Overview
Following the recent discovery of oil and gas in Kenya and beyond, and in cognizant of the strategic direction the country has taken as outlined in the Vision 2030, the Bachelor of Petroleum Geoscience course is part of a set of academic programs at the School of Physical Sciences that has been motivated by the following needs at the National level:
- The need to provide qualified manpower to spearhead petroleum exploration, drilling, reserve estimation and development.
- The need to provide technically well informed managers at the decision making level for the oil industry
- The need to promote sustainable exploitation of national energy resources to spur economic activities in line with the goals of the Vision 2030
The Department of Geology will offer the new undergraduate program for the B.Sc. degree in Petroleum Geoscience based on the course unit system. The program in Petroleum Geoscience will focus on modern natural resource industries, which will not only involve the exploration phase, but also their development and management practices. This program aims to offer a coherent understanding of the areas of science that relate to the earth’s petroleum resources including their nature, origin, distribution, discovery and exploitation. The course is designed to impart practical knowledge and the ability to understand the geological and technological complexity of the petroleum systems. The practical training and hands-on experience will be achieved through partnerships and collaborations between the Department and the players in the petroleum industry. Students who specialize in Petroleum Geoscience will be required to enroll for appropriate pre-selected courses in Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics in their 1st and 2nd year of their study in this program.
Exam Regulations
- All courses taken shall be examined during the semester in which they are offered. Such examinations shall consist of continuous assessments and end of semester examinations.
- End of semester examinations will comprise 70% of the total course marks whereas continuous assessment, tutorials and practicals, where applicable, will account for 30%.
- End of semester examinations will take two hours.
- During their fourth year of study, students will undertake research project (SPG 407) under supervision of members of staff. The project runs throughout the academic year and is presented orally before a panel of examiners. Oral presentations constitute 30% of the total mark and the written report 70%.
- Each unit shall be graded out of maximum of 100 marks and the pass mark for each unit shall be 40%. Marks shall be translated into letter grades as follows:
- 70-100% A
- 60-69% B
- 50-59% C
- 40-49% D
- Below 40% E
- A candidate may, on the recommendation of the School Board of Examiners and approved by Senate, be admitted to Special Examinations, in the course(s) for which the candidate failed to sit Ordinary Examinations at the prescribed time. Special Examinations shall be graded as Ordinary Examinations.
- A candidate who, whether by Ordinary or Special examinations or after repeating the year of study;
- Passes in:
- At least ELEVEN units in the 1st and 2nd year of study shall, on the recommendation of the School Board of Examiners and approval by Senate, be allowed to proceed to the subsequent year of study.
- At least TEN units in the 3rd year of study shall, on the recommendation of the School Board of Examiners and approval by Senate, be allowed to proceed to the subsequent year of study.
- Passes in at least TEN units in the 4th year of study shall, on the recommendation of the School Board of Examiners and approval by Senate, be considered for award of a degree, subject to Regulation 6.
- Passes in:
- A candidate who, whether by Ordinary or Special examinations or after repeating the year of study, passes in;
- EIGHT to TEN units in the 1st or 2nd year of study, or
- SEVEN to NINE units in the 3rd year of study shall, on the recommendation of the School Board of Examiners and approved by Senate, be admitted to supplementary examinations in the courses/units failed. No candidate shall continue therein unless he/she obtains passes in the prescribed minimum number of units as in section 7.
- SEVEN to NINE units in the 4th year of study shall, on the recommendation of the School Board of Examiners and approval by Senate, be admitted to supplementary examinations in the courses/units failed.
For units which a candidate sits supplementary examinations, the marking shall be out of 100% but the continuous assessment marks shall not be considered. Any score exceeding 40% shall be indicated as 40%, whereas any score less than 40% shall be left as such.
A candidate who, after sitting a supplementary examination in the first or second year, passes in less than eleven units shall be required to repeat the year subject to 8 (d)
A candidate who, after sitting a supplementary examination in the third or fourth year, passes in less than ten units shall be required to repeat the year subject to (Vii)(d)
d. A candidate shall be allowed to repeat a year of study ONLY ONCE.
9. A candidate shall, on the recommendation of the School Board of examiners and approval by Senate, be allowed to repeat the year of study;
- If the candidate passes in FIVE to SEVEN units in the 1st or 2nd year of study,
- If the candidate passes FIVE to SIX units in the 3rd or 4th year of study
- For any other reason,
Subject to the following conditions:
- A candidate shall be allowed to repeat a year of study ONLY ONCE.
- A candidate repeating a particular year of study will be required to take only the units previously failed or not completed.
- Any repeated unit shall be marked like an Ordinary Examination
10. A candidate shall be required to discontinue from the University if;
- In any year of study the candidate passes in less than FOUR units,
b. The candidate fails to follow the prescribed units.