ECTS is the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System which is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of a higher education (for this section, see ECTS Users' Guide.


Following the Bologna Declaration, Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship has adopted the ECTS for all levels of study, in order to facilitate student mobility at international level and to provide transparency and recognition of its study programs. The aims of ECTS are to facilitate student mobility at international level; to ensure the transparency that would provide higher education institutions with additional information about student performance; to ensure that periods of study abroad are recognized in the students’ home country; and to provide model rules of application based on the transparency of the study programs and the success of the students to regulate academic recognition.


ECTS credits express the volume of learning based on the defined learning outcomes and their associated workload. Total of 60 ECTS credits is allocated to the learning outcomes and associated workload of a full-time academic year, which normally comprises a number of educational components to which credit (on the basis of the learning outcomes and workload) are allocated. At the Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship, ECTS credits are expressed in whole numbers.


European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is based on the principle of transparency of learning, teaching and assessment process. Its objective is to facilitate planning, delivery, and evaluation of study programs and student mobility by recognizing learning achievements and qualifications and periods of learning. The Catalogue Course includes information on ECTS credits allocated to different courses.
According to Serbian Law on Higher Education. Academic credit system in Serbia and at Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship is as follows:


Basic academic studies shall carry:
At the study program Business economy and entrepreneurship minimum of 180 ECTS credits during the bachelor academic studies.
At the study program Economy, Finance and Insurance minimum of 240 ECTS during the undergraduate academic studies.
At the study program Law minimum of 240 ECTS credits during the undergraduate academic studies.


Master academic studies shall carry:
At the study program Business economy and entrepreneurship minimum of 120 ECTS credits, where a total of 180 ECTS credits have been previously earned during the undergraduate/bachelor academic studies.
At the study program Economy, Finance and Insurance minimum of 60 ECTS credits, where a total of 240 ECTS credits have been previously earned during the undergraduate academic studies.


The methodology used at Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship to allocate credits to different course units is defined by Serbian Law on Higher Education and approved by Commission of Accreditation and Quality Assurance.


Each course within a study program or short program is assigned a corresponding number of ECTS credits, while the scope of the study is expressed by aggregate ECTS credits.
A total ECTS credits corresponds to an average total input of a student of a 40-hour work week during an academic year. Overall activities of a student include active teaching courses (lectures, exercises, seminars, etc.), autonomous work, preliminary exams (colloquia), exams, writing final papers, voluntary work in a local community and other forms of involvement.


Voluntary work means work of a student without remuneration, organized by a higher education institution on projects of significance to the local community, which is evaluated within the system of higher education.
The total number of hours of active teaching classes may not be lower than 600 hours per academic year, which means that 1 ECTS credit is approximately equal to 10 hours of active teaching classes.
The academic year at the Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship is divided into a Winter and a Summer semester. Each semester consists of 15 weeks of teaching and of exam periods defined by academic calendar adopted for each academic year. Methods of assessment are based on written and oral examinations, coursework and assignments.

Application and recognition of ECTS

The mobility of students means that students will accomplish part of their studying program (for one trimester, one semester or one year) at foreign higher education institution that Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship has a Cooperation Agreement with.

The mobility of Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship students is achieved through programs of bilateral cooperation with foreign higher education institutions, as well as through inter-institutional agreements of Erasmus+ program.

According to the Regulations of rules for studying at master studies and Department for International Department Office is giving:
 
GUIDELINE AND PROCEDURE FOR ORGANIZING MOBILITY OF STUDENTS

Basic documents that are enabling mobility of students on master studies, as well as transfer and recognition of ECTS credits that are gained on other higher education institutions, are:

• Student application form
• Learning Agreement
• Transcript of records

Procedure for organizing mobility of Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship (VSPEP) students is done in the following way:

FIRST STEP – COMPETITION, SELECTION AND MOBILITY AGREEMENT
Students can apply for different Programs of Mobility, which are approved by our Faculty, at other foreign universities and institutions with which BEE has signed bilateral cooperation agreements.
Students can get information’s about possible mobility programs through official International Department website (Erasmus+ programs) on which they can find competition info. Only those students that are meeting all requested requirements have the right to apply for them. Once the student applies for the competition, special Commission (Evaluation commission) will go through selection the process. For each kind of student’s mobility, there will be public information about Commission members. Commission also has a liability, besides consideration and selection of the application of student’s documentation, to have an oral interview with candidates. Consideration of applications and selection of candidates is done in a transparent way and in a fair manner. After public announcement of Commission decision is made, students have a right to file a Complaint within 7 days after the date of Decision. The Commission is permanent. In the event that one of the members of the commission is part of the mobility then a new member of the commission is elected. The members of the commission are elected from the teaching/non-teaching staff of the BEE.
Students of the Faculty of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship who are applying for mobility programs abroad are obliged to file following documents when applying for mobility program:

• Application Form – that is given by a foreign university
• Copy of passport
• Proposal plan of studying that is given by Regulation of mobility (this applies only to Erasmus+ program)
• The list of passed exams at home faculty
• The certificate of regular curse attendance at home faculty

Confirmation/proof of knowledge of English language – B2 level is at least required. For those purposes, students can give official certificate or confirmation coming from English language teacher from their faculty.
All requested documentation needs to be delivered to the Centre of International Cooperation.
After finishing the process of selection and choosing candidates, selected applications are sent to the university abroad that will be a host for BEE students. Only after host university accepts BEE student/students, candidates are fulfilling Learning Agreement in which it is stated what are the subjects that the students will attend and pass the exam at host university during the mobility program.
If the student is applying for mobility within Erasmus network, then he/she needs to bring fulfilled application form to the Centre of International Cooperation that is published on the website of BEE (https://vspep.edu.rs/internationalisation/ ). Learning Agreement is defined by Erasmus+ program, and students are signing those agreements after they are accepted by the host university. The student that will go to the host university, needs to bring a copy of Acceptance letter/Invitation letter to the ICD as an evidence of acceptance before the mobility starts.

SECOND STEP – RECOGNITION OF ECTS POINTS
After official acceptance comes from the host university/faculty (through written confirmation of acceptance), students will sign Learning Agreement that states the subjects that the students choose and pass exams at the host university during mobility program.
Recognition of ECTS points is only referred to Erasmus+ program.
Basic document that will enable recognition and transcript of ECTS points that are acquired at other higher education institution are:

• Learning Agreement
• Transcript of Records
   

It is necessary for a student to sign a Learning Agreement for every type of Mobility (I, II and III) in order to have a credit transfer (that they acquired at home universities or faculties).
Learning Agreement can be changed in first 30 days after the student arrives at a foreign institution, and the agreement must be signed by three parties: student, student’s home faculty official representative and host faculty official.
Coordinator of Erasmus+ program at the faculty level, has a responsibility to look through curriculum and syllabus of subjects at host university/faculty before the student goes there, in order to choose those subjects that will be the best match to curriculum and syllabus of subjects at home faculty. Besides that, the student can choose subjects that are not compatible with his/hers home faculty program, and those subjects (ECTS) will be put in the diploma supplement. The student will get written decisions that are certified by Vice Director at the home faculty, and recognition is a done by home student service.
When the student is choosing which subjects he/she wants to attend at the host university, he/she needs to collect at least 20 ECTS and at the most 30 ECTS.
Once student’s service has a positive recognition of one subject at one of the host universities, that case will be used for all other recognitions in the upcoming period.
After the mobility, the student is obliged to come to CIC office maximum 30 days after he/she returns, and they need to deliver:
Transcript of records given by host institution:
Translation of Transcript of records that are certified by official court translator (except in cases when the Transcript is given in English, Montenegrin, Bosnian or Croatian language)
Petition for recognition of exams:
Recognition of exams and transcript of ECTS is done according to the Learning Agreement and Transcript of records certified by the host institution. Recognition of descriptive grade from the host institution is done according to the system of grading defined by Serbian law for higher education and it is given on the next page of this document.