EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN UNIVERSITY

REGULATIONS FOR EXEMPTIONS AND EQUIVALENCY

By-law for educatIon, examInatIons and success

(Regulation under Article 32)

These regulations have been made by Eastern Mediterranean University Rector’s Office with the approval of the Senate in accordance with Article 32 of “Eastern Mediterranean University By-law for Education, Examinations and Success.

Brief Title SEN 19.02.2014 14/366-8, VYK 09.12.2016 16-17/5(b)-2 EK 2 VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2	1.	Regulations for Exemptions and Equivalency.
Aim	2.	The purpose of these regulations is to determine the principles to be adhered to in the application of exemptions and semester/academic year equivalencies granted to the newly registered associate and undergraduate program students who have successfully completed courses at an institution of higher education including Eastern Mediterranean University, who have courses successfully completed at other institutions of higher education as registered students of Eastern Mediterranean University within the framework of the “Regulations for Taking Courses from Another Institution” or who have successfully passed examinations equivalent to the relevant program’s courses in content and scope and taken as a basis during the student’s admission to the university.
Scope VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2	3.	These regulations cover the guidelines for the following issues concerning students who receive an acceptance to Eastern Mediterranean University within the framework of Regulations for Eastern Mediterranean University Entrance Exam and Student Admission, wish to turn back to Eastern Mediterranean University to continue their studies after benefiting from academic amnesty act or are graduates of other higher education institutions who have enrolled at Eastern Mediterranean University: -exemption and equivalency principles for successfully completed courses taken at another institution of higher education as a registered student of Eastern Mediterranean University within the framework of the “Regulations for Taking Courses from Another Institution” -successfully passed examinations equivalent to the relevant program’s courses in content and scope and taken as a basis during student admission to the university.
Application	4.	(1)	Applications for course exemption are submitted to the Registrar’s Office until the end of the Course Add or Drop period or within 15 working days following their date of registration at the program of admission. Exemption applications or other requests for the cancellation of exemption/equivalency procedures submitted during the following semester / academic years are not taken into consideration.
		(2)	Applications should be submitted in person or via official proxies.
		(3)	In their applications, students are required to clearly specify the courses they wish to be exempted from. Programs may grant exemptions for courses required by students or other courses that may be found suitable. Course exemption procedure is completed upon the student’s approval of the exempted courses.
VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2		(4)	(a)	Exemption applications for courses successfully completed within the last 5 academic years may be submitted.
VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2			(b)	For courses taken five years ago or more, exemptions may be granted through the approval of the Faculty Board in faculties (in line with the recommendation of Department Board, if any) and through the School Board in schools.
VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2			(c)	The five year requirement is not sought for course exemptions of the students who have gained admissions and the right for registration for Eastern Mediterranean University through vertical transfer specified in “Regulations for EMU Entrance Exams and Student Admission”.
VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2			(d)
		(5)	A copy of the course descriptions and transcript which bear the seal, stamp and signature of the former institution of higher education should be attached to the application document. In the event of the submission of a photocopied, faxed or unapproved copy of the documents or submitting the application with missing documents, the application procedure is initiated on a conditional basis and students are given a reasonable period to submit the required documents in the specified format. Applications not meeting the said conditions until the end of the specified period are considered as rejected.
General Issues about Exemptions and Equivalency	5.	General issues about exemptions and equivalency are as follows:
		(1)	The Exemptions and Equivalency Committee of the unit of application carry out the relevant inspection regarding the courses which the student applied for exemption and takes a decision regarding the formerly taken courses from which the student has obtained satisfactory scores.
		(2)	Regardless of the fact that the course which the student has applied for exemption is compulsory or elective in nature, a report is prepared after an analysis of the suitability/adequacy of the relevant course takes place. Following the evaluation and finalization of the report by the relevant unit’s board, the student’s placement takes place during the relevant semester/academic year.
		(3)	Until the relevant board determines the response for the exemption applications, students continue to attend the course/s excluding the course/s they applied for exemption as suggested by their advisor. In line with the exemption documents submitted after the course add and drop period specified on the Academic Calendar, registered courses that have been granted exemption are deleted from the semester course registration, in such a way that the student’s status does not change to part-time. In any case, no new courses are added. Exemption documents not being submitted until the last day of classes specified on the Academic Calendar are not taken into consideration. Students are not entitled to apply for course exemptions and equivalency during the upcoming semesters.
		(4)	In the event of the transcript of a student who has applied for exemption containing both letter and numerical grades, letter grades are taken into consideration.
		(5)	It is not necessary to have identical titles for a course to be considered equivalent with another. In the evaluation of a course, the content of the course which the student has applied for exemption is expected to match the other course at a minimum rate of 80%
		(6)	Regarding the exemption applications of students who have registered through horizontal transfer method for courses which were taken and successfully passed at other universities, if more than one course is considered to be equivalent to another, exemption is granted taking into consideration the grade average of these courses. In the event of one course being found equivalent to multiple courses, exemptions may be granted for equivalent courses taking into consideration the credit value and course content.
		(7)	During the exemption procedures of the students, the conversion table of the grades from “the ‘4.00’ point scale system to grades at other systems” approved by the Eastern Mediterranean University Senate is taken as a basis in the conversion of grades obtained at other institutions of higher education to ‘4.00’ point scale.
Newly Registered Students’ Course Exemptions and Grade Equivalencies VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2	6.	Course exemptions and grade equivalencies of students who have registered to the university within the scope of Regulations for Entrance Exam and Student Admission are carried out as follows:
VYK 11.03.2021 20-21/20-3 EK 2		(1)	Concerning students who have enrolled at Eastern Mediterranean University for the first time through a method of horizontal transfer or from either same or a different program in another institution of higher education, the number of exempted courses for 4-year undergraduate programs may not exceed the total number of courses offered within the first five semesters of the relevant program. Regarding 5 or 6-year undergraduate programs, the maximum number of course exemptions may not exceed the total number of courses offered within the first 7 semesters of the relevant program. In associate degree programs, the maximum total for the exempted courses is the number of courses offered within the first two semesters of the program. If the number of courses which the student has applied for exemptions is too many, the number of exemptions is determined starting from the course with the highest score obtained and by taking the pre-requisites into consideration. For students who graduated from a different institution of higher education and have enrolled at an equivalent program at Eastern Mediterranean University which offers the same level or a higher level of training (associate, technician or undergraduate), exemptions for all the courses taken at the previous institution that are equivalent to the ones taught at Eastern Mediterranean University can be granted on the condition of student being enrolled at the registered program with a full-time student status for at least 2 semesters.
		(2)	The minimum number of exemptions granted for students who have registered through the Vertical Transfer procedure is equal to the number of courses offered during the first two semesters, on the condition that it does not contradict with the provisions in Article 5(5) and Article 6(3).
		(3)	Concerning the former courses of students who have previously studied at other institutions of higher education and enrolled at Eastern Mediterranean University for the first time, all of those with letter grades “C” and above or with other corresponding scores are exempted, on the condition that their content has been found suitable. For such courses, the corresponding grade applied at Eastern Mediterranean University is put on the transcript but is not included in the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) calculation. In the event of students’ meeting the graduation requirements in their registered degree program, their undergraduate grade average is calculated considering the exempted courses and courses taken during their undergraduate studies and indicated separately.
		(4)	For exemptions to be granted for courses from which the student has received conditional grades (i.e., C-, D+, D or corresponding grades), the grade point average of all courses to be exempted is expected to be 2.00 and above.
		(5)	In the event of students who formerly studied at a different university asking for exemptions for courses that were granted exemption at the last attended institution of higher education where they studied, the year of study and the course content at the former university are taken into account, with a consideration of time-limitations prescribed in Article 4.(4) of these regulations. Any former exemptions granted for the courses of the student by another university are not taken into account without an analysis of the content and credit-value suitability.
		(6)	Regarding students who study at Eastern Mediterranean University, grades of courses which have been exempted by the relevant boards are considered as formerly acquired grades and are included in the CGPA calculation.
		(7)	Regarding the courses taken at associate programs of students who have been placed into undergraduate programs through vertical transfer, the corresponding grade applied at Eastern Mediterranean University is put on the transcript and added to the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) for those courses which have been granted exemption at the undergraduate program.
		(8)	In situations where the student has obtained the minimum grade of “C” and above from GCE A Level or other equivalent exam/s which are identical to course/s in the student’s program of admission, relevant courses are granted exemptions.
Exemptions for and Grade Equivalency of Courses Taken Outside the University	7.	Course exemptions and grade equivalency of the registered students of Eastern Mediterranean University, who have taken courses from another institution of higher education under the exchange or special student category are as follows:
		(1)	In accordance with the “Regulations for Taking Courses from Another Institution”, registered students of the university may take courses at another institution of higher education during the summer period or within the framework of exchange programs.
		(2)	Following the relevant boards’ approval for exemption, grades of formerly acquired courses taken at institutions of higher education with which collaboration agreements have been settled within the framework of the “Regulations for Taking Courses from Another Institution” are processed as equivalent grades corresponding with the letter grades approved by the Senate and are included in the calculation of CGPA.
		(3)	Regarding students who have taken courses from institutions with which the university has no collaboration agreements within the framework of the “Regulations for Taking Courses from Another Institution” or whose equivalent grades have not been approved by the Senate;
			(a)	In the event of the grade point average of the students who have taken semester course load being 2.00 and above, all courses with satisfactory and/or probational grades are assigned a corresponding letter grade and all failed courses are given an ‘F’ grade. If the grade point average is less than 2.00, all courses with passing grades (C and above) are assigned a corresponding grade and all remaining ones receive an ‘F’ grade and are included in the calculation of the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).
			(b)	Students who have taken less courses than the normal course load of the relevant semester obtain relevant letter grades for courses with satisfactory grades (C and above) and ‘F’ grades for all remaining courses, all of which are included in the calculation of the Cumulative Grade Point Average
Language Proficiency	8.	(1)	For the English Preparatory School exemption of students who have enrolled at English-medium programs, the following conditions are sought:
			(a)	Obtaining a satisfactory grade from the English Proficiency Test.
			(b)	Former education received at an English-medium program
			(c)	Possessing a satisfactory grade from international exams recognized by the EMU Senate.
		(2)	For the Turkish preparatory school exemption of international students whose native language is not Turkish and who have registered for Turkish-medium programs, the following conditions are sought:
			(a)	Former education taking place at a Turkish-medium program,
			(b)	Obtaining a satisfactory score from the Turkish Proficiency Exam,
			(c)	Possessing a satisfactory grade from international exams recognized by the EMU Senate.
Appeals Against Exemptions and Equivalencies	9.	Appeals against the exemption/equivalency results are submitted to the relevant unit within three working days following the date of officially informing the students about the results. The relevant unit informs the student about the final decision within five working days.
Procedures for Exemption	10.	Exemption procedures are carried out by the exemption and equivalency committees of the relevant unit. The committee submits the report to the relevant unit’s board who informs the students about the decisions online. The board decision specifies the semester of placement as well as the code, title, credit value, and success grade of the former course and the title, code and credit value of the corresponding exempted course.
Exemptions for Students from Countries with Extraordinary Situations	11.	The Rector’s Office has full authority over the exemption procedures of the students from countries with extraordinary situations.
Applications of Provisions not Defined	12.	Decisions of the University Senate shall be applied for provisions not defined in these regulations, on the condition that the university by-laws and regulations are not violated.
Coming into Force	13.	These regulations shall come into force following the date of their approval by the Eastern Mediterranean University Board of Trustees.
Executive Power	14.	These regulations are executed by Eastern Mediterranean University Rectors’ office.