Regulations regarding programs and exams

This document includes the principal legal clauses and various regulations adopted by the University, applicable to both current and future students.

It will help them familiarize themselves with the institutional site by redirecting them directly to the specific set-up procedures. 

Reminder, The University is subject to the March 31, 2004 decree of the French-speaking Community of Belgium, defining higher education, encouraging its integration into the sphere of higher education in Europe and stipulating how universities are to be refinanced. This decree, along with the university legislation and the government's executory orders, may be consulted on the Gallilex website created by the French-speaking Community of Belgium.

Admission - Registration -  Student regulations - PhD student regulations

I. Admission and registration in programs leading to an academic degree 

• Article 1
  A student may participate in a program leading to an academic degree only if s(he) is officially registered in said program for the academic year in question.
• Article 2
  Registration as an official student is subject to the legal terms and complementary requirements as defined by the academic authorities of the program of study concerned.
• Article 3
  In accordance with Article 156 of the decree, students registering for the first time at the University must provide a medical certificate by November 30 at the latest.
• Article 4
  Students who wish to be admitted into an ongoing bachelor's program or into a master's or doctoral program and who do not have automatic entry to such program on the basis of a legal or regulatory provision must submit an admission application.
  
  Students from countries outside the European Union must also submit an admission application to be eligible for admission into the first year of a bachelor's program.
• Article 5
  Practical details concerning admission (entrance requirements, transition programs, international students, etc.) may be consulted on the institutional website.
• Article 6
  The University organizes a general entrance exam which provides entry into all bachelor's programs, with the exception of the engineering science program (see paragraph 2). Exam regulations
  
  Entry into the first year of the engineering science program is subject to the prospective student's passing a special entrance examination.
  Students who did not complete either secondary school or a post-secondary program in an institution where French was the language of instruction  (there are certain exemptions) must pass an exam demonstrating their command of the French language. Moreover, students who do not hold a degree delivered by an institution of the French-speaking Community of Belgium may only take the exams leading to an education-oriented master's degree or to the "agrégation" (upper secondary school teaching qualification) if they have first passed an exam demonstrating their command of the French language (for the purpose of teaching),  the terms of which are defined by the decree of July 6, 2007.
• Article 7
  Admission applications may be submitted from November 1 on for registration in the following academic year.
  
  Applications will be processed only if they have been submitted using the designated form. They must be complete  and reach the University :
  - by August 31 at the latest for registration in the next academic year for students from outside the European Union residing in Belgium and for students from European Union countries- form
  - by April 30 at the latest for registration in the next academic year for students from outside the European Union not residing in Belgium- form
         
  Students are notified of the admission committee's decision by mail.
• Article 8
  Applications from students from outside the European Union wishing to enter the first year of a bachelor's program are entrusted by the academic authorities to the Teaching and Student Administration. [1] The Administration's decision is based on a number of parameters such as the student's graduating average, the length of time between secondary school graduation and the date when the application is received, admissibility to university studies in the country of origin and, if available, transcripts from the home university as well as a motivation statement and his/her age.
  
  Minimal conditions for admission may be consulted on the website.
  
  A student whose application is rejected has 30 days to appeal the decision by registered mail to the Minister of the French-speaking Community of Belgium responsible for higher education.
• Article 9
  In accordance with Article 68 §4  of the decree of March 31  , 2004, applications for admission which fall within the scope of Article 4§1 are examined by a committee composed of the president, the secretary of the jury concerned, the dean and the director of education and training. [2] The committee may decide to admit the candidate, refuse his/her application or require him/her to enrol in a particular program. The committee is to provide justification for its decision.
• Article 10
  As per articles 53, 60 and 61 of the decree of March 31, 2004, admission committees, also have the authority to assign a value to knowledge and competence a student may have acquired through personal or professional experience.
  
  To be admitted into programs at the master's level, this experience must amount to at least five years  and may not include any years spent in higher education programs which the student has failed.
• Article 11
  All admission committee decisions  must be justified and students are to be notified by the Rector or the Teaching and Student Administration officer [3] designated for this purpose.
• Article 12
  §1. The 1st vice-rector deals with appeals of Students contesting the legality of decisions made in accordance with Articles 9 and 10. The files must be sent to the academic authorities to the Teaching and Student Administration [4] which is responsible for instructing in views of exams by the 1st vice-rector.
  
  §2. Appeals must be postmarked by the student by registered mail 30 days at the latest from the date of the notification of the decision.
  
• Article 13
  Any fraud observed in the filing of an admission application is considered a fraudulent attempt to register. The applicant may be forbidden to apply for admission to any program offered by any institution of higher education for the following five academic years.
• Article 14
  Students may register as early as the end of June preceding the academic year in question. See the website for the exact dates.
  
  Students who register after the deadline are subject to an authorization of late registration. Registrations after November 30 will not be accepted, except for students entering their first year of a PhD program.
• Article 15
  Registration terms and procedures (registration dates, tuition fees, supporting documents, etc.) may be found on the website's Registration pages.
• Article 16
  Students registering for the first time at the University of Liège must go to the registration office in person.
• Article 17
  All students who are officially registered are automatically registered for the first session of exams.
  
  Students failing first-session exams must re-register for the second session .
  
  Students taking second-session exams must pay their exam fees before the beginning of the session.  The amount of these fees is determined in accordance with Article 39 of the law on financing.
• Article 18
  In accordance with Article 47 of the decree of March 31, 2004, "students committing fraud at  registration immediately lose their status of officially registered student along with all the rights associated with this status as well as any credits they may have obtained during the academic year in question. The institution has the right to retain the tuition fees paid for the year concerned.  Students at fault may be forbidden to apply for admission to any program offered by any institution of higher education for the following five academic years".
• Article 19
  Students may register in several programs in the same academic year with the prior consent of the faculties concerned. Registration in more than three programs, however,  must be authorized by the Rector. Students may not register for two years of study in the same program concurrently.
  

• Article 20
  Applications of students who do not meet the entrance requirements are not admissible.
  
  The academic authorities have the right to refuse admission to a student if :
  - the student is not "subsidizable" in accordance with Article 27 § 4 or §7 (with the exception of 10°) of the law of July
    27, 1971 on the financing of universities 1971 sur le financement des universités
  - the student has been excluded from an institution of higher learning within the previous five academic years for a serious offence
  
  Students wishing to re-register in a program they have already failed twice must introduce a special exemption request. If this request is rejected, students may appeal the decision to the Minister of the French-speaking Community of Belgium within 30 days by registered mail.  The Minister has the right to invalidate the refusal within 30 days.

• Article 21
  Students have until November 30 of any given academic year to cancel their registration for that year. Tuition fees will be reimbursed in their entirety (minus administrative costs).  Fees will not be reimbursed should students leave a program after that date, and the year will appear on their academic record.
  
  Cancellation must be submitted in writing at the Registrar's office by the student him/herself, and will not be accepted by telephone or fax.
• Article 22
  Students may register in a different program up until November 30 with the consent of the faculty offering the program in which they wish to enrol.

II. Spreading out a year of study

• Article 23
  Students may ask to spread out the courses of a year  of study over a maximum of two years on the terms and conditions determined by the faculty (Article 44 of the general exam regulations). However, such requests are not admissible after November 15.
• Article 24
  The previous paragraph notwithstanding, students enrolled for the first time in a post-secondary institution have until after the January session to choose whether they wish to spread out the courses of the first year of their bachelor's program over two academic years (Article 45 of the exam regulations).
• Article 25
  Students' grades are examined by the faculty committee concerned after the completion of the first of the two years. They are authorized to continue on the condition that they pass all the exams for the courses in their reduced program.  In this case, they will not be considered as repeating students.

III. Enrolment in courses figuring in a subsequent year of a program

• Article 26
  Students repeating a year of study may be authorized, on the terms and conditions determined by the faculty, to enrol in "supplementary" courses which are normally part of the program of the following year.

IV. Academic calendar - Evaluation - the Jury - the Deliberation.

• Article 27
  The general exam regulations approved by the Board of Directors on May 17, 2006 are an integral part of the present regulations.
  
  They deal with the following :

          - Exam periods and sessions (Art. 2 to 5)
          - Students admitted to programs and exams (Art. 6)
          - Types and procedures of tests and exams (Art. 7 à 13)
          - Examiners (Art. 14 à 16)
          - Evaluations (Art. 17 et 18)
          - Juries (Art. 19 à 33)
          - Marks carried forward and credits (Art. 34 à 39)
          - Announcement and communication of results (Art. 40 à 43)
          - Spreading out an academic year (Art. 44 à 47)
          - Appeals open to students (Art. 49 à 51)

• Article 28
  Included in the programs of study are :

          - the academic calendar specifying the four-month periods, the exam periods, etc.
          - the names of the presidents and secretaries of the juries for each year and each  level of study (i.e. bachelor's,
            master's and doctoral).

V. Specific regulations pertaining to first-year exams in the bachelor's program in medicine or dental sciences.

VI. Programs with restricted access leading to a professional degree

• Article 30
  Studies in medicine, dental sciences, physiotherapy, pharmacy and the notariat are subject to regulations, restrictions based on consent, or other restrictions by the institution. Students will receive precise information upon registering.

VII. Doctorate and doctoral studies

• Article31
  The general regulations concerning the preparation of a Ph.D thesis have been approved by the Wallonia-Europe Academy and are an integral part of the present regulations.

VIII. Granting of  equivalence

• Article 32
  Students who have completed part or all of their studies  at a university abroad and sollicit the equivalence of their degree for professional purposes must introduce a request for equivalence. However, requests for exact equivalence to a basic master's degree may only be delivered by the Ministry.
• Article 33
  Requests for equivalence are ruled on by admission commissions, in accordance with Article 8 of the present regulations. Decisions must be justified and the student shall be notified by the Rector or the Teaching and Student Administration officer designated for this purpose.
• Article 34
  When the commission grants partial equivalence, the student only obtains the right to be authorized to enter the following year of the program for which s/he requested an equivalence.  Practically speaking, this means that the minimum duration of the studies is reduced. An admissions procedure must then take place.

IX. The Jury of the French-speaking Community of Belgium

• Article 35
  University access under the authority of the Jury of the French-speaking Community of Belgium is reserved for students for whom it is objectively impossible to attend courses on a regular basis; it is not applicable to complementary master's and doctoral studies.
• Article 36
  Students registered with the Jury of the French-speaking Community of Belgium do not have the status of official students.
• Article 37
  Registration procedures (forms, dates, tuition fees, etc.) may be consulted on the institutional website or may be obtained at the admissions office.  The registration fee covers only one session.
• Article 38
  The organization and mode of operation of the university-level Juries of the French-speaking Community of Belgium are regulated by the French-speaking Community  government decree of July 5, 2005.
• Article 39
  The exam regulations apply to the students registered with the Jury of the French-speaking Community, subject to provisions not compatible with their particular circumstances.

X. Degrees

• Article 40
  §1. Degrees and academic qualifications are delivered by juries set up by the academic authorities or by the Jury in charge of university education in the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
  
  §2. They may only be delivered to students who, having met the conditions of admission to university studies, have been registered as official students for the number of academic years corresponding to the minimum duration of the program of study, and who have obtained the minimum number of credits in the program in which they were enrolled.  The conferring of a degree is subject to the student's providing the student affairs office of the faculty with the original of their admission documents (diploma or degree, equivalence, etc.)
  
  §3. The degrees conform to the format and content determined by the government.
• Article 41
  §1. Diplomas are delivered within three months from the date when the results are officially announced. They may be picked up at the Qualifications Unit on satisfaction of certain conditions.
  
  §2. The University does not deliver duplicates under any circumstances.
  
  §3. Students who wish to have certified copies of their degrees are to go to  the Qualifications Unit with the original degree and  the number of copies they want certified.
• Article 42
  §1. Degrees are accompanied by an additional document listing the courses taken by the student.
  
  §2. This companion document is signed by the secretary of the Jury.
  
  §3. The companion document complies with the format and content decided upon by the government.
• Article 43
  Holders of a bachelor's degree (pre-Bologna) may obtain a certificate of level equivalence from the Qualifications Unit.

XI. Computer network and e-mail addresses

• Article 44
  §1. Every officially registered student will receive his/her own ULg e-mail address  (@student.ulg.ac.be).
  
  §2. Upon activation of this address, all official university electronic communications are sent exclusively to the student's electronic mailbox.
• Article 45
  The University of Liège offers every officially registered student free access to its infrastructure network and thereby, to the Internet, as long as regulations as to their use are respected (see terms and code of practice on the website).

XII. Privacy protection

• Article 46
  §1. Information provided by a student for admission and registration purposes is entered in the student's data file and used in ULg data processing for various administrative and academic procedures as well as for mail distribution on Intranet in accordance with the law of December 8, 1992 regarding privacy protection.
  §2. This information may be communicated to third parties(administrations, publishers, other educational institutions, potential employers, etc.) only insofar as it might further a students' academic advancement or professional career.

XIII. Admission and registration in complementary studies and continuing education programs -
        Isolated courses - Free auditor

• Article 47
  The Wallonia-Europe Academy organizes complementary studies and continuing education programs, some of which may lead to certification and credit acquisition.A list of these programs as well as practical details pertaining to them (prospective students, registration fees, timetables, credits, etc.) is available on the website continuing education.
• Article 48
  The University of Liège offers students the possibility of taking up to three isolated courses as a free student in any faculty with the permission of the faculty and the professor responsible for the course. Students passing these courses will receive a certificate.
• Article 49
  Registering as an auditor allows students to attend certain courses without taking exams. There are no prerequisites.  Attendance certificates are not delivered.