Procedures and Principles Determined

Undergraduate Students Who Cannot Fulfill the Graduation Requirements at the End of the Maximum Duration of Study

Procedures and Principles Determined by the METU Senate in Accordance with the Article 44 (c) of the Law No. 2547 Regarding the Undergraduate Students Who Cannot Fulfill the Graduation Requirements at the End of the Maximum Duration of Study

In line with Article 44 (c) of the Law on Higher Education No. 2547, the METU Senate has decided to implement the following procedures and principles regarding the undergraduate students who cannot fulfil the graduation requirements at the end of the maximum duration of the study.

• According to Middle East Technical University Rules and Regulations Governing Undergraduate Studies, the students who cannot graduate at the end of their 14th semester (the maximum duration of study for undergraduate students) as of the Fall Semester of 2021-2022 Academic Year are granted the right to take a total of two additional exams (dates to be announced in the academic calendar) in two semesters (one additional exam in each semester) for the courses they registered for but failed (with FD, FF, NA, U grades), the courses for which they did not meet the attendance requirements, and the courses they never registered for.
• Students who want to take these additional exams must write a petition at the end of their last semester and submit it to the academic unit they are enrolled in on the dates announced in the academic calendar.
• If a student applies to take an additional exam but does not show up on the exam day, they are not given a chance for a make-up exam.
• Students who fail in the first additional exam and those who do not attend the first exam can still take their second additional exam.
• Students who obtain a passing grade in the first additional exam cannot apply to a second additional exam for the same course to raise their grades. After the additional exams, while determining the final letter grade for the courses, grades taken during the semester are not taken into account. The final letter grade of the course is determined only by evaluating the score of the additional exam.
• The final letter grade given as a result of the additional exam is added to the grades of the semester in which the student takes the additional exam.
• The status of the students who still have six or more unsuccessful courses (the courses with a letter grade FD, FF, NA, U, or the ones the student never registered for) after the additional exams is terminated by the University.

Practical Courses:

• There are no additional exams for practical courses. If a student who is granted the right to take additional exams apply for a fully or partially practical course (design courses, studio courses, courses with lab work, practical training, term project, etc.) or a practical course they have not registered for before, instead of an additional exam, they are granted the right (only for once) to register for and attend the course throughout the next semester despite completing the maximum duration of the study. The final letter grade of the practical courses is determined by the instructor/faculty member of the course.
• Students who want to attend a practical course after reaching the maximum duration of study must write a petition at the end of their last semester and submit it to the academic unit they are enrolled in on the dates announced in the academic calendar.
• Students who attend a fully or partially practical course or a practical course that they have not registered for before are subject to the Middle East Technical University Rules and Regulations Governing Undergraduate Studies.

Additional Time:

• Students who still have two to five unsuccessful courses after taking additional exams are granted three additional semesters to register for these courses.
• Students who have two to five unsuccessful courses without taking additional exams are granted four additional semesters to register for these courses.
• Students using the additional time to register for these courses must complete their course registrations for the semester and pay the tuition fee. The studentship status of these students continues.
• The status of the students who still have more than one unsuccessful course after using the additional time is terminated by the University.
• Those who have only one unsuccessful course left in order to graduate are granted an unlimited number of additional exams to pass that course.
• Students who cannot meet the minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average required for graduation despite having earned passing grades from all the courses of the departmental curriculum are granted an unlimited number of additional exams to increase their grades of the courses they wish. There is no attendance requirement for these courses unless they are fully or partially practical courses or a course that the student has not registered for before.
• Students using their right to take an unlimited number of additional exams must be registered for the relevant course. Students using their right to take an unlimited number of additional exams must continue to pay the tuition fee per the course for which they take the exam. However, their studentship status (as well as the rights provided to students) does not continue except for the right to take exams.
• If a student using their right to take an unlimited number of additional exams does not take the exams organized for the students in this situation for three academic years (consecutively or intermittently), their status is terminated by the University considering they have given up this right.

General Principles:

• Students will take their first additional exam at the end of the Fall Semester of 2021-2022 Academic Year (i.e., the semester in which they completed their maximum duration of the study), and they will take the second additional exam at the end of the Spring Semester of 2021-2022 Academic Year.
• Students who succeed in fulfilling the graduation requirements at the end of these processes are entitled to graduate and receive their diplomas.
• If there is a change in the curriculum of the department in which a student at the end of their maximum duration of study is enrolled in such as altering the name or content of a course, or a decision on not to offer a course in the coming semester, these students who have applied to take an unlimited number of exams or to register for courses with the additional time spared to them can be allowed to register for other courses which are deemed convenient by the Faculty Administrative Board.
• Students who cannot graduate by the end of the maximum duration of the study and are given such rights as taking an unlimited number of exams or registering for courses with the additional time spared to them are still subject to the Middle East Technical University Rules and Regulations Governing Undergraduate Studies.

If there is no provision to be found among these Procedures and Principles for a specific situation, provisions contained in other Procedures and Principles are implemented as well as the decisions of the Senate and Faculty Administrative Boards.

These principles were accepted at the meeting of the University Senate dated December 29, 2021, and numbered 2021/8, and they will be implemented as of the end of the Fall Semester of 2021-2022 Academic Year.