Soochow University Master's and Doctoral Program Enrollment Regulations
Article 1.These regulations are regulated in accordance with Article 24 of University Act, Article 19 of Enforcement Rules of University Act and "University Enrollment Admission Guidelines" announced by Ministry of Education.
Article 2.Entrance examinations of master's and doctoral degree programs held by Soochow University follow "Soochow University Enrollment Committee Convening Measures" to convene the committee by fairness, justice and openness for enrollment affairs.
Article 3.A enrollment brochure shall be made for master's and doctoral program enrollment and approved by the enrollment committee. The brochure shall describe programs, study period limits, student number limits, entrance requirement, examination items, dates, application procedure, grading scales, enrollment methods, register procedure, substitute rules, required materials, conflict handling procedure and other related rules for the enrollment. Anything related to student's right shall be described in details without ambiguity and bolded if necessary to hold student's attention.
The enrollment brochure must be published 20 days before the application day.
Article 4.Enrollment numbers of departments, programs and classes for master's and doctoral program students have be admitted by the enrollment committee and reported to Ministry of Education before written on the enrollment brochure.
Enrollment numbers mentioned before shall be included in the total number of the school. The number of every program shall follow policies for college school student number development and resource limitations.
The enrollment numbers for guaranteed program admission have to be included in enrollment numbers of corresponding department, program and class. The number for guaranteed program admission shall not above 50% of the total enrollment number admitted by Ministry of Education for the semester. Special cases shall be admitted by the enrollment committee and reported to Ministry of Education for approval.
Enrollment numbers of master's and doctoral programs include full-time and on-the-job students, and shall be written on the enrollment brochure separately after admission by the meeting of enrollment committee.
Article 5.Enrollment numbers of on-the-job students to master's and doctoral programs shall be written on the enrollment brochure separately after admission by the meeting of enrollment committee. Requirements and admission standards for on-the-job students can be regulated specifically depends on type of jobs, also work experience and achievement can be taken under consideration.
Requirements for on-the-job students are regulated by each department and be written on the enrollment brochure after admission by the enrollment committee.
Article 6.Grouping of master's and doctoral program students of each department, undergraduate, graduated and degree program shall follow admission by Ministry of Education. Extra grouping is allowed (e.g. Group A, B, C) if needed for academic or research purposes. Examinations and enrollment numbers for extra grouping shall be admitted by the enrollment committee and be written on the enrollment brochure.
Enrollment numbers for students of full-time, on-the-job and each group in the same department, undergraduate or graduated program, master's or doctoral program can be reasonably distributed under admission of total enrollment number by Ministry Education and enrollment committee. Available enrollment numbers can be interchanged after application by departments, admission by the enrollment committee and be written on the brochure unless limitation is announced on the brochure.
Article 7.Requirements for students to apply for master's and doctoral examinations are as below:
- Master's degree program: Students are entitled to apply for entrance examinations and study master's degree programs in Soochow University after passing the examination if: graduated from universities or colleges in Taiwan or overseas admitted by Ministry of Education and acquired at least a bachelor degree; Meet Article 4 in Standards for Recognition of Equivalent Educational Level As Qualified for Entering University and requirements of departments described in the enrollment brochure of Soochow University.
- Doctoral degree program: Students are entitled to apply for entrance examinations and study doctoral degree programs in Soochow University after passing the examination if: graduated from universities or colleges in Taiwan or overseas admitted by Ministry of Education and acquired at least a master's degree; Meet Article 7 in Standards for Recognition of Equivalent Educational Level As Qualified for Entering University and requirements of departments described in the enrollment brochure of Soochow University.
Students with foreign study records have to meet recognition of related standards and apply for entrance in accordance with the enrollment brochure of Soochow University.
Article 8.Requirements of whether the student have to graduate from related programs; whether specific work experience is needed for on-the-job or government funded students are regulated by each department for applying or being admitted to master's and doctoral programs in Soochow University and the the requirements shall be admitted by the enrollment committee then be written on the enrollment brochure.
Students who apply for the entrance examinations of master's and doctoral degree programs with equivalent educational levels have to follow Standards for Recognition of Equivalent Educational Level As Qualified for Entering University and related rules of departments in Soochow University.
Article 9.Other than enrolling master's and doctoral program students by normal entrance examinations, public admission application is also available if needed. Measures of the admission are regulated by each department and shall be admitted by the enrollment committee then be written on the enrollment brochure. Entrance examinations can still be taken If the maximum enrollment numbers are not met after the admission.
Enrollment for overseas compatriot and foreign students can be held by admission application or dedicated entrance examinations and the measures are regulated in other documents.
Article 10.Dates of entrance examinations for master's and doctoral degree programs are as below:
- Master's degree program: The examination is held in the 2nd semester of each school year and the result will be announced before June 30th. The admission application is held in the 1st semester.
- Doctoral degree program: The examination is held in the 2nd semester of each school year and the result will be announced before July 31st.
Article 11.Examinations of master's and doctoral entrance can be taken as written tests, interviews, material examinations, skill or operation tests.Only examinations of master's degree program entrance will mainly depend on written tests which shall take 2 to 4 subjects including at least one of Chinese or English.
Subjects to be taken, grading scales and score weighting are regulated by each department and shall be admitted by the enrollment committee then be written on the enrollment brochure.
Examinations of each department, undergraduate, graduated and degree program taken as material examinations, interviews and skill or operation tests shall provide score sheets for committee members to grade examinees and record the result by audio, video footage or paper records. Paper records shall be done before deciding the final result and reasons for extraordinary good or bad scores shall be written on the score sheets.
Extra examinations of professional subjects for students who apply with equivalent educational levels of master's and doctoral can be taken if necessary and shall be admitted by the enrollment committee then be written on the enrollment brochure.
Article 12.The enrollment list for master's and doctoral degree program entrance shall be admitted by the enrollment committee then be announced. Standards for enrollment are as below:
- After the committee deciding the minimum requirement of enrollment of each department, undergraduate, graduated and degree program, examinees shall be sorted by scores in descending order where who meets the requirement and within the enrollment number will be officially enrolled; who meets the requirement but is out of the enrollment number will become a candidate of enrollment.
- If the number of passed examinees is less than the enrollment number, reasons shall be submitted to the enrollment committee and candidates will not be allowed.
- If registered officially enrolled students is less than the enrollment number, candidates can be enrolled instead before the due date on the enrollment brochure where the due date must be earlier than the beginning day of school.
- The handling of multiple examinees who are identical in grading and applicable to the last seat of official enrollment or promotion of being officially enrolled for candidates shall follow rules on the enrollment brochure.
Article 13.If special cases to extend enrollment number occur, the enrollment committee shall hold a meeting for decision, submit meeting minutes and documents of proofs following measures as below:
- If it is the case that examinees with identical grading causing the extension, the case shall be reported to Ministry of Education after registration. Ministry of Education will oversee the scale of sorting identical grading for changing the total enrollment number for the next semester.
- If it is the case that operational mistakes causing the extension, a report shall be submitted to Ministry of Education for admission. Ministry of Education might change the total enrollment number depends on severity of the mistakes.
Article 14.All works related to the entrance examinations of master's and doctoral degree programs must be done with extra cares, such as assigning questions, making, printing, grading and sealing exam papers, monitoring the examination, calculating and checking scores, announcing results and registration. All personnel are responsible to keep secrets about sensitive information and shall avoid the job if any examinee is a kinship within 3rd degree.
All raw data of score sheets must be delivered to Office of Academic Affairs and archived for one year for reference purpose except scores for examinee who demands disagreement and must be kept until the end of judgement or administrative remedies.
Article 15.Examinees who disagree with scores or fairness of the enrollment infringing own rights shall apply for re-examination of scores in accordance with the enrollment brochure.If the issue cannot be resolved officially, examinees shall submit a letter of disagreement with facts and reasons attaching related documents of proofs to the enrollment committee within 20 days next to the day announcing the result of enrollment otherwise the request will be ignored.
The enrollment committee must reply for the disagreement within a month after receiving the letter and inform the applicant about the process of administrative remedies. A special team can be organized by five elected teachers of the school to investigate the case justly where any member of the team having beneficial or harmful relations with the case shall avoid the job.
Disagreement cases shall be normally examined on paper, and the special team is entitled to call the applicant and related person based on the team's duty and content of the disagreement.
The examination of the disagreement is limited to once. The result shall be admitted by the chair of the enrollment committee and reply to the applicant.
Article 16.Government funded or examinees being an inter student or having duty to fulfill (e.g. government funded teacher candidates, military / police school students, students on active military duty, active policemen) shall be ruled by responsible units and laws. Any accident causing the enrolled student unable to enter the program due to any type of violation will be considered as a voluntary withdrawal and the permission to enter the school will not sustain.
Article 17.All income and expense of the enrollment of master's and doctoral degree programs shall be admitted by the enrollment committee and handled according to related accounting measures.
Article 18.Incomplete details of these regulations shall follow University Performance Rules, Degree Conferral Law, related laws of educational acts and rules of Soochow University.
Article 19.These regulations are approved and revised by Academic Affairs Council and put into effect after approval by the President and reporting to Ministry of Education between August to October or December to February before announcing the enrollment brochure.
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