REGULATION for MASTER S EDUCATION Approved on 27/05/2013 by Academic Board - Decision 2 (Appendix :1)

INTERNATIONAL BLACK SEA UNIVERSITY QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DOCUMENTS REGULATION for MASTER S EDUCATION Approved on 27/05/2013 by Academic Board - Decision 2 (Appendix :1) Approvals The signatures below certify that this quality manual has been reviewed and accepted, and demonstrates that the signatories are aware of all the requirements contained herein and are committed to ensure their provision. Prepared by: Controlled by: Approved by: Assigned Commission by the Academic Board Quality Management Committee Academic Board Document No: IBSU.R4E Rev: 09/07/2015 Uncontrolled Copy Controlled Copy Date: 27/05/2013 IBSU PROPRIETARY INFORMATION Prior to use, ensure this document is the most recent revision by checking the List of Internal Documents. To request a change, submit a Document Change Request to the Quality Management Committee.

CONTENTS Article 1. Subject and Scope... 5 Article 2. Design of Academic Program... 5 Article 3. Admission to Program... 5 Article 4. Language of Instruction... 7 Article 5. Duration of Study Process... 7 Article 6. Assessment... 7 Article 7. Examination and Disciplinary Rules... 8 Article 8. Admission to Master s Thesis... 8 Article 9. Defining the Topic of a Thesis and the Supervisor... 8 Article 10. Features of the Master s Thesis... 8 Article 11. Writing Master s Thesis... 8 Article 12. Assessment of Master s Thesis... 10 Article 13. Tuition fee for additional semester... 10 Article 14. Supervisor... 11 Article 15. Reviewer... 11 Article 16. Submitting the thesis... 11 Article 17. Commission... 12 Article 18. Functions of the Head and the Secretary of the Defense Commission... 12 Article 19. Defense Procedure... 13 Article 20. Awarding Master s Degree... 13 Article 21. Other Terms... 13 Article 22. Date of Effect... 13 Article 23. Implementation... 13 IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 2 of 14

Amendments: 1. Academic Board Decision # 7 09.10.2013; 2. Academic Board Decision # 1 20.12.2013; 3. Academic Board Decision # 4 19.03.2014; 4. Academic Board Decision # 5-28.05.2014; 5. Academic Board Decision # 3 17.09.2014; 6. Academic Board Decision # 4 10.11.2014; 7. Academic Board Decision # 2 26.01.2015; 8. Academic Board Decision #4 13.03.2015; 9. Academic Board Decision # 4 05.05.2015; 10. Academic Board Decision #2 09.07.2015. Primary version: 27.05.2013 # 1 IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 3 of 14

List of Revisions # Date Article Remarks 01 09.10.2013 2.1 Design of an academic program 02 20.12.2013 3.1.2.2 Enrollment of foreign students 03 19.03.2014 3.5 Enrollment of foreign students 04 28.05.2014 3.2 1 Enrollment of foreign students via online form 05 17.09.2014 3.1 Enrollment of a student 06 17.09.2014 11.3 Reference to IBSU.R3.I11E - Guidelines for thesis writing for Bachelor, Master and PhD level papers 07 10.11.2014 3.1.2.1 Enrollment of foreign students 08 26.01.2015 14.1 Master s Thesis supervision 09 13.03.2015 3.1 1 Defining the wording: Foreign language 10 13.03.2015 3.1.3.1 The wording English language was changed into Foreign language 11 13.03.2015 3.1.3.2 The grounds for exempting from passing English language (as a foreign language) examination was defined 12 13.03.2015 3.1.3.4 The grounds for exempting from passing foreign language examination was defined 12 13.03.2015 3.4.5 The wording English language was changed into Foreign language 14 13.03.2015 3.5 Prolonging the period of enrolment (for international students) 15 05.05.2015 11.2 Technical essentials of Master s thesis 16 05.05.2015 16.2 Master s Thesis submission 17 09.07.2015 9.2 Master s Thesis draft version IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 4 of 14

Article 1. Subject and Scope 1.1. This regulation aims at defining the rules for enrolling students in Master s programs of the International Black Sea University (hereinafter, IBSU ), as well as rules regarding study process, assessment of students learning outcomes and awarding Master s academic degree. 1.2. This regulation will be applied to all Master s students of IBSU. 1.3. Master s program is an educational program of the second cycle of academic higher education, which covers the elements of scientific research and aims at training the post-bachelor level specialist or researcher, also prepares the persons to pursue professional activities according to acquired qualification. 1.4. Master s educational program covers no less than 120 ECTS credits. Article 2. Design of Academic Program 2.1. Design of Master s program is done by an Associate Professor or a Professor of the University, who (if the program is approved) becomes the program coordinator. After the agreement with the University Quality Assurance Office, Faculty Board views the program draft version. If the Faculty Board approves the program, it is submitted to University Academic Board for approval. 2.2. After the approval by the Academic Board, Master s program is added via authorization/ authorization annual report or accreditation. 2.3. The minimum number of students required to open a Master s program is 5 (five). Article 3. Admission to Program 3.1. Applicants can be enrolled in IBSU Master s Programs according to the Georgian legislation on the grounds of the Unified Master s Examinations results / without passing the Unified Master s Examinations (in the exceptions defined by Law) and the results of the university exams (foreign language/ specialty). An agreement is concluded between IBSU and an applicant. The Act of the Rector is issued regarding students enrolment. 3.1 1 The language determined by the prerequisite of admission to program is regarded as a foreign language 3.1.1. Rules for enrolment via Unified Master s Examinations: 3.1.1.1 The citizen of Georgia, who possesses a Georgian Bachelor s diploma or equivalent to it, successfully passes the United Master s Examinations and IBSU exam(s) defined by Master s program (foreign language/ specialty), is entitled to enroll in the Master s program of IBSU. 3.1.2. Rules for enrolment without Unified Master s Examinations: IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 5 of 14

3.1.2.1 The citizen of Georgia / foreign citizen, (besides a student, who is involved in a joint program) who passes IBSU admission exam(s) (specialty/ foreign language), and submits: a) A Bachelor s or equivalent diploma received abroad and /or b) a transcript of awarded credits through Master s program at a foreign higher education institution duly recognized under the law of the country concerned and/or c) the Act of Rector confirming his/her enrollment in a higher education institution without passing Unified National Examinations is enrolled in the Master s program of IBSU without passing Unified Master s Examinations in accordance with the Law. 3.1.2.2 Foreigner, who has received the right to study in Georgian higher educational institution before enforcement of Georgian Law on Higher Education, passes IBSU exam(s) (foreign language/specialty) and submits a qualification document, recognized by state, awarded by a higher education institution of Georgia. 3.1.3. Both types of applicants: 3.1.3.1 Candidates who obtained a B.A. degree in a foreign language take exam in specialty, while graduates of other B.A. programs take IBSU examination in a foreign language (B2 level) and specialty. The passing grade differs from program requirements. 3.1.3.2 Those candidates who have international English language certificate equivalent to B2 level (TOEFL IBT, IELTS and FCE) are not required to take the exam in English language, if according to the program admission requirements English language is considered as a foreign language. 3.1.3.3 For the purposes of this regulation, certificate in YDS (minimum score 75 from 100) is regarded as an international English language certificate equivalent to B2 level. 3.1.3.4 Those candidates who have graduated from educational program (instruction language foreign language) during last three years and their GPA is at least 75 (out of 100) or 3(out of 4), are free from passing foreign language examination.(enacted from 2015-2016 academic year) IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 6 of 14

3.2. The admission examination is organized by Post-Graduate Institute. 3.2 1 Admission exam(s) for those foreign citizens who are not on the territory of Georgia, could be held online. 3.3. Exam(s) in specialty are carried out in an instruction language of a program. 3.4. During the registration period on the Master s program all the required documents will be announced by the IBSU. The following documents are normally appended to the application: 3.4.1. 2 photos (3X4) (printed and electronic version); 3.4.2. CV; 3.4.3. A copy of a Bachelor s or equivalent diploma certified by a notary office (for foreign diplomas notary-approved translation) notaryapproval is not required for a diploma issued by IBSU; 3.4.4. A copy of ID card or passport (for foreign passports - notary-approved translation); 3.4.5. An international certificate of a foreign language / a diploma received via education in a foreign language; 3.4.6. Military certificate (for candidates, who are militarily registered). 3.5. If the enrollment period of a student (via the act of the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia) falls after the seventh week of the semester, he/she will be enrolled from the next semester. Article 4. Language of Instruction 4.1. Instruction languages in the Master s programs are Georgian, English and Turkish. Article 5. Duration of Study Process 5.1. The regular duration of a Master s program is 4 semesters. 5.2. Those students who cannot complete the program in 4 semesters can continue their educational process on self-financing basis, in compliance with the requirements defined by the Rules and Regulations on Educational Process - IBSU.R3E and Financial Regulation IBSU.R9E. 5.3. The student is given 15 calendar weeks for the preparation of the Master s thesis. This period is calculated from the date of approval of the thesis (if the student changes the thesis, the period is calculated from the date of the first approval). Article 6. Assessment 6.1. All issues related to assessment (except the assessment of Master s thesis) are defined by Rules and Regulations on Educational Process - IBSU.R3E. IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 7 of 14

Article 7. Examination and Disciplinary Rules 7.1. Disciplinary rules for Master s students are defined by the Disciplinary Regulation for Students - IBSU.R7E. Article 8. Admission to Master s Thesis 8.1. A student is admitted to register on master thesis if s/he had covered all the compulsory courses and his/her credits from the Master s program are no less than 80. Article 9. Defining the Topic of a Thesis and the Supervisor 9.1. The topic of the thesis (after the agreement with the program coordinator and the supervisor) and the Supervisor (after the agreement with the supervisor) has to be approved by the Faculty Board, at the beginning of the semester. The topic of the thesis could be changed within one month time from the approval. The changed topic should be reapproved, the same way, as it is approved for the first time. 9.2. Two weeks after approving the title of the Master s Thesis, the student shall submit the working plan, as well as 1 month before MA Thesis defense the draft version of the thesis (60-70% of the final version) to the Institute of Post-Graduate Studies. Article 10. Features of the Master s Thesis 10.1. Master s thesis is an academic research conducted under the supervision of a supervisor. 10.2. Master s thesis should meet the requirements listed below: 10.2.1. Should be directed to solving an issue regarding the relevant field; 10.2.2. Practical and theoretical results obtained by the student must be revealed. Article 11. Writing Master s Thesis 11.1. The thesis for the programs fulfilled in Georgian should be written in Georgian (with max.1 page of abstract in English). The thesis for the programs fulfilled in English should be written in English (with a max.1 page of abstract in Georgian and English). The thesis for the programs fulfilled in Turkish should be written in Turkish (with a max. 1 page of abstract in Georgian, English and Turkish). 11.2. The format requirements are: volume - 60-70 pages, font: Sylfaen (for Georgian), Times New Roman (for English and Turkish), font size 12, Line Spacing 1.5 lines, Left Margin 3 cm., Right Margin 1.5 cm., Top and Bottom Margins 2.5 cm. IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 8 of 14

11.3. The detailed design of Master s thesis is shown in IBSU.R3.I11E - Guidelines for thesis writing for Bachelor, Master and PhD level papers. IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 9 of 14

Article 12. Assessment of Master s Thesis 12.1. A Master s thesis assessment is done in two steps: 12.1.1. Assessment by a supervisor and a reviewer (positive/negative): a written positive review admits the student to defense; 12.1.2. Assessment by the commission. 12.2. The criteria of assessment are given in the IBSU.R4.F1E. 12.3. The assessment of the individual member of the commission is anonymous. The student is informed about an average point. 12.4. The Master s thesis will be evaluated according to the table below: Latin Equivalent Points summa cum laude excellent 91-100 magna cum laud every good 81-90 cum laude good 71-80 bene satisfactory 61-70 rite enough 51-60 insuffiecienter insufficient can be revised 41-50 sub omni canone unsatisfactory, cannot be revised 40 or less 12.5. If student a is assessed by summa cum laude, magna cum laud, cum laude, bene, rite, s/he is awarded an Academic Degree of Master, if a student is assessed by insuffiecienter a student has a right to improve and re-defend the same topic thesis during the one year period, if a student is assessed by sub omni canone the student has no right to re-defend the same thesis. 12.6. Except of the negative assessments, defined by paragraph 12.4 of article 12, Master s thesis will be rejected, if: 12.6.1. Plagiarism was proved; 12.6.2. Student did not attend the oral hearing (except for an excuse which was proven in compliance with IBSU regulations); 12.6.3. Students tried to obtain the point by violent actions, threat or fraud. Article 13. Tuition fee for additional semester 13.1. If a student has to take an additional semester for the defense of the Master s thesis, the case of payment is defined in the following way: 13.1.1. If additional help is needed from the supervisor, the complete tuition fee for one semester should be paid; 13.1.2. If there is no need for the supervisor's help and the Master s thesis is practically ready for defense, the tuition fee for one semester will be reduced to half based on student's and supervisors joint application. IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 10 of 14

13.2. Exceptions from paragraph 13.1 can be defined by the Act of Rector. Article 14. Supervisor 14.1. Master s thesis supervisor can be the person who holds Ph.D. degree and during the period of supervision hold an Administrative or Academic position at any authorized Higher Education Institution. 14.2. The supervisor of each Master s student should be appointed and the corresponding agreement should be signed by the end of the first week of the fourth semester. 14.3. The supervision of Master s thesis is remunerated. During the course period, the supervisor will not be remunerated. The supervisor will therefore be remunerated starting from the fourth semester. 14.4. If necessary, a second supervisor may be also appointed. In this case remuneration will be shared between the supervisors. 14.5. A student has the right to apply to change his/her supervisor at least two months before the defense. 14.6. The final version of a Master s thesis, together with an abstract is submitted to a supervisor by a student. Supervisor is given two weeks period to assess the thesis. 14.7. Supervisor is responsible for objectivity of his/her assessment. A negative assessment needs to be augmented. Article 15. Reviewer 15.1. A Faculty Board decides who to appoint as the reviewer. S/he is selected from the academic staff of IBSU or from specialists who work in the given field, having a PhD degree. 15.2. A student is informed by Post-Graduate Institute about who his/her reviewer is. 15.3. A reviewer simultaneously is a commission member. 15.4. A reviewer has maximum two weeks to assess the thesis. The assessment is prepared in two copies. One copy is submitted to a Post-Graduate Institute (who later sends it to the Faculty), another copy to student, at least 5 calendar days before the defense. 15.5. Reviewer is responsible for objectivity of his/her assessment. A negative assessment needs to be augmented. Article 16. Submitting the thesis 16.1. After receiving the supervisor s review, at least 15 calendar days earlier before the defense date, the student writes an application about the completion of the IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 11 of 14

thesis and its admission for the defense to a Post-Graduate Institute. The supervisor also signs the application. 16.2. The application is attached with two hard copies of the thesis (signed by the student) and one electronic copy (on CD disk). Article 17. Commission 17.1. A defense of a thesis is held by the commission formed by the Faculty Board. Members of commission are appointed by the Faculty Board on proposal of the supervisor (all commission members should have the PhD degree). One of the commission members may not be employed full-time at IBSU. 17.2. The commission consists of minimum three and maximum five people of corresponding specialty/direction (including reviewer). The commission shall consist of the Faculty Dean, program coordinator and IBSU staff. The representative of Post-Graduate Institute is entitled to attend the defense and express opinion, but does not have the right to vote. Supervisor is entitled to attend the defense, but is not a commission member. 17.3. The Dean of the Faculty is the Head of the commission, the secretary is appointed by the commission from the Faculty members. 17.4. Defense report is signed by the Head, Secretary and all attending members. 17.5. Sighed reported is submitted to Faculty Board, which submits it to the Board of Post-Graduate Institution. Article 18. Functions of the Head and the Secretary of the Defense Commission 18.1. Functions of the Head of the defense commission are: 18.1.1. Leading the defense procedure; 18.1.2. Summing up the results of the commission members and calculating the average point. 18.2. Functions of a Secretary of a Defense Commission are: 18.2.1. Conducting all the necessary procedures and paper work regarding the Master s thesis defense (including the preparation of the list of those students who successfully defended their Master s thesis (indicating the name and surname of the student, thesis title, program and supervisor, reviewer and his/her report, date of the defense, etc.) and providing information about the students who did not defend their Master s thesis: the reason of not defending thesis, decision of a defense commission regarding the student who did not defend his/her Master thesis). 18.2.2. Preparing a report of the commission in one copy and submitting them to the Faculty Board. IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 12 of 14

Article 19. Defense Procedure 19.1. The time and date of the defense is announced by the Post-Graduate Institute. 19.2. At least 2/3 of the defense commission should attend the defense. If not the defense will be postponed. The postponed date should not exceed 1 month. 19.3. The defense of the thesis is carried out orally and publicly in the corresponding program language. 19.4. The presentation of one thesis should not exceed 20 minutes. After the student s presentation the members of the commission can express their criticisms and ask the Master s student questions. Article 20. Awarding Master s Degree 20.1. Students, who have defended the Master s thesis, are awarded Master s academic degree. 20.2. The diploma certifying Master s academic degree may be cancelled, if any of the condition defined by paragraph 12.6 is revealed. 20.3. The decision about the cancellation of the academic degree is made by the Board of Post-Graduate Institution, upon the proposal of Faculty Board. Article 21. Other Terms 21.1. Those issues which are not defined within this present document will be regulated according to the Georgian Law On Higher Education and other regulations of International Black Sea University. 21.2. The case of any changes, amendments and/or additions to the Master s Education Regulation IBSU.R4E is adopted by the university Academic Board. Article 22. Date of Effect 22.1. This regulation is valid from the approval date by the Academic Board and is enacted from 2013/2014 Academic Year. Article 23. Implementation 23.1. The rules in this regulation are carried out by the Institute of Post-graduate Studies. IBSU.R4E REVISION DATE: 09.07.2015 PAGE: 13 of 14

Ignorance of rules of the university shall not be a defence to any erring student. All students are therefore required to familiarise themselves with the rules and regulations as outlined in the related IBSU documentation. IBSU is an equal opportunity institution. It does not discriminate against any member of its community on the basis of gender, race, nationality, ancestry, creed, marital or parental status, or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disabilities in its educational programmes and activities. Published by: INTERNATIONAL BLACK SEA UNIVERSITY 2, David Agmashenebeli Alley 13 th km., Tbilisi, 0131, Georgia www.ibsu.edu.ge contact@ibsu.edu.ge