FACULTY REGULATIONS
1. APPLICATION OF THESE REGULATIONS
1.1 These regulations apply to Undergraduate Degree Programmes in the Faculty of Agriculture and should be read in conjunction with the General Academic Regulations for Undergraduate Degrees.
1.2 The General Academic Regulations shall take precedence over these regulations.
2. DEFINITION OF TERMS
In these regulations the following terms shall be used as described:
2.1 Farm Attachment: means a period of time during which a student is assigned to an approved farming entity for the purpose of gaining practical skills or experience.
2.2 Internship: means a job-type situation with an approved and appropriate employer.
2.3 Weekend On-farm Practicals: means practicals normally carried out on Saturday mornings during Level 1 on farms or other approved agricultural enterprises to enable a student to gain real appreciation of various farming or production activities involved.
3. PROGRAMMES
The Faculty of Agriculture offers the following undergraduate degree programmes:
3.1 Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agriculture
3.2 Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agricultural Engineering
3.3 Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Applied Environmental Science.
4. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
4.1 Normal Entry Requirements
For normal entry requirements into the Undergraduate Honours programme, the applicant must satisfy the entry requirements as prescribed in the General Academic Regulations, including passes in THREE subjects chosen from the following list of which at least TWO must be at Advanced Level or approved equivalent:
Biology Mathematics (Pure or Applied or Both)
Chemistry Economics
Physics Geography
4.2 Additional Entry Requirements
4.2.1 Ordinary Level passes:
English Language
Mathematics
and one Science subject incorporating Biology and Chemistry for all the eight subjects in the degree programme.
4.2.2 Advanced Level pass in Biology (except for Agricultural Engineering where A Level pass in Mathematics is required) in addition to the requirements noted below for the different subjects:
Agricultural Economics Mathematics and one subject from
Economics, Geography, Chemistry or
Physics
Soil Science Chemistry and one subject from
Mathematics, Economics, Geography or
Physics
Animal Science Two subjects from Chemistry, Mathematics, Geography, Physics or Economics
Agricultural Extension Two subjects from Chemistry, Mathematics,
Education Geography, Physics or Economics
Crop Science Two subjects from Chemistry, Mathematics, Geography, Physics or Economics
Applied Environmental Chemistry and one subject from
Science Mathematics, Economics, Geography or
Physics
Horticulture Two subjects from Chemistry, Mathematics, Geography Physics or Economics
Agricultural Engineering Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry or
Geography or Agriculture
4.3 Diploma Holders
A candidate who holds a Diploma in Agriculture or Horticulture recognized by the Senate for this purpose, may, on recommendations of the Chairman of Department and subject to the approval of the Senate, be admitted to the first year of the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agriculture programme provided that he/she has attained an approved standard of performance in his/her diploma course.
5. STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMMES
5.1 The duration of the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agriculture and Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Applied Environmental Science programmes shall be a minimum of 6 semesters and a minimum of 8 semesters for the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agricultural Engineering.
5.2 The Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agriculture and Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Applied Environmental Science programmes shall normally consist of a minimum of 360 course units each, excluding the 12 course units of the Communication and Computer Writing Skills for Agriculture course. The Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agricultural Engineering programme shall normally consist of a minimum of 480 course units, excluding the 12 course units of the Communication and Computer Writing Skills for Agriculture course.
5.3 A student may, on recommendation of the Departmental Board and with the approval of the Dean of Faculty, be permitted to register for not more than 24 additional course units. The examination results of such courses should not be taken into account in classifying the degree.
5.4 A course worth 12 course units shall be taught in 6 hours a week, not more than 3 hours of which will be lectures.
5.5 One of the courses in each of the three undergraduate honours degree programmes is a project which is normally taken in the two semesters of the final level of study and is worth 24 course units.
5.6 The course combination selected by a student in any academic year shall be subject to: timetable feasibility; approval of the Departmental Board and the Dean of Agriculture.
5.7 A failed core course shall be repeated. For a failed optional course, a repeating candidate may take an equivalent course if it is specified in the programme regulations or provided it is approved by the Departmental Board.
5.8 A student, who has failed a maximum of two courses at a Level may be allowed to proceed to the next Level carrying those courses.
5.9 A student who has failed more than two courses at a Level shall normally repeat the failed courses before he or she shall be allowed to proceed to the next Level.
5.10 A student who fails the same course or courses at the same Level twice shall normally be told to withdraw.
5.11 A student shall normally not be allowed to carry Level I courses to the final Level.
5.12 During the first year of the Programme, students doing BSc Agriculture Honours are required to participate in the week-end morning on-farm practicals.
5.13 A student who is a holder of a National Diploma in Agriculture or its approved equivalent will be exempted from week-end morning on-farm practicals and his or her National Diploma or its equivalent shall be credited 12 course units.
5.14 A student shall normally be required to undertake training in agriculture or in an appropriate industry through farm/industrial attachment and internship programmes at a facility approved by the Senate during the vacation for 8 weeks as a component of Level I training and 8 weeks as a component of Level 2 training, respectively.
6. EXAMINATIONS
6.1 The end of course examination shall normally take place at the end of
the semester in which the course was taught.
6.2 To be admitted to an end of course examination, a candidate must have registered as a student of the University of Zimbabwe, in accordance with the General Academic Regulations.
6.3 Where a course project constitutes part of the examination, the student must complete and submit the project by a specified date set by the Faculty. A student who fails to meet this deadline shall normally fail the project.
6.4 Each course will be examined by one three-hour written examination plus continuous assessment unless otherwise stated.
7. ASSESSMENT OF COURSES
7.1 Evaluation shall be based on continuous assessment and formal examinations.
7.2 Unless otherwise stipulated in the specific subject regulations, continuous assessment shall contribute between 20% and 33% of the overall mark as determined at the beginning of the course by the Departmental Board.
7.3 A student who attains a mark of less than 40% in the continuous assessment component of a course shall fail that course. The mark shall be the final raw mark or 48%, whichever is the lesser.
7.4 Assessment of Attachment and Internship Programmes shall be either satisfactory (P) or unsatisfactory (F). If unsatisfactory, the student shall repeat either the unsatisfactory Attachment or the unsatisfactory Internship Programmes.
7.5 The examiners may, at their discretion, require any candidate to present himself/ herself for an oral examination or written test.
7.6 The Research Project assessment will include seminars, the written dissertation and an oral examination.
8. PROCESSING OF EXAMINATIONS
The processing of examination results shall be carried out as prescribed in the General Academic Regulations.
9. DETERMINATION OF EXAMINATION RESULTS
9.1 Unless approved otherwise by the Senate, a single overall mark shall be submitted for each course on a student’s profile of marks as stipulated in the General Academic Regulations.
9.2 A student shall not graduate unless he/she has satisfactorily completed the Attachment and the Internship components of the programme.
9.3 In determining the degree classification, the aggregate marks from Levels 2 and 3 will be weighted 33% and 67% respectively to arrive at a mark upon which the degree classification in the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agriculture and Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Applied Environmental Science programmes will be based.
9.4 In the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Agricultural Engineering, the degree classification will be based on the aggregate marks from Levels 2, 3 and 4, which shall be weighted as 15%, 25% and 60% respectively, in order to arrive at the overall mark used in the classification.
10. AWARD OF THE DEGREE
Results shall be published and degrees awarded in accordance with the provisions of the University of Zimbabwe General Regulations.
11. REGULATIONS FOR POSTGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMMES
11.1 PREAMBLE
The Regulations should be read in conjunction with the General Academic Regulations for the Master of Science Degree by Coursework and the Faculty of Agriculture Regulations for Master of Science Degrees.
11.2 ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
11. 2.1 Applicants must have obtained an appropriate honours degree in the Upper Second Division.
11.2.2 Additional Entry Requirements for each programme are as follows:
11.2.2.1 MSc in Applied Economics
(a) Applicants with a degree in Economics and a relevant Social Science Degree may be admitted.
(b) Applicants without an academic background in Agriculture or Agricultural Economics may be considered on the basis of relevant work experience.
11.2.2.2 MSc in Animal Science
Apart from BSc honours in Agriculture (with approved Animal Science courses), applicants with a degree in Veterinary Science may be considered.
11.2.2.3 MSc in Crop Protection
MSc in Crop Science with Options in Plant Breeding and Agronomy
In addition to BSc honours in Agriculture (with approved Crop Science courses, applicants with a degree in Biological Sciences may be admitted.
11.2.2.4 MSc in Soil and Environmental Management
In addition to BSc honours in Agriculture (with approved Soil Science courses) and BSc honours in Applied Environmental Science, applicants with the following degree may be considered:
(a) Biological Sciences which includes courses in Environment
(b) Geography
(c) Agricultural Engineering
11.3 DURATION
All MSc programmes in Agriculture are full year programmes and run for 2 years.
11.4. STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMMES
Each programme shall consist of two parts. Part 1 shall be the coursework component and Part 2 shall be the research component.
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