School of Environmental

WASTE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY 

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

The School of Environmental and Waste Management takes a particular approach to European students and, therefore, applies the Bologna-system of three-tier education (Bachelor, Master, Doctorate) and the European Credits Transfer System (ECTS) in the conduct of studies. One full study year corresponds with 1,500 real time hours of learning, earning a student 60 ECTS credits.

Bachelor´s Degrees:

BA in Professional Studies with specialisation (applies to various individualised and corporate programmes)

BSc with specialisation (applies to taught programmes with/without partner providers)

BBA with specialisation (applies to BBA graduates with a specialisation in the respective study area of environmental and waste management)

Degree requirements: 180 ECTS credits

Master´s Degrees:

MA in Professional Studies with specialisation (applies to various individualised and corporate programmes) – professional university degree for professional doctorate admission

MSc with specialisation (applies to taught programmes with/without partner providers) – research university degree for research doctorate admission

MBA with specialisation (applies to BBA graduates with a specialisation in the respective study area of environmental and waste management) – professional degree for professional doctorate admission

MA or MSc double degree programme with MBA degree – two awards:

MBA Programmes can be offered as double degree programmes with WWEDU degrees, accredited Austrian (EU) degree programmes – MBA in General Management. Students can, therefore, earn their Master degree with UCN in Nicaragua and their MBA degree with WWEDU in Austria

. Two continents, two accreditations and recognitions in two study areas.

Degree requirements: 90- 120 ECTS credits

Doctoral Degrees:

The regulations of UCN PI apply to doctoral degree programmes. Graduates of our professional Master programmes are admitted to professional doctoral research programmes, scientific MSc graduates are admitted to the research PhD programme offered by UCN PI.

We apply the ECTS European Credit Transfer System for all our courses and degree programmes.

All degrees are issued along with the Transcript of Records and the Diploma Supplement in accordance with ECTS-regulations.

The following quotation can be found on the ECTS website 

"Ministers stress the important role played by the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in facilitating student mobility and international curriculum development. They note that ECTS is increasingly becoming a generalised basis for the national credit systems. They encourage further progress with the goal that the ECTS becomes not only a transfer but also an accumulation system, to be applied consistently as it develops within the emerging European Higher Education Area."

From the Berlin Communiqué of Ministers responsible for Higher Education, September 20.03 (Bologna Process).

ECTS KEYWORDS

What is a credit system?

A credit system is a systematic way of describing an educational programme by attaching credits to its components. The definition of credits in higher education systems may be based on different parameters, such as student workload, learning outcomes and contact hours.

How did ECTS develop?

ECTS was introduced in 19.89, within the framework of Erasmus, now part of the Socrates programme. ECTS is the only credit system which has been successfully tested and used across Europe. ECTS was set up initially for credit transfer. The system facilitated the recognition of periods of study abroad and thus enhanced the quality and volume of student mobility in Europe. Recently ECTS is developing into an accumulation system to be implemented at institutional, regional, national and European level. This is one of the key objectives of the Bologna Declaration of June 19.99.

Why introduce ECTS?

ECTS makes study programmes easy to read and compare for all students, local and foreign. ECTS facilitates mobility and academic recognition. ECTS helps universities to organise and revise their study programmes. ECTS can be used across a variety of programmes and modes of delivery. ECTS makes European higher education more attractive for students from abroad.

What are the key features of ECTS?

• ECTS is based on the principle that 60 credits measure the workload of a full-time student during one academic year. The student workload of a full-time study programme in Europe amounts in most cases to around 1,500-1,800 hours per year and in those cases one credit stands for around 25 to 30 working hours.

• Credits in ECTS can only be obtained after successful completion of the work required and appropriate assessment of the learning outcomes achieved. Learning outcomes are sets of competences, expressing what the student will know, understand or be able to do after completion of a process of learning, long or short.

• Student workload in ECTS consists of the time required to complete all planned learning activities such as attending lectures, seminars, independent and private study, preparation of projects and examinations.

• Credits are allocated to all educational components of a study programme (such as modules, courses, placements, dissertation work, etc.) and reflect the quantity of work each component requires to achieve its specific objectives or learning outcomes in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of study successfully.

• The performance of the student is documented by a local/national grade. It is good practice to add an ECTS grade, in particular in case of credit transfer. The ECTS grading scale ranks the students on a statistical basis. Therefore, statistical data on student performance is a prerequisite for applying the ECTS grading system.

What are the key documents of ECTS?

• The regular Information Package/Course Catalogue of the institution to be published in the local/national language and in English (or only in English for programmes taught in English) on the Web and/or in hard copy in one or more booklets. The Information Package/Course Catalogue must contain the items of the checklist including information for host students from abroad.
• The Learning Agreement contains the list of courses to be taken with the ECTS credits which will be awarded for each course. This list must be agreed by the student and the responsible academic body of the institution concerned. In the case of credit transfer, the Learning Agreement has to be agreed by the student and the two institutions concerned before the student’s departure and updated immediately when changes occur.
• The Transcript of Records documents the performance of a student by showing the list of courses taken, the ECTS credits gained, local or national credits, if any, local grades and possibly ECTS grades awarded. In the case of credit transfer, the Transcript of Records has to be issued by the home institution for outgoing students before departure and by the host institution for incoming students at the end of their period of study.

What is the Diploma Supplement (DS)?

The Diploma Supplement is a document attached to a higher education diploma providing a standardised description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were successfully completed by the graduate. The Diploma Supplement provides transparency and facilitates academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates).

Source: EU ECTS Website