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POKHARA UNIVERSITYMASTER OF SCIENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT

1 ProgramObjectivesThe Master of Science in Environmental Management (M.Sc. Env. Mgmt.) Program under the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Pokhara University has been de-signed to offer a unique opportunity to acquire highly skill-ful knowledge and practical tools on multi-disciplinary sub-jects related to environmental management. The course provides fundamental basis for understanding and appli-cation of social, physical, biological, legal and economical components of the environment and their holistic integra-tion to provide a comprehensive working knowledge on the environmental management. The program focuses on developing social, environmental and developmental out-look and adequate skill in analysis, decision-making, im-plementation, leadership, and communication among the students. It is aimed at producing high quality profession-als- environmental managers, researchers, counselors etc.

Thus,theobjectivesoftheprogramareto:1. Offer courses and research covering fundamentals

of environmental science, tool of environmental management and advanced courses on environ-mental management;

2. Provide opportunities of carrying out research works with the use of cross- cutting and state of the art information and tools for thesis;

3. Provide opportunities to students to acquire ad-vanced knowledge on the subject and enhance in-dividual skills and expertise; and

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4. Contribute to policy research on environmental management and support the concerned institu-tion in the country.

2 CurricularStructureThe curriculum is designed to equip students with the competencies, knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for success in professional high quality environmental man-agers, researchers, counselors etc. The coursework gives students a broad and holistic view of the complexity of is-sues in today’s professional environmental management. The M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. program provides specialization for a career in environmental management related areas, as well as a stepping stone to PhD program. The curriculum comprises of the following four components:

1. FundamentalKnowledgeCourses(FKC)(18Credits): The foundation and analytical courses provide nec-essary academic background and analytical tools for the M.Sc. study and are pre-requisite for the ad-vanced courses.

2. EnvironmentalManagement Tools (EMT) (18 Credits): An advanced courses on the environmental man-agement tools provide analytical skills and tool re-quired for solving complexity of the environmental problems.

3. AdvancedCourses(AC)(15Credits): The courses provide students the in-depth study fo-

cusing particularly on the local and global environ-ment issues.

4. Thesis(9Credits): Students are required to undertake an indepen-

dent research thesis worth at involves fieldwork, empirical analysis, processing and presentation of data. The students are required to prepare a thesis

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on a prescribed format.3 ProgramFeaturesThe features of the M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. program are competi-tive learning of environment, market driven concentration, and program flexibility. This professional degree program focuses on the technical, managerial and policy issues as-sociated withenvironmental and developmental outlook and adequate skill in analysis, environmental decision-making, implementation, leadership, and communication among the students. The M.Sc. program features both the theoretical and practical aspects of the environmental management.

The program will use a range of pedagogical inputs that include on-campus learning through classroom lectures, discussions, presentations, case studies and guest lecture series, as well asoff-campus learning through project work instructions.

4 EntryRequirementsandAdmissionProcedure4.1 EligibilityThe candidate pursuing the admission must have bachelor degree in science, forestry, agriculture and engineering and other technical subjects or equivalent from recognized university to become eligible to enter in to the M.Sc. in Environmental Management. Besides fulfilling basic academic requirements, the students must also pass the entrance test conducted by the college. Further-more, the candidates must also adhere to the admission test requirements. The final decision on admission is taken on the basis of scores on the admission test and interview.

4.2 DocumentsRequiredThe applicant is required to submit the following docu-

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ments with the application form which should be made available to the concerned college/school by paying a predetermined fee:

• Completed and signed M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. application form

• Official transcripts from all the academic institutions attended.

Certificates of all degrees should be photocopied and sub-mitted with proper attestation.

4.3 AdmissionProceduresA notice inviting applications for the admission is publicly announced by the concerned college. The appli-cation forms and information brochures are provided on request after the payment of the prescribed application fees. The concerned college scrutinizes the application. The eligible candidates are informed to take the entrance test. The date and time for the entrance test are informed to the applicants by the concerned college.

Final selection of the students is made on the basis of their aggregate scores in the entrance test, and personal inter-view. The candidates, who are given provisional admission under special condition, are required to submit all neces-sary documents within a month of the beginning of regular classes. Otherwise, the admission will be terminated.

5 AcademicScheduleandCourseScheduleThe academic year will be of two semesters. The admission to the program can be given twice a year according to the schedule published by the Office of the Dean.

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The students are required to register courses at the begin-ning of each semester. Since registration is an important procedural part of the credit system, all students must present themselves at the college. The registration in ab-sence may be allowed only in rare cases at the discretion of the college authorities. A student’s nominee cannot regis-ter for courses, but will only be allowed to complete other formalities.

6 AdditionandWithdrawalfromCoursesA student will have option to add or drop from the course. This can, however, be done only during the first week of the semester. A student wishing to withdraw from a course should apply on the prescribed form given by the college within two weeks from the starting date of the semester.

7 AttendanceRequirementsThe students must attend every lecture, tutorial and prac-tical class. However, to accommodate for late registration, sickness and other such contingencies, the attendance re-quirements will be a minimum of 80% of the classes actu-ally held.

8 NormalandMaximumDurationofStudyThe normal duration and the maximum duration for the completion of the course for the M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. program is as follow:

Normal duration: Two years (Four Semesters)Maximum duration: 4+1 years from the date of regis-tration.

(All the courses have to be completed within four years, and additional one year can be given to thesis work on spe-cial request upon the approval of concerned authority).

9 EvaluationSystemA student’s academic performance in a course is evaluated

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in two phases as:1. Internally by the concerned faculty, and2. Externally by the Office of the Controller of Exami nations through semester-end examinations.

A sixty percent weight is given to internal evaluation and forty for external evaluation. The pass mark for both the in-ternal evaluation and external evaluation is sixty percent. A student must qualify in both evaluations separately to get a pass grade in a particular course. The final grade awarded to a student in a course is based on their consolidated per-formance in both internal and external evaluations.

The internal evaluation may consist of various components like project works, quizzes, presentations, written examina-tions, reflection notes preparation. A student will get NOT QUALIFIED (NQ) status in the internal evaluation if his/her performance falls below the minimum requirement. Such students will not be allowed to sit in the semester-end ex-aminations of that particular course.

The pass mark in each course will be a minimum Grade of C or GPA of 2.0. However, students must secure a minimum CGPA of 3.0 at the end of the program for graduation.

10 GradingSystemPokhara University follows a four-point letter grade system. The letter grades awarded to students will be as follows:

LetterGrade GradePoint DescriptionA 4.0 ExcellentA- 3.7B+ 3.3 GoodB 3.0 FairB- 2.7C+ 2.3C 2.0 Pass (in individual course)F 0.0 Fail

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If a student cannot finish all the assigned works for the course, he/she will be given an incomplete grade ‘I’. If all the required assignments are not completed within the following semester, the grade of ‘I’ will automatically be converted into ‘F’.

The performance of a student is evaluated in terms of two indices: (a) Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) which is the grade point average of the particular semester, and (b) Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) which is the grade point average of all the semesters.

Total honor points earned in a semesterSGPA = Total number of credits taken in a semester Total honor points earnedCGPA = Total number of credits completed

Where, Honor Point = Grade point earned in a subject × Number of credits assigned to that subject

11 DegreeRequirementsTo graduate from the MSc Env. Mgmt. program, a student

• should have a ‘C’ or better grade in each of the courses as specified in the curricular structure sec-tion;

• complete all the courses and Thesis as specified in the curricular structure section within the maxi-mum time period specified in the normal and maxi-mum duration of the study section;

• Have a final CGPA of 3 or better on the University’s 4.0 grade scale.

12 DistinctionandDean’sListA student who obtains a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or better will receive the M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. degree with Distinction.

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To qualify for Dean’s list, a student must have a CGPA of 3.80 or better.

13 RepeatingaCourseA course may be taken only once for grade. Since passing of all courses individually is a degree requirement, the stu-dent must re-appear the failed courses when offered and must complete. A student will be allowed to re-appear maximum of two courses to achieve a minimum CGPA of 3.0. The grade earned on the reappeared examinations will substitute the earlier grade earned by the student in that course. A student can retake a course only when it is of-fered by the college/university. 14 CreditTransferandWithdrawalA maximum of 25% of the total credit hrs of course work completed by a student in an equivalent program of a rec-ognized university/institution may be transferred/ waived for credit by the Dean on the recommendation of the Prin-cipal/ Head of the college. However, for such transfer of credit, a student must have received a grade ‘B’ or better in that particular course. Courses taken more than two years earlier than the date of application will not be accepted for transfer of credit. Credit transfers will also be allowed from different pro-grams of Pokhara University. In such cases, all credits earned by students in compatible courses with a minimum grade ‘B’ may be transferred to the new program. The student may apply for withdrawal from the entire se-mester only on medical grounds. However, partial with-drawal from courses registered in a semester will not be considered.

15 UnfairMeansStudents are strictly forbidden from adopting unfair means in class assignments, tests, report-writing, final examina-tions and thesis work. The following would be considered

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as adoption of unfair means during examination: • Communicating with fellow students for obtaining

help. • Copying form another student’s script/report/paper. • Copying from disk, mobile, palm of hand or other

incriminating documents and equipment. • Possession of any incriminating documents, wheth-

er used or not. • Any approach in direct or indirect form to influence

teacher concerning grade. • Unruly behavior which disrupts academic program.

If the instructor/invigilator detects a student using unfair means, the student may be given an ‘F’ grade at the discre-tion of the Examination Board. Adoption of unfair means may result in the dismissal of the student from the pro-gram and expulsion of the student from the college and as such from Pokhara University.

16 DismissalfromtheProgramA student is normally expected to obtain a GPA of 3.0 in the semester-end examinations of the M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. Pro-gram. If a student’s performance falls short of maintaining this CGPA continuously over the semesters, he/she may be advised to leave the program or dismissed from the pro-gram.

17 DetailedCurricularStructureThe M.Sc. Env. Mgmt. program students are required to complete 19 courses, and a Thesis work. The courses con-sist of six fundamental courses (equivalent to 18 credit hrs), seven environmental management tools courses (equiva-lent to 18 credit hour), six specialization courses (equiva-lent to 15 credit hrs) and a thesis (equivalent to 9 credit hrs). Students are required to attend classes in the college and take written examinations conducted by the Control-ler of Examination, PU to be held at the end of the every semester.

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CURRICULAM STRUCTUREFundamentalKnowledgeCourse (18Credit

Hrs)ENV 501 Biophysical Environment 3ENV 502 Environmental Engineering 3ENV 503 Environmental Science Practical (air, water, soil and vegetation) 3

MGT 501 Environmental Governance, Policy and Legislations 3

SOC 501 Sociology and Cultural Environment 3

STT 501 Statistics 3

EnvironmentalManagementToolsandTechniques (18CreditHrs)

ECO 511 Environmental Economics 3

ENV 511 Environmental Assessment (IEE, EIA, SIA, SEA) 3

ENV 512 Environmental Management System (LCA, RA, CP, QMS) 3

ENV 513 Ecosystem Services Management 2

ENV 514 GIS and Remote Sensing 3ENV 515 Environmental Science Field Work, Case Study, Term Paper 2

MGT 512 Strategic Planning, Conflict Management and Consensus Building 2

SpecializedCourse (15CreditHrs)

ENV 621 Urban Environmental Management 3

ENV 622 Climate Change 3ENV 623 Watershed Management 2ENV 624 Environmental Science Field Work, Case Study, Term Paper 2

MGT 621 Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis 2

RCH 621 Research Methodology 3

ENV691Thesis 9

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EvaluationScheme

S.N. Activity

MarkAllocatedforScheduledSubmissionorDelayedSubmission

Marks

Obtaine

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OnSched-

ule

LatebyOne Week

LatebyTwo

Weeks

LatebyMore thanTwo

Weeks

1 Thesis proposal draft final submission 50 48 44 40

2 Thesis proposal defense and final submission 25 24 22 20

3 Literature review sub-mitted for evaluation 50 48 44 40

4Primary and secondary data collected and sub-mitted for evaluation

50 48 44 40

5Midterm report submit-ted for evaluation and presentation

100 96 88 80

6 Draft final report sub-mission and evaluation 100 96 88 80

7 Thesis defending eval-uated 100 96 88 80

8Final Report submission and evaluation after in-corporating comments

25 24 22 20

Total 500 480 440 400

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Evaluation system1. Serial number 1 to 4 shall be evaluated by the program

director/coordinator and the research guide. Average of the two shall be taken.

2. Serial number 5 to 7 shall be evaluated by an external evaluator 50%, thesis guide 25% and program director/coordinator 25%.

3. Serial number 8 shall be evaluated by the program director/coordinator.

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