ADMISSION

Minimum Entrance Requirements

A candidate shall be deemed eligible for consideration for admission to a first degree programme of the University of Dar es Salaam(School of Journalism and Mass Communication) if the candidate has obtained:

1. Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (C.S.E.E) or Equivalent, with passes in FIVE approved subjects, obtained prior to sitting of the Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (A.C.S.E.E) or equivalent; and
2. One of the following combinations of passes in Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (A.C.E.E), or Equivalent; either
   • Two Principal Level passes (in appropriate subjects) at the same sitting with total points not below 5 based on the following scale:
     A = 5, B = 4, C = 3, D = 2, E = 1, S = 0.5
     or
   • Three Principal Level passes in appropriate subjects with five points and above. This is a special criterion for private candidates whereby principal passes at DDD, DDE and CEE are acceptable. Please note that Principal passes in Divinity/Islamic Knowledge are not counted.
   • An appropriate equivalent Diploma of not less than Second Class approved by UDSM Senate.

    

   General Regulations

   1. Students admitted to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication shall be enroll in one of the three programmes:
      • Bachelor of Arts in Journalism
      • Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication
      • Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and Advertising
      These programmes will be offered in the respective Departments of Journalism,Mass Communication,Public Relations and Advertising.
   2. In order to graduate from the School a student must take and pass a minimum of 108 units in the relevant three years programme.
   3. Students enrolled in the programmes will take prescribed courses as core School courses, specialization courses and options from other programmes of the School or from other Faculties and Units of the University.
   4. To ensure inter-disciplinarity, students will take at least one optional course a semester from any of the following:
      • Commerce
      • Economics
      • English
      • Fine and Performing Arts
      • Education
      • French
      • Geography
      • History
      • Kiswahili
      • Literature
      • Political Science and Publis Administration
      • Science
      • Development Studies
      • Law

Examination Regulations

1. All courses offered in a semester shall be examined at the end of that semester where University regulations shall apply
2. University examinations shall include continuous assessment in course work assignments, tests, practicals and final examination.
3. Assessment of the student's progress shall be based on the following grading system:

   A	70-100
   B+	60-69
   B	50-59
   C	40-49
   D	35-39
   E	0-34
   "I"	Incomplete course work

4. For purposes of degree computation, these grades shall have the values of 5,4,3,2,1,0, points respectively. The pass mark in each of the courses aken shall be "C". The mark for "absolute" fail shall be "E".
5. Courses shall be weighed by multiplying the final grade of a given course by the number of its course units and a student's overall performance will be computed by dividing the total course units into the weighted total for all courses taken.
6. Courses grades multiplied by the appropriate unit weighting will be accumulated over the whole period of study and will form the basis for the assessment of the degree. Computation of the GPA shall be based on the best 108 or 144 units dependimg on the requirementsof the programmetaken.The final Bachelor of Arts degree shall be graded as first class, upper second, lower second and pass as follows:

   First Class	4.4-5.0
   Upper Second	3.5-4.3
   Lower Second	2.7-3.4
   Pass	2.0-2.6

   In each case the average point shall be calculated on the basis of truncation after the first decimal point(e.g 4.39 shall be taken as 4.3)
7. All marks for cousework and written examinations shall be adjusted before amalgamation, such adjustment being made by the respective departments.
8. A student failing in not more than 4 courses in any one year shall be required to supplement, provided the overall GPA is not less than 1.6.
   • A student who fails supplementary courses will be allowed to carry them over into the next year, provided that no student is allowed to take more than seven 3units courses in any one semester, including carry-overs. Consequently, a student who cariies over more than two 3 unit courses will be required to postpone some of that year's courses to the following year.
   • Courses carried over must be cleared in the following academic year.
   • student who fails any supplementary examination of any course , which has been carried over, shall be discontinued.
   • A course that has been supplemented and carried over shall be awarded a maximum grade of C.
   • Special examinations given at the time of supplementary examinations will be treated as first sitting and graded as such.
   • a student who is required to sit for a special examination or who, for satisfactory reasons, has not completed an important portion of his/her coursework, shall be awarded an "I"(Incomplete) grade.
   • A student who has been awarded an "I" grade is required to clear the grade during the time of supplementary examinations for that academic year. Except with the approval of the Faculty Board, any "I" grade not cleared at the time of the supplementary examinations will automatically become an "E" grade.
   • A student who has obtained such grade will be required to carry over the relevant course to the following academic year where it will be treated like any other carried over course.
9. A student who obtains less than 16marks in his/her coursework grade will be deemed to have failed the coursework, and will be barred from taking the examination in that course.
   • A student who is barred will be deemed to have failed the course at E grade.
   • A student who fails such a course will be required to carry over the course, other regulations permitting.
10. Courses grades will be based on an end of course examination and coursework assessment. The coursework assessment shall normally constitute 40% of the total course assessment. The examination will constitute the other 60%.
11. A student shall be discontinued from studies at the University if he/she fails in four or more courses at D or E grades, or if he/she attains an overall GPA of less than 1.6.
12. Students must clear all courses within 5years for 3 year programmes . Any student who has failed to clear any course at the end of the maximum period shall be deemed to have failed the programme and ill not be awarded a degree.

Practical Training/Practicum

1. The practical training aims at giving students opportunities to acquire on the job experience in their relevant fields to complement the classroom work.
2. The practical training will take place at the end of the second semester of the first and second year.
3. The practical training shall run for 8weeks a year and shall carry 1.5 units each.
4. The assessment for practical training shall be based on the following:
   • Report from the host institution
   • Student's daily logbook
   • Student's final report
   • University of Dar Es Salaam Supervisor,s report
5. A student must pass practical training in order to graduate and where failure occurs, a supplementary practical training will take place during the inter-semester break of either the second year or third year.