Academic Structure

Academic Structure

Academic structure of the Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan.

The Academic structure of the College includes: the semester system, programme of study and mode of instruction and assessment, objectives of unit course system, definitions and terminologies in unit course system, registration for courses, assessment of performance and grading of courses.

The Academic Year

The College academic calendar is based on the semester system. There are two semesters in each academic year. Each semester is made up of about 15 weeks within which activities such as registration, lectures, test, practical, field trips and examinations take place. The Academic Calendar of the College is divided thus: First semester begins in September/October and ends in February. Second semester begins in March and ends in June/July.

Programme of Study

The programme of study is made up of a two-tier system leading to the award of National Diploma (ND) and the Higher National Diploma (HND). A four-month SIWES period between the first and the second year of the ND programme where applicable. A minimum of one calendar year post-ND work experience is normally a prerequisite for admission into the HND programme for HND applicants with not less than Lower Credit result. Apart from the ND & HND Programmes, the College also runs Pre-National Diploma and some Vocational programmes such as Forest Guard Courses. Etc.
The Mode of instruction and assessment is by Unit Course System (UCS)

This is a credit system which is based on the premise that fields of knowledge can be broken down into small components called courses or modules which are arranged according to prescriptions of the authorities concerned (The College and the National Board for Technical Education). The system is a form of curriculum organization whereby the syllabus of the subject in a programme is divided into courses, in prescribed sections of teaching and study, each of which is separately examined or assessed. As a course is a body of knowledge and skills which may be utilized on its own, it will be easier to know when students are ready for Student Industrial Attachment for such attachment to be meaningful to them.

Objective Course Unit System

To provide greater flexibility within a wider variety of combination of approved courses in order to improve student efficiency.

Avoidance of total repetition of instructional components earlier assessed as passed in order to improve performance in the instructional component earlier assessed as failed

Consistency in work-loads by enabling more precise specification of different required components (i.e. core courses and ancillary courses) of various instructional programmes

Inter-departmental and inter-disciplinary collaboration, curriculum planning and formulation and continual review which also minimizes duplication.

Courses are broken down into modules which are to be completed within a specific semester.

Definitions and Terminologies in the Unit Course System

Academic Session

An Academic session consists of two semesters.

Academic Semester

Each semester shall consist of a period of about 15 weeks of instruction and examinations.

Core Courses

Core courses are specified courses that are fundamental to a particular programme of study.

Elective Core Courses

These are core courses offered within the department for the student’s specialization on his/her area of interest, at the ND level e.g. a student of Computer Science may specialize in Mobile Computing or Cloud Computing, etc. which must be treated as a core course and passed.

Ancillary Course

These are complementary to the core courses in providing a well balanced and broad-based education to the student. These are basic studies, General Studies and related studies. Ancillary courses should form 10% of the total contact hours available to students.

Elective Course

An elective course can be offered to make up the units required for the award of diploma.

Pre-requisite Course

This is a course that the student must pass before he/she can proceed to a more advanced course of the same nature, for instance, Organic Chemistry is a pre-requisite for Food Chemistry. It is a course whose knowledge is essential to taking another specified course.

Contact Hours

This is the number of actual hours of contact per week between the lecturer/instructor and the students, involving lecturing or Studio /Laboratory Workshop Practical work. There shall be a minimum of 25 and maximum of 30 contact hours per week.

Course Unit

• A course unit is defined as follows:
• Lectures of one hour per week for one semester (15 weeks) of instruction shall be equivalent to one course unit (C.U.).
• A course of 2 units shall be taken 2 hours a week for one semester.
• One tutorial hour shall be equivalent to half (1/2) hour of a lecture; and two hours of practical/studio work shall be equivalent to 1 hour of a lecture
• A practical course of one unit shall be taken 2-4 hours a week per semester.
• A course shall not carry more than 4-5 units per semester (practical/studio work).
• Student projects shall be 4-5 course units.

Course Load

This is the total of course units students will be taking in one semester. The minimum number of course units will be 18 while the maximum will be 24. The Departments should endeavour to keep to this limit. Also, students on probation should be advised by the Course Adviser not to exceed the minimum 18 units.

Registration for Courses

Students must be registered by their respective departments for courses relevant to their programme of study at the beginning of the session. It is important to note that students on the same programme may not necessarily be expected to register for the same number of courses for each semester as individual progression is allowed at rates reasonably adjusted to individual abilities. However, full time students must register for a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 24 course units per semester, distributed among core, elective and ancillary courses according to the requirements of each department. The registration of courses must be completed not later than the 6th week of each semester.

Assessment of Performance

Assessment of a session’s work shall depend on the totality of the student’s performance in the two semesters for the session. This shall normally consist of Continuous Assessment (CA) and end of Semester examinations with the relative weighting of 40% and 60%, respectively. Assessment of 2 tests, plus Practical Work, Tutorial, Assignment, etc, shall make up the CA score.

Grading of Courses

The College operates the 4-point grading system. The grading system shall be by Grade Point Average (GPA). Minimum Score for Letter Grade E (Pass Mark is 40%, while minimum score for Letter Grade A (Excellent Mark) is 75%.

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