Laws and General Acts still Applied by the University of Montenegro in Regulating Students Status
To the increasingly frequent questions of media and individuals on the issue of regulating the status of students, we introduce the following to the academic community and the public once again:
The University of Montenegro applies laws and general acts of the University and monitors the application of regulations at organizational units of the University of Montenegro.
In this regard, organizational units of the University of Montenegro (faculties and academies), within their competencies, determined relevant facts related to each student individually and in accordance with the recorded status, before the beginning of a new academic year, on the basis of an insight into the respective records of the completed obligations of each student for the students status at all levels of study and in accordance with the established factual situation, and implemented appropriate procedures and activities for regulating the status of students, in accordance with regulations.
Relevant regulations regarding the regulation of the students status, including master students, of their rights and obligations are: Law on Higher Education (‘’Official Gazette of Montenegro’’, No. 44/14, 47/15, 40/16, 42 / 17, 71/17, 55/18 and 3/19), Statute of the University of Montenegro ("UoM Bulletin", No. 337/15 and 447/18), Rules on Study at Postgraduate Level ("UoM Bulletin, no. 339/15), Decision on Tuition Fees and other Compensations related to student status, administrative and other expenses at the University of Montenegro ("UoM Bulletin", No. 466/19), as well as the Study contract.
Pursuant to provision Article 69, related with Article 118b paragraph 2 and Article 70 of the Law on Higher Education, master students pay a tuition fee, and the amount of the fee is determined by the institution's steering body.
Article 104 paragraph 1 item 1 and 2 of the Law on Higher Education stipulates that the student shall respect the regime of study and duly complete the student's obligations, as well as to comply with the general acts issued by the institution, and Article 106 of the same law stipulates the terms for termination of student status.
Pursuant to Article 146 of the Statute of the University of Montenegro, a student may be withdrawn from the University upon personal request or if he / she does not fulfill the obligations assumed by the study contract.
Failure to fulfill obligations referred to the cited article of the Statute represents failure to attend classes throughout the year, failure to enroll in the next year of study, or failure to re-register the backlog, i.e. ECTS credits, from the previous year of study, within the prescribed period, without giving him/her the rights and obligations established by Article 145 of the Statute.
Article 145 of the Statute defines terms for exercising the right to stand still student status, as well as the rights and obligations of a student and the procedure for exercising that right. During the idle the student status, all rights and obligations, including financial obligations, are dormant.
Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 2, the Rules on Postgraduate Studies at the University are organized and implemented in accordance with the rules of study based on the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
In accordance with ECTS rules, the scope of the study program amounts to 60 ECTS credits in one academic year, or 30 ECTS credits in one semester (Article 9 of the Rules on Postgraduate Study).
Pursuant to Article 10 of the Rules of Study at Postgraduate Level, the specialist study program is organized after the completion of undergraduate studies lastinf one year (two semesters), or the scope of specialist studies amounts to 60 ECTS credits.
Paragraph 2 of the same article defines that postgraduate studies for obtaining the academic title of Master of Science or Master of Arts, are organized after completion of undergraduate studies or specialist studies. The scope of the master program is 120 ECTS credits.
The first semester of master studies implies exams, while the second semester is devoted to the application and defense of the Master paper. This means that the load of 30 ECTS credits relates to the activities of drafting and defending the Master paper. Therefore, a precise deadline for defending the master thesis is defined, which is until the beginning of the next academic year for master studies.
The deadlines defined in this way must also be respected in terms of regulating the status of student when enrolling the academic year, or registering the subjects that the student wants to attend and take in the next academic year. In this regard, a student may apply to take subjects (courses) which he / she did not take in the previous semesters, as well as subjects (courses) from the next academic year for which he / she fulfilled the conditions stipulated by the rules of the study program. This implies applying for ECTS credits, i.e. ECTS credits related to the application, draft and defense of the master thesis.
As the Decision on Tuition Fees and Other Compensations related to student status, administrative and other costs at the University of Montenegro defines the tuition fee, a student is obliged to pay tuition fee within the period of the academic year. In case of non-fulfillment of the defined obligations, the student is obliged to regulate his/her status at the beginning of the year, which defines his/her rights and obligations, as well as to do the aforementioned payment.
Failure to fulfill these obligations on the basis of the stated provisions of the regulations causes the termination of the student status at the University of Montenegro.
At the beginning of the academic year, faculties and academies, as the organizational units of the University of Montenegro, regulate the status of students in one of the ways prescribed by the law, the Statute and the general acts of the University (standstill, enrollment, withdrawal). The status of students is regulated in accordance with the records of each student.
Above stated regulations and reasons do not state that the University of Montenegro invited students of the University to pay an additional EUR 1,000 for regulating their statues, but faculties and academies, as organizational units of the University of Montenegro, invited all students to regulate their status, as they have to fulfill their obligations in accordance with the above provisions of the Law, the general acts of the University and the study contract. These amounts are different for the faculties and depend on the application of the remaining ECTS credits, i.e. the ECTS credits related to the application, drafting and defense of the master thesis, for each student individually, or on the amount of these ECTS, which students are obliged to pay, because it refers to self-financing students. The number and credit value for each subject (course) and the specialist / master thesis expressed in ECTS credits is determined by the curriculum for the study program, which is accredited (Article 11 paragraph 1 item 3 and Article 12 paragraph 1 item 3 of the Rules on Studies at Postgraduate Level).
This is supported by the fact that the amount of the tuition fees for postgraduate specialist and master studies of the University of Montenegro is different at organizational units and ranges from 500 euros, 750 euros, 850 euros, 900 euros to 1000 euros per semester for the academic year 2019/2020, as determined by the Steering Committee of the University of Montenegro, upon the proposal of organizational units ("UoM Bulletin", No. 466/19)
A self-financing student who fail to pay financial dues i.e. does not fulfill his/her duties, he/she will be expulsed from the organizational unit of the University of Montenegro, in accordance with the above stated provisions of regulations.
We emphasize that, pursuant to Article 103 paragraph 1 item 3 of the Law on Higher Education, students have the right to appeal in case of violation of their right established by the act of the institution, and Article 20 paragraph 3 item 5 of the Rules on Postgraduate Studies stipulates the competence of the Postgraduate Studies Commission at the organizational unit of the University of Montenegro for deciding upon appeal.
Students should exercise their rights but also fulfill the obligations arising from the aforementioned regulations and study contracts for a self-financing student. If they believe that their rights on the basis of study have been violated individually, they have the right to submit individual complaints to faculty, or organizational unit where they study, in order to determine whether their right has been violated.
Related news:
Announcements:
https://antenam.net/drustvo/136226-studenti-magistarskih-ce-ipak-platiti-dodatni-semestar
https://portalanalitika.me/clanak/348293/studenti-magistarskih-ce-ipak-platiti-dodatni-semestar