ACADEMIC RULES AND REGULATIONS 1. TITLE OF THE

ACADEMIC RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. TITLE OF THE COURSE

Master of Arts [Fashion Management], abbreviated to MA [Fashion Management].

2. COURSE INFORMATION

2.1 Duration of the Course : MA (Fashion Management) - 2 Years (4 Semesters)

The Course will be conducted over a period of two years, with each year completed through two semesters.

Hence, the course will have a total of four semesters and the student has to obtain full credits of all the four

semesters to be eligible for the award of the degree. The maximum duration for a student for complying with

the Degree requirement is TWICE the normal duration of the academic program from the date of first

registration for his/her first semester. Maximum Permissible duration of MA (Fashion Management) course is

4 years.

Each semester’s program is made up of about 18 weeks of classes and related academic activities, followed

by about two weeks of end-semester examinations in the subjects of the current semesters. Four weeks after

declaration of the results, make-up/supplementary examinations will be conducted in the same subjects.

2.2 Eligibility

Under graduation in any stream with aggregate of 50% marks.

Undergraduate students other than fashion streams admitted to the program would be required to undergo a

bridge course in fashion concepts offered at FoA. These subjects offered are considered as audit subjects.

The subjects offered would be at the discretion of the university.

3. EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

3.1 Program of Studies and Educational Process

Manipal University seeks to provide education which is globally accepted. In all programs of study, emphasis

is placed on – theoretical foundation, practical learning and professional exposure. This is strengthened by

the use of modern communication technology to facilitate imparting of quality education to students.

3.2 Outline of In-Semester Evaluation

The students shall be informed about the procedures followed for in-semester assessment for every subject

on the first day of the classes for that particular subject. The conduct of assignments and tests will be done

as per the academic calendar.

3.2.1 Evaluation of Theory subjects

The student performance in each Theory subject is evaluated out of a maximum of 100 marks out of which

50 marks are for in-semester assessment and 50 marks for end-semester examination. A minimum of 40%

marks is required in in-semester assessment to be eligible to appear for end-semester examination. The

in-semester assessment in theory subjects is based on interactive sessional, tests, assignments, quizzes,

presentations, seminars, etc.

For some theory subjects like socio-cultural history of fashion, textile concepts, contemporary art etc., which

includes the practical hours; the in-semester assessment is conducted for 60 marks and the end-semester

examination is conducted for 40 marks.

If a students has less than 40% in in-semester assessment he/she should re-register for them during

subsequent corresponding semesters by paying the prescribed fees, and fulfil all in-semester assessment

requirements.

3.2.2 Evaluation of Studio subjects

3.2.2.1 Evaluation of Studio subjects with In-Semester assessment only

The student performance in Digital Designing, Fashion Styling, and Advanced Digital Pattern Making is

evaluated out of a maximum of 100 marks by the concerned teachers. A minimum of 40% marks is

essential to pass the subject. The student will earn full credits in the subject only when he/ she gets the

minimum passing marks in the In-Semester evaluation for the respective subject. There will be no end-

semester examination. The in-semester assessment of a student is based on his/her classwork, tests,

assignments, quizzes, presentations, seminars, viva-voce, etc.

Students with ‘F’ grade in any subject with only in-semester assessment should re-register for them during

subsequent corresponding semesters whenever possible by paying the prescribed fees, attend regular

classes, maintain minimum attendance requirements, and submit assignments for in-semester

evaluation.

3.2.2.2 Evaluation of Studio Subjects

The student performance in Fashion Design – Women’s Wear, Fashion Design – Men’s and Children’s

Wear is evaluated out of a maximum of 100 marks out of which 50 marks are for in-semester assessment

and 50 marks for end-semester examination (viva-voce).

A minimum of 40% marks is required in in-semester assessment to be eligible to appear for end-semester

examination. If a student has less than 40% marks in in-semester assessment, he/she has to appear for

the make-up course to be held immediately after the announcement of in-semester marks. The make-up

course will be held for minimum of 6 / 8 weeks and will be conducted under the supervision of the

respective Studio faculty. Student will have to improve and resubmit the regular internal coursework for

re-assessment. Students who secure minimum 40% marks in the re-assessment will be eligible to appear

for make-up examination.

The End-semester examination (viva-voce) will be conducted by a jury consisting of minimum one internal

examiner and one external examiner who will be an experienced professional in the related field. The

Viva-Voce will be conducted on the in-semester coursework.

3.2.2.3 Evaluation of Internship

The In-semester evaluation done by internal/external examiners will be out of 50 marks. The End-

semester viva-voce and evaluation will be done by a jury consisting of one external examiner,

Director/Co-ordinator and Guide. The End-semester evaluation will be out of 50 marks, with an average

of marks obtained from all the three jury members with all the three jury members marking the student

out of 100 marks each. The grade awarded to the student will be on the basis of the total marks obtained

by him/her out of 100.

If a student has not complied with the number of working hours as given in the practical manual/guide,

he/she has to re-register to repeat the internship during the subsequent corresponding semester.

If a student has less than 40% marks in in-semester assessment, he/she has to appear for the make-up

course to be held immediately after the announcement of in-semester marks. The make-up course will

be held for minimum of 6 / 8 weeks and will be conducted under the supervision of the respective Guide.

Student will have to improve and resubmit the report for re-assessment. Students who secure minimum

40% marks in the re-assessment will be eligible to appear for make-up examination. If a student fails (‘F’

grade) in Internship, he/she can appear for make-up and/or subsequent end-semester examinations.

3.3 End-Semester Examination & Make-up (Supplementary) Examination

3.3.1 The examinations at the end of a particular semester will be conducted only in the subjects of the

current semester. That is, at the end of the odd semester, examinations of only odd semester

subjects will be conducted. Similarly at the end of the even semester, examinations of only even

semester subjects will be conducted.

3.3.2 Make-up examinations will be held after four weeks of announcement of results of the regular

examinations, to provide opportunity to re-appear in examinations, to the students who fail to secure

‘E’ or better grades in their regular attempt and also for those who missed regular examination due

to valid reasons.

3.3.3 The cut-off marks for grades in the make-up examination will be the same as those in the regular

end-semester examination. However, the maximum grade that will be awarded in subsequent

examinations to those students who were once awarded ‘F’ grade in any subject will be ‘C’. Students

who are awarded ‘I’ grade (incomplete), however, are eligible for whatever grade they achieve in

subsequent examination. In all such cases prior approval of the Director is necessary.

3.3.4 A minimum of 40% in the End-Semester examination for the relevant subjects is essential to pass

the subject.

3.3.5 A student will earn full credits in any subject only when he gets the minimum passing marks in both

In-Semester and End-Semester assessments for the subject.

3.3.6 Valuation and Personal Script Seeing

Each script of the End-Semester examination will be independently valued by two examiners and the average

of the two marks awarded is taken as the final marks. If the difference in marks between the two valuations is

more than 15%, then the script will be valued by a third examiner. The average of the marks assigned by the

third examiner and the nearest mark assigned by the first or second examiner with the marks of the third

examiner is taken as the final marks. There is no provision for revaluation of the scripts. However there is a

provision of personal seeing of the script.

3.4 Promotion to Next Academic Year

Promotion of a student to the next academic year is subject to the minimum academic performance

requirements as outlined in 3.5.1.

3.4.1 A student earns the credits assigned to a subject, when he/she obtains an E or higher grade in that

subject. To be eligible for promotion to the second year, a student of MA (Fashion Management)

should have earned a minimum of 25 credits at the end of first year.

3.4.2 A student who is not eligible for promotion from one academic year to the next academic year for not

earning the prescribed minimum number of credits, will be required to discontinue the academic

program temporarily. He/she can re-join the academic program after fulfilling the academic

performance requirements as in 3.5.1.

3.4.3 A student who discontinues the academic program for any reason and re-joins the program at a later

date, shall be governed by the rules, regulations, courses of study and syllabi in force at the time of

his/her re-joining the program. He/ she will have to complete his pending coursework of his previous

rules, regulations, courses of study and syllabi and transfer into the applicable rules, regulations,

courses of study and syllabi.

3.4.4 Credit Requirement for Promotion to next Academic Year (Academic Performance

Requirements) for MA (Fashion Management) is as follows :

Promotion to higher academic year

Credits

year to 2

year

Total Credit requirement for the award of degree MA (Fashion Management) is 60.

3.5 Attendance Requirements

3.5.1 Under the relative grading system a student must maintain an attendance record of at least 75%

individually in all subjects. Attendance of lectures/studios, tutorials and sessionals/tests count

towards the calculation of attendance percentage.

3.5.2 Without the minimum attendance, students are not eligible to write the End-Semester examination

in that subject and for any grading of In-Semester and End-Semester. Any coursework of the subject

undergone in that semester will be rendered null and void.

3.5.3 In case of detention due to less attendance, the student will have to re-register for the particular

course at a later time along with the regular semester for the course and undergo the regular

coursework of the particular subject as conducted at that time. This may involve extension of the

total course duration and graduation date.

3.6 Re - registration

A student will be permitted to re – register for a subject by paying the prescribed fees under two categories –

attendance shortage and improvement of internals.

3.6.1 Attendance Shortage

If a student is not eligible to appear in the End-Semester examination for not fulfilling minimum

attendance requirements in any subject, he/she has to fulfil minimum attendance requirements by

re-registering for those subjects during subsequent corresponding semester by paying the

prescribed fees, provided he/she is free from any regular classes of his/her current semester. The

student has to attend regular classes, maintain minimum attendance requirements, submit

assignments and appear for any tests for the subject to be eligible for In-Semester evaluation.

3.6.2 Improvement of Internals for Studio Subjects

Students are permitted to re-register to repeat the coursework and improve the internal marks for the

various Studio subjects during subsequent corresponding semesters by paying the prescribed fees,

whenever possible and as per the following conditions. They have to attend regular classes, maintain

minimum attendance requirements, submit assignments and appear for any tests/ viva-voce for the

subject to be eligible for In-Semester evaluation.

i. ‘F’ grade in any Studio subject with only In-Semester assessment.

ii. Less than 40% marks in In-Semester assessment even after the improvement coursework.

iii. ‘F’ grade for any Studio subject in the Make-up examination.

3.6.3 Improvement of Internals for Theory Subjects

Students can re-register in one or more Theory subjects of the earlier semester(s) in which they have

‘F’ grade/s for improvement of internals by paying the prescribed fees in the corresponding semester

for the respective subjects within the maximum permissible duration of MA (Fashion Management)

course.

Students re-registered for theory subjects need to submit assignments and appear for sessionals/

tests for improvement of internals and appear for End-Semester examination. However, there is no

minimum attendance requirement for the same.

3.7 Credit Based System

3.7.1 The educational process at Department of Design, Faculty of Architecture uses a Credit Based

System wherein the course content is expressed in number of credits. The present system is known

as the ‘Revised Credit System’.

3.7.2 The MA (Fashion Management) program has a total of 75 credits.

3.7.3 Each subject is expressed in terms of a certain number of credits. The number of credits assigned

to a subject depends on the number of contact hours per week. For lectures/studios and tutorials

the number of credits is equal to the number of contact hours per week. However, a student will be

required to carry out assignments and self-studies which may exceed the actual number of contact

hours defined for a subject.

3.7.4 A student is deemed to have successfully completed a particular semester’s program of study when

he/she earns all the credits of that semester, i.e., he/she has no F and/or I grade in any subject of

that semester.

3.7.5 When a student earns the specified number of credits in each of the semester making up the

course, he/she is deemed to have completed the requirements for graduation. This also means, a

student should have an E grade or better in every subject of every semester, in order to be eligible

to receive the degree.

3.8 Grading Procedures

For each subject, in-semester assessment and end-semester examination (wherever applicable) together

contribute to the final grade awarded for the subject.

3.8.1 Relative Grading

Marks obtained in the in-semester assessment and end-semester examination are added together and a 10-

point grading system will be used to award the student with an overall letter grade for the subject.

3.8.2 Letter Grading System

Final evaluation of a subject is carried out on a TEN POINT grading system. Grades and Grade Points are as

shown below:

Grade

A+

F (Fail)

Grade Points

A student who earns a minimum of 5 grade points (E grade) in a subject is declared to have

successfully completed the subject, and is deemed to have earned the credits assigned to that

subject. A subject successfully completed cannot be repeated.

Students who fail to appear for end-semester examination will be awarded an ‘F’ grade on the grade

sheet. Students who fail to appear for end semester examinations due to genuine reasons are eligible

for ‘I’ (incomplete) grade (prior approval of the Director is necessary before examination). Students

with ‘I’ grade/s should register for make-up examination by paying the prescribed fees.

3.8.3 Grade Point Average (GPA) & Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)

Each subject grade is converted into a specific number of points associated with the grade as in

3.7.2. These points are weighted with the number of credits assigned to a subject. The Grade Point

Average (GPA) is the weighted average of Grade Points awarded to a student. The grade point

average for each semester will be calculated only for those students who have passed all the

subjects of that semester. The cumulative grade point average (CGPA) will be the weighted average

of GPAs of all semesters at the completion of the course.

3.9 Withholding of Results

Results will be withheld when a student has not paid his/her dues or when there is a case of indiscipline

pending against him/her.

3.10 Requirements for Graduation

A student is deemed to have completed the requirements for graduation if he/ she has:

i. Fulfilled all minimum requirements of courses of study and earned the number of credits

specified in the prescribed syllabus.

ii. Paid all prescribed dues such as tution fees, hostel fees, etc, to the Institute/ University.

iii. Cleared all other applicable dues such as CAD Lab fees, mess fees, library books or dues,

etc, of the Institute/ University.

iv. Has no case of indiscipline or penalty pending against him/her.

3.11 Class Committees

3.11.1 Constitution of the Class Committees

A class committee for each semester of the MA (Fashion Management) shall be constituted by the Director

comprising of -

Subject Teachers: Teachers of all subjects of study in the given semester.

Class Committee Chairperson: A senior teacher from the given semester will be the Class committee

chairperson who will chair the class committee.

3.11.2 Responsibilities of the Class Committee

The responsibilities of the members of a class committee for each semester of MA (Fashion Management)

shall be as follows:

3.11.2.1 Subject Teachers

Progressive marks and attendance of the students shall be published once in a fortnight and officially

inform the students and the class committee chairperson. Sessional/test marks and attendance shall be

displayed within a week of conduct of the same.

To counsel all the students once a month, who have less than 75% attendance and/or less than 40%

marks (progressive and sessionals) and officially inform the same to the class committee chairperson.

Deviation from the course plan if required by a subject teacher should be discussed and officially

communicated to the class committee chairperson prior to implementation.

Disciplinary issues, if any, should be officially communicated to the class committee chairperson

immediately.

3.11.2.2 Class Committee Chairperson

i. To officiate class committee meetings as per clause no. 3.11.3

ii. To officially inform the parents of the students who have critically low attendance (below 75%) and/or

marks (below 40%) whenever informed by the subject teachers.

3.11.3 Functions of the Class Committee

The class committee shall meet three times a semester.

The first meeting will be held before the commencement of the semester in which the course plans,

lesson plans, teaching methodologies, assignments, tests and assessment procedures will be

discussed and decided.

The second meeting will be held one week after the first sessionals to meaningfully interact and

express opinions and suggestions to improve the effectiveness of teaching-learning process and

analyze the performance of the students in the tests and progressive assessment.

The third meeting will be held after four weeks of the second class committee meeting to discuss

performance and improvements of the students and/or any other issues.

The class coordinator should send the minutes of the class committee meetings to the Director within

a week of each class committee meeting.

3.12 Subject Categories for MA (Fashion Management)

The subjects conducted in the course are developed as either Studio subjects or Theory subjects. The Studio

subjects involve design, drawing, discussions, debates, research, field studies and extensive progressive

studio based work. The Theory subjects involve lectures, tutorials and classroom learning with assignments

and tests.

3.12.1 Studio Subjects

i. Digital Designing

ii. Fashion Design – Women’s Wear

iii. Fashion Design – Men’s and Children’s Wear

iv. Fashion Styling

v. Advanced Digital Pattern Techniques

vi. Internship

3.11.2 Theory Subjects

i. Fashion Merchandising and Management

ii. Professional Communication Skills

iii. Contemporary Art

iv. Textile Concepts

v. Socio-cultural History of Fashion

vi. Financial Management

vii. Entrepreneurship

viii. Luxury Fashion Management

ix. Human Resource Management

x. Research Methods

xi. Fashion Trends and Forecasting

xii. Global Fashion Marketing

xiii. Brand Management

xiv. Fashion Management and Public Media

xv. Visual Merchandising and Packaging

4. ASSESSMENT OF CONDUCT

4.1 Students have to comply at all times with the Code of Conduct put forth by Manipal University.

4.2 All subject teachers will assess each student in their respective subjects during each semester and submit

the same to the office.

4.3 The student will be awarded an average grade at the end of each semester and at the time of completion

of the course based on the reports submitted by the subject teachers. The final grade for the conduct of the

student will be reflected in the conduct/character certificate.

THESE RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE/ AMENDMENTS FROM TIME TO TIME, AS

AND WHEN NEED ARISES.