Management

1   History of the Department of Management

What we now call the Faculty of Management Sciences was first established as the Graduate School of Business Administration in 1980. The Programmes offered were: MBA-Marketing, MBA-Accounting, MBA-Management and MBA-Banking and Finance.

In 1984, the name was changed to Faculty of Management Sciences in line with the University structure of Faculty system. The undergraduate programmes were introduced in the 1984/85 academic session in the four functional areas of Business Administration. These included: (1) Management (2) Accounting (3) Marketing and (4) Finance and Banking. The Department of Management had an initial intake of about 50 students.

The Department of Management first graduates completed their programme at the end of the 1987/88 academic session and since then, most of them are found in various organizations across the Nation and beyond. We, however, need the support of anyone or organization who is willing to assist in our project.

Philosophy.

The philosophy guiding the programme in the Department of Management is the comprehensive development of the individual by impacting relevant theoretical and practical knowledge which will enhance his/her self-reliance and high moral discipline with the ability to identify, analyze and offer solutions in a complex dynamic managerial environment.

Objective.

The objective of the programme is to prepare our students to function as managers both in the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy.

2.         Objective of the Undergraduate Programme

The objective of the undergraduate programme is to give our students a broad based        education in any functional area of management sciences.

3.         Structure of Degree Programmes

The Department runs degree programmes of four years for its Full-time, and five years for its Part-time Bachelor’s Degrees. This degree programme is designed to meet and exceed the minimum academic standards set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and shall have the following categories:

1.         General Studies Courses (GES): These University-wide courses, taken in the first years of the degree programme, are designed to improve the basic intellectual, analytical ability and communication skills of the students, and to promote continuous awareness and understanding of contemporary society as well as the historical and cultural origins of the people of Nigeria. In the third year our Students take an Entrepreneurial Development Course to prepare them to be self-reliant. General Studies Courses (GES) must be passed.

2.         Foundation Courses: These are common courses in the Department that provide a sound background in general principles and methodology relating to the disciplines in the Faculty. Various Foundation (Faculty-wide) courses are prescribed by each Department. These courses include at least one course in each functional area of management plus courses in economics, mathematics, computer science and data processing. These courses are taken by all students in the Department at appropriate levels.

3.        Community Service Course: This is a field project directed towards service to the Community or to the University and is an integral part of all degree programmes. The objective of the project is to involve both staff and students in a practical way with some of the problems of society as well as with efforts to provide solutions to them, and to inculcate and develop in both staff and students a consciousness of their responsibilities to society and the satisfaction of rendering service to others. The project, which is practical in nature, requires the application of some of the skills being acquired in the degree programme to service the community, and generally involve manual work. It is credit- earning and an essential requirement in all degree programmes.

4.         Undergraduate Admission: Entry Requirements.

4.1       The minimum entry requirement into the Undergraduate Programme of the Faculty of Management Sciences shall be the General Certificate of Education, WASC, NECO & SSC (or equivalent) with credit in five subjects and must include English language, Mathematics and Economics. Admission into the programme shall normally be through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Examination (JAMB) and Uniport Screening. There shall normally be no “direct entry” into the second year of the degree programme. The subject combination for each department is specified in the JAMB BROCHURE.

5.         Registration of Courses

5.1       The period for normal registration is the first three weeks of each academic year, excluding the orientation week or as adjusted by the appropriate authorities of the University.

5.2       Course registration is the responsibility of the student’s parent Department or Faculty/College as the case may be. General Studies courses shall also be registered at the School of General Studies. The Head of Department/Academic Adviser should guide the students on the courses to register.

5.3       In registering students, the parent department should ensure that students re-register all previously failed courses. Furthermore, the total credit units registered should not be less than 15 or more than 24 per semester (SCAP 7.5).

5.4       Registration of courses is online, after that, the student should submit a copy of his/her Course Registration Printout to the Head of Department or any other officer designated for that assignment. Note that the processes must be completed six (6) weeks upon resumption.

5.5       The registration portal will be shut down one month to the first semester examination. Therefore, any student who fails to pay his/her school charges and register his/her courses online one month to the First Semester examination in a session loses his/her studentship for that session. Note that the lost session shall form part of the total duration allowed for the programme.

5.6       Students are not allowed to sit for examinations in courses for which they have not previously registered. Such actions are fraudulent, and violators of this condition will be appropriately disciplined.

5.7       Only results of bonafide students (that is, those who have paid their school charges and registered their courses online) will be published online.

5.8       A list of students who registered for each course should be kept. This list should be displayed for one week immediately after the close of registration for necessary corrections.

5.9       The Parent Faculty and the parent Department will retain one copy each of this list and forward copies to the Teaching Faculty to be distributed as follows: one to the Faculty, one to the Department and one to the Course Lecturer. This list becomes the official register for the course examination.

5.10     Application for adding or dropping a course must be made on the prescribed ADD/DROP Form after obtaining the approval of the Heads of Department concerned, not later than four weeks after the commencement of lectures. Any change of course made by altering the hard copy of the course registration form will be null and void.

6a.       Deferment of admission

A candidate, who is offered admission and is qualified at the time, but unable to take up the offer at the required time, may have his/her admission deferred. This request must be made in writing stating the reasons, and forwarded through the Heads of Department of the approved course programme for which the admission was offered.

6.1       To qualify for consideration for transfer to the programmes in Management Sciences after the completion of the first Academic Year, a student shall be required to obtain a CGPA of four points or above at the time of application

6b.       Auditing of Courses 

6.1       Students may attend a course outside their prescribed programme. The course shall be recorded in their transcript only if they have registered for it with the approval of the Head of the department and the Dean of the Faculty and taken the prescribed examination. An audited course shall not be used in calculating the CGPA

7.         Change of Degree programme

7.1       A student who has been admitted to a degree programme on satisfying the minimum        requirements for entry into the University as well as course requirements for Faculty and Department shall not normally be allowed to change until he/she completed the first academic year in the degree programme. A student shall be allowed to change department to that in which the Programme specified by the Scholarship Award is available, provided that he/she meets the requirements of the department to which a change is desired.

7.2       Application to change department contained in the Faculty Brochure.

7.3       To qualify for consideration to transfer to the professional programme in Management Sciences, a student shall be required to obtain a CGPA of 4 points or above at the time of application. This is contained in the Faculty Brochure.

8a         Inter-University Transfer

8. 1       A student from another University may seek a transfer to our Department, provided that the conditions in the Faculty and the University guidelines are followed.

8.2       All applicants for Inter-University transfer shall be required to be in clear standing in their previous Universities. By clear standing, the applicant shall not have any outstanding course(s) at the time of application.

8.3       A student who has been expelled or suspended from any University on acts of misconduct shall not be eligible for transfer to the University of Port Harcourt.

8.4       There is usually no transfer to the first year of the degree programme.

8.5       The residency requirement shall be a minimum of two years.

8b        Requirement for a Bachelors degree

In order to obtain a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in the Faculty of Management       Sciences, a student shall meet the following requirements:

i.    Complete program of study approved by the University Senate for the faculty.

ii.   A score not below 40% must be attained in the prescribed courses and research project,

iii. Satisfy all financial obligations to the University, and other requirement relating to attendance and character.

iv. Be formally recommended by the Faculty board of Studies to the University for the Award of degree.

9.         Examinations

9.1       Course examinations

i.          Every Course of instruction shall be continually assessed, and examined at the end of the semester which it is given.

ii.         A continuous assessment should be 30% and examination 70%.

iii.        Subject only to administrative supervision by the Dean’s Office, the conduct of course examinations shall be the responsibility of the Head of Department.

iv.        Continuous assessment of students should be by means of term papers, frequent tests (formal and informal), assessment in workshops/assignments, etc. as may be applicable to respective disciplines.

v.         Part-time teacher, where necessary, may be appointed as Internal Examiners.

vi.        Every course examination (i.e. question papers and grading) shall be moderated normally by one other Examiner as may be determined by the respective Faculty Board. Moderation of course examinations shall be limited to the end of the semester examinations.

vii.       The result duly signed by the Dean shall be published provisionally within 24 hours after approval by the Faculty Board.

viii.      The Dean shall, thereafter, on behalf of the faculty Board, present the results to Senate for            final approval.

ix.        The Registrar shall, after the approval by Senate, take custody of the results and notify the students and their sponsors.

9.2       Absence from Examination

Students are obliged to sit for all examinations with their mates at the same time. No special arrangements shall be made for any student who failed to write the examination with other classmates originally. However, any student who has good and acceptable reasons for not writing a scheduled examination shall apply to the Vice Chancellor        through the Dean and Head of Department for senate approval to write the said examination as first attempt at the next available opportunity when subject would be examined.

9.3       Procedure for the Review of Scripts of Aggrieved Students

9.4       Any student who is not satisfied with his/her grades is entitled to see his/her marked examination scripts if he/she so desires, provided appropriate steps are taken to safeguard the scripts.

9.5       Any student who is aggrieved about the grading of a course examination may apply in writing to his/her Head of Department. The Head of Department shall refer the application to the Dean of the Faculty, who shall cause the script(s) to be re-assessed and the scores presented to the Faculty Board for determination.

9.6       A student applying for a review of answer scripts shall be required to pay the approved fee to the Bursary Department before the commencement of the review. This shall be exclusive of the cost of postage of the documents to be reviewed and honorarium to the reviewer where applicable.

9.7       If the appeal results in a significant improvement (i.e. a change in letter grade) on the student’s original grade, the fee so paid shall be refunded to the student within 60 days from when Senate approved the new result.

9.8       Application for review of answer scripts must be made not later than one month from the date of publication of provisional results by the Faculty.

9.9       The application must be personal. No surrogate or group appeal shall be entertained.

10        Procedure for Investigation of Examination Malpractices

10.1     Definition of Examination Malpractice

Examination malpractice refers to all forms of cheating which directly or indirectly falsify the ability of the student. These include cheating within or outside an examination hall and any involvement in all other examination-related offences. Various forms of cheating are categorized below:

A.         Cheating Within an Examination Hall/Room

1.         Copying from one another/exchanging question papers/answer sheets

2.         Bringing in prepared answers, copying from textbooks, notebooks, laboratory manuals or any other instructional aids smuggled into the examination hall.

3.         Collaboration with an invigilator/lecturer where it involves the invigilator/lecturer providing written/oral answers to a student in the examination hall.

4.         Oral/written communication between/amongst students.

5.         Having prepared answers written on any part of the body.

6.         Receiving information, whether written or oral, from any person(s) outside an examination hall.

7.         Refusal to stop writing at the end of the examination.

8.         Impersonation.

9.         Non-submission of answer scripts at the end of an examination or removal of answer scripts from the examination hall.

10.       Sitting for an examination for which the student is not qualified as a result of manipulation of registration forms

11.       Entering an examination hall/room with an electronic device, e.g. handset/mobile phone, i-pad, i-pod, etc., except non-programmable calculators, whether it has been used to cheat or not.

B.         Cheating Outside the Examination Hall/Room

1.         Plagiarism is the use of either another person’s or one’s work without appropriate acknowledgement both in the text and in the references at the end. It is, therefore, a form of examination malpractice.

2.         Colluding with a member of staff or on his/her initiative obtaining set questions or answers beforehand.

3.         Colluding with a member of staff or on his/her initiative modifying students’ score cards, answer scripts and/or mark sheets.

4.         Colluding with a member of staff to submit another answer script as a substitute for the original answer script after an examination.

5.         Writing of projects, laboratory and/or field reports on behalf of a student by any other person(s).

6.         Copying laboratory and fieldwork reports and/or term papers or other related materials.

7.         Breaking into a staff office or departmental office to obtain question papers, answer scripts or mark sheets or substituting a fresh answer script for the original script.

C.         Other Examination Related Offences

1.         Producing a fake medical certificate.

2.         Assault and intimidation of an Invigilator / supervisor/ examiner within or outside the examination hall.

3.         Attempting to destroy and/or destroying evidence of examination malpractice.

4.         Intimidation/threats to extort sex/money/other favours from students by a member of staff in exchange for grades.

5.         Offering favours (money, sex, etc.) to the invigilator by a student to cover up the offence.

6.         Refusing to co-operate with the Faculty Investigating Panel or the Senate Committee on Examination Malpractice.

D.         Alternatively, any other act that may be sufficient to undermine the credibility or integrity of the examination.

It should be noted that any student or staff found guilty of any of the above-listed malpractices shall be deemed to be guilty of gross misconduct.

10.2     INVESTIGATION OF EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE

10.2.1  Any unauthorized material found in the possession of a student during an examination shall be seized by the Invigilator, and the student shall be made to sign on such unauthorized material in acknowledgement that it was retrieved from him/her. Refusal to sign is tantamount to acceptance of guilt.

10.2.2  Where the student refuses to sign, the Invigilator shall make a clear statement on the answer sheet and sign.

10.2.3  The student shall, however, not be prevented from finishing the examination.

10.2.4  The Invigilator shall, immediately after the examination, submit a written report to the Head of the Department conducting the examination.

10.2.5  The report shall include all necessary information, following the format that is given in Appendix 4. (see Faculty Brochure)

10.2.6  The Department conducting the examination shall set up a committee/panel to examine the merit of the case within one week after the examination.

10.2.7  If the Departmental Board feels that a prima facie case has been established, the case shall be presented to the Faculty/College Board, which shall appoint a panel to investigate the case and report back to the Faculty/College within one month from when the case was presented.

10.2.8  If the Faculty/College is satisfied that a case has been established, the case shall be reported to the Senate Committee on Examination Malpractice (SCEM).

10.2.9  The Senate Committee on Examination Malpractice (SCEM) shall investigate the case and report to Senate for decision.

10.2.10 The investigation of examination malpractice cases should be done without delay, and must not go beyond the end of the next semester following the one in which the offence was allegedly committed. Meanwhile, the student(s) allegedly involved in an examination malpractice shall be allowed to register for courses and take examinations in them, but the results thereof shall be withheld pending the outcome of the investigation and decision of Senate.

11        PUNISHMENT FOR EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE

11.1     Any student found guilty of any form of examination malpractice as listed in all the categories of Regulation 10.1 shall be expelled from the University.

Note:

(i)         The University shall communicate Senate decisions on examination malpractice to all affected students and their sponsors in writing and after that shall have the information published on all notice boards within the University, University weekly, University website and maybe in the print media.

(ii)        Decisions of Senate on examination malpractice shall take effect from the date on which they were taken except otherwise stated.

11.2     A member of staff involved in aiding and abetting students in examination malpractice amounts to gross misconduct and shall be made to face appropriate disciplinary sanctions.

12        SECRET SOCIETIES/CULTS

Secret societies/cults are anti-social and are banned by the University. Membership of secret society/cult group may be shown by any of the following, amongst others:

(i)         Dress code

(ii)        Fraternity insignia on clothes; on mobile phones and body as tattoo.

(iii)       Confirmed text messages on cult activities such as a schedule of meetings and venues, general information to fraternity members, agenda for initiation, etc.

(iv)       Physical recruitment drives and forceful initiation

(v)        Telephone chats among members and wooing potential members.

(vi)       Pictures showing peculiar greeting pattern of the particular fraternity.

(vii)      Snatching of cell phones with demands for ransom and conditional release.

(viii)     Confirmed sympathizer of cult groups through verbal comments and financial support to cult related events.

Any student who, after an investigation has been carried out, is proved to belong to a secret society/cult group shall be expelled.

13        Forgery

Any student found guilty of forging certificate, transcripts and other official documents shall be expelled from the University.