Overview
The need to provide a framework for the coordination of academic activities and programmes, particularly in higher education, thus helping to streamline unwarranted growth and development and duplication of academic programmes, and the imperative to maintain well-defined minimum standards have led to the creation of academic planning units in many tertiary educational institutions. This development has been associated with the need to have a crop of planning professionals to manage such units. This course exposes the student to the theory and practice of academic planning.
Aims
The main aim of this course is to expose the students to the general principles and practice of academic planning in tertiary educational institutions.
Objectives
At the end of the course, the student should be able to;
Appreciate the need for academic planning as tool for balancing the demand for, and supply of educational services, and
Understand the functions of a typical academic unit in tertiary educational institutions.
Course Structure/Description
A number of topics will be covered in this course. They include:
Paper 2: INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR ACADEMIC PLANNING
Course Code: APL/FF 02
Overview
The practice of academic planning has evolved over time from when it was regarded as the responsibility of teachers and school administrators to its present state, where statutory authorities are vested with the responsibility to determine benchmarks and minimum standards. This course overviews the institutional framework for academic planning with special reference to the Nigerian experience.
Aims
The main aim of the course is to acquaint students with the range and functions of statutory agencies and internal systems that are charged with the responsibility of academic planning, with particular reference to Nigeria.
Objectives
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
Course Structure/Description
Topics to be treated include
Evolution of academic planning as a distinct area of professionalism in tertiary educational institutions
Paper 9: QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Course Code: APL/FP 9
Overview
Quality can be viewed as a grade of achievement, or a standard against which an institution, system, or product can be judged. Specifically, the quality of higher education can be judged by the relative degree of excellence in teaching, content of academic programmes, research and scholarship, staffing, students, infrastructural facilities such as laboratories and libraries, as well as services to the academic environment and the community. Establishing confidence bounds for these various indicators is what constitutes quality assurance. A key function of the academic planning unit in tertiary educational institutions is that of quality assurance. This course exposes the student to practical issues relating to quality assurance.
Aims
The main of the course is to expose students to issues relating to quality assurance, as well as the mechanisms through which better quality can be assured for higher education.
Objectives
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
Identify and articulate the key factors that determine the quality of higher education, and
Course Structure/Description
Topics to be covered include:
The concept of quality in educational services delivery
Paper 13: FORECASTING MODELS FOR ACADEMIC PLANNING
Course Code: APL/FP 13
Overview
Forecasting is about predicting the future, based on knowledge of the present and the past. For most organizations, including higher educational institutions, forecasting has as much intermediate and long-term influence on the quality if output and services provided. Within the setting of managing educational institutions, educational and academic planning requires an efficient system of forecasting so as to balance the future workload of the system with the resources that are available. Consequently, there is need to have ready forecasts of growth in student population, budgetary requirements, staffing needs and other infrastructure.
Aims
The main aim of this course is to synergize and expand the student’s previous knowledge of quantitative and statistical methods, with special focus on the aspects that are more applicable to forecasting methods that are specifically appropriate for professional academic planning practice.
Objectives
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
Specify models of forecasting relevant to academic planning, based on theoretical and a priori criteria
Course Structure/Description
Topics to be covered include:
Paper 14: KEY ISSUES IN ACADEMIC PLANNING IN NIGERIA
Course Code: APL/FP14
Overview
The Nigerian tertiary educational system has recorded substantial expansion in the last decade, in terms of student population and number of institutions. This expansion has however not been accompanied by adequate funding for public tertiary institutions, and quality of teaching and research facilities has been progressively declining over the years. The situation is not better for the newly established private higher educational institutions. Thus the generally-acclaimed high standards with which the Nigerian higher educational system was associated in the past has been visibly threatened, to the extent that products of the system are sometimes rejected by employers, or made to face discriminatory practices by universities abroad when they apply for admission into postgraduate programmes. This course focuses on current key issues.
Aims
The main aim of this course is to enable the student identify the major problems confronting the Nigerian educational system, resolutions of which could ensure better standards and quality for Nigeria higher education.
Objectives
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
Course Structure/Description
Topics to be covered include:
ACADEMIC PLANNING
FaFaculty | Course Title | Course Code | |
Paper 1 | Introduction to The Theory and Practice of Academic Planning | APL/FF | 1 |
Paper 2 | Institutional Framework for Academic Planning | APL/FF | 2 |
Paper 5 | Strategic Planning for Academic Planners | APL/FI | 5 |
Paper 9 | Quality Assurance in Higher Education | APL/FP | 9 |
Paper 13 | Forecasting Models in Academic Planning | APL/FP | 13 |
Paper 14 | Key Issues in Academic Planning | APL/FP | 14 |