Directive No. 3/2017
Internal regulation of the Institute of Technology and Business in České
Budějovice
THE CURRENT ORGANISATION OF THE FINAL STATE EXAM
AND THE DEFENSE OF THE QUALIFICATION WORK
Date of issue: 20 / 02 / 2017 Valid from:
11 / 02 /
2019
Valid until: revocation
File number: ITB003243/2017 Pages: 8 Attachments: 3
Information on changes Annual
Repealed
regulations
Directive No. 1/2016 State final exam of the Bachelor study and the defence of the
Bachelor work
Directive No.2/2016 State final exam of the follow up Magister study and the
defence of the thesis
Directive No.13/2013 Organisation of State final exam
Measure No.25/2013 of the ITB Study and exam rules
Superordinate
regulations
ITB study and exam rules
Related regulations -
Subordinate
regulation
Distribution
list ITB academic community
Prepared by:
Bc. Tereza Lýdie Pecková,
m.p.
Guarantor:
Director of Study Administration and
Lifelong Learning
Signature: Signature:
Ing. Jaroslav Staněk , m. P.
Formally verified
by:
Bc. Eva Plochová, m. p.
Approved
by:
Rector
Signature: Signature:
prof. Ing. Marek Vochozka, MBA, Ph.D.,
m. P.
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Section 1
Introductory provisions
(1) This guideline provides the organisational principles and procedures for the final
state exam (hereinafter as FSE) and for the assignment, processing, submitting and
defending of the qualification work (hereinafter as QW) at the Institute of Technology
and Business in České Budějovice (hereinafter as ITB).
(2) The guideline is a special legal standard in relation to the ITB study and exam rules
(hereinafter as SER) which deals with the issue of FSE and generally regulates the
defence of the qualification works.
(3) The guideline is mandatory for every study ITB programs.
Section 2
The date of SFE
(1) The date of FSE is set by the Deputy Director of Department for Education
(hereinafter as DDDE). The SFE takes place twice a year and the date is always set
with respect to the exam period in the particular semester.
The SFE dates are set by the Schedule of the Academic Year.
(2) The student signs in for the FSE via the Information system (hereinafter as IS) via the
section of Student/During studies/Topic lists/Final state examinations to select his
or her particular exam. The FSE packages are not limited in terms of capacity and
each exam has a prerequisite that is set by the program guarantor.
(3) The deadline to sign in for or to sign out of the FSE is announced at least 90 days prior
the date of FSE.
(4) In case the student who has signed in for or is registered for FSE fails to arrive in the
due date or to provide an appropriate excuse within five days after the deadline
expiry to the Director of Study Administration and Lifelong Learning (hereinafter as
DSALL), he or is receives the grade ‚unsatisfactory‘.
Section 3
The content of FSE
(1) The FSE consists of the subjects and parts stated by the accreditation materials of the
particular program.
(2) The defence of QW is oral. The exam in the FSE subjects is either written or oral,
alternatively written and oral.
(3) The individual FSE exams can be taken on the same date or separately.
(4) The ranges of the exam subjects including the available sources for study are
published by the appropriate faculty in the IS in the section of Documents in the
particular faculty file at least 60 days before the FSE takes place. The guarantor is
responsible for the confirmation of the FSE subject ranges before the deadline. The
guarantor of the program is responsible for the confirmation of the ranges of FSE
subjects before the deadline provided by the DDDE of a particular faculty.
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SECTION 4
The course of FSE
(1) The selection and preparation of the FSE rooms is the responsibility of the institutes
involved. However, the selection of rooms is subject to approval of the ITB Bursar.
The operational and technical department, i.e. Bursar's Department, is responsible
for the implementation of FSE technical adjustments.
(2) The student draws the FSE questions.
(3) The student processes the selected FSE questions independently, without the use of
unauthorized aids, and in accordance with the ITB Student's Code of Ethics. The list
of approved aids is set by the guarantor of the field, and the student is acquainted
with it on the FSE day by the Deputy Director of Department for Education or a person
authorized by him or her.
(4) In the event of fraudulent behaviour or detected unauthorized aids in the course of
the FSE, the sheet with a drawn question is immediately removed from the student
and the student is not allowed to complete the FSE. A protocol on the detected
fraudulent behaviour (attachment No. 3) is subsequently written. Its veracity is
signed by at least two members of the supervisory authority. Within three days of the
FSE, the report on the detected fraudulent behaviour is handed over to the Director
of the Department of Study Administration and Lifelong Learning, who will evaluate
the student with the grade F, unsatisfactory.
(5) If the student’s fraudulent behaviour is repeated, the Director of the Department of
Study Administration and Lifelong Learning submits a proposal to the Rector of ITB
to initiate disciplinary proceedings and proceeds in accordance with the ITB
Disciplinary Code
Section 5
FSE results
(1) The announcement of FSE results is governed by Act No. 111/1998 Sb., On Higher
Education Institutions and on Amendments and Supplements to Other Acts (Higher
Education Act), as amended (hereinafter as Higher Education Act) and the applicable
Study and Exam Rules. The FSE marks are recorded in the FSE record. The result is
entered into the IS by the Study Department on the basis of the record.
(2) The study is duly completed on the day when the student has successfully completed
all parts of the FSE.
Section 6
The selection of the topic of qualification work
(1) The program guarantor selects persons who can lead the QW in cooperation with the
heads of departments and the DDDE. An academic with the rank of professor, docent
and professional assistant can supervise a maximum of 15 qualification works in
total. The assistants can be the supervisors of a maximum of 10 bachelor works,
however, they are not allowed to supervise dissertations.
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(2) The precondition to supervise the works is the mandatory participation of the QW
supervisor in the training, however, the participation must always be confirmed and
approved in the personnel module in accordance with a separate internal standard1.
This training is provided by the individual institute and must be attended by every
QW supervisor who has not been trained so far.
(3) The topics of the qualification works are set in the IS by DDDE of particular faculty in
accordance with the valid schedule. The topics correspond to the graduate profile of
the given program. The topic proposal includes the title, aim and recommended
sources. The proposed topics are approved by the guarantor of the program.
(4) The student can sign in for the QW topic after he or she has chosen the specialization
of his or her studies, following the schedule of the particular academic year. The
procedure to sign in for the topic is in the following manner: IS → Student → During
studies-Topic lists → Bachelor/Diploma works. The student can propose his or her
own topic in accordance with the Higher Education Act. The topic is submitted to the
supervisor. The approval process is governed by section 7(3) and (4).
(5) The student is obliged to contact his or her QW supervisor after the registration of
the topic and arrange the first consultation regarding the topic. If the student does
not contact his or her QW supervisor, the topic may be disapproved. The student is
obliged to find out whether his or her has been approved. If the topic is not approved,
the student chooses from the other topics on the list. The QW supervisor, after an
agreement with the student, is obliged to confirm or refuse the student's registration
in the IS. This confirmation is a legal register confirming that the student is registered
with the particular QW supervisor and that his or her QW topic has been approved
including the aim and recommended sources.
(6) The QW supervisor has the option to sign the student out of the topic if he or she fails
to fulfil the conditions set by the supervisor, such as the number of consultations,
failure to respond to supervisor's calls, long-term non-cooperation or failure to
process the supervisor’s objections.
(7) The QW supervisor has the option to sign the student out of the topic if he or she has
not submitted the QW by the end of the standard period of study plus one extra year.
Section 7
The processing and submitting of the QW
(1) The QW and the defence prove the student’s ability to solve the given problem under
the methodological guidance in writing, orally present and defend his or her own
results. The supervisor provides consultations to the solver in the course of QW, gives
him or her incentives, modifies the student’s work, advises him on literature
searches, recommends suitable methods and procedures for the application part of
the work and for the successful achievement of the objective of the work. The
supervisor is not responsible for the outcome of the work, as he or she is an advisor
to the student-solver during applying his or her knowledge from the previous study
to a specific practical assignment. The student is responsible for publishing the data
in the QW. He or she should inform the parties mentioned in the QW.
(2) The QW format is defined in the latest publication of the Methodology of Scientific
Writing at ITB, which is available in the IS in the section of Documents.
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(3) If the student-solver meets the aim, completes the QW and submits the QW according
to the valid schedule, he or she is obliged to attend the last part of the Final State
Examination (Defence of QW) by the end of the following semester. The student
submits two copies of the QW (at least one hardcover copy) to the administrator of
education at the given institute by the deadline specified in the schedule for the
submission of qualification works of the relevant semester, at least 50 days before
the defence. If the aim has not been met (e.g. the student has insufficient data for
processing), the aim can be modified in cooperation with the QW supervisor or the
student can choose a new topic (see Section 6, paragraph4).
(4) After submitting the printed version of the QW the administrator of education of the
particular institute will check the compliance of the topic and the aims of the
submitted work with the approved topic and the aim in the IS. The following
alternatives may be the outcome of the check:
a) The administrator of education finds no defects.
b) The administrator of education of particular faculty finds certain defects,
therefore:
i. In case of minor discrepancies in the title or the aim of the work with
the version recorded in the IS the DDDE can allow adjustments and
opens the archive for the student again.
ii. In case of a discrepancy between the printed version of the title and
the aim of the work with the version recorded in the IS, the
electronic version is decisive. If the student does not immediately
harmonise both versions, the work will not be accepted.
iii. If the work shows fundamental differences in the title or the aim of
the work from its assignment in the IS, the work is not accepted and
the student is informed of the need to rework or select a new topic
(see Section 6, paragraph 4).
(5) On the basis of a previous successful check the administrator of education of
particular faculty transfers the topic from the package and allows the archive to be
opened. The student is obliged to fulfil his or her archive at least fifty days before the
defence. To fulfil the archive involves the following steps:
a) To fulfil the annotation and the key words in the writing language of the work and
in English.
b) To select the language of the work and confirm that the printed version is
identical with the electronical version.
c) To record the qualification work in the *.doc * or .docx format including all the
attachments.
d) To record the graphic part of the qualification work in the *.pdf format.
The IS automatically turns the inserted documents into *.pdf and *.txt format of
the file.
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(6) The administrator of education of the given faculty accepts the electronic version of
the QW and subsequently confirms it. At this moment the possibility for the student
to change anything in his or her IS archive ceases to exist. The administrator of
education of particular institute informs the QW supervisor about the submitted
works.
(7) The supervisor checks the QW using the “Egg for Egg” function in the IS to ensure the
obeying of Copyright Act. If the QW supervisor decides that the QW is not a
plagiarism, (according to the applicable internal standard) he or she prepares an
assessment. The form of the Supervisor's assessment of the qualification work is
accessible in the IS and the work is evaluated according to the criteria given in the
form and in the given rating scale including the verbal assessment of strengths and
weaknesses. The overall rating within the assessment is not an average of the partial
evaluations of the above mentioned criteria. It depends on the assessor’s personality
and which criteria he or she considers more important. The QW supervisor prints out
the completed form from the IS and delivers it signed to the administrator of
education of the given institute by the date specified in the schedule of QW
submission for the relevant semester.
(8) The supervisor gives the student credit from the subject of Bachelor work in case of
a Bachelor study; the credit is given on the basis of meeting the requirements of the
course annotation. In case of a Magister study the credit is given on the basis of
meeting the requirements defined in the annotation of the subject of Diploma Work.
The subject of Bachelor Work is a prerequisite for the FSE – the Defence of Bachelor
Work. The supervisor gives credit for the subject of Bachelor or Diploma Work only
when he or she suggests an assessment other than F (paragraphs 9, 10).
(9) If the QW supervisor evaluates the submitted work with the grade F, the student does
not get credit for the subject of Bachelor or Diploma Work. The work is not passed on
to the opponent or recommended for defence, and this work must be revised in the
light of the identified defects.
(10)The second evaluator of the QW is the opponent. The expert with practical experience
becomes an opponent who, on the basis of his or her education and professional
experience, guarantees objective and professional evaluation of the work. In case the
QW is focused on a legal subject, the opponent may be an ITB lawyer. The opponent
is elected by the Division of foreign relations from the Register of Opponents. The
Register of Opponents is maintained and managed by the Division of foreign
relations. The opponents must have at least a Bachelor's degree in case of assessing
a Bachelor work and at least a Magister's degree in case of assessing the diploma
work. The opponent may be an employee of one of the ITB departments, but not a
docent or professor. The form for the evaluation of QW opponent is available in the
information system. The opponent evaluates the work according to the criteria given
in the form and the rating scale including the verbal assessment of strengths and
weaknesses. The overall evaluation within the assessment is not an average of the
partial evaluations of the above mentioned criteria; it depends on the personality of
the opponent who finds certain criteria more important the others. The opponent
prints out the completed form from the IS and delivers it signed to the administrator
of education of the given faculty by the date specified in the Schedule of QW
submission for the relevant semester. The assessments must be published in the IS
eight working days, at most, before the defence.
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(11) The publishing of the QW is governed by section 47b, the Higher Education Act.
(12) The student may request to postpone the publication of the qualification work or a
part thereof through the Document Office in the IS for the duration of the obstacle to
publication pursuant to Section 47b (4), the Higher Education Act; however, for a
maximum of 3 years. The information on the postponement of publication must be
published together with the justification at the same place where the works are
published, i.e. in the ITB IS. After defending the qualification work which is subject to
the postponement the ITB will send, without undue delay, one copy for the
preservation at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.
(13) The student puts the presentation for the defence into a document server, which is
accessible to all students who have registered for the subject of Bachelor Work in
case of Bachelor study or Diploma Work in case of Magister study; it is supposed to
be done at least 3 working days before the commencement of the final state exam
week in the following form: Surname_Name.pps / ppsx / ppt / pptx / pdf. If the
student does not insert the presentation by the prescribed date, he or she will defend
the QW without using computer technology. The student is obliged to bring a valid
student identification card to the place of defence.
(14) The validity of the recorded work and the validity of the assessments (from the
supervisor and the opponent) are always set to the end of the following semester. If
the student fails to defend the work within the prescribed time period, the archive,
including testimonials, will be erased on the basis of the DDDE’S command and the
student will automatically be registered for the subject of #_r (# = DIS, BAP, BAK,
N_DPL, N_DIP); in case of the second failure to defend the work within the prescribed
time period the student will automatically be registered for the subject of # _r2 (# =
DIS, BAP, BAK, N_DPL, N_DIP).
(15) The process of the QW creation and submission is depicted in a graph form in the
attachment No.1.
Section 8
FSE the defence of the qualification work
(1) The student may participate in the defence of a qualification work if he or she has
fulfilled all the requirements entitling him or her to complete the FSE within eight
working days before the FSE (complete all the subjects, obtain credits according to
the recommended study plan and successfully pass the FSE in case of the Bachelor
study, etc.) The Study Department confirms the eligibility of the students to register
for the FSE QW Defence to the faculties on the basis of the control of their studies in
the IS, the students are allowed to defend their QW.
(2) The timetable with the order of students participating in the Defence of the QW and
the specific place will be published no later than 5 working days before the FSE.
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(3) The defence of the QW takes place before the examination board. The members of the
committee and its chairman are appointed by the Academic Council of the Institute
on the proposal of the director of the faculty. Section 53, the Higher Education Act is
applied to the composition of the board. The chairperson of the board sets the work
of the board members, directs the course of the defence, is responsible for the activity
of the board and informs the student about the result of the examination. The
Secretary of the committee is always present at the defence, who ensures
administration and has no voting right. The secretary of the committee arranges the
treatment of the QW prints (on the day of the defence he or she collects them at the
given faculty and after the defence brings the printed works back to the student) and
prepares the Minutes of the SFE. The chairman and the members of the committee
confirm the accuracy of the Minutes by their signatures. The DDDE collects the
student's file with all essentials on the day of the defence at the Head of the Study
Department and returns it duly completed after the defence.
(4) The events of defence are public events; therefore the right to participate applies to
either the supervisor or the opponent and any other person. The assessment of the
SFE QW Defence is made by the committee on the day of the defence. Not only do they
assess the work itself, but also the ability of the solver to present the work, answer
questions and defend its results. The final assessment is based on the opinions of the
supervisor and the opponent, as well as the evaluation of the members of the
committee based on the defence.
(5) The resulting grade is based on three evaluations – the mutual evaluation of the
committee, the supervisor’s evaluation and the opponent’s evaluation.
a) If the committee evaluates the defence with the grade F, the QW Defence is finally
assessed as F regardless the evaluation of the supervisor and the opponent.
b) If the letter a) is not valid, the chairman of the committee places the three grades
into the formula for the calculation of the resulting assessment of the QW
Defence:
𝟐 𝒙 𝑲 + 𝟏 𝒙 𝑽𝑷 + 𝟏 𝒙 𝑶
𝟒
where K is committee evaluation,
VP is evaluation of the supervisor,
O is evaluation of the opponent.
evaluation A B C D E F
Numerical
value
1 1,5 2 2,5 3 4
interval 1,0–1,24 1,25–1,74 1,75–2,24 2,25–2,74 2,75–3,49 3,5–4
(6) In case the student has failed to defend the QW and received the final assessment of
F, the following procedure is prescribed:
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a) Until the student chooses another topic, the original topic, task and QW
supervisor remain in place. In this case, the student returns to the point of the
Processing of QW including consultations.
b) The student wants to choose a new topic and returns to the very beginning of the
process.
c) In the both above mentioned processes the student is automatically registered in
a new optional subject of #_r (# = DIS, BAP, BAK, N_DPL, N_DIP).
d) If the student registered in the subject of #_r (# = DIS, BAP, BAK, N_DPL, N_DIP)
fails to defend the QW, he or she is registered in the subject of #_r2 (# = DIS, BAP,
BAK, N_DPL, N_DIP) in the next semester. If the student registered in #_r2 (# =
DIS, BAP, BAK, N_DIP, N_DPL) fails to successfully defend the QW, his or her study
is terminated.
(7) The information about the electronic records of the QW in the ITB IS:
a) If the supervisor suggests the grade F, the DDDE orders to completely erase the
student’s archive (see Section 7 paragraph 5).
b) The IS archive records the QW with the resulting assessment FSE Defence A-E.
c) If the student failed to attend the defence and did not apologize for his absence
within five days after the expiry of the DASLLE deadline, the FSE Defence of the
QW is graded F. If the student apologizes, his or her archive, together with the
copies and assessments in the original version, remains ready for the next
defence date, however, that must not be later then at the end of the following
semester (see Section 7, paragraph14).
d) If the student delivered two copies of the QW to the administrator of education
of the particular faculty, failed to arrive at the defence without apology, he or she
is obliged to collect these copies from the administrator of education within 30
days after the date of the QW defence. If he or she fails to do so, the work and the
evaluations will be shredded.
e) If the student delivered two copies of the QW to the administrator of education
of the particular faculty, attended the defence and defended his or her work, he
or she receives the QW copies after the end of his or her defence; or the student
is obliged to collect the copies at the administrator of education within 30 days
after the date of the defence.
(8) The process of the defence is depicted in the graphic form in the attachment 2.
Attachments:
Attachment No.1 – The creation and submission of the QW
Attachment No.2 – QW Defence
Attachment No.3 – The record of the fraudulent behaviour