| Legal Notice 222 of 2005 Malta Government Gazette No. 17,780 17 June 2005 |
EDUCATION ACT (CAP. 327) Postgraduate Diploma in Planning Studies Course Regulations, 2005 IN exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 30(5) and 31(6) of the Education Act (Cap. 327), the Chancellor of the University of Malta has promulgated the following regulations made by the Senate of the University of Malta by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by sections 31 and 35 of the said Act:
Citation and Interpretation 1. (1) These regulations may be cited as the Postgraduate Diploma in Planning Studies Course Regulations, 2005.
(2) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires
"the Board" means the Board of the International Environment Institute;
"the Board of Studies" means the Board of Studies appointed by Senate for the Course;
"the Course" means the course of studies leading to the Postgraduate Diploma in Planning Studies; and
"the Diploma" means the Postgraduate Diploma in Planning Studies.
Applicability 2. These regulations shall apply to courses starting in October 2003 or later.
Qualifications for Admission 3. Applicants for admission to the Course shall be in possession of:
(a) a Bachelor's degree with First or Second Class Honours of this University; or
(b) a qualification from this or another university considered to be equivalent by the Senate, on the recommendation of the Board.
Registration for the Course
4. Applicants wishing to register for the Course shall apply on the prescribed form and within the time specified by the Office of the Registrar.
Course Duration
5. The Course shall extend over twelve months of full-time study or twenty-four months of part-time study.
6. In exceptional circumstances, students may be allowed by the Board to extend their studies by a period of six months in the case of full-time studies and twelve months in the case of part-time studies beyond the duration of the Course as specified in regulation 5.
Course Structure
7. (1) The Course shall be offered in the following two areas of study:
(a) Spatial Development; and
(b) Environmental Resources Management.
(2) The Senate may approve other areas of study, on the recommendation of the Board. Such areas of study shall be announced at the time of the call for applications.
8. (1) The Course consists of a number of study-units to which a total of 90 ECTS credits shall be assigned.
(2) The Course shall comprise four components as follows:
(a) orientation study-units;
(b) elective study-units;
(c) compulsory study-units; and
(d) projects.
Orientation Study-Units
9. (1) Students shall be required by the Board of Studies to follow orientation study-units on topics which the students in question would not have covered to the levels considered to be appropriate by the Board of Studies during the programmes of study leading to their already attained academic qualifications.
(2) There shall be five orientation study-units to which 10 credits are assigned in the Human Sciences (covering a cross-section of the social sciences) and five orientation study-units in the Natural Sciences (covering a cross-section of the physical sciences) to which 10 credits shall be assigned.
(3) Students shall be required to follow five orientation study-units irrespective of their academic background, provided that where the qualification is not directly relevant to planning, students may be required to undertake additional orientation study-units.
(4) In order to proceed with the Course, students are required to obtain an average grade B in the orientation study-units.
(5) The credits obtained for the orientation study-units shall be included on the academic transcript issued to students, but a total of 10 credits shall be awarded for the orientation component of the Course when the final results indicated in regulation 17 are computed.
Elective Study-Units
10. (1) The elective study-units, to which 18 ECTS credits shall be assigned, shall be offered in each area of study as indicated in paragraph (1) of regulation 7.
(2) Students shall be required to choose an area of study from those indicated in paragraph (1) of regulation 7 within the first two months of the commencement of the Course.
Compulsory Study-Units
11. The compulsory study-units shall cover areas of study concerned with history, philosophy, context, and methods and techniques of planning, to which 38 ECTS credits shall be assigned.
Projects
12. Students shall be required to prepare two projects, to each of which 12 ECTS credits shall be assigned, through which they should demonstrate their ability to address issues and problems in an interdisciplinary and comprehensive manner and to produce appropriate prescriptive guidelines for development.
Catalogue of Study-Units
13. (1) The Board of Studies shall draw up a catalogue of study-units for the Course. The catalogue shall indicate the code, title, description and type of each study-unit, the credits assigned to each study-unit, which study-units are compulsory, concurrent or pre-requisites for other study-units, and the methods of teaching and assessment.
(2) The Board shall publish the catalogue prior to the commencement of each Course, following the approval of the Senate.
Assessment and Progress
14. Results for the assessment of the study-units and the projects shall be published as a percentage mark and grade as indicated in the table below:
Mark Range Grade
80% -100% A
70% - 79% B
55% - 69% C
45% - 54% D
0% - 44% F
Both the percentage mark and the grade shall be recorded in the students' academic record. However, only the percentage mark shall be used for the purpose of calculating the final classification of the Diploma.
15. Students who fail to obtain a pass in an assessment or an assignment shall be required to sit for a supplementary assessment, or to resubmit the assignment, or both. Students may be allowed to repeat an assessment and to resubmit an assignment for a given study-unit only once. In either case, the maximum marks and grade that may be awarded are 45% - grade D. A failed study-unit after the supplementary assessment may not be repeated.
16. Students who, after due warning given in writing, persistently fail to attend lectures and/or tutorials or otherwise do not carry out their academic duties without adequate justification, may be debarred by Senate, following a recommendation of the Board, from continuing the Course.
Award of the Diploma
17. (1) The final result of each student shall take into account the results obtained in the assessments of all the components of the Course, which shall be weighted according to the number of credits assigned to each.
(2) The names of students who qualify for the award of the Diploma shall be published in a list in alphabetical order classified as follows:
Passed with Distinction
Passed.
