- Faculty of Arts

THE ACADEMIC YEAR AND SEMESTERS

 

The academic year is divided into two (02) Semesters Semester – I

(15 Weeks) 

Semester – II

(15 Weeks) (The Calendar of Dates for the Year Provides to Students with Information Regarding Duration of Semesters, Period of Study Leave/Vacation)  

TIME TABLES

Master timetables for the courses as well as the final examinations for the both semesters will be announced at the beginning of each academic year.

These should be considered as fixed. Students

should select their courses in a way that avoid clashes of classes and examinations.

REGISTRATION POLICY OF COURSE UNITS

It is mandatory to the all students to select course units for both semesters at the beginning of the academic year. All first year students should obtain ‘Form

A1

’ from the IDC and return the duly completed form to the IDC within the first two weeks from the commencement of the academic year. The deadline for changing course units is also within the first two weeks of the semester. Students are required to keep a photocopy of the completed Form A1’ with you until the end of the first year.

SUBJECT CATEGORIES AND CODES

Course Units come under several main subject categories. The current list of main subject categories and the associated subjects ’ codes are given in Table

Table 1 –

– 1

Subject Categories and Associated Codes SUBJECT SUBJECT CODE Pali and Buddhist Studies PLG/BST Demography DMG Economics English Geography History International Relations ECN ENG GYG HIS INR SUBJECT Islamic Civilization Communication and Media Studies Political Science and Public Policy Sinhala Sociology Foundation* Elective SUBJECT CODE ICV CMS PSC SLG SOC FND ELT

*FND Course Units are offered for 1st Year Students, while Elective Course Units (ELT) are for 2 nd and 3 rd Year Students .

* The first two digits of the unit code indicate the year and the semester in which the course unit is offered (For example

SOC 1101

is Introduction to Sociology offered in the 1 st Semester of the year,

SOC 1202

Semester of the 1 st Year). is Principles of Psychology offered in the 2 nd

FIRST YEAR IN ARTS

Students have to select ten (10) course units for the academic year in the following manner:

Sources from which the 10 Course Units should be selected for the Year (2011/12) in Arts The Students For those who have not been exempted after the English Test For those who have been exempted after the English text

Principal Subject I

2 2

Principal Subject II

2 2

Principal Subject III

2 2 English (FND) 2 00 FND 2 4 Total 10 10

Six (06)

course units (two (02) from each principal subject), and + English FNDE

two (02

) units (FNDE 1108 – Proficiency Course in English and FNDE 1209 – Proficiency Course in English), and +

Two (02) FND

units = 10 (Students who are exempted from the English Proficiency course have to select four (04) FND course units).

IM: The Students will be allowed only up to a maximum of seven (7) course units per semester in any combination (current/repeat/incomplete). 1 st year students can only select course units offered for the First year – 2011/12.

COURSE UNIT SELECTION

There are

three

important options you need to consider when selecting course units. They are: •Do you want to read a three year Degree in Arts?

•Do you want to read a four year Degree in Arts?

•Do you want to read a Bachelor of Education as the major in the final year of study?

COMPULSORY/MANDATORY COURSE UNITS For the first year undergraduates, certain course units are Compulsory/Mandatory For examples:

There are four Course Units for first year students offered by the Department of Demography – DMG 1101 – Introduction to Demography (Compulsory), Also, To specialize in Demography FND 1106 – Intermediate Mathematics or FND 1206 – Intermediate Mathematics (Compulsory) To specialize in Geography FND 1106 or FND 1206 (Compulsory) To specialize in Economics FND 1216 – Quantitative Methods for Economics (Compulsory) To read Bachelor of Education (from second year) – FND 1110 – Education for Individual and Social Development (Compulsory) •For more information, Please consult the relevant Departments to obtain

information and requirements.

NON-CREDIT COURSE UNITS

Under course system, students can register for

non-credit or audited

course units.

The maximum number of non-credit course units that can be selected is

two (02) per academic year.

CREDIT BASED COURSE UNIT SELECTION

A credit is defined as fifteen (15) contact teaching hours. At present, each course units is given three (03) contact teaching hours per week. As each semester has fifteen (15) weeks, one course unit is weighted as three (03) credits. The minimum amount of credit requirements for the first year in Arts is thirty (30). So, when you successfully complete 10 course units, you obtain thirty (30) credits.

Minimum Course Unit Requirements (MCUR) Year of Study 1 st Year in Arts 2 nd Year in Arts 3 rd Year in Arts 4 th Year in Arts MCUR 10 11 11 10

Mark Ranges, Grates, and Grade Points (Examinations) Marks

80% and Above 75% and 79% 70% and 74% 65% and 69% 60% and 64% 55% and 59% 50% and 54% 45% and 49% 40% and 44% 30% and 39% 00% and 29%

Grade

A+ A A B+ B B C+ C C D E

Grade Point

4.00

3.75

3.50

3.25

3.00

2.75

2.50

2.25

2.00 (Pass) 0.00 (Fail) 0.00 (Fail)

HOW TO SUBMIT THE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES Category I

An undergraduate who falls ill during a period of examination should report to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO)/University Medical Officer (UMO) of the University of Colombo with immediate effect.

The students are required to submit the MC issued by the CMO/UMO to the dean of the Faculty of Arts with the duly completed form issued by the IDC within a period of two (02) weeks from the date of examination.

Category II

Submit the following certificates to the University Medical Officer (CMO/UMO) within seven (07) days from the LAST DATE OF RECOMMENDED medical leave.

•Valid Medical Certificate (Ex: Government Hospital/District Medical officer/MCs issued by registered private general practitioner in case of less than five (05) days of medical leave). Application Form (Can be obtained from the IDC).