Tutor information

Information sources

• Help for our information system (IS) - if you are confused about, for example, course registration, timetable, etc.
• Schedule of classes for individual academic years (schedule of classes and exam periods in semesters)
• Department of study affairs and organization
• Study-related regulations and forms (read especially the Study and Examination Regulations)

Access to MS Teams

For the purpose of hybrid teaching (illness, Erasmus trip abroad or other reasons why the student cannot be physically present at the lesson) it is possible to agree with the teacher on the use of MS Teams. Or it can be used for project submissions, online consultations, etc.

MS Teams is available in several forms: desktop or mobile apps (ask Google for "ms teams download"), or you can use web access (teams.microsoft.com). Note that MS Teams may already be installed on Windows, but in the lite edition, it needs to be reinstalled.

The login name is your CRO identifier (three letters at the beginning of your last name and then a number, for example Mr Primula would have the identifier pri0001) followed by the string @ad.slu.cz, so for example pri0001@ad.slu.cz, password as for IS.

After logging in, you should see a list of "teams" that have been made available to you. There are two ways to access a team/course:

• a teacher will add you to the team manually,
• you will be given a code to use for access - in the Teams environment, look for the link "Join a team...".

For first-year students

• You must register for courses worth a total of approximately 30 credits for the first (winter) semester. Focus on courses recommended for this semester/year.
• When registering for courses in subsequent semesters, including the second semester, please take care not to register for a course that you will not be able to complete (theoretically, this should not be possible, but no information system is infallible). This can happen if, for some reason, you fail a course that is a prerequisite for the course you are registering for.
• If you know that you will not be able to take some exams during the exam period and you are deciding which ones to "skip," try to take mainly the courses that you are repeating, as well as those courses that are followed by other courses (usually compulsory). If you recklessly ignore a course that has follow-up courses, you will cause yourself the following problems:
1. you will make your studies more complicated (or prolong your studies),
2. you might have issues with your timetable,
3. In addition, you will lose not only the credits from the omitted course, but also the credits from the follow-up courses, and there is a possibility that you will not have enough credits for the academic year (minimum of 40 completed credits per year), which means the end of your studies.

Which subjects (courses) to enroll in

When registering for courses, we primarily follow the course recommendations for specific years. This recommendation is taken into account when creating the timetable, so there is only a small chance that we will not be able to attend lectures for the registered course.

Seminar groups

If a course has a seminars or exercises, you must select a seminar group when registering for that course. Seminar groups are especially important if there are several different timetable options for a course, as it must be clear which teaching group you will belong to. If you do not select a seminar group in the timetable, you will not see the time slot for the seminar/exercise.

Some courses have lectures and seminars or exercises. This is most confusing for students because after enrolling in a course, they "see" it in their timetable (but only the lecture) and do not realize that they still have to choose the location of the seminar or exercise. For example, for these subjects, you need to get the lecture into your schedule and one of several exercises or seminars, so you will have a 2-hour lecture and a 2-hour exercise/seminar:

• Computer Geometry and Computer Graphics I
• Deep Learning
• Development of Information Systems I

Credit limits

• A minimum of 40 credits must be earned during each year of study except the final year; credits for courses accepted from other studies do not count.
• A minimum of 180 credits must be earned over the entire duration of the Bachelor's degree, including courses accepted from other studies.
• A minimum of 120 credits must be earned over the entire duration of the follow-up Master's degree, including courses accepted from other studies..

In each study program, you have compulsory elective subjects divided into groups. Each group has minimum requirements for completion, for example, there may be a condition that "at least 12 credits must be earned." For each group of compulsory elective subjects, check whether you meet this condition, otherwise you will not be able to complete your studies properly.

Cisco courses

Students have the opportunity to take Cisco computer networking and security courses, which is one of the world's largest companies operating (not only) in the field of information technology. The courses are usually held in the Cisco lab (classroom B5).

Software for students

University students have free access to some applications that would otherwise be paid for, especially from Microsoft. What you might need:

• Development tools, database systems, etc.:
  • Go to https://aka.ms/devtoolsforteaching
  • You must log in with your university information system login credentials, including your organization (Silesian University). I recommend writing the state by hand (the list is not in alphabetical order). You will probably have to go through organization verification, including solving a puzzle to prove you are not a robot...
  • You get into the MS Azure environment, the software is hidden under Tutorials or similar.
• MS Office and other similar tools:
  • Go to https://www.office.com
  • Log in with your login details for the university information system, including your organisation (Silesian University).
  • If you get lost in the environment, look for the Applications icon (left).
• Embarcadero C++ Builder is an excellent environment for developers, including the option of rapid application development (RAD). Although it is commercial software, students can use it free of charge (after registration) in the form of Community Edition. You can use Community Edition as long as you do not earn more than USD 5,000 per year by programming.
  • https://www.embarcadero.com/products/cbuilder (information)
  • https://www.embarcadero.com/products/cbuilder/starter/free-download (registration, download)

Master theses and state examinations

Assigning final theses

It is a good idea to think about the topics of your final theses (bachelor's and master's theses) in advance, just because "the early bird catches the worm."

Who can be the thesis supervisor (or who to go to for the topic):

• bachelor's thesis: with the title doc, prof (both before the name), Ph.D. (after the name), assistant professor (check with me or the secretary to see who is considered),
• Master's thesis: with the title doc, prof (both before the name) or Ph.D. (after the name).

Preparation of final thesis

For a project of this scope, spanning dozens of pages, you will definitely need more than just a few months. Regularly consult with your supervisor about the content and form of your work. It sometimes happens that one or two months before the deadline, the supervisor sees the student's work for the first time and expresses considerable dissatisfaction with what the student intends to submit. Some students then work "days and nights" at the last minute to bring the work to a state that would be considered satisfactory by their supervisor.

Submission of the final thesis and state examination

Deadlines (generally for different years, the dates are approximate):

In the seminar (for the bachelor's thesis or diploma thesis) you will learn everything you need, you will also be referred to the methodology.

Having problems?

• Do not postpone anything for later!!! If you leave the submission of your project or term paper to the last minute, it may not be accepted, even if you are convinced that your work is absolutely perfect. If you take an exam for a course on the last or almost last day, you may get sick, sleep badly, not study properly, etc., and it is not certain whether the teacher will give you another deadline. Remember that grades can only be entered into IS until the end of August, any delay can make this deadline very difficult.
• Did you forget to register for a course? This is dealt with by application to the study department. See the study department page for a link to regulations and forms.
• Have you completed a course elsewhere (e.g., in a previous, completed, or parallel program) and would like to have it accepted? If it is really the same course (in the case of internships at foreign universities this is also possible, or the course may have a slightly different name), then it can be accepted if it has been completed with a grade between A-D, or 1-2 in numerical evaluation. There is a special "Application for Recognition" form for this purpose on the study department website. This form is to be completed and signed and submitted to the study department. Alternatively, there may already be a form in the mailroom in the IS.
• I hear the dates for the credit/exams are announced. Where do I find them, how do I sign up? Currently, all this is done through the information system. If you haven't already done so, be sure to take a good look at the web interface.