Chapter One: Institute Mission & Objectives

Article 1: The mission of the Institute is to:

- Provide all enrolled students with the educational and knowledge achievement and prepare them on the higher education and professional levels;

- Provide the students with the scientific, methodological and technical expertise to assume the scientific and professional responsibility in approaching society problems in the public institutions and the productive sectors, and consolidating the national identity;

- Contribute to the comprehensive and integrated development of the Lebanese society;

- Enhance the cultural openness;

- Expand the scientific and cultural cooperation on the international level.

Article 2: The Institute aims to achieve the following objectives:

1- Launching a learning and research dynamic to meet the needs of public institutions in the field of studies, information and planning and rationalize the relationship between all partners, the Institute of Social Sciences and regional and international institutions.

2- Raising the level of sociology education and deepening knowledge in its various fields at the university level.

3- Holding seminars and scientific conferences on social issues in the various social fields within the competence of the Institute, and participating in conferences held by other parties.

4- Conducting fundamental and applied, theoretical and practical research and studies, concerned with studying the issues of the Lebanese society and its external relationships and encouraging Teaching Staff members and postgraduate students to carry out these researches and studies and publish them.

5- Publishing a peer reviewed scientific journal for research, studies and scientific articles supervised by the Research Center.

6- Cooperating with research centers, laboratories and research teams in the faculties and institutes of the Lebanese University within the competence of the Institute, namely the Doctoral School of Literature, Humanities & Social Sciences.

7- Providing scientific advice and carrying out field studies, for the benefit of the relevant institutions, in accordance with the applicable regulations.

8- Cooperating with higher education institutions in the Arab and foreign countries in the fields within the competence of the Institute, to exchange expertise and knowledge and strengthen the ties of joint academic relations.

9- Conducting training courses for institutions in the public and private sectors in the fields within the competence of the Institute.

Chapter Two: Diplomas, Specializations & Departments

Article 3: The Institute prepares the students to obtain the following diplomas:

1- Bachelor in Sociology

2- Specialized Certificate in Social Sciences

3- Research and professional masters

[1] In the Deanship of the Institute of Social Sciences, a specialized certificate has been developed following the bachelor degree. This certificate is entitled "Specialized Certificate in Social Sciences" and all the provisions of the Institute are applied thereto, except for the attendance rate, where the student must attend to at least 70/100 of the courses.

Article 4: The professional master diploma includes the following specializations:

1- Urban Socio-anthropology

2- Sociology and Human Resources Management

3- Economic and Social Administration

4- Counseling and Psychological mentoring

5- Sustainable development and social and environmental responsibility of organizations

6- Engineering social and cooperative economy projects

Article 5: The research master diploma includes a field study and/or project or internship in the field of specialization for at least eight weeks (minimum of 250 working hours), finalized with a thesis prepared by the student and equal to 30 credits.

Article 6: In cooperation with the (public or private) institutions concerned with the internship in the professional master, the Institute shall determine the content of such internship, and the duties of the advisor and the person in charge in the institution. The internship shall be within the framework of cooperation protocols signed between the Institute and the public and private institutions accredited thereby in the field of internship.

Article 7: The research master diploma includes the following specializations:

1- Sociology, including the following paths:

a- Sociology of the Family

b- Sociology of Education

c- Sociology of Labor

d- Sociology of Knowledge and Culture

e- Sociology of Politics

2- Anthropology

3- Socio-economic Development

4- Social policies

5- Demography

6- Social Psychology

Article 8: The student in the Master's degree submits a research thesis in the field of specialization or track that is equal to 30 credits.

Article 9: The President of the University shall appoint a committee to discuss the Master's thesis on the Dean's proposal.

Article 10: The Institute Council shall be entitled to propose the addition of new specializations or tracks in the professional and research master or to cancel some of them in accordance with the applicable regulations.

Chapter Three: Student Admission & Enrollment

Article 11: In order to be admitted to prepare the bachelor degree in Sociology, the student shall be holder of a Lebanese Baccalaureate or its official equivalent.

Article 12: The new students enrolled in the Institute shall sit for a foreign language test (French or English) conducted in the Branches by the Office of Foreign Language Coordination at the Lebanese University following the decision of the Institute Council.

Article 13: The student receiving a score less than 10/20 in the foreign language test (Level A1), shall be subject to pursue an intensive course in this language and sit for an exam at the end of the course and succeed as a prerequisite for the academic registration in the foreign language courses adopted in the Institute curricula.

Article 14: In order to enroll for a Professional Master Degree, the student shall:

1- Have obtained the bachelor degree in Sociology from the Institute or the bachelor degree from one of the Lebanese University faculties, in specializations identified by the University Council on the proposal of the Institute Council. The student may also have obtained the Bachelor Degree in Sociology from a recognized university with the duly equivalent thereof.

2- Have obtained in the bachelor courses, an average of not less than 55/100 for the students of the Institute and the Lebanese University (GPA of not less than 2.75/5 as per the grading scale adopted at the Lebanese University), or an average of not less than 65/100 for other university students (GPA of not less than 3.25/5 according to the currently adopted system).

Article 15: In order to enroll for a Research Master Degree, the student shall:

1- Have obtained the bachelor degree in Social Sciences or Sociology from the Institute or a recognized university with the duly equivalent thereof. A specialized committee assigned by the Dean shall decide on the student’s choice of specialization or track upon the examination of his/her file.

2- Have obtained an average of not less than 60/100 for the students of the Institute (GPA of not less than 3/5 as per the grading scale adopted at the Lebanese University) or an average of not less than 70/100 for other university students (GPA of not less than 3.5/5 as per the grading scale adopted at the Lebanese University).

Article 16: Students admitted for a Bachelor or Master’s Degree and who have studied in other universities or other faculties of the Lebanese University, may request the equivalence of some courses they have previously obtained. This request is based on the special system prepared by the Equivalency Committee at the Institute under the supervision of the Dean, provided that it does not contradict with the general equivalency system at the Lebanese University. The number of credits that can be transferred shall not exceed (75) credits in the bachelor degree and (30) credits in the master’s degree according to the system of credits adopted at the Lebanese University.

Article 17: The student may transfer from one specialization or track to another in the research or professional master’s degree, subject to meeting the admission requirements for the targeted master, after obtaining the approval of the Institute Council of his/her academic file, and subject to the availability of vacant places in the specialization or track requested for transfer. The transfer request shall be submitted at least one month prior to the beginning of the semester. In case of approval, the student shall keep the courses and credits that he/she has obtained if they are accredited in the new specialization or track.

Article 18: A student who has completed a professional or research master degree in one of the specializations or tracks, may register in a second specialization or track, to obtain a second master’s degree, if the conditions of this diploma are met, provided that the student is exempted from the courses that match those of the targeted specialization, if any.

Chapter Four: Registration & Attendance

Article 19: The students shall complete two types of enrollment:

a- An administrative enrollment done at the beginning of the academic year;

b- An academic enrollment done within ten days before the commencement of teaching at the beginning of each semester. In this enrollment, the student identifies the courses to be taken during the relevant semester, taking into account the principle of prerequisite, with the assistance of professors appointed for this purpose from the members of the Academic Steering Committee following the decision of the Institute Council.

Article 20: The student has the right to reconsider his/her academic registration within ten days at the latest from the commencement of teaching in the semester. He/she may also cancel the registration in some courses within a month at most from the beginning of the semester.

Article 21: A student may not enroll in courses exceeding the 30 credits per semester unless he/she had failed in or dropped previous courses. In this case, the student is entitled to enroll in six additional credits, provided that the enrollment is first done in the courses in which he/she has failed. Then, the student may complete the enrollment in new courses, taking into account the principle of prerequisite.

Article 22: The teaching hours in the course during the semester is divided by the number of weeks of actual teaching identified at a minimum of 13 weeks.

Article 23: In the bachelor’s degree, the student may:

1- Choose in each of the fifth and sixth semesters optional courses from another branch of the Institute without enrollment therein, subject to the approval of the directors of the two concerned branches.

2- Modify his/her selection in each of the fifth and sixth semesters within a period of 15 days at most by replacing an optional set of courses with another set:

3- In the same branch by the approval of the branch director;

4- In another branch by the approval of both directors of the branches.

In all cases, the eligibility of students who do not transfer from one branch to another and do not change their options shall be maintained.

Article 24: Attendance is mandatory in all theoretical and practical courses. If the student's attendance is less than 60% of the hours allocated for the course, he/she shall be prohibited to sit for the final exam unless he/she provides an acceptable excuse and compelling reasons (death of a family member, emergency hospitalization ...) approved by the Institute Council on the proposal of the Branch Council.

Article 25: A student may be considered as administratively enrolled in the second academic year if he/she has obtained at least 36 credits, in case of success or exemption, or both cases, and 96 credits at least in the third academic year.

Chapter Five: Evaluation & Examination in the Bachelor & Master’s Degrees

Article 26: The system of continuous assessment and final examinations is adopted in all courses, and the duration of the final examination shall not exceed two hours.

Article 27: The final score of the courses that are subject to a final quarterly examination consists of the continuous assessment and the partial exam scores as follows:

Article 28: In the continuous assessment, various evaluation methods are used such as practical works (TD) (preparation of reports, researches, study notes and exercises) and/or tutorials (TP) (partial exam for an hour). The student productions in continuous assessment and evaluation of field research are conserved in the Student Affairs Department.

Article 29: The final exams for each course will be held at the end of the semester, provided that the students failing in both semesters in the first session, benefit from a second session.

Article 30: The academic registration is a necessary condition to sit for the exams of the first and second sessions of each semester.

Article 31: In the event that the student fails to sit for a partial exam in the semester for reasons of coercion or force majeure (death of a family member, emergency hospitalization ...), the Institute Council shall decide thereupon.

Article 32: The student, who did not sit for the final exam of a course in the first session, receives a zero regardless of the excuses and reasons. If he/she does not sit for this exam in the second session for reasons of coercion or force majeure (death of a family member, emergency hospitalization), a re-sit exam may be held by a decision of the University President following the proposal of the Institute Council.

Article 33: If a student fails in one or more courses on the first session exams, only the continuous assessment score for these courses is transferred to the second session. If the student fails to submit it in the second session, he/she shall not benefit from the continuous assessment score in the next academic year.

Article 34: The late student is not entitled to enter the examination room if the delay exceeds fifteen minutes. No student is allowed to leave the examination room before thirty minutes have elapsed.

Article 35: Any student caught cheating or attempting to cheat shall be deprived of all the courses of the session, subject to the provisions of the laws in force.

Article 36: The student has the right to submit an application to ensure that there is no material error in a course score, within one week at most from the date of announcing the result of this course. The examining committee shall inspect the student exam under the supervision of the Branch Director. If there is a material error, the score shall be amended by consensus of the attendees who shall sign a record proving thereof.

Article 37: The student is considered to have passed in a course and shall receive the credits allocated thereto if he/she obtains a final score of at least 50/100 or a score below 50 and not less than 40. The student must have completed his/her registration in all semester courses and obtained at least a weighted average of not less than 55%.

Chapter Six: General Provisions

Article 38: The theoretical courses are provided in classes of 75 students at most. The practical works (TD) and tutorials (TP) are provided in classes of 35 students at most allowing the professor to observe and follow up the work of the students.

Article 39: The Institute Council shall decide on the proposal of the Branch Council to conduct the research seminars adopted at the beginning of Semester 6 in the course of “Research Seminars in Sociology”, as part of the cognitive options adopted by the Institute (Sociology of Politics, Anthropology, Social Psychology, Sociology of Knowledge and Culture, Socio-economic Development, etc.)

Article 40: At the end of each academic year and upon the proposal of the Branch Council, the Institute Council shall decide to open two optional sets in each of the three optional sets approved in Semesters 5 and 6. Each student shall choose one set equivalent to 10 credits, provided that the number of students is not less than 20 in each set.

Article 41: The student may transfer from one branch to another in the Institute within 15 days at most from the commencement of teaching in the semester and after obtaining the Dean’s approval, based on the recommendation of the directors of both relevant branches.

Article 42: Any text contrary to the provisions of these bylaws shall be inconsistent with its content.