Caspian public university academic policy

Forms of training is full-time (day) and distance.

85.	Advisor is a teacher performing the functions of an academic mentor of a student according to an appropriate educational program, assisting in choosing an educational trajectory (forming an individual curriculum) and mastering an educational program during the training period.
86.	Examination period is interim certification period for students in higher educational institutions (HEI).
87.	Elective disciplines are the disciplines, which are part of the university component and the component of choice within the framework of established academic credits and introduced by educational organizations, reflecting the individual training of the student, taking into account the specifics of socio-economic development and the needs of a particular region, established scientific schools.

MAIN ABBREVIATIONS USED

1	ECTS – European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
2	GPA – Grade Point Average
3	AD – Academic department
4	АМ – Academic mobility
5	BD – Basic disciplines
6	UC – University component
7	EEEA – External evaluation of educational achievements
8	SAC – State attestation commission
9	SEC – State examination commission
10	DLT – Distance learning technology
11	UNT – Unified national testing
12	FSA – Final state attestation
13	IET – Individual educational trajectory
14	IC – Individual curriculum
15	EC – Elective component
16	CPU – Caspian Public University
17	CT – Complex testing
18	RC – Reference copy
19	CED – Catalogue of elective disciplines
20	MES RK – Ministry of education and science of the Republic of Kazakhstan
21	SRWS/SRWM/SRWD - Scientific research work of a student/Master’s program/PhD program student
22	GEND – General disciplines
23	CS – Core subjects
24	EP – Educational program
25	RO – Registrar's office
26	PD – Profile disciplines
27	TS – Teaching staff
28	С – Curriculum
29	IWS/IWM/IWD – Independent work of a student/Master’s program student/PhD program student
30	IWSsL/IWMsL/IWDsL - Independent work of a student/ Master’s program student/PhD program student supervised by a lecturer
31	SC – Standard curriculum
32	SCS– Standard course of study
33	SG - Study guide
34	TG – Teaching and guiding
35	EMB – Educational and Methodological Board
36	BS – Board of Studies
37	CSS – Centre of students’ servicing
38	ED – Elective disciplines

1. General provisions

Education at the Caspian Public University (hereinafter referred to as CPU) is carried out in full-time and using distance educational technologies.

The CPU ensures equal access to education for all students, regardless of gender, national, racial, religious and social status. Special preferential training conditions are provided for persons with disabilities.
The content of educational programmes is established by the relevant State general educational standards and implemented through curricula and programmes.
The amount of training burden for students is measured in ECTS credits, mastered during the academic year for each academic discipline as part of theoretical training and additional types of training. In order to obtain the appropriate academic degree, the student must master the necessary number of credits, in accordance with the State general educational standards.
Training period for programs:
• Bachelor program is 4 years and 5 years for creative specialties such as "Architecture" and "Design" (accelerated programs - 3 and 2 years);
• Master's programs: 2 years for scientific and pedagogical specialization; 1 year or 1.5 years for the profile specialization.
• PhD program term of study is 3 years.
The educational process consists of two components:
a) academic classes, independent work of students;
b) transfer of practical knowledge and skills; development of professional
competencies; business experience; experience in innovation.
Curricula are developed in two forms:
1) individual curricula (hereinafter referred as IC);
2) curricula (hereinafter referred to as C).
The curriculum of each undergraduate program contains three blocks of module disciplines: state compulsory, socio-communicative and professional. Each block presents a list of disciplines of a compulsory component and an elective component with an indication of the number of credits. Each discipline is usually studied for one semester, but the curriculum is based on the principle of consistency in the study of disciplines and strict accounting of prerequisites in the study of each discipline.
The implementation of the educational process using distance learning technologies is carried out on the Moodle platform. Before starting the training, we recommend you to familiarize yourself with the main page of the educational portal http://caspidot.kz and to familiarize yourself with the main documents:
• Academic calendar for 2020-2021 academic year; -
• Instruction for students on working with the educational platform;
• List of disciplines stipulated by the educational program for the 2020-2021 academic year;
• Contacts of Distance Educational Center specialists;
Distance learning technology is also implemented with the help of the ZOOM program. It is conducted by the creation of a common conference with students by the teacher for each discipline.
WhatsApp chats and e-mail are the additional means of providing individual consultation and handover.
Curricula for Master's and PhD programs are formed on a module basis and contain three blocks of modules. For the Master’s programs there are compulsory state modules, compulsory professional modules and modules of individual educational trajectories. For the PhD programs there are a compulsory state module, elective modules of professional specialization, modules of individual educational trajectories. Disciplines constituting one module can be studied both simultaneously during one academic semester and sequentially, during one academic year.
The curriculum also contains additional types of training:

• 
  undergraduate programs - professional practice (academic, on-the-job training and pre-graduation practical training) and physical education. The academic year ends with professional practice. The minimum amount of practice for the entire training period is at least 6 credits;
  
• 
  Master's degree programs - research work in the scientific and pedagogical program (experimental research work in the specialized program), including writing a master's thesis (project) and internship; pedagogical and research program in the scientific and pedagogical program (production practice in the specialized direction);
  
• 
  PhD programs - research work of a doctoral student, including the performance of a doctoral thesis, internships; pedagogical and research practices.
  

The academic year consists of academic periods (semesters), which include intermediate knowledge control, final knowledge control (examination session), final assessment (for the final course), practices and vacations.
The academic period (semester) of theoretical study is from 8 to 15 weeks, with the exception of the summer semester. The interim certification period has a duration of at least 2 weeks. Vacations are provided to students after each academic period, while the duration of holidays in the school year is at least 7 weeks.
The summer semester (with the exception of the graduation course) is held for at least 5 weeks.
Training in the summer semester is carried out only on a paid basis. The summer semester provides an opportunity for students to eliminate academic backlog or differences in curricula, make adjustments to their individual plan through timely study of prerequisites, increase their Grade Point Average (GPA), and also to meet additional learning needs. In order to master the required credits during the summer semester, the student can register for no more than 25 ESTC credits (15 credits) no later than one week before the start of the summer semester.
The duration and terms of each academic year, the distribution of educational work by type of activity are indicated in the academic calendar, which is approved by the University’s Board of Studies and is communicated to students and teachers no later than one month before the beginning of the academic year, by posting on the official website of the University.
The lesson schedule is formed on the basis of students’ registration for modules (disciplines). Academic cohorts and groups are formed on the principle of a sufficient number of students who have enrolled in this discipline and to this teacher, and achieving a sufficient level of their profitability.
The representation of the academic cohort and group in the CPU is:

• 
  lectures – 50 -100 people;
  
• 
  practical (seminar) classes are carried out at educational levels (undergraduate 10-31 people, master's program - 5-15 people, PhD program - up to 3 people);
  
• 
  laboratory classes, studio classes - up to 16 people;
  
• 
  language classes - 18-20 people.
  

Issues and processes not included in this document are resolved within the framework of coordination taking into account the interests of students and the university.
* The representation of educational cohorts and groups requires the observance of a sanitary regime and a social distance of 2 meters in the context of restrictive measures related to the spread of coronavirus infection.

2.