The Department of Software Engineering: Academic Regulations
The department’s regulations are based on the general Shenkar Academic Regulations with additional sections and specific deadlines added.
2023/24 Academic Year
- Attendance
1.1. Student attendance is mandatory in all classes, with the exception of courses where the lecturer has decided in advance that attendance is optional, in accordance with Shenkar Academic Regulations. Students who miss more than three classes (or more than six classes for courses held twice a week) will fail the course and be required to repeat it unless they have a valid reason for their absence. Valid reasons include reserve duty, fertility treatments, medical appointments related to pregnancy and having given birth, and other reasons approved by the head of the department or the Academic Secretariat. Absences with valid reasons will not be counted against the student.
1.2. Most courses include lecture-style classes. Students are expected to attend the lectures, read the background materials by the required dates and participate in class discussions. Everything said and presented in class — including the content of the lecture, the lecturer’s answers to questions raised by the students in class and the content of class discussions — is considered part of the course materials, and students may be required to prove their knowledge and understanding of these materials through exams or other assignments. - Conditions for passing a course
2.1. The conditions for passing a course are listed in the course’s syllabus.
2.2. The minimum grade for advancing to the next year of study is 60. Students must also pass all barrier courses* for that year.
2.3. Failing more than three courses at the end of the first semester in years 1-3 will cause a student to be brought before the teaching committee to discuss their transfer to a reduced-load program for the second semester.
2.4. The annual departmental teaching committee meets at the end of August each year to discuss the academic status of students who meet the conditions for being brought before the general teaching committee, as listed in the Shenkar Academic Regulations. The committee will also discuss the status of students who fail a barrier* course more than twice. If the committee recommends that the student discontinue their studies, the recommendation will be presented to Shenkar’s general teaching committee. The general teaching committee’s decision is final and cannot be appealed, as stated in the Shenkar Academic Regulations.
2.5. The software engineering bachelor’s degree program is four years long. Failing a barrier course will require a student to extend their studies to five years. If a student’s academic status requires a sixth year of studies, the teaching committee will discuss their case and decide whether they may continue their studies. If the committee recommends that the student discontinue their studies, the recommendation will be presented to Shenkar’s general teaching committee. The general teaching committee’s decision is final and cannot be appealed.
*A barrier course is a course that students must pass to complete their degree in four years, as it is a prerequisite for other courses in the program. There are several barrier courses in each semester.
- Contacting auxiliary departments: Requests for equipment and other assistance from the auxiliary departments (e.g., maintenance and computing) will be routed through the department’s secretariat. Students may not contact auxiliary departments directly.
- Graduate projects
4.1. The graduate project is the culmination of a student’s four years of study at the Department of Software Engineering in Shenkar. Students are expected to demonstrate their skills and professional competence through broad-scope projects.
4.2. The graduate project is comprised of two seminars and the project itself, which awards six academic credit points.
4.3. Prerequisites for Graduate Project Seminar 1, as listed in the syllabus: a passing grade in all mandatory courses from years 1 and 2, and the second semester of year 3. Students must also have proven their English proficiency at an “Advanced B” or “Exempt” level. Students who have yet to complete all prerequisite courses will be admitted provisionally.
4.4. Prerequisites for Graduate Project Seminar 2, as listed in the syllabus: a passing grade in Graduate Project Seminar 1, Automata and Compiling, and Operating Systems, an exemption from the English level requirements, and 115 academic credits earned during the program.
4.5. Students may work on graduate projects in pairs or in groups of three or four.
4.6. In addition to the scope and complexity requirements, to receive a passing grade on their graduate project, students must complete Graduate Project Seminar 2 (a full-year seminar course to support students as they work on their projects). Students must also prepare, submit and get passing grades on their SDD and SRS documents, obtain Alpha and Beta approvals, present their project and research report, participate in the graduate exhibition, submit their project paper during the summer, and defend their project at the end of the summer semester exam period.
4.7. Students must submit their project papers by the end of August. Project vivas take place in September and October, at the end of the summer semester exam period. Project grades are submitted in bulk to the Academic Secretariat in November. If the student has no outstanding debts or obligations, they then receive their academic degree eligibility certificate. Students who fail to attend their graduate project viva will be required to attend the following year, therefore extending their studies by an additional year.
4.8. Students who fail to fulfill the academic obligations of Graduate Project Seminar 2 (as specified in the syllabus) will not be able to begin their graduate projects even if they have approval for their topic, team and project advisor.
4.9. Students will be given maximum creative and engineering freedom in selecting the topic of their project. Alternatively, students may choose a topic from the range of topics offered by the department’s faculty and project advisors. All project topics must be approved by the head of the department.
4.10. It is the students’ responsibility to purchase the equipment required for their graduate projects, including computers, cloud services, sensors, etc.
4.11. As the students work on their projects, their work will be evaluated by the project committee. The students’ progress from stage to stage is conditional upon the committee’s approval.
4.12. Students whose projects fail to meet the technical/engineering/functional/conceptual progression criteria, as decided by the committee, will be unable to continue working on their projects. These students will be given the option to start working on a new, different project in the following academic year. Committee members will include the head of the Department of Software Engineering, external reviewers, and senior lecturers from the department (graduate project advisors).
4.13. In accordance with Shenkar Academic Regulations, Department of Software Engineering graduate projects are graded by a committee. The committee’s decision is final and cannot be appealed. - Course assignments
5.1. Meeting deadlines: All course assignments must be submitted on time. Late submissions will result in point deductions or a fail grade, as detailed in Shenkar Academic Regulations.
5.2. For students working in groups, all members of the group must be present during submissions and project reviews. The division of labor and responsibilities within the team will be discussed and agreed upon with the lecturer.
5.3. Failure to attend submissions and reviews without the approval of the head of the department will cause students to fail the course or the project (at the lecturer’s discretion). - Copying: The academic administration of Shenkar College views copying and other ethical violations with the utmost seriousness. Students caught copying the work of others will be called before the disciplinary committee, and action will be taken in accordance with Shenkar Academic Regulations.
- Departmental specialization (five or more courses and a graduate project)
7.1. Registration for the Data Science and Web and Cloud specialization tracks begins in the middle of the second year. Students will receive confirmation for their admission into the track at the start of their third year. Registration for the four-year specialization tracks closes during the first year.
7.2. Admission into the Data Science and Web and Cloud specialization tracks is conditional upon passing all first- and second-year mandatory courses and not being in a reduced-load program. Students who fail prerequisite courses will be removed from the specialization track or be required to extend their studies by an additional year.
7.3. Students who began their studies in the academic year 2018-2019 or later must choose and complete a specialization track to graduate.
7.4. The STEP course taught by Mr. Roei Zerahia is open to students from all Shenkar departments and is therefore not a departmental specialization. The STEP course is counted as a cross-departmental elective (a requirement for graduation). The course can be taken in place of a sixth course. - Equipment care
8. The equipment in classrooms and other spaces in the department must remain within the department. Students may not remove classroom equipment from the classroom where it is stored. Students caught vandalizing equipment will be brought before a disciplinary committee. Students who find malfunctioning equipment are asked to report the issue to the department’s secretariat. - Transferring between tracks: Concentrated, Regular, Software Practical Engineering, and the Leap (Zinuk) track:
9. Students may transfer between the “concentrated” to “regular” tracks by filling out the relevant request form. The form is available at the start of each semester. Transfers will only be approved if slots are available in the requested track. Transfer request forms are available on the department’s website. - Course enrollment
10. Students are required to adhere to the timetable offered by the department. Postponing courses may cause students to extend their studies beyond four years or result in time conflicts. In the event of a time conflict between two courses, the student may only enroll in one of them. Barrier courses and repeated courses from previous years will be prioritized by the academic coordinator. Students extending their studies beyond four years must fill out a registration form. The form can be found on the Shenkar website. Students who have chosen to take required courses early must fill out a request form to remove the course from their timetable to prevent double charges. Shenkar’s system automatically enrolls students in courses based on their year of study and chosen study track. The system does not take into account failed courses from previous years, postponed courses or courses taken early.
10.1. Academic status and credit balance: Students may view their academic status online by accessing the student portal.
10.2. Students are expected to make sure they are enrolled in all the required courses for their year, including failed and postponed courses from previous years, and are able to complete them.
10.3. Students in their third or fourth year who wish to postpone courses from previous years must contact the head of the department for approval. Approval will be given only in exceptional circumstances. - Appropriate conduct between students and between students and lecturers:
11. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Disrespectful behavior and other behavior unfitting of students in an academic institution will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action. Read the core values of the Department of Software Engineering here.
