Rules & Regulations.

Internal Regulations

PREAMBLE

The purpose of this regulation is to complement the institutional rules provided by the Statute of DSTI School of Engineering (DSTI), which therefore cannot be modified, so as to ensure the internal functioning of the School.

In order to ensure the proper application of the Internal Regulations of DSTI, they must be read and well known by the entire staff and every student who attend regularly the premises of the School.

TITLE I - HYGIENE AND SAFETY POLICY

Article 1: Safety guidelines

Safety is everybody’s concern. Safety instructions issued by the qualified personnel must be followed. Fire drills are conducted throughout the year and are imposed upon everyone within DSTI. Safety guidelines and emergency evacuation plans are posted on each floor level of the establishment.

Article 2: Order and cleanliness of the School premises

Staff, students and contracted personnel authorised to use the facilities of the School must ensure compliance to the requirements of the rules of usage and cleanliness of the rooms and/or any material made available. Access to the School facilities is not granted to the individuals not taking part in the lectures given, neither to non-registered students, unless there is a specific authorisation provided.

Article 3: Conduct

All students must always be dressed appropriately. They shall not disturb the lectures, especially not while waiting outside the classrooms where teachings are given.

Abusive behaviour, such as deterioration of the facilities and/or the equipment, providing access to unregistered guests without prior authorisation, damaging the image and reputation of DSTI, non-compliance with the basic rules of behaviour and courtesy will result in a prohibition on access to the establishment.

Article 4: Smoking and Alcohol ban

In accordance with the provisions of Decree n°2006-1386 smoking is prohibited “in all enclosed public places and workplaces”.

It is also forbidden to bring or consume alcohol on campus, except at events organised by DSTI and if the school authorises it.

TITLE II - EXERCISE OF FREEDOM

Article 5: Flyers and exhibits

The distribution of flyers, notices or releases can be authorised only upon the relevant Campus Director. The distribution of these materials shall not under any circumstances disturb public order nor the teaching and research activities. Likewise, the form and content of such materials cannot be sexist, offensive or harmful to the reputation of any natural or legal person.

In compliance with the principles of competitive neutrality within the public higher education establishments, the exhibit of the materials, brochures, newspapers, and internal sales by a student association are subject to the prior agreement of the Dean. All requests must be submitted by the organisers to the relevant campus staff, at least 48 hours in advance.

Article 6: Billposting

The right to billposting is recognised. DSTI can make a board available to staff and students where posting is free but subject to the same conditions applied to the flyers distribution. Official posting of administrative information must be made at the boards assigned for this purpose by the School Management and DSTI staff. Any posting outside the provided boards is prohibited and will be immediately removed. The damage caused by illegal billposting will result in sanctions against the authors involved.

Article 7: Associations

Associations wishing to locate their headquarters at DSTI need to submit a request to do so to the School President, via the Campus Director. This request can be refused if:

• The purpose of the association is not related to the School or has union, political or religious meaning, or is likely to disturb public order

• The association is open to members other than DSTI staff or students

• The statute and the head of the association are not clearly identified

• The President expresses his opposition to the request.

Once a year, the associations registered at DSTI need to disclose their statutes and report their activities to the School’s Board of Directors. If these conditions are not met, the association in question may have its authorisation for the registration at DSTI premises withdrawn.

Article 8: Meetings

Members of staff or students’ associations can use the School premises to hold meetings or organise events, if they have beforehand requested permission from the relevant campus Director. All requests must be submitted in writing and specify the following:

• The type of classroom needed

• The purpose of the session and the public invited

• The name and the title of the meeting coordinator or the event organiser

The organisers are responsible for ensuring order during the meeting or the event and shall monitor, under their responsibility, the integrity of the premises and the equipment made available by DSTI, as well as making sure the rooms used are given back with their original layout and organisation.

TITLE III - ATTENDANCE AND DISCIPLINE

Article 9: Attendance

Course attendance is mandatory. Students must attend all classes associated with their Programme.

Students enrolled in an on-campus programme are expected to attend scheduled classes in person. Students may attend remotely for up to one scheduled teaching day per week, unless otherwise specified by DSTI.

Students enrolled in Live Streamed programmes must keep their webcam activated throughout scheduled sessions, except in cases of technical difficulties, approved accommodations, or prior authorisation from DSTI. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the student being recorded as absent for attendance purposes.

Regular attendance and active participation are essential for the acquisition of the skills and competencies required for successful completion of the programme and any internship component.

The Direction of Studies is responsible for attendance monitoring. Attendance is recorded only if the student is present for at least 80% of the scheduled session.

A justification for any absence must be submitted to the Direction of Studies as soon as possible, via the electronic platform available at https://support.dsti.institute.

Absence from an examination shall result in a failing grade for the relevant course. In cases of force majeure, a resit examination may be offered in accordance with the academic regulations established by the Faculty.

During the Graduation Committee, the Committee shall assess compliance with attendance requirements as part of the overall academic evaluation.

DSTI reserves the right to refuse, to approve, support, or sign an internship agreement where a student’s attendance record, academic performance, professional conduct, or demonstrated competencies indicate that the student is not sufficiently prepared to undertake the internship. Objective assessment criteria may include minimum attendance thresholds and academic standing.

Article 10: Discipline

By enrolling in DSTI, students shall accept and respect the School’s Rules and Regulations. Students shall not disrupt classes. Instructors may exclude a student from the classroom if he/she interrupts the class. This exclusion is, therefore, considered as a non-justified absence. Moreover, any violation of this rule of respecting instructors and fellow students may result in sanctions voted by the Disciplinary Council.

TITLE IV - EXAMINATIONS AND ASSESSMENTS

Article 11: Examination and assessment policies

Examination and assessment regulations are determined by a charter of the same name and set the general conditions and requirements for graduating with a degree offered by DSTI.

Regulations must be brought to student’s attention and shall be sent electronically no later than two months after the beginning of the current academic year. In the event of exceptional circumstances, regulatory, health-related, technical, or organisational constraints, or any other situation requiring an adjustment, DSTI reserves the right to modify the examination modalities and assessment arrangements during the academic year. Any such modifications shall be communicated to students as far in advance as reasonably possible.

Article 12: Examination charter

In addition, Examination and assessment regulations shall be completed by an Examination charter. This document shall be brought to attention of all involved parties (instructors, committee members, students and administrative staff) by electronic diffusion. Furthermore, Examination charter shall be available in all Executive Assistants offices.

TITLE V – IT MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Article 13: IT minimum specifications

DSTI students are required to have a Windows PC (Apple Mac ARM are not an option) laptop with the following minimum specifications:

• You must have “administrative privileges” on your computer, i.e. the ability to install/uninstall any software, modifying operating system settings, etc.

• CPU: Intel Core i5 minimum (or AMD equivalent).

• RAM: 16GB minimum.

• Storage: 512GB minimum, 1TB strongly recommended. SSD drives only.

• Graphics Card (GPU): an NVIDIA GPU is a plus, but it is not a mandatory requirement.

• Operating System: any edition of Microsoft Windows, as DSTI will provide a Windows Educational license key once the classes are starting

• Do not pay for MS Office 365, DSTI will also provide a licence once the classes are starting.

Without complying to these requirements, DSTI will not be able to provide its IT support.

TITLE VI - EQUIPMENT LENDING

Article 14: Educational equipment

All equipment provided by the School (video projectors, laptops, extension cords…) shall be used exclusively by the faculty and the student body.

This equipment shall not, in any case, be lent for personal use without explicit authorisation from DSTI staff

During the loan period, the equipment shall be placed under the full responsibility of a borrower who shall commit to return it in good condition within the agreed deadlines.

TITLE VII - USE OF THE I.T. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES

Article 15: IT equipment

All IT equipment provided by DSTI, being for educational or administrative purposes, shall conform with the IT charter of the School.

This charter is available from all DSTI staff and shall be distributed to all newcomers who shall declare the full understanding of the rights and obligations by signing the said charter.

TITLE VIII - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Article 16: Property rights

Members of the educational community (students, instructors, administrative staff) shall agree to respect, in any circumstances, property rights of the authors and manufacturers of used products, unless they are granted for free.

The users shall particularly, but not exclusively, agree to:

• install only legally obtained software and programs. Furthermore, these software and programs shall be approved by the School for the intended use and purpose.

• duplicate the protected works only under the conditions set by the contract signed between the School and the “Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC)”.

Any user violating these rights shall be punished with an academic or administrative penalty. Moreover, one owns responsibility may be accepted, under the conditions set by law, for any unauthorised or non-compliant use.

Programmes’ Assessment Terms and Conditions

PROGRAMMES

All study levels / All Programmes / All modes

Article #1

The programme curriculum is composed of “Teaching Units” called “Unité d’Enseignement” (UE), which can be delivered in the form of modules of lectures, practicals or a mix thereof. All modules are evaluated.

Article #2

Class attendance is mandatory. Except for specific arrangements granted by the Direction of Studies & the Dean, who may be advised by the Scientific Advisory Board, all students must attend all courses in each Teaching Unit.

Online (asynchronous) student assiduity is controlled by monthly progress meetings organised by the Direction of Studies, who also checks the activity report logs on DSTI Online Learning Management System.

Article #3

One Teaching Unit (TU) is composed of one or several modules (courses). A programme is composed of multiple Teaching Units.

Article #4

The assessment is organised by final examination, which may include intermediate examination(s). There are usually no weights applied on examination within the same module, but Professors are free to set weights.

The nature of examination is freely set by Professors and may be coursework. Attendance and/or participation may be part of the evaluation.

Professors are in charge to announce, by the end of their modules, the nature of assignments and their evaluation.

The final grade of a module is expressed in a base “out of a hundred” and rounded up to the nearest multiple of five.

Article #5

A module is acquired if the minimum pass grade of 60% is obtained. Whenever a module is evaluated by multiple examinations (intermediate and final), the module average is computed according to the method described in article #4.

Article #6

A Teaching Unit is acquired if the minimum pass grade of 60% is obtained. No weighting is applied to the modules composing a TU.

Article #7

There is NO system of grade compensation within modules. There is NO system of grade compensation within Teaching Units, nor within terms.

E.g.: given that “Teaching Unit (TU) A” is composed of “Module 1” and “Module 2”.

If the student gets 60% in Module 1 and 65% in Module 2, the Unit average will be 62.5%, rounded up to 65%.

Then TU A is passed.

If the student gets 60% in Module 1 and 70% in Module 2, the Unit average will be 65%.

Then TU A is passed.

If the student gets 50% in Module 1 and 60% in Module 2, the Unit average will be 55%.

Then TU A is failed.

Article #8

A degree for a programme can be granted only if the global average of all teaching units is greater than or equal to 60%.

E.g.: Given a programme composed of “Teaching Unit 1” and “Teaching Unit 2”.

If the student gets 60% in Teaching Unit 1 and 60% in Teaching Unit 2, the programme average will be 60%. Then graduation is acquired*.

If the student gets 50% in Teaching Unit 1 and 60% in Teaching Unit 2, the programme average will be 55%. Then graduation is failed*.

Except for blocking para-curricular elements such as disciplinary sanctions, financial arrears or any other suspensive decision of the Graduation Committee, which is sovereign.

Article #9

During the time of the studies and in case of failure to pass a module, students can request the Direction of Studies for a retake. The said Direction of Studies and the concerned Professor(s) are sovereign in their decision whether to grant a retake examination, where the rules described in the chapter “Deadline Extensions, Deferrals of Assessments and Retakes of Assessments” of this document apply.

Article #10

The Graduation Committee is sovereign in all its decisions, irrespectively of everything stated above. In case of failure to graduate, the Committee may decide to confirm and pronounce failure or grant a retake process, partial or total (repeating the programme).

Article #11

Students are responsible for verifying that every paper, report, document, assignment, etc. that they submit does not contain any form of plagiarism. Sources must be quoted and included in the bibliography. In case of plagiarism, the student can be reprimanded or incur disciplinary sanctions (graded zero, excluded from the programme, referred to the Scientific Advisory Board Disciplinary Commission, etc.). Plagiarism may be legally recognised as fraud under French Law.

Article #12

Students who have mobility limitations or other disabilities must contact a registered medical doctor for their disability to be acknowledged and for them to be authorised to benefit from appropriate test accommodations, following the doctor’s specifications. Each case will be subject to individual review, in compliance with medical confidentiality.

Examination Regulations

CHEATING, FRAUD & PLAGIARISM

Cheating, fraud, plagiarism or attempted cheating, fraud, plagiarism during the test will be subject to the Decree No. 92.657 of July 13th, 1992 concerning disciplinary procedure in higher education institutions.

Communication between candidates, or with external people, during an examination is strictly forbidden, as well as using unauthorised documents, materials or equipment.

All suspicions of plagiarism are fully investigated at DSTI.

This includes the following examples without being exhaustive:

• Suspicious activity on DSTI Learn (all exam activity reports and student logs are monitored).

• Students submitting similar or plagiarised work.

• Students sharing exam answers on messaging apps.

• Use of Generative AI (ChatGPT & others) in exams.

• Use of Generative AI (ChatGPT & others) in projects unless mentioned.

Usage of Generative AI in DSTI

DSTI School of Engineering, in its capacity as a higher education establishment, considers:

• The importance of deepening the understanding of pedagogical and ethical issues related to the use of artificial intelligence in education.

• The difficulty of proposing guidelines on the use of AI in teaching and learning due to its rapid changes.

• The importance of raising awareness with respect to the proper use of artificial intelligence in education.

• The risks of misinformation associated with generative AI.

• The privacy risks associated with the use of generative AI.

We therefore advise our students to use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT with caution throughout their training at DSTI School of Engineering.

In addition, should generative AI tools be used as part of an assignment or student work, it is compulsory to mention this use on a resource page or in a footnote. Any use of one of these tools without mention, or to wholly replace human work, will be considered as plagiarism.

Any student suspected of cheating, fraud or plagiarism has their case examined by the Direction of Studies together with the Academic Director / Dean, who refer it, where appropriate, to the School’s Disciplinary Committee.

No grade reports, transcripts or diplomas will be issued before the Disciplinary Committee decides.

Disciplinary sanctions may be (from lowest to highest):

• Admonition;

• Reprimand;

• Expulsion from the School for up to five years;

• Permanent expulsion from the School;

Any sanction automatically implies a grade of zero for the test. A grade of zero for the course or the unit may also be decided.

DSTI will inform host companies (internship or apprenticeship) of all confirmed cases of plagiarism.

DSTI EXAM MODALITIES

Due to the increased prevalence of GenAI tools, exam modalities at DSTI are constantly evolving to ensure evaluations reflect students’ abilities fairly.

Our priority is to provide a high-quality, industry-relevant education and to ensure that DSTI diplomas continue to be respected by employers and academic partners. Maintaining rigorous and equitable assessment standards is an essential part of this commitment.

Accordingly, DSTI reserves the right to modify assessment and examination modalities, including the format, method of delivery, supervision requirements, permitted resources, and evaluation procedures, where reasonably necessary to maintain academic standards, ensure assessment integrity, comply with legal or accreditation requirements, or reflect developments in educational practice. Students will be informed of any material changes within a reasonable timeframe.

PROCTORING SOFTWARE

To ensure the integrity of all exams, DSTI uses exam proctoring software, ProctorLink (https://proctorlink.com/). As all exams are taken on DSTI Learn, DSTI’s Moodle-based learning management system, ProctorLink is used systematically, including for on-campus students sitting their exams on site (with an invigilator present in the classroom). ProctorLink supports live invigilation and generates the reports described below. The software has the following capabilities:

• The software verifies that the student taking the exam is the registered candidate and tracks eye movements and general focus to identify repeated diversion from the screen.

• For open-book examinations, some off-screen activity is expected, but reports will still be reviewed for excessive or prolonged movement away from the screen. The system’s warnings will not interrupt or remove students from the exam.

• During the exam, authorised staff may also access the student’s live video and audio feed for monitoring purposes.

• The software generates additional reports identifying students who take the exam at the same time and whose answers appear unusually similar, as well as students completing the exam from the same IP address.

• Once the exam session is closed, all collected data is reviewed to determine whether the assessment conditions were respected and whether the exam was completed honestly. Access to these materials is restricted solely to the Direction of Studies team.

• After verification is complete, all reports, images, and recordings are permanently deleted.

Furthermore, DSTI may use the Safe Exam Browser (SEB) (https://safeexambrowser.org/) to restrict access to the student’s computer during an exam session in various ways (network, content, multiple screens, etc.).

LEGAL REMEDIES AND DEADLINES

For all decisions, candidates may ask for remedy within two (2) months starting from publication: either by addressing a request for equitable relief to the President of the Scientific Advisory Board, or to the Chief Executive Officer of the School; or by appealing before the Rector’s Office according to the campus location (Rectorat de Paris or Rectorat de Nice), with the Rectorat de Nice having jurisdiction for Live Streamed and Online (asynchronous) students.

Examination & Assignment Charter

I, the undersigned, certify that I will abide by the examination rules stated on the examination subject / assignment/ project instructions I am taking & submitting, as well as all the School procedures regarding the course of examinations and assignments.

Please note, each assignment must be solely your own individual work unless a group project is stated.

DSTI examinations take many different forms. The type of exam and deadline is determined by each professor during their course. The absolute rule is to comply to the examination rules stated for each examination.

I appreciate and understand that DSTI School of Engineering (DSTI) does not tolerate cheating nor plagiarism of any form. Should the submitted work be suspected of cheating or plagiarism, I understand that I would be liable to be called to a Disciplinary Meeting with the Professor in charge of the examination / assignment, the Dean, a DSTI Board of Directors representative and optionally, a DSTI Scientific Advisory Board representative. Should my submitted work be found irregular, I understand that sanctions might go as high as being immediately expelled from my study programme.

Date:

Signature:

Deadline Extensions, Deferrals of Assessments and Retakes of Assessments

This policy provides a framework for professors and students, to ensure that Deadline Extensions, Deferrals of Assessments and Retakes of Assessments are applied consistently across DSTI.

Note that where a Deadline Extension has been granted, but the student is unable to meet the agreed extension owing to extenuating circumstances, the student may subsequently apply for a Deferral of Assessment.

I. Deadline Extensions

*This only applies to full-time students (not Online (asynchronous) students)

Students are expected to monitor their workload, be aware of all submission deadlines, and be able to organise themselves accordingly. However, it is recognised that there may be occasional, exceptional circumstances, which may genuinely affect the ability of a student to complete an assessment on time. In such circumstances, which arise owing to exceptional, serious and acute problems or events, a student may request an extension to an assessment submission deadline.

Note that extension requests must be submitted before the submission deadline. Extensions will not be permitted after a deadline has passed although a student may request to have a late submission penalty removed.

The authority to grant a deadline extension for submission of an assessment rests with the course professor and the Director of Studies, who will keep a record of any extension granted.

• A request for an extension should be made using the assessment deadline extension request form (DE1), which must be submitted to the Director of Studies via a support ticket for approval by the professor: https://support.dsti.institute

Any extension granted to a student will be confirmed by the Director of Studies via the support ticket platform, giving details of the new submission date.

The length of any extension granted is at the discretion of the professor and should take into account the circumstances and work required. Normally, this would be a maximum of 10 working days beyond the original deadline.

For extensions up to 10 working days, no third-party evidence is required and the professor and Director of Studies should use their discretion to determine whether an acceptable reason has been given.

If a student is unable to meet the new extended deadline, the student should then use the Deferral of Assessment procedure.

Information on whether a student has been granted a deadline extension will be recorded on the documentation available to subsequent Programme Graduation Juries.

Guidelines for reasonable grounds for granting an extension

Please note that the following lists are not exhaustive, and all student requests should be considered in a holistic manner.

Acceptable reasons for granting an extension could include:

1. Serious personal problems such as relationship problems; illness/death of close relatives including attendance at funerals; victims of crime; accommodation crises; court cases; accident or sports injury; or acknowledged failure of DSTI IT services.

2.  Serious illness.

3.  Jury service.

4.  Where students have been identified as requiring reasonable adjustments and their difficulties or delays in accessing support are a factor.

5.  An internship or Prefecture interview which takes place at the time of an exam.

6.  Computer or internet failure at home.

Non-acceptable reasons could include:

1.  Minor colds and coughs.

2.  Difficulties in accessing resources.

3.  Lost assignments.

4.  Unverifiable travel difficulties.

5.  Not realising deadline imminent.

6.  Poor time management.

7.  Wanting ‘to get it perfect’.

8.  Any event that could have reasonably been expected or any anticipated commitments (holidays, weddings, moving house, etc.) interfering with completion of an assessment.

9.  Extensions will not normally be granted to individuals who voluntarily absent themselves to participate in other activities, such as sports or employment.

10.  Ignorance of the deadline, or pressure of other work resulting from poor personal organisation, will not constitute good causes for an extension.

11.  Problems caused by English not being a student’s principal language. Students should seek advice and support in good time.

Penalties for the late submission of assessments

There should be a consistent approach so that a student is clear as to the penalty which will be imposed for the late submission of assessments – and that that penalty will be the same wherever and whatever they are studying.

In accordance with DSTI regulations, all assessments, both at first attempt and reassessment, submitted after the agreed extended deadline will be marked at a maximum of 60% or C+ on the grading scale. Assessments submitted over five working days after the agreed extended deadline will be given 0% or F on the grading scale.

There are no additional fees incurred for late submissions within the agreed deadline.

II. Deferral of Assessment

*This only applies to full-time students (not Online (asynchronous) students)

Students who feel that they are unable to attend, submit or participate in any form of assessment, or that their preparation for assessment has been compromised as a result of extenuating circumstances, are permitted to defer that assessment to the subsequent cohort, subject to approval of an application for Deferral of Assessment. Deferral of Assessment may have an impact on progression (graduation date) or award decisions.

*Any longer deferral requests must be discussed and agreed at the graduation jury for the matriculated cohort.

Acceptable reasons for requesting to defer an assessment

The following are examples of extenuating circumstances that may adversely affect preparation, attendance or performance in an assessment or examination that may be considered as grounds for deferral of assessment.

This is an illustrative but not exhaustive list:

1.  serious illness or injury

2.  the death or chronic illness of a family member, dependant and/or friend

3.  domestic, financial and/or personal crises

4.  unplanned absence arising from circumstances such as jury service, territorial army deployment, pregnancy, maternity, paternity or adoption leave, or caring responsibilities

5.  circumstances arising as a consequence, or subsequent to, suspension or temporary exclusion from the School, which were not intended as a penalty

6.  significant adverse weather or travel disruption

7.  major disruption whilst under examination or assessment conditions.

Non-acceptable reasons for requesting to defer an assessment

Examples of circumstances or events that would not normally be considered as valid reasons for deferring assessment include the following:

1.  Planned events, such as holidays, house moves, or planned activities such as extracurricular commitments that could reasonably have been expected

2.  Assessments scheduled close together or on the same day

3.  Misreading timetables, misunderstanding the requirements for assessment, and/or inadequate planning or time management

4.  Technical failure, loss, breakage, or theft of an individual computer, scanner or storage device preventing submission of work on time

5.  Minor disruption whilst under examination or assessment conditions

6.  Last-minute or careless travel arrangements

7.  Circumstances caused by the withdrawal of information technology services, learning resources or facilities due to debt or non-payment of fees due to the School.

8. The impact of widespread disruption caused by weather, viral pandemics, social/political unrest, acts of terrorism or other events beyond DSTI’s control where DSTI has already taken or will be taking action to mitigate for the impact on students’ studies, assessment marks and/or award classifications.

Application for Deferral of Assessment

Applications for Deferral of Assessment can be made any time up to the assessment due date.

Applications for deferral should be made using the Deferral of Assessment request form (DA1), which must be submitted to the Director of Studies via a support ticket for approval by the professor: https://support.dsti.institute

Any deferral granted to a student will be confirmed by the Director of Studies via the support ticket platform, giving details of the new submission date.

Submission of Applications for Deferral

Students are expected to support their applications for deferral with medical justification or other evidence, identifying the impact of particular difficulties on the completion of coursework, assessments or attendance at an examination. Documentary evidence can be uploaded to the support ticket along with the completed Deferral of Assessment form.

Where a student is looking to defer assessment, applications must normally be submitted prior to the assessment point for which deferral is being requested. Applications for deferral and submission of supporting evidence may be accepted up to five working days after the assessment point (including any previously permitted extension authorised via the Assessment Deadline Extension Policy).

Retrospective Applications for Extenuating Circumstances

In exceptional circumstances, where it has not been possible to submit an application for deferral prior to or within five working days of the assessment point, students may submit an application for Retrospective Extenuating Circumstances by completing the relevant sections on the DA1 form. For the purposes of requesting extenuating circumstances to be considered retrospectively, the form should be submitted no later than five working days after the last scheduled assessment date during the cohort in which the assessment was due. In such cases the student will be expected to detail how their extenuating circumstances prevented them from meeting the original application deadline. Failure to explain/provide evidence for this may result in the application being rejected.

Supporting evidence

All submissions must be accompanied by suitable, relevant third-party evidence which must name, or be directly relevant to, the person submitting the deferral form. Letters of support must be the original, signed and submitted on headed paper. Documentary evidence should be uploaded to the support ticket along with the completed Deferral of Assessment form. Applicants are reminded that they must not only explain/evidence the extenuating circumstance impacting them but also why/how the extenuating circumstances prevented them from requesting an extension or a deferral of the assessment at the requisite times.

The following are illustrative examples of suitable supporting evidence:

1.  a General Practitioner’s letter containing details of extenuating circumstances and the period covered

2.  another medical practitioner letter, e.g. from a hospital, private surgery, or clinic

3.  Court Order covering the relevant period

4.  a notice of summons to attend court, with relevant dates

5.  a legal notice or other verifiable letter from a solicitor

6.  a notice of Jury Duty

7.  a notice of deployment from armed forces or other government agency

8.  a police report, incident log, or formal caution notice where accompanied by a formal report

9.  a death certificate

10.  a notification of death from a recognised and verifiable media source (for example a newspaper) may be acceptable in lieu of other documentary evidence

11.  visa documents or documents relating to revocation, tribunal or other visa issues.

12. graduation jury committee authorisation to defer

Advice and guidance

Students are strongly encouraged to seek advice and guidance on these regulations, and on the preparation of their submission from the Director of Studies and Student Care staff.

Procedure and decision-making process

Applications will be considered by the Director of Studies in the first instance. Where the application is uncontentious and well supported by appropriate evidence the Director of Studies is empowered to make an immediate decision approving the application for deferral.

In cases where there is doubt about the validity of the claim or the supporting evidence, the Director of Studies will consult with The Dean.

Three categories of decision can be made:

The Director of Studies considers that extenuating circumstances significantly have or will affect the student’s performance and records such submissions as Valid and approves the Deferral of Assessment.

The Director of Studies considers that extenuating circumstances did not significantly affect the student’s performance, have been submitted too late for consideration or they fall out-with the definition of extenuating circumstances. The Director of Studies records such submissions as Not Valid and rejects the Deferral of Assessment.

There was insufficient information provided on which the Director of Studies could make a decision and therefore the decision has been deferred, pending receipt of further evidence.

There is no right of appeal against the decision of the Director of Studies but students whose application for deferral was rejected may subsequently apply using the Retrospective Extenuating Circumstances process, if new information or evidence has become available.

In the case where a student has passed a module (minimum grade 60%) for which Retrospective Extenuating Circumstances were approved, the Director of Studies will consider these in the context of the student’s academic profile. Once passed, a candidate cannot demand to retake an assessment or repeat a module in order to improve their result, irrespective of extenuating circumstances.

If extenuating circumstances that were presented to the Director of Studies are deemed not valid, any assessment not submitted or examination or test not attended, will be treated as failed (graded zero or F on the grading scale) for the purposes of graduation or award decisions.

Following the decision of the Director of Studies, the student’s module record will be updated to indicate if extenuating circumstances were valid and deferral was granted. Information on whether extenuating circumstances have been considered in previous sessions will be flagged on the documentation available to subsequent Programme Graduation Juries.

Administration Fees

All assessment deferrals will be subject to additional administration fees. See table below.

III. Retaking an Assessment

*This applies to full-time and Online (asynchronous) students

During the period of matriculation, in case of failure to pass a module, students can request the Director of Studies for a retake. The Director of Studies and the concerned Professor(s) are sovereign in their decision whether to grant a retake examination.

If authorised, students are entitled to one reassessment opportunity in each module if their grade is below 60%.

If a student believes that their ability to complete an assessment of any type has been adversely affected by extenuating circumstances that have had a detrimental effect on their academic studies or progression, they are entitled to apply for an additional attempt, citing and providing evidence for retrospective extenuating circumstances.

Applications for retakes should be made within 5 working days after the grade is made available using the Retake of Assessment request form (RA1). The form plus any evidence of extenuating circumstances must be submitted to the Director of Studies via a support ticket for approval by the professor: https://support.dsti.institute

Time of Retake

Multiple choice quiz retakes are authorised and scheduled at the discretion of the Director of Studies. All exams, assignments and projects must be retaken with the next available cohort.

Administration Fees

All assessment retakes will be subject to additional administration fees. See table below.

Date:

Signature:

Regulations of the Graduation Committee

Preamble

DSTI School of Engineering (Data ScienceTech Institute) is a private, independent higher-education establishment (“enseignement supérieur libre”) within the meaning of the loi du 12 juillet 1875 (French law of 12 July 1875), codified in the Code de l’Éducation (French Education Code) at Articles L731-1 to L731-4.

DSTI School of Engineering is registered with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation through the respective supervising Rectorats (regional education authorities): in Nice under UAI 062136P and in Paris under UAI 0755832G (UAI = Unité Administrative Immatriculée, Registered Administrative Unit).

As such, DSTI holds the administrative authority to award its own degrees, known as “institutional degrees” (“diplômes d’établissement”), in accordance with Article L612-1 of the Code de l’Éducation.

DSTI, with the assistance of its Scientific Advisory Board (Conseil Scientifique et Pédagogique), defines and approves the content of the degree programmes, the assessment process and the rules for obtaining the degree.

The Graduation Committee, under the authority of the Scientific Advisory Board and its Chair, ensures that graduation complies with the aforementioned processes and rules.

The regulations of the Graduation Committee are public and must be kept available to all.

Article 1 – Purpose of the Graduation Committee

A study cycle comprises a degree programme and a period of professional experience. Three months after the end of each cohort’s study cycle, the Graduation Committee must be convened by the General Management to review the academic and professional results of the students concerned. These results are provided by the Direction of Studies (see Article 2) and are reviewed by the Committee, which reaches its decision by vote (as detailed in Article 6).

Article 2 – Information presented to the Graduation Committee

As each degree programme has its own specific assessment process and degree-award rules approved by the Scientific Advisory Board, the Direction of Studies provides an academic transcript for each student concerned and applies the process and the regulations to calculate the student’s final result.

The Direction of Studies provides all assessment processes, the degree-award rules and the transcripts at the start of the Graduation Committee session.

Article 3 – Composition of the Graduation Committee

The Graduation Committee is composed of:

• The Chief Executive Officer (Directeur Général)
• The Director of Studies
• The Academic Director
• Representative(s) of the Direction of Studies

Article 3bis – Voting rights of the Graduation Committee

Each member of the Committee has one vote. The Chair of the Graduation Committee — the Chief Executive Officer — has a casting vote.

If the Chair of the Committee is absent, the Academic Director chairs the meeting; if that is not possible, the Committee meeting is postponed.

Article 4 – Voting procedure of the Graduation Committee

When the Committee votes on a student’s graduation (or its refusal):

• In the event of a tie, the Chair of the Committee has the casting vote (see Article 3bis).
• The decision must be approved by a majority of the Committee as a whole.
• Early voting is not permitted.

Article 5 – General guidelines for the Graduation of Students

Although each degree programme may have its own assessment process and its own degree-award regulations, certain rules are universal across all DSTI degree programmes:

• The “pass” mark is set at 60% for each module and for the overall average of each degree programme.
• Where a degree programme is made up of “teaching units”, themselves made up of “course modules” (modules), a student may graduate only with an overall general average of 60% AND no less than 60% in the “teaching units”.
• Only one “module” per “teaching unit” may be failed — that is, below the mark of 60%.
• Where a degree programme contains modules that prepare for one or more industry-certification examinations, the degree may be awarded without sitting those certification examinations, provided the conditions set out above and the specific requirements of each degree programme are met. Where the student passes all the required industry certifications, their degree will carry the special mention: “<Name of the degree programme> (with Honours)”.
• The special mention may be awarded after the initial degree has been obtained.
• The Graduation Committee is sovereign (its decisions are final and binding) in all these matters, notwithstanding anything stated above, with the sole exception of the award of “Honours”.
• The following point matters where a student is close to, but below, the “pass” marks. In such cases the Graduation Committee pays particular attention to the assessment made by an employer regarding the student’s internship or professional experience within the company.
• The table of grades and corresponding distinctions:

Article 6 – Decisions of the Graduation Committee

The decisions are as follows:

1. Graduation
   • Without distinction (no distinction awarded).
   • With distinction.
2. Graduation by the sovereign decision of the Committee, where certain academic achievements have not been met.
   • Without distinction (no distinction awarded).
   • With distinction.
3. Refusal of Graduation for a significant lack of academic and/or professional achievement.
   • Partial refusal: partial referral (resit of certain modules) or total referral (full retake of the programme).
   • Full refusal: exclusion.

Cases 2 and 3 are always accompanied by the Committee’s reasons.

Minutes (procès-verbal) are drawn up and signed by the Chief Executive Officer and both Co-Chairs of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Article 7 – Appeal against the decision of the Graduation Committee

A student who has not obtained their degree may appeal to a Committee of four members, none of whom may be members of the Graduation Committee:

1. A DSTI student, ideally from the same cohort as the appellant.
2. A DSTI professor.
3. A representative from an external company. If this proves impossible, another professionally active DSTI professor will be called upon.
4. A member of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Member (1) is chosen freely by the appealing student; (2) is chosen by the Chief Executive Officer; (3) is chosen by the Academic Director or the Director of Studies; and (4) is chosen by the Chair of the Graduation Committee.

The Appeal Committee consults freely with all parties it considers relevant and provides a written, signed opinion report to the appealing student and to the DSTI Board of Directors within two (2) calendar months. At an extraordinary meeting (or an ordinary one if the schedule is near), the DSTI Board of Directors takes a final, sovereign and reasoned decision regarding the student’s results.

Signatures

IT Services Fair Usage Charter

The present Charter defines the rules of usage of the computer means and systems of DSTI School of Engineering.

Scope of the Charter

The rules and obligations set out below apply to any person authorised to use the computer means and systems of DSTI School of Engineering. This concerns students, teachers, researchers, administrative or technical staff, and guests.

The institution’s computer means and systems include, in particular, the servers, workstations and personal computers of the administrative departments, classrooms or computer rooms and laboratories, whether or not connected to the network, as well as routers, switches, Wi-Fi access points, cables and optical fibres. These rules also extend to the use of computer systems external to the School that are accessible via the institution’s networks, and in particular the Internet.

Conditions of access to the networks of DSTI School of Engineering

The right of access to a computer system is subject to authorisation. This right is personal and may not be transferred. It is limited to activities recognised by the School. It may be temporary and ceases when the reasons for the access no longer exist.

The use of the institution’s computer resources has the sole purpose of carrying out research, teaching, administrative or employability activities. Except with prior authorisation duly issued by the institution, these means may not be used to carry out projects that do not fall within the assignments entrusted to users.

Right of access to IT resources and observance of data confidentiality

The right of access to a computer resource is:

Subject to authorisation and coupled with means of identification: it may be withdrawn if the conditions of access are no longer met or if the user’s conduct is contrary to this Charter.

Personal and non-transferable: each user is assigned a computer identifier and must choose a password that is strictly confidential and must under no circumstances be disclosed to any third party. This password must be composed of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols so that it is not easily guessable. It must be changed at least once a year.

DSTI School of Engineering provides each user with an institutional email address. In addition, a functional or organisational email address may be set up for a user or a group of users.

The means of access and identification granted by membership of DSTI School of Engineering — such as email address, key, magnetic card, code and password — are personal and must under no circumstances be transferred.

IT resource usage rules

Users are responsible, in any place, for the use they make of the information system of DSTI School of Engineering.

They are bound by a duty of discretion and confidentiality with respect to the information and documents to which they have access. Users who are signatories to this Charter undertake to respect the rules of professional ethics and conduct. In any event, the user is subject to the obligations arising from their status or contract.

The use of IT resources entails respect for the intellectual property rights of the institution as well as those of its partners and, more generally, of any third parties holding such rights.

• Each user must use software under the terms of the licences taken out, and must not reproduce, copy, distribute, modify or use software, databases, web pages, texts, images, photographs, sounds, videos or other creations protected by copyright or by a proprietary right, without first obtaining the authorisation of the holders of those rights.

• Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978, as amended in 2004, on information technology, data files and civil liberties defines the conditions under which the processing of personal data may be carried out. It grants the persons concerned by such processing a right of access to, and rectification of, the data recorded on their account. DSTI School of Engineering has appointed a personal data protection officer. The latter is responsible for ensuring compliance with the provisions of the amended Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978 and must be consulted before the implementation of any data file or processing.

• Any communication of a professional nature, for internal or external distribution, must be carried out using the institutional email address of the establishment or of one of its partners.

• All information is deemed to be professional, with the exception of data designated by the user as belonging to their private life: in that case, it is for the user to store such private data in directories explicitly provided for that purpose and clearly identified as private. The protection and safeguarding of that data are the user’s responsibility. The establishment cannot be required to preserve that space.

• The user is responsible for the personal email address issued to them by DSTI School of Engineering; any message is deemed professional unless it bears a specific and explicit indication of its private character or is stored in a private data space. Messages containing unlawful content of any nature whatsoever are prohibited. This includes, in particular, content contrary to the provisions of the law on freedom of expression or infringing the privacy of others.

• The user must ensure the identity and accuracy of the addresses of message recipients. They must ensure that the distribution of messages is limited solely to the recipients concerned, so as to avoid mass mailings, the unnecessary cluttering of the messaging service and any degradation of the service.

• Trade-union communications, whatever the distribution channel, must comply with the legislative and regulatory provisions in force, in particular those of Decree No. 82-447 of 28 May 1982 on the exercise of trade-union rights in the public service, as amended.

Users’ obligations regarding IT ethics

Users undertake, in particular, not to:

• Undermine the integrity or sensibilities of another user, in particular through provocative messages, texts or images, or through other sites or systems whether or not connected to the network,

• Harm the professional activity of a third party through the use of computer means,

• Impersonate another person,

• Intercept communications between third parties,

• Appropriate the password of another user,

• Alter data or access information belonging to other network users without authorisation,

• Connect to a server of DSTI School of Engineering without authorisation,

• Conceal their true identity,

• Make abnormal use of the equipment,

• Connect directly to the physical network any equipment other than that assigned or authorised by the IT Department (DSI),

• Develop, install or copy a program in order to circumvent security or saturate IT resources,

• Deliberately introduce malicious software (viruses, Trojan horses, logic bombs, etc.),

• Modify or destroy information of which they are not the owner,

• Install, download or use, on the institution’s equipment, software or software packages whose licence fees have not been paid, or that do not come from trustworthy sources, or without authorisation.

The Internet is subject to all rules of law in force. Its use is open to professional purposes.

Any publication of an information page on the School’s internet or intranet sites must be validated by the Executive Management (Direction Générale). No publication of private information pages on the information-system resources of DSTI School of Engineering is authorised, except with the express authorisation of the relevant hierarchical authority. Furthermore, the School’s servers shall not be used to publish pages relating to activities that are not connected with the assignments recognised by the School, or to the promotion of the School’s activities.

Security Rules

DSTI School of Engineering ensures the proper use of hardware and software resources as well as of electronic exchanges. It reserves the right to limit the downloading of certain files that are too large or that present a risk to the security of the systems (viruses liable to impair the proper functioning of the institution’s information system, malicious code, spyware, etc.).

Users must take particular care not to transport sensitive information without protection on unsecured media (USB drives, laptops, external drives, etc.), and not to leave their workstation — or shared self-service workstations — with resources or services left accessible.

Users must apply the institution’s security recommendations and protect sensitive information. They must therefore ensure that they:

• Notify the authorities of any fraudulent access or attempted access to the resources they use,

• Protect their files and data against reading and writing by using all the means made available to them by the operating system in use,

• For the sole purpose of ensuring continuity of service in the event of absence or departure, take all appropriate steps to allow authorised persons to access their professional data. For their part, the line manager, once informed, shall take the necessary steps to guarantee the preservation of that information.

Controls that may be carried out

The staff assigned to the management of the information system ensure the proper functioning and security of the networks and of the computer and communication means of DSTI School of Engineering. The staff of this department have technical tools to carry out investigations and to monitor the use of the computer systems in place. They have access to all the technical data recorded but undertake to respect the confidentiality rules applicable to document contents. They are subject to a duty of discretion and are required to preserve the confidentiality of the data they come to know in the course of their duties.

Information for users

Users are informed that the IT infrastructures of DSTI School of Engineering may give rise to monitoring and control for statistical purposes, regulatory or functional traceability, optimisation, security or abuse detection.

DSTI School of Engineering reserves the possibility of carrying out interventions on the resources made available to users in order to perform corrective, curative or evolutive maintenance. Any remote maintenance is preceded by prior information to the user.

Any information that might prove to be blocking the system, or that generates a technical difficulty in being delivered to its recipient, will be isolated and, where appropriate, deleted.

The management of email addresses corresponding to institutional distribution lists, designating a category or a group of “users”, is the exclusive responsibility of the establishment.

While incidental private use may be tolerated, connections established through the computer tool or the networks made available by the administration are presumed to be of a professional nature. The administration may investigate them for the purpose of identifying them.

Failure to comply with the rules laid down by this Charter may give rise — independently of any civil and/or criminal penalties — to the temporary or permanent suspension of access to the School’s IT resources, as well as to internal disciplinary sanctions.