Instructions and Manuals

 REGULATION FOR BACHELOR’S AND MASTER’S DIPLOMA Thesis 2020 REzONANCA COLLEGE

Based on the Law on Higher Education and based on article 20 paragraph 1 point 1 and article 21 of the Statute of the College of Medical Sciences “Rezonanca”, the Senate of the College, in the meeting held on 07.10.2020, approved the following:

REGULATION

On the drafting of bachelor’s and master’s thesis

General Provisions

Article 1.

  1. a) This Regulation regulates the way of presentation, drafting and evaluation of Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis in the College of Medical Sciences “Rezonanca” (hereinafter referred to as “College”).

 Article 2.

  1. a) In order to receive the diploma for the completed studies at the basic level in the College, it is necessary that the student, in addition to the accumulated ECTS credits (which are earned with a number of exams given) and the performance of other obligations, to also draft the chosen thesis of the diploma, which is also evaluated with ECTS credits.
  2. b) The student must, together with the diploma exam, accumulate at least 180 ECTS credits for three-year studies, respectively 300 ECTS for five-year studies and 120 ECTS for Master’s studies.
  3. c) The diploma thesis is basically made from the subjects that the student completed during his studies at the faculty.

Article 3.

  1. a) The student who graduates from the College with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, and who has previously graduated from other academic institutions, regardless of the level, is obliged to draft the diploma thesis in the field of scientific – educational disciplines that he/she studied according to the study program.

Article 4.

  1. a) The thesis is an independent work on a defined topic.
  2. b) By drafting the diploma thesis, the student must demonstrate the ability and independence of solving problems from the scientific-teaching field which have been part of his studies.
  3. c) The topic of the diploma in its content should include, in addition to the theoretical part, the possibilities of choosing concrete health problems.
  4. d) The content of the diploma thesis proposed by the student is confirmed by the mentor. In the thesis drafting program, the student is obliged to cooperate with the mentor from the beginning of the thesis drafting.
  5. c) The mentor is obliged to hold for each student 9 hours of consultations related to the work of the diploma topic. Consultations are held only in the premises of the College. For the held consultations, the form for the consultations must be completed then submitted to the College’s administration.

TOPICS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE DIPLOMA THESIS BEFORE THE DEFENSE OF THE THESIS

Article 5.

  1. a) The Faculty Council allows the register of subjects of diploma theses, according to the professor’s proposal.
  2. b) The topics proposed for the diploma thesis are announced on the board, web page of the College, at the beginning of each academic year, so that within them the students can choose the given topic.
  3. c) Students can also propose a topic that has not been announced in the register of topics for diploma thesis, making sure that topic has not been elaborated during the last three years, but always in agreement with the mentor.

Article 6.

  1. a) The student is obliged to present the thesis topic in the third year of studies, respectively in the second year of Master’s studies.
  2. b) The student is obliged to present the topic until the beginning of the sixth semester, respectively until the beginning of the fourth semester for Master’s studies.
  3. 3. c) The types of studies within the subjects of the diploma thesis can be:

– Scientific research

– Literature reviews

– Case studies

Article 7.

  1. a) 1. a) The student chooses the topic so that, with the instructions of the mentor, he/she makes the concept of the diploma thesis, in the diploma thesis topic.
  2. b) The student has the right to propose the mentor and committee members.
  3. c) In the procedure of determining the subject of the thesis, the student is obliged to cite the literature and other materials that will be used in the preparation of the thesis along with the topic and content of the thesis.
  4. d) The College will also publish the Guide on how to technically work a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree thesis; The Faculty Council decides on the number of candidates a mentor can have after assessing how many potential students there are for graduation;
  5. e) The concept of the thesis with a content proposal is submitted to the mentor. After the evaluation by the mentor that the Form for proposal of the topic has been filled in correctly, he completes the Declaration of the mentor for acceptance of this topic and of the candidate for leadership, which he submits to the College archive for protocol and approval procedure.
  6. e) The Dean of the Faculty, after examining the request for the permission of the topic of the bachelor’s degree, decides on the “approval” or “rejection” of the proposed topic. If the topic is approved, the Dean appoints a committee of three members for evaluation of the thesis and its final defense, consisting of: the chairman of the Committee, the member of the Committee and the mentor. The chairman of the thesis defense committee cannot be the mentor.
  7. f) The examination of the request for the permission of the subject of the Master’s degree is done by the Committee of Master’s Studies, which decides on the “approval” or “rejection” of the proposed subject. If the topic is approved, the Faculty Council, with the proposal of the Master’s Studies Committee, appoints a committee of three members for the assessment of the thesis and its final defense, consisting of: the chairman of the Committee, the member of the Committee and the mentor. The chairman of the Committee for the defense of the thesis of the master’s degree cannot be the mentor.
  8. g) The Dean of the Faculty, through a special procedure, is obliged to make a balanced distribution of topics among all lecturers.
  9. h) No mentor can accept candidates if they do not have the verified and confirmed forms received from the College;
  1. i) The form is part of the student’s file;

Article 8.

  1.  a) The thesis mentor must have the title of professor, or have a protected doctorate, and can only be chosen from among the professors of the Faculty.
  2. b) For subjects of diplomas in the bachelor’s program of Nursing and Midwifery, a professor with a completed master’s degree can also be selected as a mentor.

Article 9

  1. a) The first evaluation of the diploma thesis is done by the thesis mentor, no later than 30 days from the moment of acceptance of the thesis topic. After the evaluation, the mentor completes the “Mentor evaluation sheet” for the topic of the candidate’s diploma thesis, in the signed physical version, which he submits to the College archive. The thesis mentor e-mails the “Mentor Evaluation Sheet” and the candidate’s thesis topic to the program officer.
  2. b) The program officer conveys the submitted topic of the diploma to two members of the Commission for evaluation.
  3. c) If the other members of the committee assess that the work is not suitable for defense, the candidate must complete or change it. The chairman of the commission returns the paper to the student with instructions on what should be completed (changed) in the thesis. The student is obliged to make the required additions within a period of no more than 30 days. In these cases, the procedure of approving the report of the Commission for evaluation of the diploma thesis in the Faculty Council is repeated.
  4. d) After additions and eventual changes in the topic by the student, the Chairman of the Committee, together with the mentor and the member of the Committee, compile the Report on the topic of the diploma (within no more than one week from the receipt of the draft), which they sign and submit to the College for approval by the Faculty Council. The report is submitted in physical and electronic version.
  5. d) If one member of the Commission has a different opinion, he can draft the report separately and submit it to the College.
  6. e) If two members of the Commission evaluate the thesis negatively, despite the mentor’s positive evaluation, the mentor may ask the Dean to appoint another professional Commission of three members, who is obliged to look at the thesis and the documentation on the evaluation of the thesis within 14 days, in written form.
  7. f) The Faculty Council makes a decision to approve or reject the topic.
  8. g) If the paper is approved and the defense is allowed, then within 15 days the Commission in cooperation with the candidate will propose the date of the defense of the topic.
  9. h) The Dean, based on the proposal of the Committee and the candidate, sets the date of the defense of the topic.
  10. i) The defense of the topic must be done within 30 days from the day of approval of the report of the Commission for evaluation of the thesis by the Faculty Council.

Article 10.

  1. a) The student acquires the right to the public defense of the diploma thesis if he has completed all the individual exams according to the study program, has successfully completed the final exam and has presented a thesis or part of the thesis at the Student Congress of College, which is organized at the end of June. The presentation can be oral or poster-presentation.
  2. b) The allowed diploma thesis must be completed within the predetermined deadline, which does not exceed the first year of the graduate’s internship.
  3. c) The deadline can be postponed in accordance with the decision to extend the internship of the graduate for another academic year.
  4. a) The student acquires the right for the public defense of the diploma thesis if he has completed all the individual exams according to the study program, has successfully completed the final exam and has presented a thesis or part of the thesis at the Student Congress of College, which is organized at the end of June. The presentation can be oral or poster-presentation.
  5. b) The allowed thesis must be completed before the deadline, which does not exceed the first year of the graduate’s internship.
  6. c) The deadline can be postponed in accordance with the decision to extend the internship of the graduate for another academic year.

Article 11

  1. a) When drafting the thesis, the student must take care of the necessary content and formal quality of the thesis.
  2. b) Formal qualities include: style, language, spelling, working pages, classification and arrangement of content, citation of sources, regular register of literature used according to Vancouver style.
  3. c) The quality of the contents of the paper includes: consistent respect for the topic, correct application of the method of analysis and synthesis as well as other scientific methods, argumentation of positions, regular expression of positions, conclusions, proposals, etc.
  4. d) If during the studies the student has done one or more works which in terms of content and volume correspond to the diploma thesis, their work (thesis) can be accepted as a diploma thesis and the normal defense procedure continues.
  5. e) The subject of the diploma must not be a copy or duplication of another work by another author or authors.
  6. f) Plagiarism of the thesis will be punished according to the College Regulations.

Article 12

  1. a) The thesis is written electronically on A4 format paper (21 X 29.7 cm) and consists of:

– Covers – must contain the following information:

  • The institution’s logo
  • The title of the diploma thesis
  • Rationale of presentation: Bachelor thesis
  • Name of the student/
  • The name of the mentor
  • Date of submission:

– Clean papers

– Acknowledgments

– List of abbreviations

– Content

– Resume in Albanian

– Summary

– I. Introduction

– II. The purpose of the work

– III. Material and methods

– IV. Results

– V. Discussion

– VI. Conclusion

– VII. References

  1. b) In group works, the Statement of Authorial Responsibilities and Contributions must be completed for each student in the group.
  2. c) The diploma thesis in studies must be included in a minimum of 30 pages, for individual papers, respectively 50 pages for group papers, and 70 pages for Master’s diploma papers, using the following technique:

– Margins on all sides 30 mm;

– Paragraphs arranged in wide lines (Line spacing 1.5 lines);

– Font used in writing – Times New Roman, size 12 pts with alignment on both sides (justify);

– Each illustration must have the title, textual part, notes or explanations, all in the Albanian language. Explanations (legends) are noted in the illustration. Taking and reproducing illustrations from other authors must be done with the permission of the publisher and the author. In the text of the paper, the author places the relevant illustrations. Illustrations should be limited to a reasonable number, as these add to the cost of publication. The title, written at the top of the illustration, should be concise and meaningful, so that the reader has a clear idea of ​​what it is about.

– Tables and graphs should be clear and easy to understand, not complicated and overloaded with data. Abbreviations used (Roman numerals, capital letters, or other symbols) are explained below the illustration, listed as footnotes.

– All effective spelling rules apply when writing text.

– For terms in the English language the candidate should consult The Oxford English Dictionary.

Article 13

  1. a) Before making the hard copy (with covers), the student must submit his topic by email to the thesis mentor.
  2. b) Only after permission is obtained – confirmation that the topic has been approved by the Faculty Council, the student can submit the four (4) copies of the diploma thesis, with hard covers and one electronic copy (CD).

Article 14

  1. a) Students are obliged to defend the thesis in front of the three-member committee.
  2. b) The defense of the thesis is public and is held at the time set by the mentor in agreement with the members of the Commission. The mentor notifies the program administrator, who notifies the student.

Article 15

  1. a) In the defense of the diploma thesis, the theoretical and practical knowledge is verified, as well as the ability of the student to defend and argue his own conclusions in relation to the material he/she elaborated in the thesis.

The procedure for defending the thesis is as follows:

  • The Chairman of the Committee opens the defense procedure, reading the Protocol and minutes for the defense of the thesis;
  • The thesis mentor presents the short report related to the subject of the candidate’s diploma.
  • The candidate presents the basic issues of his work, the methods used and the results achieved in the work. The presentation lasts about 10-20 minutes.
  • Committee members ask questions to the candidate.
  • Each member can submit a maximum of 3 questions.

– After submitting the questions, the candidate has the right to think for up to 5 minutes, after which time he must answer the questions.

  1. b) After answering all the questions submitted, the Commission examines the quality of the thesis, the candidate’s oral presentation on the thesis and his answers to the questions submitted, and based on this determines the final grade of the thesis degree.
  2. c) The grades of the thesis are: excellent (10 or 9), very good (8), good (7), sufficient (6) and insufficient (5).

Article 16

  1. a) In case of absence of a member of the Commission for the defense of the work, the Dean can appoint a substitution.

Article 17

1.a) If the mentor and members of the Commission come to the conclusion that the candidate has successfully defended the thesis or if they have come to the conclusion that the candidate has failed, they communicate the evaluation (grade) to the candidate directly after the defense.

  1. b) The Chairman of the Committee communicates the grade publicly to the candidate.

Article 18.

  1. a) In the case of the defense of the diploma thesis, the Protocol for the defense of the diploma thesis is applied and the Minutes for the defense of the diploma thesis, determined by the College, are completed.
  2. b) The minutes on the defense of the diploma thesis, signed, is submitted to the minutes holder, who photocopies it in two copies, of which the original is put in the student’s file, one copy in the archive and one copy in the file of the administrator for protected topics.

Article 19.

  1. a) When the candidate is informed of the poor grade of the diploma thesis, the reasons for such a grade must be mentioned, which are included in the minutes on the evaluation of the diploma thesis.
  2. b) The candidate, whose thesis has been evaluated with a poor grade, must choose and present another new topic for the thesis.

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 20

The Faculty Council is competent for the interpretation of certain provisions of this Regulation.

Article 21.

  1. c) After the entry into force of this Regulation, all other provisions that directly or indirectly regulate this matter are repealed;
  2. d) All other documents in the form of recommendations are considered annexes to this document;

Article 22

The regulation can be changed according to its approval procedure.

Article 23

This Regulation enters into force on the day of its approval by the Senate of the College.

No. AD-4173/20