as of 17 June 2010
Guidelines for SEP Study Plan
Professor Wang Qing-Guo,
ECE SEP Coordinator (Study Plan)
I. Preparation for your plan
Responsibilities: Each SEP student is responsible for knowing his/her own NUS
curriculum requirements. Be very clear about how your foreign modules stand with
respect to your breadth/depth requirements.
Match of Syllabuses: The syllabi of your overseas modules and mapped NUS
modules should be similar in terms of contents, contact manner, contact hours and
assessments. There should be at least 50% match for a mapping to be approved.
Approved mappings: Many modules at our SEP universities have been taken and
approved before and they are available at our ECE SEP website (click ‘University
Info.’, followed by ‘Past Students’). You can take as many approved modules as
possible to facilitate your study plan preparation. In your study plan submission,
mark this pre-approved module with an asterisk* and state “previously approved by
(student’s name)” in the remark column of your application (see Annex). You are
encouraged to contact some of the past students for guidance on the selection of
modules. They would be in the best position to offer you advice.
One-to-one mapping: We will by default assume a one-to-one mapping to NUS
subjects. Remember that a 4 MC NUS module over here, assumes you are spending
around 10 hours per week (much more than the formal contact time).
Group mapping: In exceptional circumstances, we may consider one foreign
module being mapped to two NUS modules, but only where the foreign university
itself awards double credits (in comparison with other modules). In some extreme
circumstances, mapping of n modules to n+m modules at NUS is possible if, say, 4
modules with each having workload equivalent to NUS 5 MCs may be napped to 5
NUS modules with a total of 20 MCs. The criteria are workload and module credits.
You need to provide necessary information to justify such abnormal mappings.
Examination: All courses taken while on SEP must be examined in the timeframe of
the student's stay and must appear on his/her transcript.
Award of NUS MCs: You will be awarded the equivalent NUS MCs for all modules
which you pass during SEP (in according to the standards of the partner university).
No MCs will be awarded for failed modules.
MC limits: Your workload during SEP should be approximately equivalent to what
you would do here in NUS. Hence, please take SEP university modules which are in
total equivalent to NUS 15-25 MCs, with an average of 20 MCs per semester. Do not
take too many modules abroad. Otherwise, you may end up failing the modules and
have to extend your candidature.
While preparing your study plan, you may not know exactly the contents
and timetable of the SEP university modules. As such, you may include
more modules in your study plan for approval than what you may actually do at the
SEP University. Please note that the approval of your study plan is given on the
basis that you cannot claim more than the maximum MCs permitted by NUS. Please
refer to the links below concerning the MC limits for SEP and S/U.
MCs and policy (2004 - 2006 cohorts)
1. Minimum and maximum number of MCs to be read in a semester is 15 and 25
respectively.
2. Minimum number of programme requirement modules to be taken in each
semester of SEP is 2.
3. For number of MCs excluded from CAP computation, please refer to
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/ugrad/SI_su_policies.html
MCs and policy (2007 cohort onwards)
1. Minimum and maximum number of MCs to be read in a semester is 15 and 25
respectively.
2. Minimum number of programme requirement modules to be taken in each
semester of SEP is 2.
3. For number of MCs excluded from CAP computation, please refer to
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/sep/Policy.htm
All MCs obtained during SEP are to be excluded from CAP.
For more information and FAQ on S/U grading option, please visit
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/ugrad/SI_su_policies.html
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/sep/Policy.htm.
CAP: All modules taken while on SEP are on ungraded basis hence will not affect
your CAP.
Core Modules: Try to do some of your compulsory core modules while you are on
SEP, specifically try to find an equivalent for EE2010 or EE2011.
Electives: You can do as many technical electives as you want while on SEP.
However irrespective of how many technical electives you did on SEP, you will be
required to do a minimum of 40% of ECE technical electives at NUS,
irrespective of whether you go on SEP for 1 or 2 semesters. The reason is that NUS
cannot fairly assess your performance to award honors classification when too
many technical electives were taken on ungraded basis. ECE technical electives are
of 2 types: breadth or depth technical elective. For rules and details on technical
electives refer to:
http://www.ece.nus.edu.sg/students/finalyr/finalyr.htm.
You are reminded to do a manual check of your modules by using the FFG checklist
http://www.ece.nus.edu.sg/students/finalyear.html to ensure that you fulfill all
graduation requirements. It is students’ responsibility to check and ensure that
modules requirements are met to fulfill the B.Eng. degree.
EE2001/EE3001: You are advised to try and do either EE2001 or EE3001 while
on SEP. Failing to do this will result in a heavier workload during the remainder of
your semesters. Based on past records it would be extremely challenging to do
either EE2001 or EE3001 together with EE4001, especially during the last stage of
the project execution.
 EE2001: The requirements for EE2001 (6 MCs) are strict. The proposed
module has to be largely a project-based module with at least 50% of the
assessment from the project. It also has to include some hardware or
integrated hardware/software design component.
 EE3001: We are more flexible with EE3001 mapping. If you are unable to
find a supervisor for EE3001, look at alternatives, including the possibility of
allowing you to take a suitable academic module as credit for EE3001. Find an
academic module in the field of project management, technology assessment,
or product development and submit the course description for approval.
General Level 3000 (breadth elective) and Level 4000 (depth elective): If
NUS does not offer an equivalent of a technical elective available at a partner
university, but the content deems relevant and of a suitable standard, a module may
be mapped to a general Level 3000 (breadth) elective or a Level 4000 (depth
elective). However, mapping too many modules to general electives should be
avoided, as this can give rise to students repeating some material in other modules
and getting credit for studying the same topic twice. Students should try to map to
one of our electives if at all possible, and reserve mapping to general electives only
in those cases where the content is not covered in any of our electives. In general,
students should have no more than two mappings to general electives. All EE3000 &
EE4000 modules are 4 MCs.
NUS Module Pre-requisite/Co-requisite: When you take modules at SEP, NUS
Module Prerequisite/Co-requisites is not imposed as the partner university may have
different curricular structure. You essentially bypass such pre-requisites/co-requisite.
For example, you may take EE2001 during SEP if you have not taken EE2007. But
when you do so, be aware of the risk of not being able to cope and failing the
module due to the lack of knowledge of pre-requisite/co-requisite
IA/OIA matters: Visit http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/undergrad/epmc/iap.html to
understand the matters and consult A/Prof Mansoor Bin Abdul Jalil as well as your
mentor/academic advisor (who is also your IA liaison officer). You'll need also to
structure your SEP + IA in line with your B.Eng requirements as described in the web
link above.
Unrestricted Elective Modules (UEM)/University Level Requirement (ULR):
You may take modules at the partner university to meet the requirements for UEM or
ULR.
GEM: It may be possible to take a GEM while on SEP. This is subject to availability
of suitable GEM module at the partner university with prior-approval from the GEM
Steering Committee at NUS.
Management/business modules: You may also take equivalents of the
management/business provided that you can find a suitable equivalent and subject
to approval by the department offering the module at NUS.
Minors: Normally, you cannot take minor modules while on SEP as regulations
stipulate that all minor modules must be graded. However, special approval for
minor modules while on SEP can be requested from the host department. If the host
department agrees to the mapping, then a student can take a maximum of two
modules to fulfill his/her minor requirements even though it is on an ungraded basis.
University Scholar Program: For mapping of USP modules, you will have to
download a copy of the USP SEP form at:
http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/studn_exchange/substitution.html and submit together
with the proposed module descriptions, to USP Student's Office (Blk ADM, level 6) at
least 1 month before departing for SEP. They will then submit the proposed module
form to the deanery for approval and inform you of the outcome. Please check with
the ECE USP Coordinator, Prof Xu Jianxin if you have queries regarding the types of
modules to be mapped for USP students.
Gap between NUS and partner university semesters: If the partner SEP
University has not confirmed your placement, you are advised to bid and register for
your modules. Your SEP status will be updated in accordance to your application in
OPAS, the modules that you've registered with NUS will automatically be dropped
and bid points will be refunded to you. This will take effect sometime in Week 3.
Please check your CORS account from time to time and inform Ms Marsita Sairan
should you still see modules in your CORS account. If you have secured a place at
the Partner University, you need not register for NUS modules for that semester.
Should the semester at the partner university end later and you are to resume your
NUS semester a few weeks late, you may continue to bid for modules and inform the
modules lecturers of your late return to NUS.
Extension of SEP is approved on a case-by-case basis. If you wish to do so you
have to indicate that you will undertake your own responsibility for your own B.Eng
Programme and graduation, and email us the correspondence from the Partner
University indicating their approval for your SEP extension to 2 semesters and that
they will not count it as an additional headcount on the exchange balances.
Leave of Absence (LOA): You do not have to apply for LOA. Your student status
will be updated according to your application in OPAS. Once you are on SEP status in
that particular semester, you will be unable to bid for modules through CORS. Please
ensure that you keep Ms Dawn Chia and Ms Marsita Sairan updated if there are any
changes to your SEP.
Local SEP: The main objectives of overseas SEP are to provide students with an
opportunity to experience a different culture, a different way of learning, thinking
and to build international networks. These objectives will probably not be served if a
student goes on local exchange. The merit of local exchange lies in the broadening of
the choice of modules offered to students. There may for example be some
interesting non-technical modules that a student may wish to take at SMU, or
suitable technical electives offered at NTU that are not available at NUS. Taking
modules for which a direct equivalent is offered at NUS would serve little purpose.
We wish to avoid situations where students exploit local exchange merely to enable
them to take more modules on S/U basis. It has been decided that FoE will only
accept applications for partial local SEP under the special conditions mentioned
above. Full exchange with students taking modules available at NUS offers limited
benefits and is therefore discouraged. To get approval of your proposed module
mappings for local SEP, you have to show in the remark column that the module at
partner University in terms of contents (not just title difference) is not available at
NUS, or essentially different from mapped NUS in terms of syllabuses. Further, the
number of modules which you are allowed to take is usually 1-2 for technical
modules, and at most 3 in total, including UEM/ULR modules.
Students on NOC Program: Students MUST abide strictly to the module
mappings in Sections A and B at NOC Programme - ECE mapping rules
These mappings in Sections A and B should not be included to the study plan for
dept’s approval and they cannot be changed or mapped to other modules again.
Only for C - DISCIPLINE-based courses, the mappings should be included in the
study plan and approvals must be sought from the Dept."
The list of pre-approved SOC module mapping is available from Tables 9, 10, 11 at
http://www.overseas.nus.edu.sg/forStudents_curriculum.htm.
For more details on NOC mapping, please refer to:
http://www.ece.nus.edu.sg/students/Special.html
http://www.ece.nus.edu.sg/students/secondyear.html
II. Application for Study Plan Approval
IMPORTANT NOTE: Submissions that do not comply with these guidelines
will be rejected.

Students are responsible for obtaining prior approval for each module mapping
from the right authority according to Table 1 below. Each module mapping MUST
be approved if you wish to transfer credits back to NUS. Failing to get prior
approval from the right authorities may cause your module credits to be nontransferable to NUS.

The module mappings for ECE modules or UEM dummy codes except for FASS
will be approved by the ECE department and should be submitted online at
http://www.ece.nus.edu.sg/intranet/SEPSP/index.asp. Table 2 below shows the
necessary information required for module mappings submission.

For all other mappings, students are to contact the relevant authorities
themselves for approval (refer to Table 1). These approvals are to be submitted
to Ms Marsita Sairan for records and credit transfer purposes.

You do not have to seek approval for modules that you read for enrichment
purposes only, ie. you have no intention of transferring the credits back to NUS.

All modules taken overseas will be excluded from CAP computation. Should you
wish to transfer the credits back to NUS, ensure that you do not violate the max.
number of MCs allowed to be excluded from CAP.

Approval of a mapping is necessary but not sufficient for credit transfer. It
becomes sufficient if the student passes the module and meets the rules on MCs
and whatever other rules are in force for your programme. The SEP coordinator
makes approval or rejection decision on a mapping purely based on his judgment
of contents match, regardless of these program rules. It is the student’s
responsibility to observe the rules and meet them, and in the case of doubt, they
should consult respective year coordinators.

If you wish to map a module to a specific NUS module, ensure that both modules
are similar in content/contact hours before submitting a request for mapping
approval. Trying to map Japanese 1 to French 1 is not going to work.

It is possible to map modules which are not available at NUS. A dummy code will
be issued by the approving authority for an approved module if there are no
similar modules from NUS to be mapped to.

If a mapping is not a one-to-one module map or involves unusual credit units
(other than normal 3 or 4 MCs), indicate this unique mapping in the remarks
column with explanation and justifications.

Please provide an English translation where applicable.

You should submit your requests in advance and allow at least 2 weeks for
module mapping results. Submitting a request last minute and pushing
constantly for the approval stating its urgency is not appreciated.
Table 1: Module mapping approving authorities

To seek for module mapping approval, please submit the appropriate mappings
to the relevant authorities shown in the table below.

Do not send duplicate mapping requests.
Module type
Authority
Read
University Level Requirements (ULR)
Host Department
Note f
Programme Requirements
Host Department
Note f
General Education Modules (GEM)
General Education Committee (GEC)
Note a
EC modules
FASS
Note e and f
Business Modules
Business School
Note c and f
EG Modules
Faculty
Note f
HR2002
Faculty
Note f and g
Unrestricted Elective Modules (UEM)
Host/Home Department
Note h and f
USP Modules
USP Office
Note b
Minor Modules
Host Department
Note f and i
Modules used to fulfill SARTOR
Faculty
Note d
NOTES:
a. Please refer to http://www.nus.edu.sg/gem/about_sep.htm for details and
mapping request form.
b. For mapping to USP modules, please refer to
http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/curr_studn/SEP/substitution.html.
c. The pre-approved list can be found at Business School’s website. You do not have
to seek approval again for modules on that website. For mapping to level 2000
and 3000 business modules, please attach your submission with
documentary proof to show that you have met the pre-requisites (if any)
of these higher level modules. Requests for mapping of modules that do not have
their pre-requisites met will not be considered.
d. The pre-approved list can be found at
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/ugrad/SI_sartor.html. If your SEP module is mapped
to modules on that list, that module will fulfill SARTOR. For modules not found on
that list, please fill up the relevant form in point f and send your requests to Ms
Dawn Chia indicating in your email that you wish to use this module to fulfill
SARTOR.
e. Please include a copy of your transcript/result slips as a supporting
document. Mapping for the following modules will not be approved:
EC1101E/EC1301
EC2101
EC2102
EC2303
EC3101
EC3102
EC3303
EC3304
EC4101
EC4102
f.
Fill up the relevant form(s) given below for modules offered by other
departments/faculties.
Module mapping request form for modules from the Faculty of Science - submit
to Ms Dawn Chia.
Module mapping request form for modules from the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences, excluding language modules. For mapping of language modules please
use the form found at http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cls/mapping.htm) - Modules at
the partner university must be graded. Submit to Ms Dawn Chia.
Module mapping request form for modules from School of Computing - submit
it to Ms Arifah (comnam@nus.edu.sg) at S16 Level 5 Room 8 (Undergraduate
Office)
Generic module mapping request form (use this form if none of the above forms
apply) - submit to Ms Dawn Chia.
g. Please read the course description for HR2002 and ensure substantial
compatibility in terms of content and focus before submitting a request using the
generic module mapping request form.
h. If the overseas module is a FASS related module and you wish to map it to a UEM
dummy code, FASS will do the approval.
If you wish to map an overseas module to a particular module at NUS, the host
department of the NUS module will do the approval.
For mapping a non-FASS related module to a UEM dummy code, please approach
your home department for the approval.
i.
Please check that the host of the minor allows you to read modules on SEP to
fulfill your minor requirements. If it is allowed, you can only use up to two
modules on SEP (please make sure that you get the module mapping approvals
as well) to fulfill your minor requirements.
Table 2 Online Submission of Module Mappings
When submitting the mappings online, the following information must be provided,
failing which your submission will either not go through or be rejected.

For Partner University’s module: Module Code, Module Title, Module Level,
Contact Hours, Modular Credits and Syllabus.

For NUS module to be mapped: Module Code, Module Title, Module Type Code,
Modular Credits (MC) and Syllabus.

Syllabus of all modules MUST be provided.

Indicate “Previously approved for (student’s name)” in the remarks column if the
mapping is taken from past approved study plans.
SAMPLE:
Name: Provide full name as registered with NUS
Matric No./ISIS Empl ID: U080000X / A0012345H
Program (EE or CPE): EE
Stage: Year 2
Specialization: Communications
SEP Status: Allocated by NUS
SEP Period: AY2010/2011 Sem 2
Partner University: University of Oulu
NUS Modules
Module Code: EE2001
Module Title: Project
Module Type Code: 11
Workload: 0-0-3-4-8
Modular Credits: 6
SEP Modules
Module Code: 521432A
Module Title: Electronics Design I
Module Level: intermediate
Workload: 40 hours lecture/ 20 hour exercise
Modular Credits: 5 ETCS credits
Syllabus:
Students will work in a team project to design and
build an electronic system involving both digital and
analog circuits with a good mix of hardware and
software components. They will go through steps of
conceptual system design, detailed technical
design, bread-board prototyping, PCB
implementation, system integration, testing &
debugging and demonstration of final working
model. The project work will be continuously
documented by each student in an individual
project design portfolio.
Syllabus:
Students learn basics of analog electronics
design. This course is follow-on Principles of
Electronics Design.
Frequency response, Differential amplifier,
Feedback, Output stages and power amplifiers,
Operational amplifier, Applications of
operational amplifier, Oscillators and Tuned
amplifiers.
Remarks:
For pre-approved modules, state - Previously approved for “Student’s name”
For new module mapping, state – New mapping
III. Submission of study plan and beyond
Upon approval of study plan: Upon receiving approval for all your module
mappings, submit the complete study plan to Ms Marsita Sairan at ECE Dept Office
(E4-05-45), who will verify before seeking endorsement from Prof Wang. Do not
submit the plan to Prof Wang or approach him for signature. You will be informed to
collect the study plan for further submission to the Faculty/Partner University
thereafter. Submit at least 2 weeks in advance.
Change of study plan: Do not prepare a study plan with different alternatives.
Make a module selection. But if at some later stage, even after you have arrived at
the partner university, you need to make changes, revise your study plan and resubmit for approval. Please note that if you do not submit changes for
approval, un-approved modules may not be credited to NUS MCs.
Registration of modules at Partner University: Ensure that all mappings are
approved before you officially register at the partner university, if credit transfer is
imperative. Otherwise you might run the risk of not being able to transfer any
credits back.
Credit Transfer and submission of SEP transcripts: Upon your return, fill out
the mapping form and hand it together with the original transcript from the partner
university to Ms Marsita Sairan at the ECE Dept Office (E4-05-45).
If you
experience problems in obtaining your transcript, print out the on-line results;
ensure that your name appears clearly. Upon checking and endorsement by the
Department, Registrar’s Office will be informed to credit the modules that you have
passed on SEP - this will take at least 2 weeks. It is advised that you submit the
documents as early as possible so that you can earn all your MCs before module
registration commences for the new semester.