THE REGULATION ON APPLICATION, EDUCATION AND EXAMINATION

SECTION ONE

Objective, Content, Grounds, Descriptions

Objective

ARTICLE 1 – (1) The objective of this Regulation is to organize the principles of application, education, examination and evaluation related to associate's degree, bachelor's degree and master's degree programs that provide distance education within the body of Istanbul Aydın University. 

Content

ARTICLE 2 – (1) This Regulation covers the provisions related to the education of the students who have enrolled in distance education programs within Istanbul Aydın University, the arrangements of these students' diplomas, preparation and implementation of distance education programs.

Grounds

ARTICLE 3 – (1) This Regulation was prepared on the basis of the Article 7 and Article 14 of the Law dated 4/11/1982 and numbered 2547 and the annex 73 of the Law on Organization of Higher Education Institutions dated 28/3/1983 and numbered 2809.

Descriptions

ARTICLE 4 – (1) The definitions of the terms used in this Regulation are as follows;

a) President: Istanbul Aydın University the President of the Board of Trustees,

b) Department: The Departments within the body of faculties of Istanbul Aydın University,

c) Head of Division/Department/Program: The head of the division that provides distance education at bachelor's degree level, the head of the department which provides distance education at master's degree level, the head of the program that provides distance education at associate's degree level within the structure of Istanbul Aydın University.

d) Supervisor: The instructor who was selected by the head of the division or department and appointed by the board of directors of the faculty/school in order to deal with the education, study and other problems of students,

e) Dean: Faculty Dean,

f) Course Credit: A course credit is a unit of measure that expresses one hour of theoretical lecture and/or seminars, two hours of laboratory work, workshops, clinical study, practice and other activities per week in a semester,

g) Institute: Istanbul Aydın University Science and Technology Institute/Social Sciences Institute,

h) Faculty: Istanbul Aydın University faculties,

I) General Secretary: Istanbul Aydın University General Secretary,

j) Relevant Board: Faculty boards in faculties, institute boards in institutes, school boards in schools,

k) Relevant Board of Directors: Faculty board of directors in faculties, institute board of directors in institutes, school board of directors in schools,

l) Centre: Istanbul Aydın University Distance Education Application and Research Centre,

m) Director: Directors of institutes, schools and vocational schools in Istanbul Aydın University,

n) Board of Trustees: Istanbul Aydın University Board of Trustees,

o) Head of Student Affairs: Istanbul Aydın University Head of Student Affairs,

p) Prerequisite Course: One or more of the courses in the previous semesters must be successfully completed in order to be able to take a prerequisite course,

q) Program: The current programs within Anadolu Bil Vocational School,

r) Rector: The Rector of Istanbul Aydın University,

s) Elective Course: Students can take elective courses from area or non-area courses except compulsory courses in accordance with their requests and they can choose from the elective courses in the program they are enrolled in as well as elective or mandatory courses in other programs,

t) Senate: The Senate of Istanbul Aydın University,

u) Board of Distance Education: Istanbul Aydın University the board regarding distance education,

v) University: Istanbul Aydın University,

w) Board of Directors of the University: Istanbul Aydın University Board of Directors,

x) School: School of Istanbul Aydın University

y) Compulsory Course: The courses foreseen in a program and that a student must take

SECTION TWO

Principles Regarding Education

Board of Distance Education

ARTICLE 5 – (1) A Board of Distance Education is established to be authorized on the subject of distance education applications in university. This Board is affiliated to the Rectorate and consists of the Head of the Centre, the Head of the associate's degree program with distance education, the Head of the bachelor's degree division with distance education and the Head of the master's degree department with distance education. The President of the Board of Distance Education is the Head of the Centre and the tasks of the Board are as follows:

a) To offer with intent to open new distance education programs,

b) To make decisions about distance education applications and present them to the Rectorate for approval,

c) To supervise the implementation of the current distance education programs,

d) To solve the problems outcropping in the practices of distance education,

e) To suggest a proposal on the purpose of resolving subjects such as lateral transfer, vertical transfer, special student, freeze registration and so on to the directorate or deanship where the relevant division or program are affiliated,

f) To make a decision about the student objections,

g) To make new regulations in line with the evaluation questionnaires applied to the students at the end of semester,

h) To put forward a proposal to the Rectorate with intend to determine which tasks will be done by the resources of the University and which tasks will be done by the services procurement from organizations outside the university,

I) To determine the principles regarding the purchase and sale of services on the basis of course and unit in distance education applications and to submit these principles for the Rector's approval,

j) To make suggestion to the Rectorate for the purpose of determining the subjects of registration centers, examination centers, on-site applications and so on.

(2) The Board of Distance Education convenes at least twice each semester as being at the beginning and end of each semester. The head of the Board of Distance Education may convene the Board for extraordinary meeting when the need arises.

Education, course crediting and the burden of education

ARTICLE 6 – (1) Programs which will provide distance education have to be in compliance with the current formal education programs or institute programs in terms of name, curriculum, content and credit.  The credit burden of the distance education courses consists of two sections; nonsynchronous (theoretical) and synchronous. Nonsynchronous education format involves an hour-long section which students can repeat as they want on their computers. Synchronous education format has a live video link that includes 1 to 2 hours of questions and answers, repetitions and similar activities in a pre-announced schedule. One semester comprehends nonsynchronous and synchronous education periods which are given regularly every week for fourteen weeks except for midterm and final exam periods. A live broadcast application which is given to almost every hundreds of students is considered as the credit load of that course for the instructors assigned to synchronous format. For this reason, more than one instructor can take part in a course in distance education program.

Education Period

ARTICLE 7 – (1) The faculties within the university have four years of education period. This period of time does not include English preparatory program. The students of bachelor's degree programs must complete their education within a maximum of seven academic years excluding the preparatory year without a valid reason specified in this Regulation. The vocational school has two years of education period. This period of time does not include English preparatory program. The students of vocational school must complete their education within a maximum of four academic years excluding the preparatory year without a valid reason specified in this Regulation. The masters' degree programs have four semesters of education period. The students who have successfully completed the courses they are required to take and the seminar lecture and dissertation/term project can graduate in a shorter time.

(2) The provisions of the Article 44 of the Law numbered 2547 shall apply to associate's degree and bachelor's degree students who cannot graduate within the specified period. The relevant legislation provisions shall apply to the master's degree students who cannot graduate within the specified period.

Academic Calendar

ARTICLE 8 – (1) An academic year comprises two semesters as fall and spring and each semester includes at least fourteen weeks.

(2) An academic calendar consists of admissions, education and examinations and it is determined by the Senate of the University. The Senate may decide on summer school in addition to the semesters with the approval of the Council of Higher Education when required.   

Education Fee

ARTICLE 9 – (1) The students have to pay an education fee determined by the Board of Trustees every academic year. In addition, the students who participate in summer school have to pay education fee determined by the Board of Trustees for each summer semester. The fee for the additional services such as dormitories, meals, transportation, etc. that might be provided by the University are not included in education fee and it is determined separately by the Board of Trustees.  

Education Language

ARTICLE 10 – (1) The education language for associate's degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree programs with distance education is Turkish. In some divisions/programs and departments, the education language might be English with the approval of the Council of Higher Education.

Curriculums

ARTICLE 11 – (1) Success and evaluation in associate's degree, bachelor's degree and master's degree programs with distance education is based on the principle of passing courses.  The courses to be taught during the education period and the distribution of the courses over the periods are determined by the proposal of the Board of Distance Education and the resolution of the Senate.

Compulsory, elective and prerequisite courses

ARTICLE 12 – (1) The courses are organized and taught in three groups as compulsory, elective and prerequisite.

(2) Every student is obligated to take the compulsory courses in the programs/divisions/departments which they have been enrolled. 

(3) Elective courses inure to the benefit with the proposal of the relevant program/division/department and the Board of Distance Education and the approval of the University Senate by taking into consideration of the students.  Extra courses taken by a student within the scope of elective courses may be deleted from the academic record within the periods of add-drop and withdrawal with the request of the student, the unqualified opinion of the program/division/department and the resolution of the Board of Distance Education.

Internships

ARTICLE 13 – (1) Compulsory student internships and the principles to evaluate them are determined by the suggestion of the Board of Distance Education and the resolution of the Senate.

Project Studies

ARTICLE 14 – (1) Whether students need to do projects to complete their studies, the principles regarding the procurement, construction and evaluation of the projects if needed are determined with the suggestion of the Board of Distance Education and the resolution of the Senate.

Education Type

ARTICLE 15 - (1) Education is generally web based and it is done via internet in the distance education programs of university. In addition, education is supported by videoconferencing systems, and also education cd rom, numerical library, source books and the other distance learning tools if needed. Education programs, courses and instructors within the University's distance education program are supervised by the heads of the relevant programs or the heads of the relevant departments. Every course in the distance education program has an instructor in charge. This instructor is preferably selected from those who have taken part in the preparation of the course content within distance education learning and the course credit is given in proportion to the course load.

SECTION THREE

Principles Regarding Student Registration and Admission

Quotas

ARTICLE 16 – (1) The number of scholarship students and non-scholarship students to be admitted to the distance education programs of the University is determined by the proposal of the Senate and the approval of the Council of Higher Education.

Student Admission

ARTICLE 17 – (1) To apply to the bachelor's degree and associate's degree programs; the students who are Turkish citizens and graduated from high schools and their equivalents in Turkey have to get the Student Selection Examination (ÖSS) score stated in the ÖSS guidelines and declared every year. If the student is a Turkish citizen and completed his/her high school education abroad, he/she must receive a certificate of equivalence proving that his/her diploma is equal with a high school diploma in Turkey from the Turkish Ministry of Education.

(2) The student who want to apply for a master's degree program must have at least a four-year bachelor's degree diploma and have the other requirements specified in the relevant legislation. The student with Turkish citizenship, who has received a four-year associate's degree diploma from a foreign university abroad instead of a state university established with international agreements, must has the Council of Higher Education approve his/her certificate of equivalence.

Final registration for associate's degree, bachelor's degree and master's degree programs with distance education program

ARTICLE 18 – (1) There are tuition fees for distance education programs of the University.  Each year, the amount of tuition to be paid for each program on the basis of credit and/or semester or year, the cities where registration is possible and the registration addresses are determined by the Board of Trustees. The candidate who is qualified to be a student in one of the distance education associate's degree programs of the university applies to the Registrar's Office of the University or to the registration centers in other provinces previously announced by the University either personally or by proxy in order to complete final enrollment with the following documents below within the period of time determined by the Presidency of the Student Selection and Placement Center.

(2) The students who did not enroll in the university within the registration periods declared by the Council of Higher Education and the University lose their right to enroll.

(3) The registration of the students whose documents include deficiency, tampering or forgery is canceled.  Any rights obtained based on these documents shall also be considered invalid.

(4) The following documents are required from Turkish and foreign students who had the right to enroll in the distance education associate's degree and bachelor's degree programs:

a) From Turkish students;

1) Original or printout of ÖSYM (Student Selection and Placement Center) Exam Result Document.

2) Original of high school diploma or original of graduation certificate or its certified copy by the University if the diploma is not ready; original or certified copy of equivalence certificate by the Ministry of Education for those who graduated from high school abroad,

3) T.R. identity number declaration,

4) Written declaration regarding that male candidates are not related to military service,

5) 6 color headshots (4,5x6 cm),

6) A receipt indicating that the tuition fee determined in the Board of Trustees has been paid.

b) From foreign students;

1) Original or printout of the result document of the foreign student examination or its equivalence,

2) Student visa and passport and notarized copies of their translations,

3) The receipt showing that the tuition fee has been paid,

4) The original or certified copy of residence document received from Provincial Directorate of Security

5) 6 colorful headshots (4,5x6 cm),

(5) Students have to do course registration by submitting the tuition receipt to the relevant office within the period specified in the academic calendar of the faculty or school where the student is registered and following the method determined by the relevant board of directors. Foreign students must fill out the Foreign Student Information Form and deliver their certified residence permit in addition to these documents while renewing their registrations.

(6) A student who fails to renew his/her registration on time without an excuse stated in Article 35 of this Regulation and accepted by the relevant board of directors shall be considered to have failed that semester/year.

(7) The students who have gained the right to do final registration in bachelor's degree programs with distance education of the University must fulfill the following conditions and bring the determined documents.

(8) The lists of the main and waiting candidates who are entitled to register for the bachelor's degree programs are finalized by the decision of the institute board of directors. The results are announced by the institute directorate. The main candidates do final registration within the period of time specified in the academic calendar. The candidates who do not register within the specified period lose their enrollment rights. The waiting candidates who have been found successful can be accepted on the basis of their overall performance evaluation rank instead of the main candidates who did not register.

(9) Turkish and foreign candidates entitled to register for bachelor's degree programs do their final registrations by submitting the following documents and the other documents determined by the institute when necessary within the period of time regulated by the institute. The registrations of the people who used forged or falsified document or who committed a fraud during entrance examination are cancelled.

(10) The following documents are required from Turkish and foreign students who have gained the right to do final registration for the bachelor's degree programs of the University:

a) From Turkish students;

1) From the candidates admitted to doctoral/proficiency in art programs after at least eight semesters (four years) of associate's degree education or to bachelor's degree education, the original of associate's degree diploma or graduation certificate or certified copies of them by the university are required; from the candidates admitted to doctoral/proficiency in art after bachelor's degree education, the original of bachelor's degree diploma with or without thesis or certified copies of them by the University are required; from the graduates of relevant faculties gained expertise from the Ministry of Health and directly admitted to doctoral programs, the original of associate's degree diploma or certified copy of it by the University and the original of authorization certificate or certified copy of it are required,

2) The original or printout of ALES or its equivalent exam result document,

3) The original or printout of the foreign language or its equivalent exam result document,

4) The original or certified copy of transcript by the University,

5) R.T. identity number declaration,

6) Written declaration regarding that male candidates are not related to military service,

7) The original or certified copy of the document regarding scholarship from the candidates who will study on a scholarship on behalf of an institution,

8) 6 colorful headshots (4,5x6 cm),

9) A receipt showing that the tuition fee determined in the Board of Trustees has been paid.

b) From foreign students;

1) The diploma and documents specified on the sub-clause (1) of the clause (a) of the tenth sub-article of this article from those who have completed the associate's degree and bachelor's degree education in Turkey, notary certified translation of the diplomas received abroad and the original or certified copy of the equivalence certificate received from the Council of Higher Education,

2) The original or certified copy of transcript by the University; notary certified translation of the transcript received abroad,

3) The original or printout of the exam result document regarding the candidate's Turkish knowledge,

4) The original or printout of science exam result document,

5) Educational visa, passport and their notary certified translations,

6) The original or certified copy of residence permit taken from the provincial security directorate

7) 6 colorful headshots (4.5x6 cm),

8) The original and certified copy of the document regarding scholarships from the candidates with scholarships,

9) The receipt showing that the tuition fee determined by the Board of Trustees has been paid.

Re-registration

ARTICLE 19 – (1) Course registrations are made within the periods specified in the academic calendar at the beginning of each semester. The students have to take all the new courses given in the relevant semester. The students who have unsuccessful courses from the previous semester must take these courses firstly. However, they cannot take more than one third of the course load of the semester they are enrolled. If the student does not carry out course registration of the semester, then he/she cannot benefit from student rights during that period. If a student does not register within the period specified in the academic calendar, but his/her excuse is accepted by the Board of Distance Education, then he/she can register within the specified additional period. If a student pays the tuition but does not submit re-registration form within the specified period of time, his/her re-registration process is accepted as not done. (This article applies to Associate's Degree and Bachelor's Degree students).

(2) If a student does not renew his/her registration for two consecutive semesters even though he/she does not have permission or a valid excuse, he/she will be dismissed from the university. (This article applies to Associate's Degree and Bachelor's Degree students). 

(3) If a student, enrolled in one of the distance education programs, attends ÖSYM (Student Selection and Placement Center) and consequently enrolls in a new program that educates in accordance with this system, and then registers without deleting his/her old registration, the previous record will be deleted and the new registration will be valid. The student cannot put in a claim for his/her old registration.

(4) The date of application, the duration, the procedures of re-registration, the required documents during this process and the re-registration conditions are jointly determined by boards of directors. The students who did not renew his/her registration cannot take exams and cannot benefit from student rights during that period.  They must renew their registrations in the following academic semester/year in order to continue their educations. (This article applies to Associate's Degree and Bachelor's Degree students). 

SECTION FOUR

Exams, Evaluations and Grades

Midterms

ARTICLE 20 – (1) At least one midterm exam is held every semester. The dates and places of the midterm exams are announced by the Rectorate at least two weeks in advance. The interest of the students and the information they have learned during the semester, their attendance to midterms, assignments and discussions are continuously monitored. The student is given a grade out of 100 by taking into consideration the interest and success he/she has shown in activities during the semester. What the semester activities are and how they are distributed is announced in advance for each course. The weight of the semester success grade in calculating the course success grade is 40%. Make up exams are hold in the classical way.

End-of-term exams

ARTICLE 21 – (1) At the end of each semester a final exam is hold. Final examinations may be taken one or two weeks in advance or later in case of overlaps between examination dates, and this will be announced to the students. Final exam dates are announced to students beforehand. The weight of the end-of-term exam grade in calculating the course success grade is 60%.

Make-up exams

ARTICLE 22 – (1) The associate's degree and bachelor's degree students who failed at the final exams or could not attend because of any reason have right to attend make-up exams at pre-determined and announced locations and centers under supervision. Master's degree students do not have the right to take make-up exam. Make-up exam is evaluated as final exam and the weight of it in calculating the course success grade is 60 %. (This article applies to Associate's Degree and Bachelor's Degree students). 

Copying in exams

ARTICLE 23 – (1) If a student copies or attempts to copy in a midterm, final exam or make-up exam hold under supervision, the exam will be cancelled and the student receives a warning. If this situation repeats, the student will be dismissed from the program.

Final Grade

ARTICLE 24 – (1) The raw scores of the students in midterms, final exams and make-up exams are converted to relative scores by taking into consideration the distribution of the raw scores of all the students enrolled in that course and the class average.  Each student is given a letter grade indicating their success at that course by taking into consideration 40% of the semester success grade and 60% of the relative score of the final exam or make-up exam.

Repeat course

ARTICLE 25 – (1) The student who failed the course of fall/spring semester as a result of final or make-up exams, he/she must repeat the failed course in the relevant semester of the following year.

Grade

ARTICLE 26 – (1) One of the letters below is given by the instructor as the semester final grade for each course taken by the students.

a) The coefficients of the letter grades and their equivalents on the scale of 100 points are shown below: