AMRITA VISHWA VIDYAPEETHAM
MASTER OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
(MCA) PROGRAMME
Policies and Procedures
2014 – 2016
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
August 2014
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PREAMBLE
In order to maintain uniformity and ensure a high quality of Post Graduate
Programmes, the University-Level Committee for Post Graduate Programmes (UL-
CPGP) proposes the following Policies and Procedures for MCA programme.
1. The word “University” means “Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University under
section 3 of the UGC Act 1956”, unless context otherwise requires.
2. For the purpose of this document, Department/Department Chairs also include
Centre/Centre Heads, except when the context otherwise requires.
3. MCA Programmes may be offered only by Departments that have received
explicit approval to do so. The intake of MCA programme will be decided by the
University.
4. An MCA Programme will be known as: Master of Computer Applications. The
name of the Department offering the programme is not included in the name of the
degree.
5. The Dean of Post Graduate Programmes or similar academic rank, as appointed
by the Vice Chancellor, hereafter referred to as PGP Dean, has primary
responsibility over MCA programme, and shall report all major actions to the Vice
Chancellor for approval.
6. Each campus offering MCA Programme shall have a PGP Chair with primary
responsibility for the conduct of the programme in that campus in accordance with
the policies and procedures outlined in this document.
7. The PGP Chairs shall work closely with their respective Department Chairs to
ensure the successful conduct of the programme, and shall report all major actions
to the PGP Dean for approval.
8. The award of MCA degree shall be in accordance with the Policies and
Procedures outlined in this document as well as other ordinances, rules, and
regulations of the University.
9. An MCA student may petition the PGP Chair for a waiver/substitution of any
requirement. The petition may be escalated to the PGP Dean and the Vice
Chancellor, whose decision will be final and binding.
10. The Board of Management alone will have the power to make amendments to
these rules and regulations from time to time as they deem appropriate.
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MCA at a Glance
1. MCA students are admitted normally as full-time students. In order to be
eligible for admission, the applicant should have a pass with a minimum average of
60% in Bachelor’s Degree of minimum 3 years duration from a recognised
University with at least one subject in Mathematics at Degree level.
Lateral Entry (2-year MCA): Eligibility consists of a recognized Bachelors Degree
of minimum three years duration in BCA or [Link]. (IT/Computer Science) and with
at least 60% marks in Mathematics at the Bachelors or at the ‘10+2’ level.
2. The MCA degree consists of 92-93 credits of prescribed course-work and 17
credits of Dissertation research, for a total of 109-110 credits. For Lateral Entry,
the MCA degree consists of 57-58 credits of prescribed course-work and 17 credits
of Dissertation research, for a total of 74-75 credits
3. All courses shall be university-approved courses. A credit-based continuous
assessment pattern will be followed, with one credit for each lecture period per
week, one credit for each tutorial period per week, and one credit for each
laboratory course of two or three periods per week.
4. Every student is required to write, based upon their Dissertation, a scholarly
research paper targeted at a Scopus-indexed conference or journal. The
submission to the conference/journal should be made by the student’s Dissertation
Advisor after written consent by the Department Chair.
5. The duration of the MCA program shall normally be six semesters (3 years) for
regular students and four semesters (2 years) for lateral entry students.
6. Students are expected to carry out all work with academic integrity and should
abide by the code of conduct expected of all students of the University.
7. The medium of instruction shall be English.
The remainder of this document is divided into three main sections:
(I) General policies that govern MCA Programmes, primarily of interest to
PGP Chairs, Department Chairs and Faculty;
(II) Academic Requirements to be fulfilled by students; and
(III) Code of Conduct expected of students.
I. PROGRAMME POLICIES
This section deals with Admission Procedure, Board of Studies, Course
Committees and Chief Mentor.
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I.1 Admission
The advertisement for admission should clearly indicate the minimum qualification
for the different programmes, dates for the commencement of the issue of
application and receipt of completed application, date for entrance examination
and possible venues for the entrance examination.
Applications will be issued and received until the last date notified for the receipt of
completed application. The short-listed candidates will have to appear for entrance
examinations. Based on the performance in the entrance examination, candidates
will be called for the personal interview. The merit list for admission will be based
on the following guidelines:
i) Career Analysis 10%
ii) Entrance Examination 60%
iii) Interview 30%
The Selection Committee will consist of a minimum of three persons and chaired
by the Chair/Vice Chair of the Department. Depending on the minimum
qualifications specified.
I.2 Board of Studies
The curricula and course syllabi for an MCA programme shall be formulated
initially and updated once in two years based upon recommendations from the
Board of Studies for the programme concerned.
The Board of Studies consists of 10-12 members, with at least one member from
each of the following groups: an international expert from a university outside India;
an expert from a leading Indian university (such as IIT, IISc, NIT); an expert from
industry; a faculty member from each campus offering the programme or a closely
related programme; and an alumnus who excelled in the programme.
Elective courses may be added to the curricula by faculty at any time with the
approval of the PGP Dean.
I.3 Course Committees
While the Board of Studies oversees the overall MCA curriculum and course
syllabi, each course that is offered is monitored by a Course Committee and Chief
Mentor. This committee will consist of mentors, one from each campus, nominated
by the respective Chairs of the campus Departments. The Chief Mentor is
nominated by the PGP Dean and could be one of the campus mentors for the
course or could be an additional person. In addition, there will be student
representatives, one for each Campus, who will be invited for all meetings except
those dealing with question papers and other confidential matters.
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All campuses offering a course will be governed by the same syllabus and the
course offering will be monitored by a Course Committee and chaired by a Chief
Mentor. The Course Committee shall meet at the beginning of the semester to
finalise the teaching program as well as evaluation pattern.
Campuses will have a common question paper for each periodical test and final
exam, and obtain prior approval from the Chief Mentor is required before any
question paper can be given at any campus. Campus-level course mentors should
prepare question papers in advance so that the Chief Mentor is given adequate
time for review and providing feedback. After a question paper is finalized, the
Chief Mentor will forward the same to the Deputy Controller at each campus who in
turn will oversee the duplication and distribution of the question paper.
II. ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS
All students are expected to conform to the regular academic requirements of the
University. This involves registering for courses, attending classes regularly, doing
assignments in a timely manner, appearing for examinations, etc., and also
conforming to the rules, regulations and practice accepted in the University.
II.1 Course Registration
Upon admission, every student will be assigned a Faculty Advisor by the Chairman
of the Department concerned. The faculty advisors will advise the students in all
academic activities including registration, selection of electives, projects, etc.
Students are required to register for courses (including Dissertation Research)
within the stipulated time by filling up the required form and getting it approved by
the faculty concerned. Any violation may lead to non-acceptance of the course
registration.
A student is permitted to register for courses if and only if he/she has:
• Paid all fees and has no dues to the University
• Has maintained the progress as required by the University
• Has completed pre-requisite courses, if prescribed
• Has no disciplinary action pending against him/her
Every student will be given access on the Amrita intranet to MCA Programme,
including the relevant policies, procedures, curricula, and course syllabi.
Except for the first semester, registration for a given semester shall be done during
a week specified before the end-semester examination of the previous semester.
The consent of the faculty advisor and the course instructor are necessary for
registration.
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II.2 Duration of Programme
The normal duration of the MCA Programme is 3 years (6 semesters) and for
lateral entry it is 2 years. In the exceptional case of the students who are not in a
position to complete the requirements within three/two(lateral entry) years, an
extension of stay by one or two semesters, as needed, may be granted by the
PGP Chair. Such students need to pay the fees like any other student, once again
register for the course(s) and successfully complete them as per the normal
requirements.
II.3 Attendance and Leave
Class attendance will be marked by the teacher during every period of a course.
Finalization of attendance for every course shall be done three working days
before the last instruction day of the semester. Any student failing to secure a
minimum of 90% attendance in a course will not be eligible to appear for the end
semester examination in that course. The names of students not eligible to appear
for the examination will be published.
If the attendance of a student falls short of 90% in any course due to continuous
absence caused by accident, prolonged illness, or unforeseen circumstances, such
case may be considered by the concerned PGP Chair/Principal for condonation of
absence based on the request of the student and supported by required
documents and recommendation of the class advisor and Department Chair.
However, in such cases, the student must have duly applied for leave in time and
got it sanctioned. The overall attendance of a student in such a case shall not fall
below 75%. Condonation will be considered only in the case of those students
who have proved themselves to be otherwise regular by attending at least 90% of
the class during the semester excluding the period of long leave. Any student who
has missed classes for genuine reasons (including on duty leave) will have to
submit the missed assignments (possibly on holidays or late evenings) as
prescribed by the faculty, to make up for the missed classes. The students will be
eligible for the waiver / on duty leave if and only if they complete the extra work
load to the satisfaction of the faculty concerned and, the faculty concerened
certifies accordingly in the final leave application of the student.
Leave. It is mandatory that students apply in the prescribed form before
proceeding on leave. A leave letter recommended by the class advisor shall be
submitted to the Department Chair who may normally grant the leave.
Unauthorized absence will be treated as breach of discipline. Request for leave for
more than three consecutive days on medical grounds must be supported by a
proper medical certificate. In non-medical cases, requests for leave for more than
three consecutive days must be countersigned by the parent/ guardian. Leave
granted will not be counted as attendance.
Students going on official duties such as representing the School for sports and
cultural activities, or presenting papers in seminars will be eligible for “duty leave”
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on the recommendation by the faculty advisor and the concerned Department
Chair. Duty leave will be counted as equivalent to attendance for administrative
purposes which will be limited to five working days per semester, provided the
information is sent to all the faculty members concerned at least one week in
advance.
II.4 Course Evaluation
In theory courses, which are taught primarily in the lecture mode, 50% weightage
will be given to continuous assessment (sessionals) and 50% for the end-semester
(final) examination. For continuous assessment, there will be two tests, whose
dates will be given by the Controller of Examination and published in the
handbook, in addition to a number of assignments.
In the case of laboratory courses and practicals, 70% weightage will be given to
continuous assessment and 30% for end-semester examination. The weights for
the components of continuous assessment will be decided by the course
committee at the beginning of the semester.
It is mandatory that students appear for the end-semester examination for the
completion of a course.
The pass minimum for all courses shall be 50%.
II.5 Supplementary Examination
Students who fail on a course can appear for a supplementary examination. In
addition, those students who could not appear for the end-semester examination
due to illness or reasons beyond their control will be also permitted to appear for
the supplementary examination(s). Students who have passed the examination
are not permitted to appear for the supplementary examination for improving their
grades. If the student fails in the supplementary examination as well, he/she has
to re-register for the course and satisfy all the requirements expected of fresh
registrants. The student may also re-register for the course during the summer, if
the university is able to offer the course at that time.
The grade FA (Failed due to lack of Attendance) once awarded stays on the
student’s record; it is not deleted even after the student completes the course
successfully later. Those who fail due to lack of attendance will not be allowed to
appear for the supplementary examination and will have to re-register for the
course.
In re-registering for courses, it is mandatory to successfully complete the same
core course. However, in the case of electives, if the student fails in the
supplementary examination, the PGP Chair may approve an equivalent course on
the recommendation of the faculty advisor and Department Chair.
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II.6 Dissertation Research and Research Paper
Every MCA student is required to register for a total of 17 credits of Dissertation
Research, which will be divided as 5 credits in semester V and 12 credits in
semester VI. The Dissertation Research must be carried out under an Amrita
faculty member, either within or outside the student’s department, and that faculty
member will be referred to as the student's Dissertation Advisor.
Students are not permitted to commence their Dissertation Research if they have
any arrears on courses related to their Dissertation Research and not more than
two courses unrelated to the Dissertation Research.
Towards the end of completing the Dissertation Research, the student is required
to submit a Dissertation Report, documenting all results, including system design,
implementation, theory, experiments, and performance evaluation, as applicable.
The Dissertation Report is submitted to the Dissertation Advisor. Where applicable,
an evaluation (qualitative or quantitative) by a Dissertation co-Advisor will be also
taken into account by the Dissertation Advisor.
An important requirement of Dissertation Research is the submission of a
Research Paper to a Scopus-indexed conference proceedings or journal. A
research paper describes the motivation and significance of the problem being
addressed; the background and related literature for the research; the proposed
approach, concepts, and system design; experimental results and contributions;
conclusions and directions for further research; and references cited.
Submission of the Research Paper to a Scopus-indexed conference/journal should
be made by the Dissertation Advisor only after obtaining written consent from the
Department Chair. Students should not submit papers on their own to
conferences/journals without approval from their Advisor and Department Chair. It
is acceptable for MCA students to work in a team of two in preparing their
research paper.
All publications based upon the Dissertation research should list the name of the
Dissertation Advisor and Co-Advisor (if any), with their consent, in addition to the
MCA student’s name. The Amrita affiliation in conference/journal papers should be
written as follows:
Names of Authors
Name of Department/Centre/School
Name of Campus
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (University)
The Department Chair will invite external experts to help the final evaluation of
dissertations. The Chair will assign the MCA student reports to a Committee
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consisting of all Dissertation Advisor(s) and senior faculty of the Department. The
Department Chair will normally serve as Chair of this Committee, unless he/she is
also an Dissertation Advisor, in which case the Vice Chair of the Department will
head the Committee.
There are two parts to the evaluation. In the first part which is open to public, all
MCA students are required to briefly present their work. In the second, which is
closed-door (with only the Committee members present), a thorough discussion
about the dissertation will take place, at the conclusion of which, for each student,
the Committee will assign a numerical score out of a maximum of hundred.
After completing the evaluation of all MCA students in a specialization, all
Dissertation Advisors in that specialization and the Department Chair will meet and
assign every student a letter grade. If a dissertation is not satisfactory, the student
will be asked to continue the dissertation and appear for the assessment later and
an “I” grade will be given.
II.7 Grading
Based on the performance in each course, a student is awarded, at the end of the
semester, a letter grade in each of the courses registered, in a ten point scale.
The letter grades, the corresponding grade points and the ratings are as follows:
Letter Grade Points Ratings
A+ 10 Outstanding
A 10 Excellent
B+ 9 Very Good
B 8 Good
C+ 7 Above Average
C 6 Average
D 5 Pass
F 0 Fail
FA 0 Failed due to lack of attendance
I 0 Incomplete
W - Withheld
Notes:
1. The I grade may be given for Laboratory courses, Seminars, and Dissertation
Research. It will be subsequently changed to an appropriate grade when the
student passes the supplementary examination.
2. A+ shall be given by the PGP Chair only for exceptional performance based
on the recommendation of the course instructor. The student should typically
have secured an A grade in all other courses.
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Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA)
On completion of a semester, each student is assigned Semester Grade Point
Average (SGPA) which is computed as below for all courses registered by the
student during that semester.
∑ (Ci x GPi)
SGPA =
∑ Ci
where Ci is the number of credits for ith course in that semester and GPi is the
grade points earned by the student for that course.
Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)
The overall performance of a student at any stage of the MCA program is
evaluated by the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) upto that point of time.
∑ (Ci x GPi)
CGPA =
∑ Ci
where Ci is the number of credits for ith course in any semester and GPi is the
grade points earned by the student for that course. The summation is over all the
courses registered by the student and evaluated during all the semesters up to that
point of time, including the failed courses. The CGPA is rounded off to two
decimals. The ranking of the students in a batch at any intermediate or final stage
is based on CGPA.
II.7 Revaluation of Answer Papers
When the semester results are published, in case any student feels aggrieved,
he/she can request for revaluation of answer scripts of the end semester
examination. For this purpose, the student has to submit a request in the
prescribed form to the Controller of Examination within five working days from the
publication of results through the Department Chair along with the revaluation fee.
The answer paper will be shown to the candidate in the presence of the faculty
who valued the answer script and the concerned Department Chair. After going
through the answer book and the marks awarded, if the candidate desires
revaluation, it will be done by the Chair along with the faculty who valued the
answer paper. When the revaluation is completed, the results will be published and
the revised grade will be awarded to the student. Revaluation will be allowed only
for theory-based courses.
II.8 Award of Degree
In order to be eligible to receive the MCA degree, all candidates must complete a
Research Paper (based upon the Dissertation Research) which can be submitted
to a Scopus-indexed conference/journal.
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There are three levels of passing, as outlined below.
(i) In order to earn the MCA Degree with Distinction, a candidate must:
pass all courses in the first attempt within three years obtaining a CGPA of 8.5 and
above;
OR
pass all courses in the first attempt obtaining a CGPA of 8.5 and above completing
the program within four years (up to one more year) provided officially permitted to
break the programme;
OR
pass all courses in the first attempt obtaining a CGPA of 8.5 and above, and
complete the Dissertation Research work before the end of the seventh semester
(up to one semester extension) provided the extension is officially permitted by the
PGP Chair due to administrative reasons.
Students who do not meet the above criteria for distinction will be considered for
graduation with First Class.
(ii) In order to earn an MCA Degree with First Class, a candidate must:
pass all courses in the first attempt within the specified period of three years
obtaining a CGPA between 7.00 and 8.49;
OR
pass all courses obtaining a CGPA of 7.0 or above, but taking one semester extra
due to failures, etc.;
OR
pass all courses obtaining a CGPA of 7.0 or above, but redoing the Dissertation
Research within one extra semester.
(iii) Students who are not covered under Distinction or First Class and who secure
a CGPA of 5.0 or above will be awarded the MCA Degree without any class or
distinction.
III. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR STUDENTS
III.1 Residence Requirement
MCA Programme is residential, and it is necessary that students stay in the hostel
and abide by the code of conduct expected of all Amrita residential students.
III.2 Discontinuation of Studies
Based on academic, discipline or other reasons of serious nature, a student may
be asked to discontinue from the programme to which he or she was admitted. A
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student may also, for extraneous reasons, withdraw from the course of study for
which he or she admitted. In all such cases, the student will forfeit the fees paid
until the end of academic year concerned but will be issued a Transfer Certificate.
III.3 Authenticity of Documents
During the course of the study in the University, if any information (proof of age,
qualification for admission, etc.) furnished by a student is found to be wilfully
misrepresented or forged, the student will be dismissed from the University. He or
she will forfeit all fees paid up to the end of concerned academic year. The onus of
proof for authenticity of all the certificates rests with the student. If such cases are
detected after completion of the course, the degree conferred by the University will
be withdrawn.
III.4 Malpractice and Plagiarism
Malpractice of any sort in laboratories, assignments and examinations, will be
referred to the Disciplinary Action Committee for suitable punishment.
Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s ideas or work and calling them
one’s own without due attribution (acknowledgment or citation). This is also
academic malpractice and will be treated by the Disciplinary Action Committee.
When writing their Dissertations and Research Papers, students should never
reproduce material verbatim from published conference or journals papers, text
books or other sources such as the web documents. It is important to express in
one’s own words the salient points from related literature rather than copying
verbatim what someone else has written.
III.5 Ragging
Students are seriously cautioned that any act of ragging is a criminal offence,
which may attract punishment including criminal prosecution and/or dismissal from
the University with a mention in the Transfer Certificate to this effect.
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