resources available in VK for implementation of the study programme; to use the premises of VK intended for studies, cultural life, health protection and rest;
    • to receive all the information related to the studies;
    • without prejudice to the rights of other persons, to assess quality of the study programme and its realization, to suggest to include new subjects and new specialization subjects into the study programme; to refer to the administration of the faculty or VK (if necessary) regarding evaluation of the academic achievements;
    • to receive all the information about internal order in VK and safe methods, how to carry out workshops and laboratory works;
    • to express freely own attitudes and thoughts;
    • to receive social and material support in the defined procedure;
    • to take part in the management bodies of VK;
    • to elect Student Representation, academic group monitors and to be elected;
    • to join freely other associations in accordance with the Law on Associations of the Republic of Lithuania;
    • to participate in research, technical, creative and artistic activities;
    • to enter into contracts with future employers and to receive a scholarship.
  3. Duties of the students of the University of Applied Sciences are the following:
    • to study diligently;
    • to implement the obligations provided in the contracts for studies;
    • to attend lectures, workshops, to carry out the practices provided in the study programme (save for the case described in Clause 21.2 herein);
    • to carry out the tasks provided in the study programme;
    • to fulfil legitimate requirements of the professors of VK, decisions of self-management institutions, orders of dean and director;
    • to pay the tuition fee on time and to fulfil other financial obligations to VK;
    • to comply with the Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania, Code of Academic Ethics, Statute of VK, other legal acts and internal order rules;
    • to fulfil the decisions of the administration of VK and the faculty;
    • to follow the internal order rules, instructions and normative legal acts governing safety in faculties, rooms and laboratories of VK;
    • to assume responsibility for illegal actions (omission to act) resulting in damage to own health and property and those of other persons;
    • to respect members of the academic community of VK, administration and other employees, and to represent VK in public life properly.

 

IX. INCENTIVES AND PENALTIES OF THE STUDENTS

 

  1. The incentive scholarships may be granted to the students, with regard to the achieved learning outcomes and other academic achievements. The terms and principles of incentive scholarships shall be determined in the Regulations of Scholarships and Benefits of VK (hereinafter – Regulations of Scholarships).
  2. The advanced students, who participate actively in the public life of VK, research, sports and other activities, shall be encouraged by premiums granted by orders of deans and the director. The Regulations of Scholarships shall govern terms and principles of granting the premiums.
  3. The following disciplinary punishments may be imposed to the students for infringement of their obligations under the proposal of the dean not later that within one month after the infringement: remark, reprimand or expelling from VK.
  4. If the disciplinary punishment is imposed on the member of the student representation of the faculty or VK, the consent of the Student Representation is needed, unless the disciplinary punishment is imposed for non-fulfilment of the requirements of the study programme. If the Student Representation of VK or the faculty does not agree with the penalty, it may be imposed to the member of the Student Representation by the decision of the Academic Board or the faculty’s council.
  5. The payment of scholarship may be suspended or cancelled by the order of the dean or the director if the student fails to fulfil his/her duties.
  6. The information about incentives and penalties shall be included into the student’s personal file. The incentives shall be imposed by the orders of the dean or the director, the penalties – by the director. These orders shall be public.
  7. The student, who does not agree with the penalty or expelling from VK, has the right to refer to the commission of dispute resolution within 3 business days after the event in writing. The commission solves the disputes between students, administration or other employees related to research and studies. The formation of the commission of dispute resolution, examination of disputes and implementation of decisions shall be established in the Statute of VK.

 

X. APPROVAL AND EFFECT OF THE PROCEDURE

 

  1. The Procedure and its amendments shall be approved in the Academic Board.
  2. The Procedure shall come into effect on 01 September 2016.

___________________