Assignment of major

1. Student applies for a major after fulfilling its requirements (Table 1).
2. Application for choice of major happens twice a year (after the announcement of Spring and Fall results). Accordingly, vacancies for each major of each cohort are updated and announced to the students before the start of the application period.
3. Student applies via the SQU portal → major selection. Application is open for three working days during which the student can edit and modify the requested majors.
4. Student chooses three majors to be considered based on meeting the requirements as well as availability of seats allocated for each cohort.
5. For each cohort, 30% of the allocated seats is offered for the first call of choice of major, then 50% for the second call and then finally remaining seats will be available to be assigned.
6. The ADUGS office process the applications in three rounds. Students who are not accepted for the first choice will be considered for the second and third choices, consecutively.
7. Once the processing is over, a list of the assigned students to the different majors is sent to the departmental member of the college choice of major committee (CCMC) for approval.
8. On rare occasion and specifically when no more vacancies are available a major for a cohort, additional 1-2 students who meet all requirements are assigned to the major after approval of the concerned department and the CCMC.
9. After approval, the ADUGS office updates student profile on the SIS website with the assigned major.
10. The ADUGS office circulates an announcement informing students to check updates of their academic profile on SIS website.
11. Within a week from the announcement, any student not satisfied with the assigned major sends an email to the ADUGS office (sci@student.squ.edu.om) to drop the assignment.

Transfer of major

1. Student not satisfied with the previously assigned major can apply for a transfer of major.
2. Application subjects to the availability of seats allocated for each cohort as well as fulfillment of the student of the requirements of the major (Table 1).
3. Application for transfer of major happens twice a year and students apply online via a link activated for the process over three days and pre-announced to the students.
4. The ADUGS office process the transfer applications once the assignment of majors for pre-major students is completed since they are given priority.

Assignment of minors

• For minors offered by the College of Science and the minor of soil and water sciences (College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, CAMS):

1. Student registers and completes the required and elective courses.
2. Before graduation, student fills the minor form listing the completed required and elective courses of the requested minor with a condition of maintaining GPA of ≥ 2.00 for the minor courses.
3. The HoD of the minor program checks and approves the form and then the HoD of the major program checks and approves the form and forwards it back to the ADUGS approval.
4. The ADUGS office forwards the minor assignment request to the A & R.
5. Student checks updates of her/his academic profile on SIS website.
6. In case a student failed in completing the minor required courses and/or could not get minimum GPA of 2.00 for the minor courses, no minor is assigned. For minors offered by the College of Science, the registered minor courses are counted as major electives. For minor of soil and water sciences (CAMS), up to three courses of the approved courses of the minor are counted as major electives. However, the department has the right to consider the already registered additional minor courses as major electives.

• For the minor in business (College of Economics and Political Sciences, CEPS):

1. The ADUGS office announces the application for the minor twice a year to all Science students after the announcement of Spring and Fall results.
2. Students apply online via a link activated for the process over three days.
3. As agreed between the College of Science and CEPS, 30 major students from each cohort (15 in each semester) are competitively assigned based on cGPA.
4. The same steps (1˗5) for assignment of minors offered by the College of Science and the minor of soil and water sciences (CAMS) are applied for assignment of the minor in business.
5. Up to three courses of the approved courses of the minor are counted as major electives. However, the department has the right to consider the already registered additional minor courses as major electives.

Deciding on transfer requests from other colleges

1. After announcement by the A & R, students from other colleges can apply to transfer to the College of Science twice a year (before the Fall and Spring semesters) via the SQU portal.

2. The student should meet the minimum criteria for transfer to the College of Science (Figure 3).

3. The College allocates 30 seats for each time and the transfer, if accepted, is to the College not the major (i.e., the student is transferred as pre-major).

4. The ADUGS sorts the applications based on the cGPA and accepts the requests on a first-come, first-served basis until all seats are assigned. The completed and the remaining semesters allowed for the student to stay at SQU are considered when processing the application. The remaining number of semesters significantly influences the acceptance of requests by students of the older cohorts.

5. The student accepts or rejects the offer. Then, the A & R completes the transfer process of accepted offers and updates student’s profile on the SIS and SQU portal.

Figure 3: The minimum transfer criteria to the College of Science (Source: General Transfer Criteria between Colleges, the A & R).

Processing requests of postponement of study

1. After the announcement by the A & R, students apply for postponement by submitting a no-objection letter from the guardian with a copy of her/his civil ID card to the ADUGS office. The letter needs to specify the reason(s) for postponement.

2. The ADUGS office processes and forwards the postponement request to the A & R.

3. The A & R usually notifies the ADUGS office if the postponement is approved and/or the student needs to clear other pending issues (e.g., monthly allowances, accommodation …etc.) before approval of the request.

4. If postponement is not approved, the ADUGS office communicates with the student.

Deciding on excuses for missing classes/assessments

1. Missing classes/assessments are governed according to the Undergraduate Academic Regulations (B-6-1 General Guidelines on Students absenteeism, Pages 18-22).

2. if the submitted excuses are suspicious and/or not listed in the section B-6-1 (General Guidelines on Students absenteeism), the instructor and/or coordinator communicates them to the HoD and/or the ADUGS office.

3. The ADUGS office can check with the issuing institutions to confirm authenticity of the excuses and/or decide if they are considered valid for missing classes and/or granting makeup assessments.

4. The ADUGS communicates back to the instructor and/or coordinator with the decisions.

Academic misconducts:

1. Based on the request of the instructor/course coordinator, the student should fill and sign the incident form for examination and the invigilator/course instructor should include her/his statement and sign the form, if necessary. Note: student should be allowed to continue completing, finalizing, and writing the concerned assessment.

2. The misconduct should be reported to the HoD and/or the ADUGS.

3. The HoD and/or the ADUGS forms an Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee to handle the case.

4. At the departmental level, the Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee consists of two faculty members and is chaired by the HoD or a delegate.

5. At the College level, the Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee consists of 2-3 faculty members, preferably from the College Examination Committee, but not necessarily, and is chaired by the ADUGS.

6. The HoD and/or the ADUGS calls for a meeting to which the student is asked to attend, if needed. The student should respond to the allegations of the misconduct.

7. The chairperson asks the student to leave the meeting room and the committee reviews all related documents (including the incident form for examination) and/or other evidence to reach a decision and appropriate action according to the SQU student misconduct regulations.

8. Whenever the student admits the academic misconduct and/or it is strongly supported by the available evidence, the student usually receives zero for the concerned assessment (e.g., quiz, midterm exam, final exam, …etc.). If the student repeats the misconduct, the student receives F in the concerned course.

Non-academic or behavioral misconducts:

1. The misconduct should be reported to the HoD and/or the ADUGS.

2. The HoD and/or the ADUGS forms an Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee to handle the case.

3. At the departmental level, the Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee consists of two faculty members and is chaired by the HoD or a delegate.

4. At the College level, the Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee consists of 2-3 faculty members and is chaired by the ADUGS.

5. the Ad-Hoc disciplinary committee issues verbal and written warning to the student for the first time. If the student repeats the misconduct, then the ADUGS communicates the case to the Deanships of Student Affairs, the A & R and/or SQU administration for further actions.

Scheduling mid-term exams for introductory and multi-section courses

1. The ADUGS office calls for a meeting with the coordinators of the introductory and/or multi-section courses a week before the start of the semester.
2. The ADUGS office presents an initial pre-assigned dates for mid-term exams based on the previous semesters. The mid-terms exams are usually scheduled between 6:15-7:15 PM on weekdays. Mid-term exams to be conducted at the class time of the courses and/or before 6:15 PM can also be included in the schedule, however the instructor needs to book the classrooms (see below).
3. The coordinators confirm or request change of the pre-assigned dates for their courses. Priority is given to courses with larger number of registered students.
4. Once all dates are confirmed, the ADUGS office coordinates with the Deanship of Student Affairs to reserve the classrooms and notifies the deanship to provide transportation, if needed. For any mid-term exam to be conducted at the class time of the courses and/or before 6:15 PM, the course instructor needs to book the room via the A & R website.
5. After receiving the approval from the Deanship of Student Affairs and/or A & R, the ADUGS office forwards the updated schedule with assigned classrooms or venues for exams to all course coordinators.
6. The coordinators confirm or may request change of the assigned classrooms for the mid-term exams of their courses. The modification is subject to the availability of the classrooms and approval of the Deanship of Student Affairs and/or A & R.
7. Once confirmed by the coordinators, the schedule is considered final. However, modification of the schedule is possible under certain extreme circumstances or emergencies. Any modification request should be addressed to the ADUGS office.

Coordination to resolve conflicts of exams

Final exams

1. The student needs to report the conflicts as soon as possible after issuing the master timetable to the HoD and/or the ADUGS office.
2. The ADUGS office communicates with the A & R to resolve the conflicts during the add and drop period using the form Approval form for registering in a course with a direct final exam conflict (available on the A & R website).

Mid-term exams

1. The student, having more than two exams on the same day and/or exams conflicts (i.e., same or overlapping time), should inform the concerned HoD if the exams are offered by the same department or the ADUGS office if the exams are from different departments whether within the College of Science or in other colleges.
2. The ADUGS office coordinates with the concerned instructors/coordinators if courses are offered by the College of Science or with the ADUGS of other colleges, if the courses are offered by two different colleges, to re-schedule the exam or grant the student a make-up exam.
3. Usually, the instructor/coordinator of the course with lower number of registered students should re-schedule the exam or grant the affected students a make-up exam.

Coordination for “re-sit” and FSP exams

1. After the official announcement of the grades by the A & R, the ADUGS office circulates, via e-mail, an announcement to all students to apply for “re-sit” exam or failure with supplemental privilege (FSP) exam, if they meet the requirements.
2. Student can apply for “re-sit” exam if he/she is a graduating student who has already passed all degree requirements, but he/she failed one course in the last two semesters.
3. Student can apply for FSP exam if he/she passed all assessment components with marks/grades above the class average, but he/she failed the final exam.
4. The ADUGS office forwards the requests for “re-sit” and FSP exams to the concerned department.
5. The course instructor/coordinator or an Ad Hoc departmental committee, in coordination with the HoD, approve or do not approve the request.
6. If the FSP exam is not approved, the ADUGS office informs the student of the decision via email.
7. If the “re-sit” or FSP exam is approved, the ADUGS office informs the student via email and requests her/him to coordinate with the concerned course instructor/coordinator to write the exam within 3 weeks from the approval date.
8. If the student passed the “re-sit” or FSP exam, the ADUGS office handles the grade change as described in 4.4 Grade change.

New undergraduate courses:

1. After approval by the departmental curriculum committee and the departmental board, the College Curriculum Committee (CCC) member from the concerned department submits the new course data collection form (CDCF) along with the course information form (CIF) to the ADUGS office no later than week 7 of the semester particularly if the course is intended to be offered in the following semester.
2. The ADUGS office calls for a CCC meeting and then checks and forwards the forms (CDCFs and CIFs) to the CCC members, usually a week before the scheduled meeting date.
3. The CCC members check, review, suggest modifications and corrections, if any, and/or approve the forms.
4. After approval by the CCC, the concerned CCC member informs the department of the CCC decision and resubmits the modified and/or the final CDCFs signed and stamped by the department HoD.
5. Steps 2˗4 are again applied to the modified/resubmitted the forms (CDCFs and CIFs).
6. The ADUGS office forwards the final HoD-signed and departmental-stamped CDCFs for approval by the Dean.
7. Upon receiving the approved CDCFs from the Dean’s office, the ADUGS office forwards the Dean-signed and stamped CDCFs to the A & R to update the courses database on SIS and SQU portal.
8. The course and its status can be checked at SQU portal → Course Description by searching course code.

Amended undergraduate courses:

1.  After approval by the departmental curriculum committee and the departmental board, the CCC member from the concerned departments submits the modified CDCF and CIF, if necessary, to the ADUGS office no later than week 10.
2. The steps (2˗8) for introducing new courses are applied to the amended courses.

New undergraduate minors:

1. After approval by the departmental curriculum committee (for departmental minors) or/and the Ad-Hoc committee (for interdepartmental minors) and the concerned departmental boards, the CCC member or/and the chairperson of the Ad-Hoc committee submits a brief document summarizing the proposal of the new minor with a list of required and elective courses and their CDCFs and CIFs to the ADUGS office.
2. The ADUGS office calls for a CCC meeting to go through the submitted documents.
3. If new courses are included, the steps (2˗8) for introducing new courses are applied.
4. After the CCC final approval, the ADUGS office forwards the new minor document to the College Board (CB) for approval.
5. In a CB meeting, the CCC member or/and the chairperson of the Ad-Hoc committee presents the new minor to the CB members for their feedback, modification and/or corrections, if any.
6. After the CB approval, the ADUGS office forwards the final document of the new minor to the Dean’s office.
7. The Dean’s office forwards the new minor document officially to the Academic Council and finally to the University Council.

Amend undergraduate minors:

1.  After approval by the departmental curriculum committee (for departmental minors) or/and the Ad-Hoc committee (for interdepartmental minors) and the concerned departmental boards, the CCC member or/and the chairperson of the Ad-Hoc committee submits a brief document summarizing the proposed modifications of approved minor with a list of required and elective courses and their CDCFs and CIFs to the ADUGS office.
2. The ADUGS office calls for a CCC meeting to go through the submitted documents.
3. If the requested modifications are major (e.g., changing the name of the minor, introducing completely new required and/or elective courses, increasing number of total credits), steps (4-7) of new undergraduate minors are applied.
4. If the requested modifications are minor (e.g., changing some required or elective courses), steps (4-6) of new undergraduate minor are applied.
5. After the CB approval, the ADUGS office forwards the final documents of the amended minor to the Dean’s office for signature and stamps.
6. The ADUGS office forwards the final document to the A & R to update the course databases on SIS and SQU portal, if applicable.

New degree undergraduate programs:

1. After approval by the departmental curriculum committee and the departmental board, the CCC member and/or the chairperson of the Ad-Hoc Committee for the new program from the concerned department submits the newly proposed degree program using the SQU approved template and format, all CDCFs and CIFs, market survey documents and other related documents to the ADUGS office.
2. The ADUGS office calls for a series of CCC meetings to go through all submitted documents.
3. The chairperson of the Ad-Hoc Committee for the new program is usually invited to present the program and to have a discussion with the CCC members.
4. The CCC members conduct a thorough review all documents of the newly proposed degree program and suggest modifications and corrections particularly for the departmental and major requirements and electives.
5. Steps (2˗8) for introducing the new and amended undergraduate courses of the new degree program are applied.
6. After the CCC final approval, the ADUGS office forwards the documents of the newly proposed degree program to the College Board (CB) for approval.
7. In a CB meeting, the CCC member and/or the chairperson of the Ad-Hoc Committee for the newly proposed degree program from the concerned department presents the program to the CB members for their feedback, modification and/or corrections, if any.
8. After the CB approval, the CCC member and/or the chairperson of the Ad-Hoc Committee for the new degree program submits the final HoD-signed and departmental-stamped documents to the ADUGS office. The approval steps are summarized in Figure 1.
9. The ADUGS office forwards the final document of new degree program to the Dean’s office to be signed, stamped, and forwarded to the Academic Council and finally to the University Council.

Figure 1: Approval stages for introducing new degree program and modifying approved programs.

Amended undergraduate degree programs:

1. Procedures for introducing new degree undergraduate programs are applied for amending approved undergraduate degree programs.
2. Depending on the requested modifications, Procedures on Amending Approved Academic Programs at Sultan Qaboos University (Document No. AC/2017-18/4/MA6) are applied for modifying the approved academic undergraduate degree programs at the College of Science. For some amendments, approval of the College Board is sufficient (please refer to the Figures 1 and 2 for more details).

Figure 2: Part of the Document No. AC/2017-18/4/MA6 (approved and modified in the 4th Academic Council 2017/2018 on 24 April 2018) specifying approvals of the approved undergraduate degree programs at SQU.

1. Student must fill the substitution form before the registration of course particularly if a core course is to be replaced. Student should also fill the form for replacing major electives courses especially for those registered from outside the College of Science. Up to three courses of the approved courses of the minor are counted as major electives. However, the department has the right to consider the already registered additional minor courses as major electives.
2. Student submit the substitution form to the HoD for approval.
3. If approved by the HoD, the student submits the form to the ADUGS office.
4. The ADUGS office communicates with the A & R to do necessary and update the student academic profile (e.g., degree audit and transcript). Currently, this process happen in the last semester before the student graduates.

Courses registration before and/or during the add and drop period

Fall and Spring semesters

1. The electronic registration is an online process via the SIS for all students with exception of students on second probation and onwards (PROB02+), eligible students for extra load registration, students requesting courses with “audit” status, and students with minor in Business for courses of College of Economics and Political Sciences.
2. During the first week of the semester (i.e., the add and drop period), all requests are handled online via the Add and Drop Service on the SQU portal (SQU portal > General > The Add and Drop Service). These requests include the following:
   • Register in a full section
   • Register in a reserved course
   • Register a university elective course for the fourth time
   • Register in a course with prerequisite/equivalent course
3. Coordinated with the ADUGS office, if necessary, the departmental timetable officers, HoDs and/or other authorized users process and decide on all add and drop requests except for those placed under register a university elective course for the fourth time.
4. The ADUGS processes and decides on the requests to register a university elective course for the fourth time. The criterion for acceptance of the request is that the student has scored a grade C or below in one of the previously registered and completed university elective courses.
5. After processing the requests, the student is notified via email of acceptance and/or rejection of the requests.
6. If the request is accepted, the courses will be added to student’s timetable, or he/she will be directed to SIS website to complete the registration process.
7. After accepting the requests for under register a university elective course for the fourth time, the ADUGS office forwards the accepted requests to the A & R (registration@squ.edu.om) for registration/addition of the courses in form of Excel files as follows:

Registration of students on probation 2 and onwards (PROB02+)

1. The student must contact/visit the academic advisor and discuss the plan and the courses to be registered. This includes calculation of the minimum semester grade point average (sGPA) needs to be scored by the student to get out of PROB02+ and maintain a cumulative GPA (cGPA) of ≥ 2.00. In coordination with the academic advisor, the student must satisfy all requirements (e.g., the requested courses are not conflicting, the prerequisites of the requested courses are already fulfilled, the total requested credits must not exceed 12 unless he/she is graduating by the end of the semester, …etc.). Accordingly, the registration form for PROB02+ students are filled.
2. The academic advisor and/or the HoD approves the form and forwards it to the ADUGS office.
3. The ADUGS office checks and approves the forms and forwards them to the A & R (registration@squ.edu.om).
4. The registered courses and PROB02+ student’s timetable are considered final. Registration modification is only allowed with the coordination between the academic advisor and/or the HoD and the ADUGS office.

Registration of eligible students for extra load

1. The student contacts/visits the academic advisor and discuss the courses to be registered as extra load. In coordination with the academic advisor, the student must satisfy all requirements (e.g., the requested courses are not conflicting, the prerequisites of the requested courses are already fulfilled, …etc.). Accordingly, the registration form for eligible students for extra load are filled, listing only the courses to be added as extra load.
2. The academic advisor and/or the HoD approves the form and forwards it to the ADUGS office.
3. The ADUGS office checks and approves the forms and forwards them to the A & R (registration@squ.edu.om).
4. Registration modification is allowed with the coordination between the academic advisor and/or the HoD and the ADUGS office.

Registration of students requesting courses with “audit” status

1. The student requests the course by submitting the add and drop form indicating its registration status as “audit”.
2. The ADUGS office checks, approves, and hands the form back to the student.
3. The student follows up the registration with the A & R.

Registration of students with minor in Business for courses from College of Economics and Political Sciences (CEPS)

1. The ADUGS office circulates an announcement to Science students with minor in Business for registration just before the add and drop period of the semester.
2. The student requests the CEPS course, from the approved courses for the minor in Business, by filling an online form.
3. The ADUGS office process the requests and approves them in coordination with the CEPS.
4. The ADUGS office forwards the approved requests for registration to the A & R (ashraf74@squ.edu.om).

Summer registration

1. The ADUGS office circulates an announcement for summer registration to Science students in the middle of the spring semester.
2. Students are registered for summer courses according to the following priorities and depending on seat availability:
   • Students expected to graduate by the end of the summer semester (remaining credits: 8 or less).
   • Students expected to graduate by the end of the following Fall semester (remaining credits: more than 16 and less than 27 hours).
   • Majored students who need to register key pre-requisite courses in their degree plans.
   • Students who will complete and pass the foundation program courses at the end of the spring semester. Their requests are usually considered in the add and drop period of the summer semester.
   • Students whose degree plans include training summer courses. They should registered for another course.
   • Note: the student should refer to the SQU Undergraduate Academic Regulations (B-1-1. Summer Semester Registration, Pages 13-15) for more details.
3. If eligible, the student fills the online summer registration form during the specified period indicated in the announcement.
4. The ADUGS office also handles summer registration requests from other colleges. The students list received from the other colleges’ ADUGS offices are considered final (i.e., it is not the responsibility of the Science ADUGS office to check if the student is eligible or not) and therefore, the Science ADUGS office approves the requests based on the seat availability of the requested courses.
5. The ADUGS office process the requests and forwards the approved requests for registration to the A & R (registration@squ.edu.om).
6. The registered courses are considered final (i.e., the students are not allowed to change them unless approved by the ADUGS).
7. If applicable and/or under certain circumstances, students should send all registration modification requests (including add and/or drop) to the ADUGS office (sci@student.squ.edu.om) during the first three days of the first week of the classes.

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Coordinating grade appeals

1. The student should appeal against grades within the duration specified by the A & R after the official announcement of the grades.
2. The student appeals to the course instructor either by filling out the appeal form or by sending an e-mail requesting re-check of the grades. The instructor should respond and inform the student via e-mail within 5 working days.
3. If the student is not satisfied with the instructor’s response, the student appeals to the ADUGS office by filling the appeal form. There is an administrative fee of OMR 5 (Five Omani Rials) for each appeal application per course. The fee will be refunded if the appeal is successful.
4. The ADUGS office processes the appeal applications and refers them to the concerned department or the College Examination Committee (CEC), if applicable.
5. The CEC or a departmental Ad-Hoc grade appeal committee is formed on the request of the head of the department (HoD). It consists of at least of 2 members and a chairperson to handle the appeal applications. The concerned course instructor is asked to provide relevant course assessment materials and may be invited to a meeting. The committee has the right to review marking of the assessments (e.g., quizzes, tests, final exams, etc.), check grading and calculations of the marks in the spreadsheets. Accordingly, the committee issues a judgment on the appeal case (either there is a grade change or there is no grade change).
6. The departmental grade appeal committee sends its decision to the concerned HoD.
7. The HoD approves and sends the decision to the ADUGS office. Similarly, decisions on the appeal cases handled by the CEC are sent to the ADUGS office.
8. The ADUGS office reviews the documents and approves the decision for each appeal case.
9. If the appeal is unsuccessful (i.e., no grade change), the ADUGS office informs the student of the decision via email.
10. If the appeal is successful (i.e., there is a grade change. The grade may increase or decrease depending on the finding), the ADUGS office informs the student of the decision via email and coordinates with concerned department for the grade change. The ADUGS office requests the student to send her/his bank account to refund the appeal fee.

Processing grade change

1. Whether decided by the appeal committee/admitted by the course instructor for a mistake in grade entry or calculations, student passed a re-set exam or repeated final exam successfully after failure with supplemental privilege (FSP), the course instructor fills a grade change form indicating the old and new grades and stating the reasons justifying the grade change. The instructor needs to attach a copy of the Excel file showing the grades before and after for the concerned student(s) and all other students in the course/section along with cut-off points. Additional documents (e.g., copy of the checked and remarked exam etc.) may be attached with the grade change form.
2. The course instructor signs and forwards the grade change form and the attachments to the HoD.
3. The HoD approves, signs, and forwards the grade change form and the attachments to the ADUGS office.
4. The ADUGS reviews and approves the grade change form and the attachments and signs the grade change form.
5. The ADUGS office sends the approved and signed grade change form and the attachments to the A & R.
6. The grade change will be reflected on the student’s transcript