Let us introduce the news valid from September: Oral exam only in the presence of three people, verbal evaluation of the course of the state exam or the possibility to have a representative from the faculty management during the non-public part of the resit period of the state exam.
A fundamental change in the MUNI Study and Examination Regulations is that, from September 2024, it will now be possible for the oral examination to take place not in the presence of the examiner and the examinee, but exclusively in the presence of three persons. It is primarily assumed that there will be one examiner and two examinees. In the case that it is not possible to have two examinees, or for some reason this is not possible during the examination in a given subject, the third person will be an employee of the faculty.
There is also a solution for an emergency when two students or an employee are not available. Then it is possible to make a verifiable record of the course of the exam. A methodological sheet will be issued for this. Verifiability can be ensured in two ways, either with an audio recording or with a written record, which is then signed by both the examiner and the student. In both cases, the record will be placed in a special folder in the MUNI Information System (IS). It will have a set limited expiration and limited access only for certain people. In the event that the course of the exam is questioned or the assessment is revised, this record will be used. However, the above applies only in a situation where it is not possible to provide a third person for the exam, so it should be a very exceptional situation.
The change also occurred in the evaluation of the course of the state exam. It will no longer be graded. All its components will be evaluated with only three phrases, namely "passed with excellent results" for the very best; "passed" for the others and "failed" for those who will not have the knowledge to receive one of the two degrees mentioned.
Of course, the overall assessment of the state exam also changes. It will also have the option of "passed summa cum laude" for what we used to call the "red diploma". Since the state exam will no longer be graded, another way of evaluating the course of study was sought. What is new is that the "passed summa cum laude" evaluation will be awarded to a certain percentage of the best students. However, several conditions must be met, see Article No. 26 of the MUNI Study and Examination Regulations. The merit condition is replaced by the fact that the student must be among the top 10% of graduates of the same type of study program of the given faculty for the previous two academic years. And if he/she also fulfills other conditions, then he can be rated "summa cum laude".
Another change concerns the state exam, namely the correction deadline. Newly, a student can ask the dean or a person authorized by him to be present at the make-up date of the state final exam, also for its non-public part. This representative from the management of the faculty is able, if necessary, to testify that the progress of both the public and non-public part was in order.
The challenge to teachers is that, starting in the autumn semester, they should use the X assessment already during the semester, if the student does not meet the conditions of the subject, which will make it impossible for them to register for the exam. It is a relatively new thing, for some subjects it was already two or three years ago. It will help the faculty to solve the situation with students who start studying and do not study. Realistically, they enroll, but then they don't enroll, they don't go to lectures, they don't go to exercises or they don't finish their studies because they forget or don't know that they should finish their studies. They study at another university, for example, but they remain in our system so-called "hanging" almost until the next semester, because until now it was only possible to end their studies on the basis of not meeting the conditions for enrollment in the next semester.
Now, there is a new possibility in the Study and Examination Regulations that if a student does not fulfill the conditions during the semester and it is obvious that she/he is not able to fulfill the conditions for enrollment in the next semester, her/his studies can be officially terminated already during the semester. Which, from a certain point of view, is advantageous for these students as well, because the months they might miss if they study elsewhere are not counted in the total period of study. And of course it is beneficial for us, because we have an overview of how many students will take the exam, how many will register and enroll in the course in the next semester.
However, it requires that the teachers, especially for those subjects where conditions are met, such as attendance at classes, handing in reports, etc., to enter the evaluation X into the Information System, so that we can do a check in the middle of the semester at the Study Department of SCI MUNI and they could possibly end those studies where X grades are filled and it becomes clear that the person concerned is not able to get enough credits.
Of course, it cannot happen that this measure would fall on a student who got into a problematic life situation. And that's because we have so-called study failure preventionists. They have the task of going through an application in the middle of the semester, which tells them that a student is not fulfilling his study obligations as he should. Theycontact that person and they solve the situation together.
Due to all these changes, it was also necessary to modify our Dean's Measures on the Study and Examination Regulations so that they refer to the correct articles.
Information on block teaching is described in more detail in the modified Measure. This is an exceptional part of the course, which is subject to the approval of the director of the institute, or the dean. It has been clarified to whom and how block teaching should be reported.
The second clarification is that any change in the assignment of the final thesis must be approved through the submitted request for exception. That is, if there is a change in the assignment of the final thesis, our study department must learn about it and reset the Archive of the final thesis so that everything agrees.
Ten graduates from the MU Faculty of Science, along with their supervisors and consultants, have received Masaryk University Vice-Rector’s Awards for excellent results in their doctoral studies. Congratulations.
Read an inspirational interview with Dr. Joe Lennon about how he teaches the course Advanced English for PhD Studies at SCI MUNI and how he coordinates the Masaryk University Writing Lab, helping students make a greater impact with their academic writing.
