Academic Regulations for B.A Programme
Attendance to Lectures
A minimum attendance to lectures of seventy percent (70%) is required for a student to be eligible to write the semester examination in each course. Accordingly, keeping of attendance register is mandatory for all the departmental courses.
Continuous Assessment
In line with general university regulations, the Department practices continuous assessment in all subject areas. The practice is aimed at enhancing the learning process. The assessment could include written tests, term papers, take home assessments, oral presentations. Continuous assessment carries a total of 30% of the final score of the student in any course while the main examination carries 70%.
Examinations
The conduct of examinations in the Department is carried out through a system that strictly ensures confidentiality and fairness. Besides continuous assessment, a meeting of the Departmental Board first assesses examination questions in all courses taught in the Department before they are administered on students. Such internal moderation helps to remove ambiguities in the framing of questions and to assess the quality and standard of examinations.
It is only after such internal moderations that question papers are personally delivered by the examination officer to the course lectures. Examinations are conducted under strict supervision and quality control by lectures.
After grading answer scripts, each lecturer enters the marks in the mark-sheets and submits these along with a marking scheme.
Carryover / Repeat in Examinations
A student who fails any examination is expected to re-register it in a subsequent applicable semester(s) first before he/she can register new courses. However, the student cannot exceed the maximum credit units possible in a semester.
Writing and Presentation of Project
Writing and presentation of project report is an important prerequisite for graduation. The project must be typed using high quality paper. The following specifications should be strictly adhered to.
• Size of paper is A4 (210mm x297mm).
• Margins at the binding edge (left) must be adequate (not less than 400mm) while the other margins must not be less than 20mm.
• Double spacing is to be used in typing.
• All pages must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals from introduction onwards. The preliminary pages- from the title page to abstract are numbered using Roman numerals.
• Documentation should be done using MLA format.
• The abstract must be concise, informative and not exceeding one page.
Submission of the Project Report
Completed project reports are to be submitted in quadruplicate (four copies) to the Department through the Supervisor and not later than the deadline set for submission for a given oral examination.
Assessment / Examination of the Project
Towards achieving the purpose underlying project report, the following criteria serve as guide.
• How much of special knowledge has the student got?
• How well has the student chosen the points?
• How well has the student demonstrated knowledge of relevant literatures?
• How well has the student collected, processed, analyzed and interpreted relevant data?
• How deep is the critical evaluation?
An External Examiner shall be invited for the examination of the report. For oral examinations, each candidate is required to come along with one additional copy of the project. At the end of the examination, the copies of the project should be signed by the following:
The Supervisor(s)
The Head of Department
The External Examiner.
Correction of the Project
All corrections indicated by the Board of Examiners must be affected immediately by the student in consultation with the Supervisor(s).
The corrected Project must be submitted through the Supervisor to the Head of Department.
Grading Systems
The grading system – letter grade and grade points of the University are as presented below.
Score in % Letter Grade Grade Point
70 and above A 5.00
60 –69 B 4.00
50 –59 C 3.00
45 -49 D 2.00
0-1.49 F 0.00
Classification of Degree
Degrees are classified based on the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) obtained by the student.
The details are presented in the table below:
Class of Degree Cumulative Grade Point Average
First 4.50 – 5.00
Second Class (Upper Division) 3.50 – 4.49
Second Class (Lower Division) 2.50 – 3.49
Third Class 1.50 – 2.39
Fail 0.00 – 1.49
Computation of GPA and CGPA
To Determine Quality Point (DPS) obtained from each course, the Credit Units (CUs) assigned to the course are multiplied by the Grade Point (GPs) earned by the student in the course. For example, a course having 3 (three) credit units in which a student earned A, I.e., 5 Credits, the Quality Points are 3×5 = 15.
Grade Point Average (GPA) is obtained by dividing the Quality Points earned for a given semester by the Credit Units registered for the semester. For example, if the student earned 60 QPs from 15 Credit Units, he/she has a GPA of 60 / 15 = 4.00. Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is obtained by adding the total QPs earned to date and dividing by the total Credit Units registered to date. For instance, if the total Quality Points to date are 248 and the total Credit Units to date are 64, the CGPA is given as 248/64 = 3.88. This means that to date the student has a second class upper division.
Continuation, Probation and Withdraw
1. Minimum Requirement for Continuation: The CGPA of at least 1.00 at the end of every academic session is required for a student to continue with his or her programme.
2. Probation: A student whose CGPA is below 1.0 at the end of a particular academic year is placed on probation for a period of one academic session. The Department is to notify such students. Students on probation are not permitted to register for more that 18 credit units per semester. This is to enable them improve on their academic performance (CGPA).
3. Withdrawal: Temporary, Mandatory, Abandonment.
• A student applies for a temporary withdrawal from study for a period of one year. This is renewable for a maximum of two years.
• A Student whose CGP is below 1.00 at the end of one academic year’s probation shall be required to withdraw from the programme.
• Any student who withdraws from his/her programme without formal approval is regarded to have abandoned the programme. He/she therefore ceases to a bone-fide student of the Department and consequently of the University.
Duration of Programme
Philosophy is a four-year programme. However, a maximum of 6 years is permitted under certain circumstances for a student to obtain his/her B.A in Philosophy.
Academic Grievance
Academic grievances should be reported to the HOD. Generally, students are entitled to see their examination scripts if they wish. Any student who feels aggrieved over the grading of examination course may petition to the HOD in the first instance. The HOD shall refer the petition to the Dean of the Faculty who shall make necessary arrangement for the re-assessment and presentation of the scores to the Faculty Board for determination. No group appeal shall be entertained.
Examination Malpractice and Punishment
Forms of Malpractice
Various forms of examination malpractice are recognized by the University and offenders are subject to punishment. The offences include the following categories.
1. Cheating in the examination hall/room; under this category are included:
– Copying from one another
– Bringing in prepared materials into the examination hall/room.
– Oral or written communication in the examination hall/room.
– Non-submission of answer scripts.
– Refusal to stop writing at the end of the time stipulated for the examination.
– Illegal removal of answer scripts from the examination hall/room etc.
2. Cheating outside the examination hall/room. The offences under this category are numerous and include.
– Plagiarism (Using another person’ work without acknowledgement both in the test and in the references); this is of particular concern in writing project reports.
– Colluding with a member of staff to modify (alter) question, grades/scores etc.
– Colluding with a member of staff to submit a new prepared answer script as a substitute for original script.
– Soliciting for help after examination.
3. Other Related Offences: These include:
– Manipulation of registration forms in order to sit for an examination for which the student is not qualified.
– Colluding with a medical doctor in order to obtain an excuse from duty/medical certificate on grounds of feigned illness.
– Assault or intimidation of the invigilator within or outside the examination hall/room.
Punishment for Examination Malpractice
Any student found guilty of examination malpractice shall after due process be expelled from the University. The decision is given wide publicity and it takes immediate effect.
