In light of the emergency promulgated by way of Government Decree 40/2020 of March 11 on the promulgation of the emergency situation (hereinafter: emergency) and in the interest of compliance with the prohibition specified in Section 4 b) of Government Decree 41/2020 of March 11 on preventing an epidemic endangering the safety of life and the economy, avoiding the effects thereof, and the measures to be implemented in the emergency situation ordered to protect the health and lives of Hungarian citizens, the University Council of Pázmány Péter Catholic University (hereinafter: PPCU) hereby suspends the application of certain provisions laid out in the PPCU’s regulations in the manner set out below, simultaneously to which it enacts the following temporary measures:
Section 9 (1) The University Council hereby suspends the application of the first sentence of Section 9 (1) of the PPCU’s Education and Exam Policy. No possibility is provided for submitting applications in person.
(2) Any applications to be submitted by means other than the Neptun system shall be considered valid if sent by the applicant from the email address recorded in the Neptun system to the official email address of the organizational unit designated for the receipt of such application, if the specified form is used.
(3) Where a form requires a prior opinion from a teacher or a head of an institution, such preliminary opinion shall be accepted if submitted by email, on condition that the person providing the opinion sends the opinion directly to the organizational unit designated for the receipt thereof.
Section 10 (1) The application of the provisions specified in Section 12 (4) of the Education and Exam Policy pertaining to the phasing-in of changes to the curriculum are suspended.
(2) The Faculties are hereby authorized to amend the requirements set out in the curriculum with effect for the current semester(s), with the condition that any prohibitions shall apply only to physical presence or to distance learning on account of the emergency, with especial regard to amending the provisions applicable to the methods for testing students. No amended requirements shall impose any undue burdens on students that are more restrictive than the restrictions required by the emergency and originally announced.
(3) The competent dean shall specify the rules for the amendment procedure, with the condition that the amended requirements pertaining to subjects shall be suitably announced to students.
Section 11 Notwithstanding the provisions under Section 13 (2) of the Education and Exam Policy, the University Council hereby authorizes the rector to amend the schedule for the semester as necessary for the purposes of the emergency.
Section 12 The application of Section 14 (4) of the Education and Exam Policy pertaining to the announcement of courses by holding classes is suspended with the condition that, in light of the prohibitions introduced due to the emergency, courses may be held only without the holding of classes or by holding classes in a distance learning system where the attendants attend remotely, regardless of the original format in which the course was announced.
Section 13 In light of the enrolment procedure specified in Section 15 (2), (5), and (10) of the Education and Exam Policy, which requires a personal presence, the University Council hereby authorizes the deputy rector for education and strategy to create a new enrolment procedure not requiring a personal presence, if required by the prohibitions involved in the emergency, with the involvement of the Education and Registrar’s Office, the Secretary of the Doctoral and Habilitation Council, the Foreign Affairs Department, and the Quality Assurance and Legal Department, no later than 31 July 2020.
Section 14 Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 29 (1) and (2) of the Education and Exam Policy, the testing methods and other conditions pertaining to the courses of the various subjects may be amended in the Neptun system in line with the distance learning system introduced after the commencement of the current semester by April 8, 2020 at the latest, with the condition that until the normal study and education order is reinstated, the place and – if applicable – time of classes is irrelevant information.
Section 15 (1) The application of the provisions specified in the first sentence of Section 31/A (2) of the Education and Exam Policy is suspended.
(2) At the student’s request, the educational administrator shall mail by registered mail, following the last day of the deferred subject registration period, the “Registered courses” form printed from the Neptun system and certified to the address provided by the student in the Neptun system, on condition that the student pay the mailing fee for the first occasion.
Section 16 (1) The application of the provisions specified in Section 32/A (4) of the Education and Exam Policy is suspended.
(2) Hardcopy certificates issued in relation to the studies of students, certificates of the student legal status, and other study-related documents cannot be received in person at the Registrar's Office of the competent Faculty. After the first instance, upon the student’s request - following the payment of the mailing fee - such documents may be sent to the address specified by the student in the Neptun system, via registered mail with return receipt. The request therefor shall be sent by the applicant from the email system registered in the Neptun system to the Registrar’s Office’s official email address used for the issuance of certificates and documents.
Section 17 (1) The application of the provisions specified in Section 33 (9) of the Education and Exam Policy is suspended.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions under Section 33 (10) of the Education and Exam Policy, teachers are given the power and obligation to review mid-semester study-related requirements set for admission to exams or resulting in practice grades as previously announced, for the purposes of preventing personal interactions with students, with the condition that no amended requirements shall impose any undue burdens on students that are more restrictive than the restrictions required by the emergency and originally announced. Students shall be informed of the amended requirements no later than April 8, 2020 in respect of each subject.
Section 18 (1) The application of the provisions specified in Section 34 (3) of the Education and Exam Policy pertaining to the location of the exam is suspended.
(2) Exams may be organized via electronic channels only, either using the Neptun system or another electronic tool used for contact.
(3) Any references made by the Education and Exam Policy to oral exams shall be understood to mean exams organized with the use of electronic channels.
Section 19 The application of the provisions specified in Section 35 (8) of the Education and Exam Policy is suspended.
Section 20 (1) The application of the provisions specified in Section 35/A (1) and (2) of the Education and Exam Policy is suspended.
(2) Exams may be organized via electronic channels only, either using the Neptun system or another electronic tool used for contact. If the electronic exam is held in writing with the use of the Neptun system, the provisions of the present Section shall be considered governing, with the condition that the exam cannot be held in any rooms at the University. If the oral or written electronic exam is held without the use of the Neptun system, the teacher shall be obligated to inform students about the exam conditions and the rules for using the given electronic tool, no later than the last day of the term time.
Section 21 (1) The provision specified in Section 40 (6) of the Education and Exam Policy pertaining to the submission of the hard copy format of the thesis is suspended.
(2) The application of the provisions specified in Section 40 (7) of the Education and Exam Policy is suspended.
(3) The student shall attach to the electronic copy of the thesis, in a signed, digitized format, the student’s own declaration that the thesis is exclusively the student’s intellectual product and only the sources specified in the thesis have been used only to the described extent for its preparation, and the same paper has not been submitted earlier by any other person as a thesis.
(4) The supervisor shall issue a statement on the suitability of the thesis for submission, which he/she shall email to the organizational unit specified by the Faculty, using the form specified by the Faculty.
Section 22 In light of the final examination specified in Section 41 of the Education and Exam Policy, which requires a personal presence, the University Council hereby authorizes the deputy rector for education and strategy to create, no later than April 30, 2020, a new procedure for holding final examinations not requiring a personal presence, if required by the prohibitions involved in the emergency.
Section 23 (1) Section 42 (5) of the Education and Exam Policy shall be temporarily amended so the diploma shall be issued to the student who has passed the final examination within thirty days following the scanned copy of the language exam having been submitted in electronic form – or, in case it was already presented or sent at the time of the final examination, following the date of the final examination. If the document certifying the language exam requirements is submitted, the diploma shall be issued in the year of the final examination even if there are less than thirty days left in the year of the final examination.
(2) Prior to issuing the diploma, the competent Registrar’s Office shall check the veracity of the scanned language exam document with the use of the language exam database kept by the Educational Authority. In case of doubt, the Registrar’s Office in question may require the student to mail a copy of the language exam certified by a notary public.
(3) The diploma and the diploma supplement shall be mailed by registered mail to the student’s address specified in the Neptun system.
Section 24 (1) The PPCU Doctoral and Habilitation Council is hereby authorized to amend the requirements set out in the curricula of the doctoral programs as specified in Section 9 (3) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy (hereinafter: training scheme) with effect for the current semester(s) effected by the emergency, with the condition that any prohibitions shall apply only to physical presence or to distance learning on account of the emergency, with especial regard to amending the provisions applicable to the methods for testing students.
(2) The Doctoral and Habilitation Council shall specify the rules for the amendment procedure, with the condition that the amended requirements pertaining to subjects shall be suitably announced to students, no later than March 31, 2020.
Section 25 (1) Notwithstanding the provisions under Section 9 (8) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy, the University Council hereby authorizes the rector to amend the schedule, including the schedule for doctoral programs, for the semester as necessary for the purposes of the emergency.
(2) The application of Section 9 (11) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy pertaining to the announcement of courses by holding classes is suspended with the condition that, in light of the prohibitions introduced due to the emergency, courses may be held only without the holding of classes or by holding classes in a distance learning system where the attendants attend remotely, regardless of the original format in which the course was announced.
Section 26 (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 11 (1) and (3) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy, the testing methods and other conditions pertaining to the courses of the various subjects shall be amended in the Neptun system in line with the distance learning system introduced after the commencement of the current semester by April 8, 2020 at the latest, with the condition that until the normal study and education order is reinstated, the place and – if applicable – time of classes is irrelevant information.
(2) In light of the complex examination specified in Section 11 (10) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy, which requires a personal presence, the University Council hereby authorizes the deputy rector for foreign affairs and academic organization to create, by April 30, 2020, a new procedure for holding complex examinations not requiring a personal presence, if required by the prohibitions involved in the emergency.
Section 27 (1) The application of the provisions specified in the first sentence of Section 12 (5) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy is suspended.
(2) At the doctoral student’s request, the educational administrator shall mail, following the last day of the deferred subject registration period, the “Registered courses” form printed from the Neptun system and certified, by registered mail with return receipt, to the address provided by the student in the Neptun system, on condition that the student pay the mailing fee for the first occasion.
(3) The application of the provisions specified in Section 12 (10) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy pertaining to the location of the exam is suspended.
(4) Exams may be organized via electronic channels only, either using the Neptun system or another electronic tool used for contact.
(5) Any references made by the PPCU University Doctoral Policy to oral exams shall be understood to mean exams organized with the use of electronic channels.
Section 28 The University Council hereby authorizes the deputy rector for foreign affairs and academic organization to develop the necessary procedural orders if any changes take place to the legislation pertaining to personal presence at the doctoral comprehensive exam, research defense, and public defense as a result of the emergency provisions, or if the government issues and pertinent instructions or positions regarding the above, within 15 days of their entry into effect. If no such amendments enter into effect and no new legal provisions or guidelines are issued, the deputy rector shall, if necessary, develop the procedure for holding doctoral comprehensive exams that does not require personal presence, no later than April 15 of the current year.
Section 29 (1) The provision specified in Section 18 (3), (5), (6), and (9) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy pertaining to the submission of the hard copy format of the doctoral dissertation and the thesis book and to the registration thereof is suspended.
Section 30 The application of the provisions specified in Section 19 (1) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy pertaining to announcing the location of the public defense is suspended.
Section 31 (1) The application of the provisions specified in the first two sentences of Section 20 (3) of the PPCU University Doctoral Policy is suspended.
(2) If necessitated by the prohibitions during the time of emergency, the PPCU shall hand over the doctoral degree to the people it is awarded to, by registered mail.
Section 32 Section 38 (1)-(2) of the Student Reimbursement and Benefit Policy shall be suspended, with the condition that students who receive an allowance for payment in instalments or deferred payment shall be obligated to pay the unpaid part of the tuition no later than the last day of term time.
Section 33 (1) The present temporary measures shall enter into effect on the day of their promulgation and shall also apply to all pending issues.
