UC Graduate Studies Catalog 2019-2023

Section VI

General Application and Admission Procedures

 

Enquiries about this and related matters can be sent to admissions@uc.edu.kh.

The following gives general information. Details are provided in the subsequent sections on additional specific requirements regarding admission to a Master’s degree program (see Section VIII.2) or a Doctoral program (see Section IX.2).

1. Application Procedures

Application forms may be obtained online at http://www.uc.edu.kh/ or from The University of Cambodia’s Office of Admissions, Information and Registration. Completed application forms in hard-copy should be submitted to the Office of Admissions, Information and Registration.

In addition, prospective students should include the following in their submission:

                    i.      an up-to-date copy of their curriculum vitae;

                  ii.      two copies of all relevant academic certificates, including the High School Diploma or equivalent, each certified by the Municipality of Phnom Penh or other recognized authority;

                iii.      two copies of study records (transcripts) for these, each certified by the Municipality of Phnom Penh, another recognized authority or the higher education institution of origin;

                iv.      four passport photos (glasses should be removed);

                  v.      an acceptable certificate of English language or any other international language appropriate to the requirements of the student’s proposed major (not necessary if one or more previous degrees were taught through the medium of English or another such language);

                vi.      acceptable evidence of basic information technology skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and internet searching)

              vii.      any other relevant academic and other documents.

For educational qualifications obtained abroad, candidates must get a Certificate of Equivalence from the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia.

The Importance of Filing Complete, Accurate, and Authentic Application Documents By University policy, all applicants for admission are required to list all current and previous enrollments in any postsecondary institution on the application form. Applicants for admission who fail to inform The University of Cambodia of such enrollment at the time of application or who submit, or have had submitted on their behalf, any required information or document that is inaccurate, incorrect or fraudulent, or that has been altered without proper authorization, may be denied admission to the university. If the omissions and/or alterations are discovered after the student is enrolled, the student’s admission may be rescinded and enrollment canceled. Credits earned at any unreported school or college are not accepted in transfer. The student or prospective student may also be referred to The University of Cambodia Disciplinary Committee for possible further action.

2. Scholarship Opportunities

To better facilitate achieving each of the University’s mottoes (‘In Pursuit of Knowledge and Wisdom’ and ‘Building Tomorrow’s Leaders’) and our active involvement in helping Cambodia’s socio-economic development and the alleviation of poverty, the University offers a number of scholarships to cover some or all of the tuition fees for those who have graduated with a good Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university. These are competitive, based on applicants’ performance in an exam set and tightly regulated by the University.

However, being awarded a Scholarship means that the University has high expectations regarding the performance of the recipients. To justify their not having to pay tuition fees, they must meet higher standards than are set for fee-paying students: they should not be complacent and ‘rest on their laurels’. Thus, apart from complying with all rules and regulations of the University, including respect for its Rules of Civility and Student Code of Conduct (see Section X), successful candidates are expected to set an example to the rest of the class by:

              i.      attending and participating in all their scheduled classes and submitting any assignments on time; and

            ii.      maintaining the minimum GPA expected of all graduate students at their level.

In addition, successful students are required to produce at least two publishable research papers each year, as one condition for the renewal of their awards. To this end, each awardee will be supervised by the College or School of their chosen major, under the guidance of an advisor to help them meet these extra expectations.

Ø  The titles of these should be first discussed with the student’s advisor, together with establishing a time-line for achieving the end-product and thus ensure that the student meets the necessary deadline.

Ø  The fact that they are on merit-based scholarships means that they are required to be pro-active rather than depend their allotted advisor for guidance through hand-holding and spoon-feeding.

Ø  The recycling of term papers for courses taken at The University of Cambodia or elsewhere is expressly forbidden: students should either explore the same area in greater depth or other areas related to their personal interests.

Ø  Students must be aware of what constitutes plagiarism and other forms of cheating (see the Student Code of Conduct: Section X.3) and not commit these most serious academic sins in their submitted papers or in their regular coursework.

Failure to live up to these expectations means that Scholarships will be discontinued: they will have to start paying full tuition fees if they want to continue their studies at the University of Cambodia. This lapse will also be recorded in their transcripts.

The University of Cambodia may offer various types of scholarship awards for graduate students in some years:

                 i.      Teaching Assistant Scholarships;

                ii.      Graduate Assistant Scholarships;

              iii.      Research Assistant Scholarships; and

              iv.      other Scholarships.

Suitably-qualified candidates (including meeting our English language requirements for those wanting to study in the International Track) are selected based on their performance in a competitive exam to test their knowledge and aptitude with regard to their particular type of scholarship award, together with their proficiency in the English language for those wanting to study in the International Track.

Whether those candidates selected can proceed to a particular graduate program is conditional on them also passing the University’s Graduate Entrance Exam. Thereafter, scholarships can be renewed for up to the minimum number of terms which Master’s and Doctoral students are required to complete in order to earn their respective degrees.

The following provides an overview for each of the four categories of Scholarship and their associated requirements.

a. Teaching Assistantships These are for those students who view teaching as a long-term career. Accordingly, they are expected to, for example, produce papers on the theory of best practices, and recent ideas regarding innovative classroom techniques, to better get across fundamental skills and, subsequently, more advanced concepts in the classroom. They may then present their findings at an annual workshop or elsewhere to promote new ideas about good teaching practices at the University and elsewhere.

b. Graduate Assistantships These are for students who plan to stay in the academic field in an administrative capacity or management role. Related to this, one possibility is for them to produce papers on the theory of best practices and recent ideas regarding how to run universities.

c. Research Assistantships These are for students who show evidence for a talent in research and who want to become involved in professional research and development in the future. This allows for greater flexibility in the scope of potential areas for research to produce the required papers, depending on the student’s major, their personal experience and their areas of active interest.

d. Other Scholarships These are for outstanding students and needy ones who show evidence for great promise as scholars and researchers who would use the knowledge and other skills gained to help further develop the country.

3. Admission Procedures

ACC regulations require that graduate students who are starting at a University for the first time must do so in either term I or II.

University and MoEYS regulations require that applicants must first pass the University’s Graduate Entrance Exam (monitored by MoEYS) to determine whether they have an adequate basic knowledge of their chosen field of future study.

University regulations also require that applicants to join an International Track program must either:

·         have a valid ITP TOEFL score of at least 500, an iBT TOEFL score of 70 or a valid IELTS score of at least 5.5; or

·         have a Bachelor’s degree from a university in which English is the language of instruction; or

·         take and pass The University of Cambodia’s English Placement Exam.

Where prospective students do not reach the necessary level of competence, they are advised to slot in at the appropriate level in the School of Foreign Languages’ FasTrax program of short intensive English courses to bring this up to the level required to join the International Track.

Having satisfactorily passed the appropriate exams, the student can then proceed to register for their first classes at UC (see Section VII).