STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMME OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMME AND ISSUES STUDIES

General Issues

1. The Programme of Undergraduate Studies (PUS) is a 4-year programme and comprises 8 semesters. Once studies have been completed, students receive their degree from the School of History and Archaeology with a specialisation in either History or in Archaeology and History of Art.
2. The academic year begins 1 September and ends 31 August, and is divided into 2 teaching semesters (Winter/Spring). The start and end of each semester is determined by the Deanship of the Faculty of Philosophy and is announced on the School’s website. Teaching duties are independently performed by the professors of the School (or with assistance from members of the laboratory teaching staff [EDIP]) or by laboratory teaching staff appointed by the School’s General Assembly, and are specified as follows: lectures to a large audience, seminars to a limited number of students, project supervision, consultation with students at appointed times (in offices, labs or libraries), participation in excavations, and internships.
3. The in-class teaching period for each semester includes the weeks set by applicable legislation (at least 13 full weeks). The duration of a semester may be extended only in exceptional circumstances to complete the minimum required weekly teaching hours. The extension may not be longer than two weeks and is subject to decision of the Rector, on the recommendation of the Deanship of the Faculty of Philosophy (Greek Law 4009/2011, Article 33(6)). All PUS courses are 3 teaching hours per week. The in-class teaching period is followed by an examination period, the duration of which is a maximum of 3 weeks. A re-sit examination period is held in September of each year, during which all courses of the previous academic year are examined.
4. In accordance with applicable legislation, in order to acquire and retain student status, each student must register through AUTh’s Student Information System at sis.auth.gr, on the dates specified by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. Students are also required to register for the courses they will be taking during the semester. Course registration takes place online when courses begin at the time set by the School Registrar’s Office. Through this process, students acquire and retain their status until they receive their degree. However, it is noted that, in accordance with applicable legislation, the privileges afforded to those with student status are retained provided students have not exceeded the minimum period of attendance (4 years), plus 2 years.
5. Students are entitled to temporarily or permanently withdraw from their studies by submitting a written request to that effect to the School Registrar’s Office for as many semesters as they wish, whether consecutive or otherwise, provided that their withdrawal from the university does not exceed eight (8) semesters, which is the minimum number of semesters required to complete the degree. These semesters are not considered attendance, and therefore do not count towards the maximum permitted attendance. Student status and all its privileges are temporarily suspended during the withdrawal period, unless the interruption can be proven to be for reasons of health or beyond the student’s control, whereby student status is retained. The withdrawal process is initiated by written request submitted by the student to the School Registrar’s Office, accompanied by the required supporting documents.
6. The Chair of the School and the Registrar’s Office are responsible for overseeing the preparation of the course timetable for each semester by a committee appointed by the School’s General Assembly. Courses, syllabi and teaching assignments are approved by the School’s General Assembly on the recommendation of the Departments.
7. The School appoints a Student Advisor who is charged with informing students about the organisation and structure of studies and resolving any study-related problems. Specialised academic guidance is provided to students by individual Student Advisors appointed by each Department. A Support Advisor is also appointed to assist students of sensitive social groups. Department Heads are responsible for seeing that office hours for advisors, counsellors and teaching staff are posted on the School website. There must be at least 4 hours available weekly, scheduled at different times of the day to best serve working students.

Codification and Technical Terms

Specialisations: The degree from the School is offered in two specialisations: a) History or b) Archaeology and History of Art. Students select the specialisation they wish to follow and determine their course of study accordingly.
Modules: Modules are the individual academic branches of the School (e.g. Byzantine Archaeology, History of the Balkan Peninsula, History of Modern Art, and others). Each module is encoded with three letters: the first is a general designation (A=Archaeology, H=History), and the other two indicate the specific branch (e.g. APR=Prehistoric Archaeology, HAN=Ancient Greek History).
Course: Each module is made up of a number of courses. Courses are given three-digit course codes. The first digit indicates the level: course codes beginning with 1 are introductory compulsory courses (C); those beginning with 6 are compulsory courses per module (CM) for one of the two degree modules, including compulsory seminars per module (CMS); those beginning with 5 refer to Thematic Areas of the Reformed Programme of Undergraduate Studies (RPUS), while those beginning with 2, 3 or 4 are optional courses (O).
Compulsory seminar per module (CMS): A special category of courses with a restricted audience, compulsory attendance and mandatory project or paper.
Seminar: A special category of courses with a restricted audience, with or without compulsory attendance. Courses may be designated as Seminars ad hoc, on the recommendation of the Department and decision by the School’s General Assembly when the annual teaching assignments are made.

European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)

ECTS is part of the ΕRASMUS Programme (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) and its aim is to promote the processes of recognition of study among cooperating institutes in Europe. It was first used in the academic year 1992-93, and it enables students to recognize the part of their studies that was realized in universities abroad.

More specifically, ECTS is a system for the transfer of credits among European Universities. This is achieved through the support of transparency in their study programmes and student achievements. ECTS reflects the content, structure, equivalence and correspondence of academic programmes, which are quality criteria for University Institutes participating in the programme and defined by the latter in such a way as to create appropriate conditions for cooperation agreements.

ECTS credits of each course reflect or correspond to the workload (theory, laboratories, seminars, projects, examinations) required from the student for the successful completion of the course. That is, ECTS is based on the total workload of the student and is not limited to course hours.

The basic ECTS principles are as follows:

1. Credits are distributed to courses in such a way as the workload of one academic year corresponds to 60 credits.
2. 60 ECTS credits equal studies of two semesters (30+30) or three quarters (20+20+20).
3. Universities have to organize a full course programme offered to foreign students, including the number of credits corresponding to each course.
4. Before departure of the outgoing student for a foreign country, the home institution will have to sign a “learning agreement” with the host university and the student. The agreement will clearly describe the student’s programme of study abroad and will be accompanied by a Transcript of Records, which will document the academic performance of the student.
5. The host university will provide the student with a Transcript of Records for all courses they attended successfully abroad, which will also record the credits for each course.
6. The home institution will have to recognize the courses and corresponding credits gained by students during their stay at the cooperating foreign institutions, so that these credits replace the credits gained from the home university during an equal period of study.

At the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the ECTS is applied to all schools.

For more information: https://www.auth.gr/en/ects