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BOTSWANA OPEN UNIVERSITY - FRANCISTOWN CAMPUS Inspire tomorrow, today

Botswana Open University

Induction Notes

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August 2020 ______________________________________________________________________________

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P a g e | 1 Francistown Campus

LEARNER INDUCTION NOTES

FRANCISTOWN CAMPUS-INDUCTION NOTES Welcome to the Francistown Regional Campus

Francistown Regional Campus is located in the city of Francistown in the North East District. It is

housed at Plot No. 31403 Corner Francis Avenue and Rutherford Street. The Campus serves as an

administrative support Centre for all BOU students at both Open Schooling and Tertiary levels.

The Centre offers educational services to the following districts: Tonota sub-district, Tutume Sub-

District, Chobe District, the city of Francistown and the North-East District. Even so, there are

tertiary learners who attend here from other BOU regions.

The Francistown Region Tertiary Department is offering twelve programmes at Certificate,

Diploma and Degree levels. These programmes admit students mainly from within the Region and

also country-wide. Tertiary tutorials are held at the campus as well as at the Francistown Centre

for Technical and Vocational Education (FCTVE).

Francistown Region strives to create a culture that is focused on academic achievement. We do so

by creating an environment and culture that is free of learning barriers to student success.

BOTSWANA OPEN UNIVERSITY

Francistown Region© 2020



Regional Centre Expectations

All registered students are expected to abide by the BOU policies available in the university

website. There is also the Student Assessment Handbook in the website which provides some

guidance on assignment and examinations matters. The violation of code of conduct is liable to

the disciplinary measures stipulated in the University hand book and Policies.

You are strongly advised to read these policy documents as ignorance of policy will not be

accepted as excuse for non-conformity.

As the University, our experience with COVID-19 encourages us to minimise office visits.

Therefore, most assistance will be provided online through the Student portal and website.

The BOU Vision

To be an innovative Open University globally recognized for academic excellence, life-long

learning and societal impact.

The BOU Mission

To provide quality academic programmes and services through teaching and learning, research

and innovation, and community engagement for a prosperous knowledge-based society.



Our Values at BOU

1. Excellence

Focusing on quality, innovative and relevant programmes and services.

2. Student-Centredness

Shifting the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student by using strategies that address

students’ distinct needs, interests and learning styles.

3. Equity

Ensuring equal opportunity and non-discrimination on the basis of personal, ethnic, religious,

gender or other social characteristics.

4. Integrity

Showing honest and strong moral principles in all aspects of the University’s work.

5. Academic Freedom

Guaranteeing the freedom of an academic to inquire, teach or communicate or exercise critical

thought without suffering any professional disadvantage at the place of employment.

6. Accountability

Ensuring that all staff and students take responsibility for their actions.

7. Collegiality

Promoting shared governance, cooperation and due respect amongst colleagues at the

workplace.

Compassion

Demonstrating empathy, support, care and concern for others (botho).



Tertiary Departmental Structure

Regional Director: Mr. Monty Moswela

Manager Tertiary: Ms. Nthobatsang: 71900822

Tutor Coordinator: Ms. Monyamane: 71263825

Admissions and Centres Coordinator: Mrs. Nelson: 71699714

Assessment and Examinations Officer: Mr. Selala:73479000

These officers are available to assist you with issues relating to their offices.

Service provided

1. Student Administration – application, registration, examination administration, pre-

graduation clearance

2. Blended Tuition Support

3. Counselling – guidance before registration and on psycho-social issues

4. Library – all services e.g e-resources, issue desk services and research support

5. Technology support – online learning platforms, online payments, SPSS

6. Facilities provision – tutorials & examination, workshops & seminars, office accommodation

to other departments

7. Administrative services - services level agreements

8. Financial Services – budgeting, revenue, expenditure, payroll for part- time staff, student data

management, and general ledger management



Programmes offered

Francistown Regional campus offers a total of 12 Tertiary programmes consisting of: three

Certificate programmes, three Diploma and six Degree programmes. The programmes offered

are as follows:

Certificate programmes

Certificate in Community Based Work with Children and Youth (CCBWCY)

Certificate in Small Scale Business Management (SSBM)

Certificate in Disaster Management (CDM)

Diploma programmes

Diploma in Human Resources Management (DHRM)

Diploma in Business Management (DBM)

Diploma in Integrated Early Childhood Development (DIECD)

Degree programmes

Bachelor of Commerce- HRM & Industrial Relations (BCOMME)

Bachelor of Business and Entrepreneurship (BBE)

Bachelor of Business Administration Leadership and Change Management (BBA-LCM)

Bachelor of Education –Primary (BED-PRI)

Bachelor of Education in Integrated Early Childhood Development (BED-IECD)

Bachelor of Education in Special and Inclusive Education (BED-SIE)



Services offered at the Francistown Regional Campus

The Regional Campus offers a variety of student support services which include;

Marketing and publicity

Student applications and registration support

Tutorial support

Facilitate/Administer all examinations

Tutor recruitment, training and support

Guidance and counselling

Management of staff and student records

Financial management

Management of IT infrastructure and utilisation

Procurement of goods and services

Fleet management

Library Services and information services

Hosting of candidates from other Regions for Examinations.

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Registration Process

______________________________________________ Each student is expected to register at the start of every semester. Semester Registration is done

online as soon as the dates are announced on the University website. There are guidelines provided

to assist you with registration.

Please make sure you complete the registration process such that you can print a proof of

registration showing all the courses you registered for. Failure to complete registration will deny

you access to course materials, assignments and all other activities for that course.



Upon registration, a student will be able to access the Delivery Schedule from the website under

‘’Student Centre’’ The Student Centre houses all the policies and documents that you need to

familiarise yourself with. The Delivery Schedule shows the dates allocated for all student activity.

These dates are influenced by the larger University Calendar, hence it is not always easy to change

some dates as there are many other university activities that relate to the dates on the Delivery

Schedule.

ESSENTIAL POINTS TO NOTE:

Students are expected to pay fully for the courses they are registering.

Students should make sure that they complete the registration process to the end.

Students may register for at least two courses per semester.

Students' accounts are open throughout the whole year to enable them to make gradual

deposits for future semesters.

There are retake fees for courses being repeated /retaken.

The fees table is available on the website at “Student Centre”

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Student ID

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All registered students should have Student ID card processed at the office or at a place directed

by the Regional Centre.

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Communication

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The BOU Francistown Regional Centre strives to ensure transparency and cooperation with

systems and processes within the university. We communicate through email, bulk sms, the BOU

or Francistown Region Facebook page, the student portal and website. You are expected to visit

these sites regularly to stay abreast with what is going on.



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Queries/Inquiries and Complaints

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We have a procedure for students to query, inquire or complain. There are forms available for

each of these aspects.

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Continuous Assessment Expectations

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Assignments or Coursework must be submitted according to the submission schedule

All the details on the cover page should be filled.

Assignments are submitted through the online portal

You submit the assignments to your Region’s Folder

Late submission will attract penalties;

5 working days or less after submission date- award up to 50%.

0% will be awarded to any assignment that is submitted when other learners’ scripts had

already been returned

10 working days after submission date-award a zero

You sit/submit for an examination/assessment in which you have submitted its

assignment.

Refer to Student Assessment Handbook.



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Research Projects and Portfolios Procedure

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All students undertaking research or portfolio work are allocated a supervisor to provide them with

guidance in accordance to the BOU research and Portfolio expectations Guidelines.

Research students are expected to adhere to the guidelines given by the supervisor, Coordinator or

lecturer.

There are submission dates attached to portfolio and research projects work.It is expected that you

abide by the guidelines and the submission dates.

A student, whose portfolio or research project is not supervised or does not meet the standards, will

not be accepted for submission to the supervisor.

Supervisors accept only work that they have fully supervised and they are fully satisfied that such

work meets the set standards.

Conduct during Examination time

All candidates will remain silent whilst in the Examination Room.

No eating or chewing gum in the examination room

Candidates will not commence writing until instructed to do so by the Invigilator.

Candidates may not receive assistance from another candidate; neither must a candidate give

assistance to another.

Candidates must remain seated at the end of an examination until all papers have been

collected by the Invigilator and the Invigilator has given permission for them to leave.

Note: Assessment Conduct is fully explained in the Student Assessment Handbook in the

University website at “Student Centre.”



Rules and regulations should be strictly adhered to. (Refer to the Assessment handbook).

Results

Results are released according to the delivery schedule dates. They are accessed through the

University website at www.bou.ac.bw. No results will be given over the phone under any

circumstances whatsoever.

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Results Queries/Complaints Procedure

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All appeals of the grades should be made in writing and outlining your reasons, the fees

are as follows;

P396.25 -for a Diploma course (Subject to change)

P399.25- for a Degree

P392.25- for a Certificate

P121 – Transcript Re-print

It’s your sole responsibility to see to it that you appeal your grades on time.

Special exams are only provided for the learners who missed it through Special or

Extenuating Circumstances (SorEC) cases.

Transcripts are released only at the end of your programme duration.

Academic Transcripts

Transcripts are collected from the Regional EA and confirmed. It is the responsibility of the student

to collect their transcripts in time and rectify any errors as necessary.

No fee will be charged for the issuing of a transcript. However, a fee approved by the University,

will be charged for a replacement or requests made outside the period when these are normally

printed.



A transcript is printed at the end of the programme not a semester. For checking your academic

progress, the students can print the academic record from the online services.

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Graduation

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At graduation, completing students from all levels of study; Certificate, Diploma to Degree and

Masters will be conferred their academic qualifications.

In preparation for graduation, graduands are required to complete a graduation form and confirm

that they will attend the ceremony.

During this time, it is important that you check on the graduation list that your name is written

correctly as errors on certificates may take long to correct.

The deadline for submitting Reply Coupons is the last day of September every year.

The Reply Coupon ascertains that the names of the graduands have been verified as correct and

also whether they would be attending the ceremony in person or not.

Certificates are issued only once and are not replaced if lost. A certifying document may be issued

after the student has provided a sworn statement. Graduands who could not attend the ceremony

may collect their certificates from their Regional Centres after the Graduation Day.

PHYSICAL ADDRESS:

PLOT 31403 CORNER FRANCIS AVENUE and RUTHERFORD STREET TELEPHONE: +267 2418383/ 2418368

[email protected] www.bou.ac.bw

http://www.bou.ac.bw/index.php/campuses/francistown-region

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