Policies and Procedures
Policies
Course Transfer Policy
BITC International College (BITC) is committed:
- To communicate BITC’s Course Transfer Policy and Procedure to all students.
- To process the ‘Request for Transfer’ only if:
- The student submit a duly completed ‘Request for Transfer’ form with valid reason(s) and if the student is below 18 years of age, the parent or guardian’s approval for the transfer request will be required.
- The student meets the admission requirements for the course he wants to transfer into
- There is available place in that course.
- To perform Pre-course Counselling to student on the new course.
- To brief the student on the implication of his/her Student’s Pass.
- To complete the processing of ‘Request for Transfer’ within 4 weeks for locally developed courses and within 8 weeks for courses collaborated with external partner.
Course Withdrawal Policy
BITC is committed:
- To communicate BITC’s Course Withdrawal Policy and Procedure to all students.
- To process the ‘Request for Withdrawal’ only if the student submits a duly completed ‘Request for Withdrawal’ form with valid reason(s) and if the student is below 18 years of age, the parent or guardian’s approval for the transfer request will be required.
- To brief the student on the implication of his/her Student’s Pass.
- To ensure any refund entitlement (based on BITC’s Refund Policy) resulted from the withdrawal request is calculated based on the Refund Policy. All qualified refund shall be approved by the Executive Director, School of Higher Education. All refund shall be completed within 7 working days from the date of withdrawal request.
- BITC shall complete the withdrawal request within 4 weeks from the date of the withdrawal request.
Deferment Policy
BITC International College (BITC) is committed to:
- Not accept any request for ‘Deferment of Course’. Any prospective student who had enrolled into a course offered by BITC but unable to start on the course commencement date is deem to have withdrawn the enrollment.
- Communicate BITC’s Deferment Policy and Procedure to all students.
- Process the request for Deferment, the student is required to submit a duly completed ‘Deferment Request form’ with valid reason(s) and if the student is below 18 years of age, the parent or guardian’s approval for the deferment request will be required.
- To communicate the maximum allowable duration of 12 months for deferment of modules.
- To brief the student on the implication of his/her Student’s Pass.
- To complete the processing of deferment request within 4 weeks for locally developed courses and within 8 weeks for courses collaborated with external partner.
Refund Policy
BITC International College (BITC) is committed to handle refund of course fees arising from the below situations in a timely manner:
- Refund for withdrawal due to Non-delivery of Course
BITC will notify the student within three (3) working days upon the knowledge of any of the following (each a “Refund Event”):
- It cannot commence the provision of the Course on the Course Commencement Date;
- It cannot complete the provision of the course by the Course Completion Date;
- It terminated the Course before the Course Completion Date;
- The student does not meet the course entry or matriculation requirements as stated in Schedule A of the Student Contract.
- The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (the “ICA”) rejects the Student’s application for the Student Pass.
Where any of the Refund Events in Clause B1(a),(b) & (c) has occurred, upon termination of the Student Contract, BITC shall refund the student the following amount within 7 working days of the termination:
- For Clause B1a, refund all Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees paid by the student;
- For Clause B1b, refund the Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees in proportion to the uncompleted portion or duration of the course, whichever is higher.
- For Clause B1c, refund the Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees in proportion to the uncompleted portion or duration of the course, whichever is higher.
For Clause B1d and Clause B1e, student does not pay any Course Fees nor Miscellaneous Fees as these fees are only paid after the Student Pass application is approved by ICA and the Student Contract has been signed by both BITC and the Student. Therefore, refund does not occur in BITC under Clause B1d and B1e.
- Refund During Cooling-Off Period
BITC will provide the Students with a cooling-off period of ten (10) days after the date that the Student Contract has been signed by both the student and BITC. The student shall be entitled to, without any liability whatsoever to BITC, forthwith terminate the Student Contract at any time within the Cooling-Off Period, BITC shall refund to the student all Course Fees and miscellaneous Fees paid within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the written notice to terminate the Student Contract.
- Refund for Withdrawal Outside the Cooling-Off Period
If the Student Contract is terminated at any time after the Cooling-Off Period and before the course completion Date, upon receipt of the termination notice, BITC shall refund the student within seven (7) working days the amount as determined in accordance with the Refund Table as listed under Schedule D of the Student Contract.
- Refund Table
The amount refundable when the students’ written notice of withdrawal is received is indicated in the table below:
% of [the aggregate amount of the fees paid under Schedules B and C] | If student’s written notice of withdrawal is received |
80% | More than 30 days before the Course Commencement Date |
10% | On or before, but not more than 30 days before the Course Commencement Date |
0% | After, but not more than 7 days after the Course Commencement Date |
0% | More than 7 days After the Course Commencement Date |
Definition of Fees
Fees refer to all monies paid to BITC by the student to be enrolled into a course provided by BITC. Fees are categorized as:
- Application Fee (Non-Refundable)
- Course Fees
- Miscellaneous Fee
- Application Fee
Application fee, which the student pays to BITC for the sole purpose of processing the application form submitted so that the College can check if the student meets the course admission requirements is non-refundable.
- Miscellaneous Fee
Miscellaneous fees refer to any non-compulsory fees potentially chargeable by BITC on account of, or arising from, the Student’s undertaking of the course, and as described in Schedule C of the Student Contract.
Dispute Resolution Policy
- A dispute could arise from any of the following:
- Complaint resolution that is unacceptable to the complainant
- Complaints that are unresolved after 21 working days
- Appeals submitted for suspensions and expulsion.
- BITC International College (BITC) is committed to resolve dispute matter regardless of whichever dispute resolution channel the student had chosen such as:
- SSG/CPE Mediation-Arbitration Scheme; or
- Small Claims Tribunal (SCT), for clear cut refund issues of equivalent or less than S$20,000; or
Note: For amount that exceed SGD$20,000 but is below SGD$30,000, the claim can still proceed with SCT if both parties consent to it in writing - Students’ own legal counsel.
Discipline Policy
- Abide by Singapore Laws and Student Code of Conduct
At BITC, students are expected to maintain and uphold the highest standards of integrity and honesty in line with respect of self, respect of others, and abide by the Singapore laws and the BITC’s Student Code of Conduct.
- Disciplinary Measures
The Disciplinary Policy sets out the disciplinary measures that BITC will take against the student when he/she had committed an offence. The disciplinary measures shall be implemented in the form of intervention measures (excepted. Expulsion/Termination of study) in the following order:
- 1st Counselling
- 1st Warning
- 2nd Warning (Final Warning)
- Expulsion/Termination of Study
- For Serious/Major Offence
The order of implementing disciplinary measures will be determined by the seriousness of the offence. Student may be subjected to the most serious disciplinary measure ‘Expulsion/Termination of Study’ for major offences but not limited to the following:
- Breaking a Singapore law such as theft, fighting, possession of dangerous weapon
- Illegal working
- Assault
- Drug related offences
- Sexual misconduct such as sexual assault, outrage of modesty and voyeuristic act
- Bullying / Harassment
- Non-compliance to Student Code of Conduct
- Student’s Pass Holder absent for more than 7 continuous days
- Others
- For Minor Offences
Student who had committed a minor offence shall be subjected to the disciplinary measures as mentioned under Clause Bi2.
Examples of minor offences:
- Failure to achieve minimum attendance rate
- Late for attending lessons
- Untidy dressing
- Others
- Effectiveness of Disciplinary Measures
BITC shall evaluate the effectiveness of disciplinary measures in January of each year for the previous year.
Student Attendance Policy
- Attendance Requirements for Student’s Pass Holders
- All Student’s Pass Holders must achieve a minimum attendance rate of 90% per month as required by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA). The minimum attendance rate is calculated on a cumulative basis. Any student whose cumulative attendance rate falls below 90% at any one time shall be subject to disciplinary measure as mentioned under Clause Bi2.
- BITC is obliged to cancel the Student’s Pass for those students who are absence for lesson for a continuous 7 days.
- Attendance Requirement to Qualify for Assessment
Student must achieve a minimum of 75% attendance rate per month to qualify for the module assessment (assignment). Student who has failed to achieve the minimum of 75% attendance rate per month will be barred from assessment and will be considered as has failed the module assessment. This student will be required to re-module.
- Intervention Measures
BITC shall subject those students who have failed to meet the attendance requirements to the stipulated intervention measures as mentioned under the disciplinary measures (Clause Bi2.)
- Evaluation for Effectiveness of Intervention Measures
BITC shall evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention measures in January of each year for the previous year.
Ethical Behaviour Policy
All staff shall adhere to the Ethical behaviour Policy as follow:
- Interact with others in a manner which shows professionalism, integrity and respect regardless of race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disease, disability, or physical characteristics such as gender, colour, height, weight , hair colour, etc.
- Deal honestly with others and address those whose behaviors are inappropriate, show a lack of professionalism conduct or judgement, or who engage in fraud or deception.
- Abide by the laws of Singapore.
- Respect the rights of people including the right to confidentiality and safeguard personal confidences within the restrains of the law and Colleges’ policies and procedures.
- Continue to study, supply and advance knowledge; suggest feedback; and adopt best practices of others for continual improvement to college processes.