11 Things You Must Know About UNN Courses

Any course in the University of Nigeria and other Nigerian universities and polytechnics has an abbreviation/acronym (department), a number (course number), title (Course Title) and a stipulated number of credit unit attached to it. E.g.in UNN GSP 101 Use of English I is a particular course with a “2 Units load”. Below is what you need to know about any (particular) course in Nigerian universities and perhaps polytechnics, using UNN as example:

1. The Abbreviation/acronym (course department):Acronym of the course is GSP which stands for; General Study Programme, this shows that the course is from the School of General Studies of the university. In other words it indicates the department/school/unit that owns the course.

2. The Course Number:
Using the above course number (101) as an example, the first digit (1) indicates that the course is a first year course that is offered by the first year students. The second digit (0) indicates the stress area. The last digit (0) indicates the semester at which the course will be or is suppose to be offered. First semester courses are always odd numbers while second semester are even numbers though some courses may not follow this rule. The acronym (course department) together with the digits (course number) is called course code.
            Other examples: MTH 111 Elementary Mathematics I, PHY 124 Fundamentals of Physics III, COS 101 Introduction to Computer Science. MTH 111 stand for Mathematics first year first semester course, PHY 124 stand for Physics first year second semester course and COS stand for Computer Science,; From the departments of Mathematics, Physics and Computer science respectively.

3. The title:
Use of English I is the title/name of the course. The letter “I” in front of the title is a Roman numeral indicating that the course is the first in the series, manning that, there will be “II” and or may be “III” and so on bearing the same title. “I”, “II” and “III” corresponds to 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

4. Semester Credit Unit Load
Course unit is the total time a course will be offered in a week. Here GSP 101 is 2 units meaning that GSP 101 will be offered two (2) hours in a week. For instance the course may be offered 1 hour on Monday and another 1 hour any other day within the week. Though some courses have 1 credit unit but can still be offered more than 1 hour in a week.
    i. Minimum and Maximum Credit Unit Load:
The semester credit unit load for any student shall be between 15 and 24, in accordance with NUC guidelines. The exact credit load a student carries within this range are worked out by the student’s academic adviser with the approval of the Head of Department and Dean of Faculty.
     ii. Minimum Credit Units Required for Graduation:
The absolute minimum aggregate credit unit required for graduation is as follows:
6 year standard programme 180 units
5 year standard programme 150 units
4 year standard programme 120 units
3 year standard programme 90 units
2 year standard programme 60 units
1year standard programme 30 units.

5. The Lecturer
It is very important to note the method a particular lecturer uses during his/her lecture. Because it will reveal the secret of the lecturer, perhaps the lecturer’s likely exam questions, or what the lecturer need to see in your solution/answer script. Also, make sure you do every assignment given by the lecturer. Read any notice/sticker (s) pasted in a lecturer’s door and always knock before you enter lecturer’s office. Always adhere to lecturer’s instruction wherever necessary.

6. Class Period and Attendance
Especially in the University of Nigeria and many other universities and polytechnics classes are expected to begin on the hour and end ten minutes before the next hour. Seminars and laboratories shall, however, continue as long as scheduled. Attendance at lectures, seminars, practicals and examinations is mandatory. Attendance at lectures, seminars, practicals and examinations is mandatory. Students who have not reached 75% class attendance in a course shall normally not qualify to take examinations in the course.

7. Registration:
Make sure you register your courses at the time required (when registration is still on) for the registration both online and with the lecturer. Student shall register semester by semester, the following rules guide the course registration.
     i. Any student who fails to register and whose name is not in the official course registration list of a particular course(s) will not be allowed into the examination hall of the said course.
     ii. The maximum period allowed for registration of courses is two weeks from the date registration begins for returning students.
     iii. A returning student who fails to register during the two-week period approved for registration shall not be deemed to be registering late and shall pay a late registration fee of N500.00 (Five hundred Naira).
     iv. A returning student who fails to register within four weeks from the date registration begins shall not be allowed to register for the semester. Such student shall be deemed not to have registered for the semester and shall have lost the opportunity to register for the semester.
     v. A freshman who fails to return his/her registration form for registered semester courses within two weeks after matriculation date, shall be charged late registration fee of N500 (Five hundred Naira). If he/she fails to return the registration form within four weeks after matriculation, the freshman shall be deemed not to have registered for the semester for the semester and shall have lost the opportunity to register for the semester.
    vi. No student is allowed to register at any time in his/her programme any final year or non-final year courses he/she has already passed.

8. Adding/Dropping of Course(s):
     i. A student who wishes to add or drop a course(s) shall do so not later than five weeks from the date registration begins.
    ii. A student may use an Add and Drop card duly completed to effect amendments in his/her registration on payment of N300.00 (Three Hundred Naira) for each Add and Drop Card.
    iii. A student may not be able to drop any course (s) he/she have registered. Once a particular course is registered the student is required to pass the course (s).

9. Class Admit Card:
Course (s) (General Studies, Electives or Required Ancillary course(s)) outside a student’s faculty, are registered with a Class Admit Card(s) after dully completed the required information on the card(s).

10. Registration of Failed Courses
Subject to the limitation on semester credit unit (item 4. ii) above and duration of the degree programme, student is allowed to register a failed course at the appropriate semester.

11. Lecture Notes/ Handouts and Text-Books
     i. Lecturers are always allowed and encouraged to write and produce textbooks to enhance the learning process.
    ii. The cost of such text book(s) are determined by the lecture and the publisher.
    iii. The purchase of text books may be optional. However some text books are attached with a continuous assessment (C.A), which students are required to solve by providing the answers to the questions there in. it attracts 30 marks when dully completed.
    iv. Though the purchase of C.A is also optional but if a student decides to purchase the C.A only, e.g. for physics courses, he/she may wait towards the end of the semester (close to examination period) and purchase the C.A only.

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