University of Botswana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| University of Botswana | |
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| Motto: | Thuto Ke Thebe (Setswana) |
| Motto in English: | Education is a Shield |
| Established: | 1982 |
| Type: | Public |
| Endowment: | P334 million |
| Chancellor: | Festus Mogae |
| Vice-Chancellor: | Bojosi Otlhogile |
| Staff: | 2,174 |
| Students: | 15,725 |
| Undergraduates: | 14,946 |
| Postgraduates: | 779 |
| Location: | Gaborone, Francistown, and Maun, Botswana |
| Campus: | Urban, 1.15 km² (284 acres) |
| Colors: | Brown and Blue |
| Mascot: | Bull (Steer) |
| Website: | www.ub.bw |
The University of Botswana, or UB was established in 1982 as the first institution of Higher Education in Botswana. The university has a total of four campuses: two in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The university is divided into six faculties: Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities, Science and Social Sciences. A much needed Faculty of Medicine is scheduled to enroll students in 2009 as part of a collaboration with the University of Melbourne in Australia. [1]
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[edit] History
UB began initially as a part of a larger university system known as UBBS, or the University of Bechuanaland (Botswana), Basotoland (Lesotho), and Swaziland; which was founded in 1964 to reduce the three countries' reliance on tertiary education in apartheid-era South Africa. After Botswana and Lesotho became independent in 1966, the university was called the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (UBLS). In an unexpected move in 1975, Lesotho withdrew from the partnership and established its own national university. For several years a separate University of Botswana and Swaziland existed until in the early 1980s the university was amicably divided into two separate national universities. It was at the time of Lesotho's initial withdrawal that Botswana, which was among the poorest nations in the world, started the One Man, One Beast movement. This fundraising campaign formally known as the Botswana University Campus Appeal (BUCA) was spearheaded by the late President Sir Seretse Khama in 1976. The campaign was launched to raise money for the construction of the Botswana Campus of the University of Botswana and Swaziland. BUCA followed in the wake of a unilateral nationalisation of a joint-university campus facility in Roma by the Lesotho government. The campaign galvanised Botswana's national culture of philanthropy and the spirit of self-reliance. Batswana (People of Botswana) and other stakeholders made contributions of all types (including cash, cattle, grain, eggs, etc.) towards accomplishing the set target of one million rand. By 1982, the University of Botswana became a reality and remains the oldest institution of higher education in the country. The One Man, One Beast movement endures today on the university's main statue located outside the new library.
[edit] Faculty of Business
The Faculty of Business was established in 1997 following the reorganisation of the School of Accounting and Management Studies (SAMS) under the Faculty of Social Sciences. The need to establish an independent faculty was primarily driven by increasing numbers of students who showed an interest in business programmes. Under the umbrella of this new faculty, three departments were created to offer specialism in management, marketing, and accounting & finance. The most popular of these is the Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc) program, which is designed to train students for a professional level accounting certification exams, most notably the ACCA. Many graduates have integrated this degree into tracks such as becoming American CPA's or members of the UK's CIMA. The faculty currently offers five different degrees:
- Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc)
- Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Management
- Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Marketing
- Bachelor of Information Systems (BIS)
- Bachelor of Finance
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
[edit] Faculty of Education
The Faculty of Education is the oldest faculty in the university. It has grown over the years in terms of student enrollment, number of departments, and the number of programmes offered. Currently, the faculty is composed of nine departments including Adult Education, Educational Foundations, Educational Technology, Home Economics, Languages and Social Sciences, Nursing Education, Physical Education and Primary Education. There are twelve undergraduate programmes: a Master of Education degree with nine specialisations, a Master of Nursing Science program, a Master of Counselling and Human Services programme, two MPhil and Ph.D. programmes and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. The new semester schedule has resulted in the discontinuation of the certificate in Adult Education and Diploma in Home Economics, Physical Education and Science Education programs. New programmes have been introduced including the Bachelor of Educational Management. Changes in structure of the Faculty are expected during the Botswana government's National Development Plan 9, with some departments being incorporated in the envisaged Faculty of Health Sciences. The enrollment for 2001/2002 was 2255 excluding 98 graduate students. The current academic staff complement stands at 124, making the staff/student ratio 1:14. The localisation rate is at 60% with one professor, three associate professors and 18 senior lecturers.
[edit] Faculty of Engineering
The Faculty of Engineering & Technology (FET) was created in 1996 as a result of Botswana Polytechnic being incorporated into UB. The Faculty is located approximately 1.7 km from the main UB campus in downtown Gaborone.
[edit] Faculty of Science
The Faculty of Science, which has the largest annual enrollment, began as the School of Science of UBBS in 1971. Its original four departments (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) were involved only in teaching Part I of the BSc degree programme. In 1975, when the Lesotho campus dissociated from UBBS, the teaching of Part II (years 3 and 4) began in all departments. The departments of environmental science, geology, and computer science were added to the faculty before the University of Botswana came into existence in 1982.
[edit] Faculty of Social Science
A number of programmes at the certificate, diploma, degree, and masters levels are offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences. Students admitted into the BA programme are allowed, with the permission of the relevant heads of department, to pursue a combined major in two subjects from departments within the faculty as well as selected departments in other faculties. Degree programmes offered in the faculty include Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Social Sciences, and Bachelor of Social Work.
[edit] Library system
The University of Botswana Library system has been in existence since 1971 when the first thousand volumes were housed in an unused church building in the village of Gaborone. The first official building was opened in 1986, which was two stories tall and contained only five computers.
In 2001, the library moved to a new building, more than tripling its old size. The new main library is one of the largest university libraries in Africa with five floors and a significantly larger and more modern computer network.
The Director of CAD is Professor Amos Thapisa.
