Academic information
The school year runs from 1 October to 30 September and is divided into two semesters, or trimesters, summer and winter. The beginning of the winter semester is October 1. The winter semester lasts until mid-January. Summer semester begins at the end of February or early March. Summer semester lasts until the beginning or mid-June. During the school year there are five examination terms: January, February, June, September, October. During the summer break, from mid-July to the end of August ATUSS is not open for business and all employees are on a collective vacation. Detailed information on important dates and full academic calendar of individual Departments of VISER, please visit their websites: http://atuss.edu.rs/?userLanguage=eng
ATUSS applies the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS, or in Serbian, ESPB) as a system of presenting the scope of courses, studies and/or study programmes. ECTS is a system of numerical representation and evaluation of work a student is supposed to invest in acquiring the knowledge and skills set in a study programme, or a study course. Given that the Republic of Serbia is a signatory state to the Bologna Declaration, the Law on Higher Education stipulates that the implementation of the ECTS system is obligatory to all accredited institutions of higher education in the Republic of Serbia. ATUSS realizes two types of studies – applied studies and short-term study programmes. Each course in an accredited study programme of applied studies or a short-term study programme is expressed in a certain number of ECTS credits, which means that a certain number of ECTS credits is allotted to it. Applied studies at ATUSS are realised at two levels – undergraduate applied studies and master applied studies. The scope of each level of studies and type of studies is expressed in a total score of ECTS credits. The scope of a study programme is a sum of ECTS credits of all courses in that study programme. A student must pass all courses in a study programme in order to obtain his/her diploma. Undergraduate studies carry 180 ECTS credits, master studies carry at least 120 ECTS, if a student has already obtained 180 ECTS credits at his/her undergraduate studies. Short-term study programmes carry at least 30 ECTS credits and no more than 60 ECTS credits. A single academic year at undergraduate or master studies carries 60 ECTS credits, which means that undergraduate applied studies last for three studies, while master applied studies last for two years. A score of 60 ECTS credits is equal to the total average engagement of a student during one academic year over the course of 40 working hours on work days. In order to obtain one ECTS credit, a student needs to invest 25 to 30 hours of work on average. Total engagement of a student in a study programme or a short-term study programme consists of active participation in the lessons (classes, practice classes, practical work, seminars...), but also of independent student work, colloquium tests, exams, final work, volunteering in the local community and other forms of engagement, depending on course content. An academic year at ATUSS comprises two semesters, or three trimesters, which means that one semester in most cases carries 30 ECTS credits on average. One of the main principles at ATUSS when it comes to defining a study programme is to offer its students a significant degree of freedom when it comes to course selection, as much as accreditation standards allow, so that a student can adapt a study programme to his/her interests. The idea is to achieve some balance between the scope of the majority of the courses, the workload, and, at the same time, the number of ECTS credits allotted to each course. As a result, most undergraduate courses carry 6 ECTS credits. A small number of courses carry 4 ECTS, 7 ECTS credits, or 8 ECTS credits . In master studies, the majority of courses carry 8 ECTS credits. A small number of courses carry 6 ECTS credits or 16 ECTS credits.
A student is given the final grade for his/her display of knowledge for each course at the exam. A teacher describes the curriculum to his/her students at the beginning of the course, explaining in more detail the forms of active participation, pre-exam activities and assignments, as well as the manner of grading, exam content, structure of the total number of points acquired through pre-exam assignments and the exam, including the manner of calculating the final grade. Teachers and teaching assistants who are in charge of a certain course monitor and evaluate students’ work in successfully going through a certain course. Student success is expressed in points. By finishing all pre-exam assignments and activities and passing the exam, a student may get up to 100 points. Those 100 points include the points for pre-exam assignments and activities, which may range from 30 to 70 points. In compliance with a corresponding accredited lesson plan and study programme, a teacher who is in charge of a certain course determines the ratio between the points gained through pre-exam activities and the points gained by passing the exam. After meeting all compulsory obligations related to pre-exam assignments, a student may take the exam. The most common pre-exam obligation, without which he/she cannot take the exam, is the one that each student must complete at least 80% of laboratory practice assignments. After a student has met all his/her pre-exam and exam obligations, the teacher in charge (or an exam committee) grades that student in accordance with the following scale:
- up to 50 points – grade 5 (a student has failed);
- 51- 60 points – grade 6 (sufficient);
- 61- 70 points – grade 7 (good);
- 71 - 80 points – grade 8 (very good);
- 81 - 90 points – grade 9 (excellent);
- 91 – 100 points – grade 10 (excellent-exceptional).
When determining the final grade, a number of points which is a decimal number is evened out in such a way that is transferred into a full number, a higher one. Each of the courses has a syllabus on the webpage of ATUSS with a detailed description of each course, including the information about the highest number of points a student can obtain through pre-exam or exam assignments. You can look up and view all courses in the Course Catalogue, as well.