Study programme description

The learning objectives achieved in the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics are methodologically based on the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF). This defines the requirements for learning outcomes for knowledge, skills and competences. For level 8, highly specialised knowledge is required as learning outcomes, some of which are at the forefront of the field of work or study and are the basis for original thinking and/or research; a fundamental awareness of knowledge in the field and at the interface between fields. The learning situation in this programme of study requires solving problems in which many related factors are at work; learning is often highly specialised. The carriers of the core knowledge are the profile courses, which have information sheets describing the knowledge to be achieved as learning outcomes. Additional knowledge is achieved by completing other compulsory courses in the study programme. By completing the profile courses, the graduate will gain knowledge of the tasks of health management in animal husbandry, where ensuring
and maintaining the health of animals intended for the production of different types of quality and safe animal products is an integral part and prerequisite for ensuring the desired animal performance and efficient productivity of animal breeders. Graduates of the Animal Nutrition and Dietetics programme are eligible after completing the 3. Degree of higher education to exercise the profession of a veterinarian specialist in nutrition, dietetics and prevention of health disorders, specialist in diagnostics and quality control of feed, research and development in the field of nutrition, dietetics, production and animal breeding. The level of current knowledge of the biological relationships between nutrition - production - animal health represents the theoretical basis of veterinary medicine and the intensification of animal production, but also a significant limit to its further effective development. Nutrition and veterinary dietetics, by analyzing the health and quality of feed, studying the intake, digestion and absorption of nutrients with monitoring the metabolic transformation of nutrients for the nutritional provision of production (quantity and quality), body resistance, health and reproductive capacity of animals, represents a production-medical approach to the creation of productive animal health. Rising production that exceeds the metabolic limits of the animals in phase represents a risk of metabolic diseases. Therefore, nutritional physiology, analysis of the causes of malnutrition, knowledge and nutritional support of adaptive mechanisms are essential elements of nutritional prevention of metabolic diseases in high production animals. Dietetics and clinical nutrition includes knowledge of nutritional support and regulation of metabolic processes in the clinical stage of morbidity, chronic organ disorders and in the convalescence phase. In companion and domestic animals, it is an important part of prevention and therapeutic procedures with an irreplaceable aspect on the modification of metabolic parameters and clinical changes. In proportion to the impact of the studied issue, the need for professionals and the justification of education in the field are increasing.

For the skills achieved by learning outcomes corresponding to level 8, specialised skills are required in solving problems of research and/or innovation in order to develop new knowledge and practices and to integrate knowledge from different fields. The information sheets describe the skills that the graduate of the course will achieve. Together, the skills achieved in the individual courses represent an interrelated complex that results in skills that determine the successful implementation of the competences.

The broadly defined competences for level 8 of the EQF are - the ability to demonstrate considerable authority, innovation, autonomy, scientific and professional integrity and a sustained commitment to developing new ideas or practices that are at the forefront of the work or learning environment, including research.

1. Graduates of the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics can apply themselves in the independent management of livestock breeding, management of individual sectors of livestock production in companies with large-scale livestock breeding and in farms, operation and management of feed production plants and providing advice in the field of statistical processing of results in the field of animal nutrition and dietetics.

Graduates of doctoral studies will find employment in:

1. mastery of data, statistical and information processes, the correct setting of husbandry conditions and the processing of feed of plant and animal origin,
2. management of agricultural holdings, focusing mainly on crop and livestock production, preparation and evaluation of feeds entering animal nutrition and their impact on the quality of animal products,
3. advice and control in the field of animal nutrition and dietetics, feed production, welfare compliance, advice and prevention of livestock diseases.

Relevant external stakeholders who have provided a statement or a favourable opinion on the compliance of the acquired qualification with the sector-specific requirements of the profession: Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Animal Physiology.

1. On the basis of previous long experience with graduates of the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics, it is possible to state their applicability at university workplaces and workplaces of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, as well as at workplaces of the Slovak State Veterinary School and also in the private sphere in the field of agricultural production.

Examples of successful graduates of the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics: In the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics provided in the English language in the part-time form of study, no doctoral student has studied so far.

Employers' evaluation of the quality of the study programme (feedback): Employers' evaluation of the quality of the study programme (feedback): However, the quality of the study programme can be positively evaluated indirectly on the basis of the interest of graduates of the second cycle of higher education from different areas (medical and pharmaceutical sciences, natural sciences and agricultural sciences) in this study programme. UVMP has prepared questionnaires about graduates for employers.

1. The rules for the formation of study plans in the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics are based on the general provisions contained in Article 2 of the internal regulation Study Regulations of the UVMP in Košice, Part B.

• individual parts of the study programme (in the structure of profile and compulsory optional courses),
• for each educational part (course), the learning outcomes and related criteria and rules for their assessment are defined in the course information sheet so that all the educational objectives of the study programme are met,
• curriculum prerequisites,
• for each educational part of the curriculum (course), the course information sheet sets out the learning activities used that are appropriate for achieving the learning outcomes,
• the course information sheet lists the methods by which the learning activity is carried out,
• the course information sheet indicates the student's workload,
• Credits are assigned to each section based on the learning outcomes achieved
  and the associated workload,
• the course sponsor is designated and other persons providing the courses are also listed in the course information sheets.

1. The number of credits, the achievement of which is a condition for the proper completion of studies and other conditions that must be fulfilled by the student in the course of study of the study programme and for its proper completion, including the conditions of state examinations, the rules for repeating studies and the rules for extending, interrupting studies:

The prerequisite for the proper completion of studies is the acquisition of 240 credits, which include credits for the preparation and defence of the dissertation.

1. The conditions for completing the individual parts of the study programme and the student's progress
   in the study programme in the structure:

• number of credits for profile (compulsory) courses required for the proper completion of studies / completion of part of studies - 50,
• number of credits for compulsory optional courses required for the proper completion of studies / completion of part of studies - 10
• number of credits for the final thesis and the defence of the final thesis required for the proper completion of studies - 30.

1. Rules for the verification of learning outcomes and the assessment of students and the possibility of corrective procedures against this assessment:

UVMP in Košice has described the rules for the verification of learning outcomes and evaluation of students and the possibilities of corrective procedures against this evaluation in Articles 16-17 of the internal regulation Study Regulations of UVMP in Košice, Part B.

1. Conditions for the recognition of studies or part of studies:

UVMP in Košice also accepts graduates of other universities in the Slovak Republic and abroad to study doctoral programmes if they provide a sufficient theoretical and practical basis for successful completion of the relevant study programme. Recognition of a part of doctoral studies is possible in the sense of the Bologna Convention.

1. Topics of the final theses of the study programme:

In the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics provided in the English language in the part-time form of study, no doctoral student has studied so far, and no topic has been announced in this study programme, form and language version.

1. UVMP in Košice has described:

• the rules for assigning, processing, opposing, defending and evaluating final theses in Articles 1, 8, 9, 10, 25, 2ž and 27 of the internal regulation Study Regulations of the UVMP in Košice, Part B,
• possibilities and procedures for participation in student mobility in Article 42 of the internal regulation Study Regulations of UVMP in Košice, Part A,
• the rules for observing academic ethics and drawing consequences in the internal regulation Disciplinary Regulations for Students
• of the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, in the internal regulations of the Code of Ethics of UVMP Employees and in the internal regulations of the Code of Ethics of UVMP Students,
• the procedures for filing complaints and appeals by the student are provided, in addition to the Study Regulations of UVMP in Košice, in particular the internal regulation Directive on the handling of complaints at UVMP in Košice.

The members of the committee for the preparation of study programmes for the third level of higher education are students Marek Ratvay, DVM (3rd year of SP Immunology); e-mail: marek.ratvay@student.uvlf.sk; Teodora Blatníková, DVM (3rd year of SP Veterinary Morphology and Physiology); e-mail: teodora.blatnikova@student.uvlf.sk and Pavel Gomulec, DVM (1st year of SP Internal Diseases of Animals); e-mail:pavel.gomulec@student.uvlf.sk.

Study programme support staff - assigned study officer, Mgr. Júlia Jančura, e-mail: julia.jancura@uvlf.sk.

1. Characteristics of information provision of the study programme (access to study literature according to course information sheets), access to information databases
   and other information resources, information technology, etc.):

All literary resources for study listed in the fact sheets are available in either print or electronic form, and all information databases purchased and licensed by the University are accessible to students.

1. Characteristics and scope of distance learning applied in the curriculum with assignment to courses. Approaches, manuals of e-learning portals. Procedures for transition from full-time to distance learning.

UVMP also has distance education for all courses, which is currently provided through MOODLE and MSTeams platforms. Each student has manuals available either in electronic form or in the form of a video tutorial.

In the provision of some activities, especially in the field of practical performance of activities of high societal importance, the participation of contractual partners is envisaged, including organizations under the management of the State Veterinary and Food Administration of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Academy of Sciences and private veterinarians.

1. Characteristics on social, sporting, cultural, spiritual and social opportunities:

UVMP in Košice provides students with the maximum possible conditions for their enjoyment in the above areas.

Students of the study programme Animal Nutrition and Dietetics are guaranteed the opportunity to participate in mobility. The whole agenda of the guidelines and conditions for applying for mobility, the conditions and rules of participation as well as the rules of recognition of participation in mobility as part of the study plan is covered by the Vice-Rector for International Relations
and Internationalization and the organizational unit managed by her, which is the Mobility Department of UVMP in Košice. The framework for participation in mobility and other contexts are regulated in Article 42 of the internal regulation Study Regulations of the UVMP in Košice, Part B.

They are laid down in Articles 1 and 2 of the Study Regulations of the UVMP in Košice, Part B, II. Part Organisation of studies.

They are laid down in Articles 3 and 4 of the Study Regulations of the UVMP in Košice, Part B, II. Part Organisation of studies.

1. Procedures for monitoring and evaluating students' views on the quality of the study programme:

The students of UVMP in Košice have the possibility of anonymous evaluation of the quality of teaching through an anonymous questionnaire after graduation, where they evaluate the quality of a particular study programme and the quality of the instructors who provide the course. Monitoring of study programmes is also continuously carried out by the coordinators of individual domains of science and research at UVMP, while 5 domains of science and research are established at UVMP.

The results of the evaluation of doctoral studies are part of the Annual Reports on Scientific and Research Activities at UVMP in Košice for individual ARs and Annual Reports on the Quality of UVMP in Košice for individual ARs. They are also presented at the Teachers' Forum, which is held at the beginning of each academic year. In general, the principle that the results of the feedback are very important for drawing conclusions from the evaluations, which are implemented into concrete measures implemented with the aim of improving the quality of the study programme in its entire breadth and depth.

1. The results of alumni feedback and related measures to improve the quality of the study programme are part of the Annual Reports on Scientific and Research Activities at UVMP in Košice for individual AR and Annual Reports on the Quality of UVMP in Košice for individual AR. The Vice-Rector for Science, Research and Doctoral Studies and the coordinators of the individual domains of science and research act within the framework of measures to improve the quality of the study programme by personally entering into the solution of the problems arising from the results of the feedback.