PECS: Academic Information

Academic calendar

The calendar for 2010-2011 can be found here.

The calendar for 2011-2012 can be found here

Course offerings

Although our students might be psychology, history, I.R, philosophy… majors at K.U.Leuven they will be registered as a student of the Study Abroad Programme in European Culture and Society at the Faculty of Arts.

The PECS core courses with a focus on European Culture and Society are:

• The Low Countries at the Crossroads of European History (F0GA4A and F0VK2A) - I. Uddin
• International Relations and European Integration since WWII (F0GA3A and F0VL6A) - S. Sterkx
• Institutions and Policy of the European Union (F0GA2A) &
  Historic developments and current issues in European institutions and
  policy issues (F0VK6A) - S. Hermans
• Flemish Art and European Culture (F0GA1A) - J. Van der Stock
• Comparative European Literature (F0GA0A) - H. Schwall
• Literature, Religion and Art in Europe: an interdisciplinary approach (F0VL7A) - H. Schwall

In addition to the PECS core courses our students can take courses offered by different departments and faculties at K.U.Leuven. 

A preview of the courses for the academic year 2011-2012 is available here

Course Load

To qualify as a full-time student for immigration purposes our (non-EEA) students must gather 54-60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) per year. Semester students need a minimum 27-30 ECTS.

The student's course selection has to be discussed with the appropriate advisor in his/her undergraduate school as well. It is the student's responsibility to assure that courses taken at K.U.Leuven will receive credit at the home college or university.

Selecting Courses

Most Belgian students in their third year of university study have fixed programs of study with little choice of classes. Our PECS students, however, have considerable choice. This means that they have an opportunity to "shop around" and find exactly the courses they want to take. In turn, such "shopping" means that they will attend the first classes of a large number of courses in order to see what they involve. We advise our students to always attend the first class of any course that they might take, simply so that they will know what the professor requires. This is critical!

Language Courses

Courses in foreign languages (i.e. not Dutch) are taught at the Center for Living Languages (CLT). If a student wants to take courses in a language at anything beyond the introductory level, they need to take a placement test. Our students must register for these courses immediately upon arrival in Leuven and should see the Coordinator as soon as possible if they intend to register at the CLT.

"Dutch for foreigners" language courses are available at the Leuven Language Institute (ILT). As for other languages, students who are interested in taking one of these courses should register immediately upon arrival in Leuven.

Registration for courses

On the application form, students will need to fill out the courses that they intend to take at K.U.Leuven. The course selection has to be approved by both KULeuven and the home institution.

Students can still add or change courses during the first few weeks in Leuven, but each change needs to be approved by the programme coordinator and the home institution. This is to avoid students taking classes for which they do not have the necessary background knowledge or prerequisites. To add courses or change the course selection the add/change form needs to be filled out.

Dropping courses is possible. No withdrawal is possible after the drop deadline.

The necessary forms will be distributed during the academic infosession, and can also be downloaded from our bulletin board on Blackboard.

Prerequisites and Special Permission Courses

Some of the courses offered through the programme are only open to students that meet the necessary prerequisites.

For several of the advanced courses (primarily in business, psychology, philosophy) students need a "special permission to take the course".

PECS wants its students to successfully complete every course they take in Leuven and therefore will be very strict in this matter.

Attendance in Class

PECS students may have heard that many students in Europe do not attend classes regularly. This is true of many students in the first two years of study, and it is the main reason why 53% of them drop out of University after two years. It is not true for upperclassmen, and hence our students are strongly advised to adapt to this situation. This is especially urgent in courses with a small number of students, where absence will be quickly noticed and may have an adverse impact on the final grade.

In seminars attendance is obligatory: three unjustified absences can result in exclusion from participating in the exams. Attendance at language courses is also obligatory.

Exam regulation at K.U.Leuven

At K.U.Leuven there are 2 official exam periods for yearlong students: the first period in February, and the second period in June/July. For international semester students leaving before the Christmas break there is an exceptional exam period during the last week before the break.

Many exams at K.U.Leuven are oral. In many courses, the one exam will form the entire basis for a student's grade. The first criterion in all exams is that the student knows the material; the second is whether he/she is creative and innovative on the basis of that material. Exam information sessions will be held in December and May by PECS. K.U.Leuven also organises general information sessions on exam regulations, ombuds, expectations from professors, etc. These K.U.Leuven sessions will be announced through the E-Newsletter.

Official exam arrangements are only made by the PECS office. For several reasons students can not make individual arrangements with their professors.

No holiday arrangements or arrangements to fly back home made before the exam schedule is final and complete will be accepted as a valid reason to change the official exam arrangement in case an exam is scheduled for a certain day after the student's planned departure.

Grading Scale: Transcript Interpretation

Pass/Fail

Students do not have the option to take a course on a Pass/Fail basis at K.U.Leuven. However, should the home university grant permission to take a course Pass/Fail we would like to note the following:

Passing grade at K.U.Leuven: 20-10 (A through C)
Failing grade at K.U.Leuven: 9 and below (D through F)

Studying

As our students will soon notice, higher education in Belgium (and most of Europe) is structured differently from that in the United States or Canada, where most of our students come from. A much smaller percentage of the general population goes on to University or College. Some of their predecessors have stated that in Leuven they learned what it means to be a student. Here our students will be able to devote considerable time to subjects of their interest, without being bothered by the constant pressure of quizzes, midterms, papers etc. Here they will have the time to follow up on suggestions offered in class by your professors (this may be useful for exams). Here self-motivation is indispensable.

It is of vital importance that our students attend the classes and keep up with the material, so that at exam time they will not be taxed to the point of total exhaustion or fail some courses and thus lose credits. Again, the final grade often depends on that one exam. Experience teaches that if you do not keep up with the material, you will not be able to take all the exams at the end of the semester or year.

Although your achievements and behavior reflect primarily your own person, they also represent your home University or College, and by extension your home country. During your residence in Leuven and your enrollment at K.U.Leuven, you are an ambassador for the College and for your country.