A programme of course shall be specific leading to a bachelor’s degree and diploma certificates. All candidates for part time courses shall sit for an entrance examination except otherwise indicated.
Instruction shall be by courses and students will be required to register for and take an approved combination of courses as stipulated by Senate on the recommendation of the Faculty.
Courses shall be evaluated in terms of Credits. A credit is normally defined as a series of lectures/tutorials of one hour per week lasting a semester or a three hour practical class per week or an equivalent amount of study or any combination of these.
The minimum numbers of credit for a course shall normally be one (1).
There shall be levels of courses representing the years for the degree programme and numbered as follows:

100 – 199 for 1st year degree programme or 100 level
200 – 299 for 2nd year degree programme or 200 level
300 – 399 for 3rd year degree programme or 300 level
400 – 499 for 4th year degree programme or 400 level
500 – 599 for 5th year degree programme or 500 level
600 – 699 for 6th year degree programme or 600 level

(Note: 700 to 900 series are reserved for Postgraduate Programme). In this system the first digit denotes the level of year of study
Course number shall be prefixed by a character code indicating the department offering the course and or the Course being offered. The recommended character codes are as follows:
AEB: – Animal and Environmental Biology
BCH: – Biochemistry
BES: – Bachelor in Environmental Science
PBB: – Plant Biology and Biotechnology
MCB: – Microbiology
OPT: – Optometry
EMT: – Environmental Management and Toxicology
SLT: – Science Laboratory Technology

COURSE ADVISER
The Course adviser is a member of academic staff who approves students’ registration forms. He advises students individually and ensures that their choices are consistent with degree/diploma regulations and requirements. Each department appoints one or more course advisers for its students.

COURSES LISTING
For each diploma/degree programme courses are listed in the prospectus in the following categories:
Mandatory Courses: which the department requires the student to take and pass but may not be used in computing the final degree result.
Core Courses: are courses among the mandatory courses that must be passed AND USED IN COMPUTING THE FINAL RESULT. Within the list of core courses there may be options.
Elective Courses are courses, which are chosen by a student according to his interests in addition to those he must take to complete his degree requirements. He chooses these with the guidance of his course adviser.
Along with the description of each course in the prospectus, prerequisite and co-requisite course may be stipulated for each course. A pre-requisite course is one which must be taken and passed before the student can register for a more advanced course. However, a student who fails a pre-requisite course may be admitted to the advanced course at the discretion of the department in the Faculty offering the course. A co-requisite course is a course which must be taken along with the course, which it is co-requisite, if it has not already been passed.

WORK LOAD
A full time student shall normally in any one academic year be allowed to register for and take a minimum of 30 credits and a maximum of 50 credits. This means that no student can be credited more than 50 credits at the end of each academic year. Without prejudice to the above, a graduating student (that is a student who has less than 30 credits to graduate) may register for only the number of credits he requires to graduate.
Similarly, for the award of a degree, candidates on a part time programme shall be expected to accumulate a minimum of one hundred and thirty (130) credits, twenty (20) credits at each level including ten (10) credits of General Studies courses. All core courses must be passed and used in computing the student’s final grade. Without prejudice to the above, a graduating student (that is a student who has less than 20 credits to graduate) may register for only the number of credits he requires to graduate.

REGISTRATION FOR COURSES
(i) Two weeks shall be allowed for registration exercise every semester and the period of registration shall be widely published for the information of students.
(ii) Late registration fees shall be charged as follows:
Any student who comes up to register within the first 7 days after the close of registration shall pay an appropriate late registration fee. Thereafter, any student who comes up to register shall pay a greater fine.
(iii) Any student who fails to register within two months from the beginning of a session shall forfeit the benefit of taking any examinations in a semester of that session. Such a student shall be deemed to have voluntarily withdrawn from the University and may be admitted in any subsequent session with the approval of Senate.

CHANGE OF COURSES
At the beginning of each semester, students may drop courses for which they have registered until one month after lectures begin. The deadline for adding course shall be four weeks after lectures begin.

DURATION OF DEGREE PROGRAMME (FULL TIME)
(A) FOR STUDENTS ADMITTED BEFORE THE 1998/99 SESSION
To qualify for the award of an honours degree, a student shall normally spend not less than four years (3 years for the 3-year degree programme but not more than five years (4 years for the 3-years degree programme) on 100, 200, 300, 400 level courses (200, 300 and 400 level courses for the 3-year degree programme) to accumulate the required number of credits. No student shall spend more than 6 years (5 years of the 3-year programme) to complete a degree programme.

(B) STUDENTS ADMITTED FROM 1998/1999 AT 100 LEVEL AND 200L DIRECT ENTRY
(a) Minimum number of credits required to remain in the Faculty and to move to the next higher level:
100 – 400 Level – 22 credits at all levels including G.S. Courses.
(b) Minimum number of credits required to remain in the Faculty on Probation: 11 credits for all levels.
(c) Minimum number of years required to graduate: 4 years for UME Candidates (3 years for Direct Entry students), 6 years for UME Optometry students; 5 years for Direct Entry Optometry students.
(d) Maximum Number of years required to qualify for a degree: 7 years for UME Candidates; 5 years for Direct Entry; 10 years for UME Optometry students; 8 years for Direct Entry Optometry students.
(e) Maximum number of years to qualify for an Ordinary Pass Degree and after which a student shall be required to withdraw from the University:
Following the decision of Senate, students can now earn the classifications of their degree based on their GPA. The earlier decision that students earn a pass degree irrespective of the GPA after the maximum number of years no longer exist with effect from the 1998/1999 session
(f) Total number of credits required to graduate:
4 – Years Course – 130 Credits (including 10 G.S. credits);
Direct Entry – 100 Credits (including 10 G.S. credits)

DISTRIBUTION OF CREDITS (FULL TIME)
The minimum number of credits for the ward of a degree shall be 130 credits and 100 credits for 4-years and 3-years degree programme respectively as follows:
For the four year degree programme:
40 credits from the 100 series of courses (including 10 credits of GS)
30 credits from the 200 series of courses
30 credits from the 300 series of courses
30 credits from the 400 series of courses
130 credits for the degree
For the three year degree programme;
Nil from 100 series
40 credits from the 200 series of courses (including 10 credits of GS)
30 credits from the 300 series of courses
30 credits from the 400 series of courses
100 credits for the degree
NB For Students admitted before the 1998/99 session, the required credits for graduation is 120 for four year programme and 90 credits for the three year programme equally distributed over the years. The General Studies Courses are mandatory but are not used in calculating the G. P. A.

EXAMINATIONS

SCHEME OF EXAMINATION
Examinations may take the form of written papers oral examinations, practical, clinical, the submission of projects, assessment of course work or by any combination of these methods.

COURSE EXAMINATIONS
All courses shall be examined as soon as possible after the courses are completed. Candidates will earn the number of credits assigned to the courses which they have passed. A candidate at any examination may, at the discretion of the Board of Examiners be required to attend an oral examination in addition to written and practical examinations. Normally, no student shall be excused from taking the whole or part of any examination except on the strength of a certificate by the University Medical Officer that he or she is unfit to take the examination. Failure to write an examination without an acceptable reason means failure in that examination. All students are required to attend a minimum of 70% of each prescribed course before they are allowed to sit for the examination relevant to that course. Each course instructor shall be required to devise the best means of monitoring the attendance of students in his course(s).

CONTINOUS ASSESSMENT
At the discretion of the department concerned, continuous assessment during the semester may form part of the end-of-course grade. Its overall contribution will not exceed 25%.

WITHDRAWAL FROM FULL TIME PROGRAMME
(a) Students who accumulate 11 – 21 credits in the session are either to seek inter-Faculty transfer or remain in the faculty on probation.
(b) Students who accumulate less than 11 credits at the end of the Second Semester examinations will be asked to withdraw from the Faculty.
(c) Any student who has previously transferred from another faculty or gone on probation and still fails to obtain 22 credits after the sessional examination shall withdraw from the Faculty and University.
(d) Without prejudice to (a-c) any student who fails to register for the session or does not produce satisfactory reasons for missing his or her examinations shall be deemed to have voluntarily withdrawn.
(e) A student may be granted temporary withdrawal on the recommendation of the Faculty Board of studies and approval by the Senate if satisfactory reasons are given.
(f) Without prejudice to the above a graduating student may not be asked to withdraw from the Faculty. He could be allowed to register and take the examination in the required courses at the next available opportunity, provided he does not exceed the maximum number of years required for the degree.

RE-SIT EXAMINATIONS
Re-sit examinations have been abolished for students admitted into the Faculty of Life Sciences from the 1988/89 Session.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT
An overall assessment that is one covering the entire diploma/degree programme may be given at the directive of Faculty. The assessment shall be in one or more forms of the following:
• An oral examination during the project oral examination.
• An overall examination paper set for that purpose.
• This overall evaluation shall not exceed 1 grade point and it is to be added to the sum of the weighted grade point average from 100,200,300,400,500,600 courses:
• Alternatively overall evaluation which shall not exceed 0.02 to be added to the CGPA by the Faculty Board of Studies.

DURATION OF EXAMINATIONS
The time allowed for written examinations shall normally be on the basis of not less than one hour and not more than one and a half hours for each Credit provided that no theory paper shall last more than three hours.

DISCIPLINE DURING EXAMINATIONS
It shall be the responsibility of each candidate to make sure that
he or she is registered for the appropriate examinations. The Registry shall prepare examination cards for issue on application by the candidates at least two weeks before each examination.
A candidate shall be at the examination venue at least ten minutes before the advertised time of the examination. A candidate is required to supply his or her own pens, pencils, rulers and any materials which are permitted by these regulations.
A candidate shall be admitted up to thirty minutes after the start of the Examination but he shall not be allowed extra time. If a candidate arrives later than thirty minutes after the start of the examination the Chief Invigilator may at his discretion admit him or her if he is satisfied that the candidate had good reason for his lateness.
The Invigilator shall report the circumstances to the Faculty Examination Officer who shall inform the Board of Examiners which shall decide whether to accept the candidate’s paper.
A candidate may be permitted by the Invigilator to leave the examination room during the course of an examination provided that:
• No candidate shall normally be allowed to leave during the first hour or the last fifteen minutes of the examination.
• He must hand his or her script to the invigilator before leaving if he does not intend to return.
A candidate who leaves the examination room shall not be readmitted unless continually under the supervision of an Invigilator or an examination attendant.
A candidate shall bring his other examination card and identity card to each examination and display them in a prominent position on his or her desk.
Each candidate shall complete the attendance sheet in duplicate which shall be collected by the Chief Invigilator at the end of each examination.
No candidate shall communicate with any other candidate except as permitted by the invigilator or make any noise or cause disturbance during the examination.
No printed paper or written document or unauthorized aid may be taken into examination room by any candidate except as may be stated by the rubrics of any examination paper.
A candidate is required to deposit any handbag, brief/case, or any other prohibited material at the Chief Invigilator’s desk (or a desk provided for that purpose) before the start of an examination.
A candidate must not directly or indirectly given assistance to any other candidate or permit any other candidate to copy from or use his papers. Similarly a candidate must not directly or indirectly accept assistance from any other candidate or use any other candidate’s papers.
If any candidate is found to be or is suspected of infringing the provisions of these regulations or in any way cheating or disturbing the conduct of the examinations, the Chief Invigilator shall submit a report immediately on the prescribed form for “examination irregularity and misconduct”, to the Faculty Examination Officer and the Dean. There is provision on the prescribed form for the student to make a statement. Refusal to complete this form is examination misconduct. The candidate concerned shall be allowed to continue with the examination provided that he causes no disturbance. The Dean shall cause the circumstances to be investigated and reported to the Board of Examiners. The Board of Examiners shall subsequently recommend to the Faculty Board and Senate what action shall be taken in the case.
A candidate shall write his examination number not his name, distinctly at the top of the cover of every answer book and every separate sheet of paper.
The use of scrap is not permitted. All rough work must be done in answer books and crossed neatly through, or in supplementary answer books which must be submitted to the invigilator.
Except for the printed question paper a candidate may not remove from the examination room or mutilate any paper or other materials supplied.
At the end of the time allotted, each candidate shall stop writing when instructed to do so and shall gather his scripts together in order for collection by the invigilator.