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General Rules

In-class Behavior: Students are expected to be prepared for the lessons with their materials (books, notebooks, pens) ready, and listen and participate in the lessons. Students are supposed to be in the classroom before the lessons have started and their teacher has arrived. Teachers hold the right to take preventive action on the condition that a student is tardy; s/he leaves the class early with no valid excuse and displays inappropriate behavior in class. 

Exam rules: Students are expected to come to the exams on time with their pens, pencils and eraser with them. Tardy students are admitted to the exam, however are not given any extra time. It is forbidden for students to talk to one another, use mobile phones and/or keep their mobile phones on. If students do not obey these rules or display inappropriate behavior, their exams are not graded. 

Classroom Affairs Committee (C.A.C): This committee has been set up to manage possible problems that teachers or students may experience in the classroom. CAC is an objective committee in which the issues of both parties can be expressed and discussed. Additionally, this committee empowers and ensures the continuity of the relationship between teachers and the administrators. The committee consists of three instructors designated by the ELP director and the ELP Vice Director. Responsibilities, the function and the authorization of the committee have been stated in the CAC regulation by-laws. If the problem exceeds the responsibilities and authorization of the CAC, the issue is referred to the Rector or the related Departmental Studies with an appeal for further investigation. 

Stages of Problem and Solution between Instructor- Student

Verbal Warning
A student who disobeys the class rules first receives a verbal warning from the instructor.
Provided that the repeated misbehavior is observed, the instructor in question may ask for assistance from other instructors or from the school psychologist. The number of verbal warnings before proceeding to the next stage has not been specified. The decision to proceed or not to proceed to the next stage depends on the instructor’s consent. 

Official Warning
If the misbehavior continues, the instructor in question may give the student a written warning which describes the misbehavior and the date(s) of the incident(s) which is then signed by the student. 
This form is kept in the student’s file as evidence which proves that s/he has been warned in writing about this misbehavior. 

CAC Meeting

The instructor may apply to the CAC if the misbehavior carries on despite the official written warning. The related parties are listened to on a certain date designated by the CAC. At the end of the meeting, the CAC declares its decision. Depending on the nature of the problem, the CAC may refer the issue with an appeal for disciplinary investigation to the Departmental Studies that the student has been enrolled in or to the Rector. 

Stages of a Problem and Resolution between Student- Instructor /Student-Student

Instructor
Both instructors and students have various life experiences and viewpoints. Therefore, it is natural to have differences of opinion. Problems can be solved with the help of communication. When problems occur, the best and most effective solution is to talk them over face-to-face. 

CAC
If problems repeat between a student and an instructor even after face-to-face interaction, they can refer to the CAC. Petitions for this can be obtained from the Student Affairs Office. 

For solving any problems that may occur between classmates the above mentioned stages should be pursued.

Please click here to find the further details about the Classroom Affairs process and procedures.

Also please click here for the CAC petition form.

You can submit your petition to the Student Affairs Representative (Room BZ-09) or send it via email burcu.karatas@bilgi.edu.tr

 

Instruction in English
English is the medium of instruction on the BİLGİ English Preparatory program and is the only language used in the classroom. The use of English is part of the learning process, and it enhances students’ language skills. The more students use English at BİLGİ, the better their command of the language becomes.

Assignments 
Students are given tasks as homework to be done outside class and expect these tasks to be done on time. These assignments are graded and affect the success of the final course grade. Doing the assignments is a good preparation for the lessons and enables students to participate productively in them.

Academic honesty: Unethical behavior such as cheating and plagiarism will be officially recorded by the academic staff and reported to the Student Affairs Office which will result in disciplinary action and failure from the particular task. Plagiarism is showing somebody else’s work as your own and it is the student’s responsibility to supply evidence to prove that what is presented  is not the ones own work but borrowed from another source. 

·         “Burden of Proof”: If the instructor has doubts about the owner of any task or assignment, it is the student’s responsibility to prove otherwise, that the task was completed by him/her at all stages. 

 

Conditions of Excuse

Health Reports and Documents for Excuse

  • During the academic year, any outpatient report must be accepted by the university physician before they can be approved.  Only the durations and excuses listed under the “Reports to be submitted in case of an illness” can be offered as an excuse.  


  • If a student misses the Midterm Exam due to valid medical reasons that are stipulated below, the student is given a make-up exam.


  • No report can be submitted for individual homework assignments or quizzes that have an overall weight of less than 3% (not the overall effect).


  • If a student misses the final exam (Achievement Test - AT) due to valid medical reasons that are stipulated below, the student is given a make-up exam.  If a student once again misses the make-up exam due to valid medical reasons, the final grade can be calculated using the common quiz and timed writing grades, provided there is a sufficient amount of such exams to use in the calculation.


  • Health reports and other documents for excuse should be submitted to the Student Affairs Representative (Office BZ 09) within three days after the end date of the report and documents.  Late submitted health reports and documents will not be accepted.  If the reports submitted to the Student Affairs Representative are in accordance with the “Reports to be submitted in case of an illness,” the reports are submitted to the university physician.

Documents for Excuse

Explanation of the reports that must be presented in case of illness:

1)      If a student has an illness that prevents them from attending classes, in order for those missed hours to not be counted against them as part of their attendance record, the following are valid excuses within that term of the Preparatory Program (8-9 weeks) and the below documents must be submitted to the student affairs representative within three (3) days following the end date of the report:

a)      A single doctor’s report not to exceed a total of three (3) days, consecutively or in total,

b)      For reports longer than four (4) days and up to ten (10) days (consecutively or in total), a hospital report approved by the Chief of Medicine of said hospital,

c)       For reports longer than ten (10) days and up to twenty (20) days (consecutively or in total), a report documenting hospitalization or surgical intervention,

d)      For illnesses that require reports of or longer than twenty-one (21) days (consecutively or in total), the submission of a Health Board report from said hospital is mandatory.

e)      If an immediate family member of the student requires surgery or has a serious illness that requires hospitalization, a report from a fully-qualified hospital documenting such a condition is required.

f)       If an immediate family member of the student (mother, father, spouse, child, grandfather, grandmother, sibling, uncle, aunt) passes away on a date that prevents the student from attending class, a death certificate must be presented.

 2)      If a student has an illness that prevents them from participating in one of the common exams, in order for an exam result not to be entered or to allow for a make-up exam to be given;

a)     Health report (the health reports submitted for Achievement Test must be approved by the Chief of Medicine and/or the Director of the hospital),

b)      If an immediate family member of the student passes away on a date that prevents the student from attending the common exam, a death certificate must be presented.

Health reports should be submitted to the Student Affairs Representative within three days after the end date of the report.

 

Traffic accidents and unexpected circumstances:

1)      If a student gets involved in a traffic accident that prevents them from attending class/an exam, an accident report prepared by the involved sides or a police report from the police station must be presented.

2)      If a student experiences a force majeure situation (earthquake, flood, fire, collapse, destruction) in their building of residence on an exam/class day that prevents them from attending, a report from the local administrative authority must be submitted.

3)      If the student has been taken into custody for any reason, an official document from the proper authorities must be presented.

4)      If the student has been arrested, a copy of the arrest report from the authorized court must be submitted.

 

Assignments by the university and other official institutions:

1)      If the student has been assigned by the university or another official body to participate in a national or international competition, sporting or otherwise, the official assignment document must be presented.

All documents listed above must be submitted to the Preparatory Program Student Affairs Representative (Room BZ 09).

 

Objection to Exam Results

Quizzes are graded by class instructors, the Achievement Test (AT) by all the instructors in a level, and the BİLET by all the instructors in the English Preparatory Program.  Achievement Tests, timed writing exams, and the BİLETs are all graded by three instructors to ensure grading reliability.  As a result, it is very unlikely for a mistake to happen.  If a student feels that a mistake was made in the grading of their exam, they can file a Factual Error report for the re-grading and re-evaluating of their grades.  All objections must be made within three business days after the declaration of grades by obtaining said form from the Student Affairs representative.  The outcome of the petition is announced at a date determined by the Student Affairs office.  If there is any change, the change is notified to the student.  If there is no response from the office, this means there has been no change.  Students are not informed in cases where there is no change.  Students are welcome to contact the Student Affairs representative to obtain information.  According to data analysis carried out over the years, the quiz and timed writing grades are similar to the final exam grade of 95% of the students with at most a three percentage point variance.  If your final exam grade and quiz and timed writing grades are similar, the likelihood of there being a mistake is low.  Comparing your overall grade with your final exam grade would not be healthy as the overall grade contains elements that are dependent on effort.

Students have the right to receive feedback after every exam and evaluation. Feedback for exams given during the term is done by the respective instructor within two weeks after the exam was taken. Feedback can be received for an Achievement Test (AT) and BİLET by submitting a feedback petition to the Student Affairs Office to make an appointment with the Academic Coordinator. Feedback is given on the agreed upon date.