New joint degrees/joint study programmes

In the case of joint degrees, participating departments jointly issue diplomas, while joint study programmes are collaborations where a single institution issues the diploma. Guidelines for diplomas for joint degrees are apparent from UiB’s Study Regulations.

The procedures pursuant to section 16.1 largely apply to the establishment of joint degrees and joint study programmes, but work generally takes longer because the programme must be approved by several educational institutions. For this reason, approval must sometimes be given by the University Board at other times of the year than the ordinary routines described in 16.1 for programme establishment at the university. In the case of joint study programmes, it is one of the participating institutions that creates the programme that has the formal responsibility for running the programme and awarding the degree, but with significant input from the other participants.

For joint study programmes where UiB is the institution awarding the degree, UiB’s quality assurance system applies. For joint degrees UiB’s quality assurance system applies to those courses UiB offers. In addition, dedicated guidelines must be drawn up for quality assurance at the programme level, based on the participating institutions’ quality systems and international standards. Exhaustive rules for joint degrees are available in the document “Guidelines for developing and operating joint degrees”, available on UiB’s website.