Postgraduate Examinations
- A course may last one or two Semesters, and must be examined at the end of the semester in which it is completed.
- A student must attend a minimum of 70% of the lectures/tutorials/practicals in a course and complete all the assignments in it to be eligible to sit for the final examination in the course.
- A student who is absent without good cause from an examination for which he/she duly registered shall be deemed to have failed it. When, however, the student is absent for a good cause, duly notified by him or her and approved by the Board of the Postgraduate School, he/she shall be allowed to take the examination at the next available opportunity without penalty.
- Final written examinations in courses may only take place during the period officially set aside for them.
- Each final written examination shall last for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of three hours.
- Each course shall be graded out of 100 marks, with Continuous Assessment carrying 40% and the Final Examination 60%.
- For all courses, the pass mark shall be 50%
- All courses failed must be repeated.
- Each mark, which must be a whole number, shall be assigned a letter grade and point in line with the following order:
Mark Letter Grade Status
70-100 A
60-69 B Pass
50-59 C
0-49 F Fail
Project/Theses/ Dissertation Benchmark; All postgraduate Projects/Theses/ Dissertation shall meet the following minimum standards:
PGD Project: At least three months duration, capable of generating one publication, has at least one clear objective: may include issuance of questionnaire, field work and or minimal laboratory/studio work.
Master’s Dissertation: At least six months duration, capable of generating two publications, has at least three clear objectives: may include any two of – issuance of questionnaire, field work and or minimal laboratory/studio work: make two tangible contributions to knowledge.
Doctorate Thesis: At least twelve months duration, should have five clear objectives: capable of generating three publications, may include any two of – issuance of questionnaire, field work and or extensive laboratory/studio work, make three tangible contributions to knowledge.
- All oral defenses shall involve internal and external examiners, as well as Head of Department/Chief Examiners. Where there is disagreement between external and internal examiners, the views of the former shall prevail.
Postgraduate Diploma Programme
Each full time student shall register for a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16-course units per semester subject to the approval of Senate on the recommendation of the Postgraduate School. Minimum number of units required for graduation is 24 or the minimum specified by National Universities Commission (NUC) – Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for postgraduate programmes, if higher than 24.
A programme of courses and practical works shall be provided in the Faculties leading to the award of Postgraduate Diploma.
In addition to the Course work, each student shall be expected to undertake a Practical Project Work in his/her chosen field of specialization related to the degree in view. This may commence late in the first semester but shall not go beyond the second semester and shall carry a maximum of four units or the minimum specified
by National Universities Commission (NUC) – Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for postgraduate programmes, if higher than 4.
At the end of the Project Work, a project report shall be written and marked and the minimum pass mark shall be 50%. Failure in this project work will lead to a repetition of the project work and hence non-graduation within the stipulated time.
To be eligible for the award of a Diploma in the relevant discipline, a candidate must:
- Pass all the courses and obtain the total units prescribed for the Programme;
- Not spend less than the minimum period stipulated and;
- Pass the project work.
The classification of the Diploma shall be as follows:
GRADE MARKS (CWAS)
Distinction 70%
Credit 60% – 69%
Pass 50% – 59%
Fail 0% – 49.99%
Masters’ Degree Programme
For the first year, the minimum number of course units per semester for full time students shall be 15 while the maximum shall be 20. Minimum number of units required for graduation is 30 for course work and six (6) units for research or the minimum specified by National Universities Commission (NUC) – Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for postgraduate programmes, if higher than 30. The research component of the degree shall be 6 units.
Doctor of Philosophy Degree Programme
Candidates for the Ph.D degree shall normally be expected to register only for their Research Seminar and Research Project. However, a candidate may, if considered necessary, be required to register for an approved combination of courses on the recommendation of the Department and approved by senate.
In addition to research seminar and project work, every Ph.D student must register and pass at least two (2) courses which must include research methodology as course work in the first semester of registration. Also, Departments must include any other courses as deemed fit.
POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION
- The Supervision Ratio shall be 5:1 that is 5 Supervisee for one Supervisor
- Cross supervision in related Departments/Discipline and Faculties shall be encouraged
- Only Ph.D holders shall supervise a Postgraduate student. The number of supervisor(s) for a Postgraduate Student shall be determined by the
- Department, however, an internal/external supervisor from a related Department in the university must be involved for qualitative supervision.
- The process for appointing supervisors shall be transparent. Nomination by Coordinators shall be sent through the Head of Department to the Departmental Postgraduate Board for approval. A minute of the meeting shall accompany the nomination to the Postgraduate School.
(a) Only academic staff with Ph.D degree who are Senior Lecturers and above, can serve as Major Supervisor for Ph.D students’ research. A Masters’ degree holder shall not be eligible to supervise both Masters’ and Ph.D research work.
(b) For Masters’ Degree programme, a Lecturer I with Ph.D may serve as a Major Supervisor and in this instance; one of the co-supervisors shall be in the Professorial cadre.
Ph.D SUPERVISION
(a) For effective Ph.D supervision, only Senior Lectures and above with a Ph.D could supervise students in Ph.D class.
(c) A Ph.D candidates could be supervised by a single supervisor or with a co-supervisor/s depending on the knowledge area and focus of the research work as deemed fit by the Department during the allocation of supervisors.
(e) Special consideration for Agricultural based programmes that would normally require double location was approved. A six (6) months extension would be given to such students with a provision that there must be flexibility and ingenuity on the part of the Supervisor and the Students.
(f) Supervision of Students should not be restricted to the Department where the students belong only; but consideration should also be given to supervisors from related Department depending on the research focus of the research. A Ph.D. candidate could be supervised by Lecturers who belong to the knowledge area as the situation demands, depending on the knowledge and focus of the student.
(g) A serious Ph.D student should be ready to present his/her proposal within one (1) year of commencement of research work. However, supervisors can write for extension on behalf of students where it becomes obvious to do so especially science oriented research work. Such flexibilities are legitimate and acceptable.
(h) Where it becomes impossible to graduate Ph.D. students in a Department, the Department may not advertise for admission of candidates at the next academic session until its current students are successfully graduated.
(i) A functional and operational-log-books to monitor the performances of both Students/Lecturers and the years spent on the programme must be opened.
(j) Qualified staff of other universities or research institutions, as approved by the Postgraduate School on the recommendation of the candidate’s Department/Faculty Postgraduate Committee may serve as co-supervisors, provided that the other co-supervisor is a staff of the relevant Department.
(k) There shall be a limit on the number of students that can be supervised by a Lecturer or Professor.
(l) No lecturer is under any obligation to supervise the maximum recommended number of postgraduate students.
(m) Where a lecturer intends to exceed the quota stipulated by regulation, he/she should make an application in writing, through the Head of Department, to the Executive committee of the Postgraduate School.
(n) While recommending applicants for admission into the various Postgraduate programmes, each Department/Unit should take cognizance of how many lectures would be available to teach and supervise the student if admitted in particular, the name of the supervisor for each prospective research students should be indicated on the admission register. This would be a guide as to the quota for each Department/Unit.
Masters’ Supervision
- For effective supervision, only academic staff of the status of Lecturer I and above (with Ph.D) could supervise Students pursuing their Master Degree programme.
- The minimum time for a full time Masters’ Degree student to graduate is 18 months (3 semesters). However, no extension beyond a maximum of two semesters would be allowed.
- On supervision, the NUC recommendation of five (5) students per Supervisor was considered. However, members agreed that the number of students to be allocated to a supervisor should be determined by the Department but not more than Eight (8) students per supervisor as a general rule.
- No further allocation would be granted a supervisor until he/she had successfully graduated his/her student.
Types of Course Enrolment
The following standard terminologies shall be used for different categories of courses:
- Compulsory
Courses specified by a department which as student must take and pass
- Required
Courses specified by a Department from which a student can choose in order to make up the required additional units for the award of the degree.
- Pre-requisite
A course which must be taken and passed prior to taking another specified course.
- Concurrent
Specified courses which must be taken within the same semester.
Withdrawal from Courses
Candidates may be allowed to withdraw from a course, on completion of prescribed forms obtainable from the Postgraduate School, within the first six weeks of the semester in which the course is taught.
Procedure for change of Supervisory Committee
The Supervisory Committee properly constituted and approved by the Postgraduate School/Board shall not normally be changed.
However, for a good cause, the membership of the Committee could be partly or completely changed.
For the purpose of this regulation, good cause could mean:
- Voluntary withdrawal of all or some of the members of the Committee due to lack of seriousness on the part of the student.
- Transfer of service, resignation, retirement or death of any member of the Committee.
- Or any other development in the judgment of the Faculty Postgraduate Committee is considered inimical to advancement of learning.
The Major Supervisor or the second supervisor from the Department (in case the major supervisor is the one affected) in conjunction with the Head of Department shall reconstitute the Supervisory Committee.
The new Committee membership shall be submitted to the Departmental Postgraduate Committee for consideration and thereafter forward same to the Faculty Postgraduate Committee.
The Faculty Postgraduate Committee after due consideration shall forward the new supervisory committee to the Postgraduate School Board stating the reason(s) for the change of supervisory Committee.
The Postgraduate School Board shall consider and take final decision on the matter
