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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

The institute

The academic council and what it settles

Decisions touching programmes and awards are taken in council, on a written agenda and by vote. Here is what the academic council settles, how it sits, and what follows from each of its meetings.

What the council settles

Four matters are reserved to it. They share one feature: each one commits the worth of the award you will obtain, so none is decided alone.

Programmes

Opening a programme, its structure, study volumes and credits. A programme that changes returns to council, even for a single unit.

Assessment frameworks

Criteria, pass thresholds and number of attempts. They are settled before a session opens and held to its close.

Award boards

Composition, quorum and calendar. The board deliberates collectively and its decision is written, reasoned and notified.

Individual situations

Prior learning, assessment adjustments, review after appeal. Every file receives a named, dated decision.

How a decision travels

From request to publication, an academic decision always follows the same four stages. The overall time is known in advance, so you know when to file your request.

  1. 01

    Referral

    By an academic lead, by a cohort lead or by an enrolled learner. Every referral is logged and dated.

  2. 02

    Examination

    A named rapporteur gathers the documents and writes an analysis note, circulated with the agenda.

  3. 03

    Deliberation

    The council sits on quorum and votes. Minority positions are recorded in the minutes.

  4. 04

    Notification and publication

    The decision is notified to the person concerned, then decisions of general scope are published in the catalogue.

The planned composition

Each seat carries one vote and a written area of responsibility. The composition is published with names on the day the council is installed.

SeatWhat it bringsVote
Head of the institutionOverall coherence and execution of decisionsDeliberative
Heads of the 6 schoolsThe actual content of each discipline taughtDeliberative
Head of assessmentFrameworks, thresholds and the conduct of boardsDeliberative
Learner representationThe lived experience of the programme, semester by semesterDeliberative
External practitionerThe employer's view of the standard expectedAdvisory

The award board

The board is the body that turns a completed path into an award. It sits on fixed dates, on a complete file, and its decision is sovereign within the published framework.

  • A written quorum, failing which the sitting is postponed to an announced date
  • A complete file per candidate: work, corrections, supervised hours attended
  • Collective deliberation, recorded in the minutes
  • A written, reasoned notification handed to every candidate

Questions about academic governance

Can I attend a sitting?

Sittings are held in closed session because they examine individual situations. The minutes of general-scope decisions are published, and learner representation sits with a deliberative vote: that is the channel through which cohorts speak.

How do I contest a board decision?

By a written appeal addressed to the institution, within the period stated on your notification. The appeal is examined by a rapporteur who did not sit on the original board, and the answer is written and reasoned within the times published on the governance page.

Can an automated system sit on the council?

Deliberation belongs to people, and to them alone. Tools prepare documents — records of submitted work, study volumes, marking histories — and the council decides on those documents. It is a design rule, published alongside the production chain.

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The academic council and what it settles — IHETC — IHETC