The philosophy on which the academic content of the programme is based is “Training for skill acquisition in architecture”, and includes a broad general knowledge of related professions and competence to exploit (local, national and intemational) architectural schemes.
The main objective of the programme is to produce architects who understand and are capable of solving simple and complex environmental design problems within time. In addition to the core courses: Architectural Design, History and Theory of Architecture, Fine and Applied Arts, Building Systems, Technology and Environmental Control Systems, students are also exposed in reasonable depth to other areas of leaming such as Computer Technology, Sociology and Professional Management Studies.
Research innovations are encouraged, and as much as possible life projects, relevant to the country’s needs, and particularly the local environment, are assigned to students; fieldwork and industrial training are an integral part of the programme. These are designed to complement classroom Work with real life situations. By the time a student completes the programme, he/ she must have acquired a range of knowledge, skills and techniques necessary for understanding, effectively managing and competently solving architectural and environmental design problems of great complexity.
Department of Building
Graduates of Building are expected to develop a wide range of abilities and skills among which the following are essential:
a. Ability to understand the essential facts, concepts, principles and theories relevant to the subject areas identified
b. Ability to apply the acquired knowledge to solving familiar and unfamiliar qualitative and quantitative problems
c. Ability to identify and analyze new problems and plan strategies for their solution.
d. Ability to evaluate, synthesize and interpret building industry information and data using Information Technology
e. Ability to present orally and in written form scientific material, contract and production documents, and arguments clearly and correctly to the client and other members of the public
Graduate builders must be able to demonstrate the following skills:
a. Competence in feasibility and viability studies
b. Skills in build ability and maintainability analysis
c. Competence in building production management
d. Competence in assemblage and construction of all types of buildings
e. Skills in the coordination and project management of building projects
f. Skills in the management of building construction works from planning/tender stage to completion and profitability of all the operations involved
g. Skills in instruction, control and inspection of site operative works
h. Competence in the most appropriate and cost effective method of construction and sequence of site operations for the entire building construction project; the Preparation, Implementing, Updating, Review and Monitoring of Construction Methodology, Construction Programme, Infonnation Requirement Schedule (IRS), Project Quality Plan, Project Health and Safety Plan and Early Waming Systems (EWS)
i. Skills in the setting out of building, ensuring correct positioning of all aspects of building and supervision of foundation, formwork and temporary supports, superstructures, concrete, wood, aluminum and structural steel works for all types of buildings
j. Skills in building up unit rates, obtaining and analyzing quotations tendering and making recommendations for the purchase of all materials, components and sub-contract works and other construction resources required for a building project
k. Skills in the preparation of project quality management plan, fire safety, health safety plan and instructions for building construction
l. Competence in building maintenance technology
m. Skills in carrying out condition survey of building and preparation of schedules of condition dilapidation, identifying building defects, recommending appropriate remedies and organization of maintenance works
n. Skills in carrying out Building Facilities Management
o. Skills in canying out building maintenance
p. Skills in Value Management and building proj ect Risk Analysis
q. Skills in monitoring and evaluation of Building projects
Department of Environmental Management
The philosophy of the programme is the training of personnel from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, to the highest academic standard in the identification and resolution of environment issues.
Though a relatively recent academic and professional discipline, Environmental Management is ambitious in its focus to systematically study all the environmental stresses (exploitative, disruptive and eutrophic) with a view to not only finding mitigating measures but also to proffer preventive measures. Its philosophical orientation entails the conception of and planning for a livable environment. It is both a negative measure of preventing nuisance, and a positive measure for promoting the beauty of the total environment.
Environmental Management is a multi-disciplinary and comprehensive process of guarding and guiding the use of environment. It operates through the instrumentality of statutory land use planning which encompasses the broad range of rural and urban affairs, as well as pollution control, with specific reference to air, land, water, hazardous substances, waste and recycling, radioactive waste, noise, odour, vibration and flooding.
Thus, the programme inculcates too the relevant knowledge into the trainees in order to equip them with adequate skills for the purpose of environmental monitoring, research, information exchange, review, evaluation and management of the human habitat as special ecological systems.
Accordingly, the main objectives are:
a. To acquire sufficient and relevant academic and technical knowledge and skills for dealing with the problems of the environment
b. To acquire through practical field exposure and through laboratory analysis, the multidisciplinary perspectives that bear on the application of the knowledge acquired in (a) above to solving problems of environmental management
c. To develop the skills to work as a team in order to achieve a multidisciplinary synthesis in tackling the problems that emanate from the use of natural resources, as well as to achieve sustainable development in various aspects of hmnan endeavour
d. To develop skills for environmental auditing and/or building up of reliable geographic information system that leads to enlightened environment-based policies and decision-making processes
e. To develop in students a wide range of usefirl competencies in public, private or self-employment
Department of Estate Management
Estate Management centres around the art and science of effective and efficient development and utilization of landed property, other natural resources and the built environment to sustain and enhance social and economic activities. Land is not only scarce in supply but also indispensable to humans. Prudence therefore warrants judicious development, use and management of the resources to secure optimum and sustainable returns. In pursuit of this philosophy, the estate management programme is designed to equip students to appreciate the complex legal, economic, social and technological impacts on the use, development and management of land and of the built environment. The emerging world concern for technological development and environmental sustainability calls for the curriculum for training in Estate Management to be responsive.
The specific objectives are:
a. To involve the students in an intellectually stimulating and satisfying experience of leaming and studying
b. To instill in students an appreciation of the complex nature of the relationships between humans and their environment
c. To provide balanced foundation of the knowledge of land and buildings, and their exploitation and use
d. To develop in students entrepreneurial skills and values for self-employment in the profession
e. To develop in students survival skills in an ever-changing economic, technological and political world
f. To lay the foundation on which students can proceed to further studies in specialized aspects of Estate Surveying and Valuation practice or multi-disciplinary areas involving estate surveying and valuation
g. To create an appreciation of the importance of estate surveying and valuation in an industrial, enviromnental, economic and social context
h. To develop the students in the use of infonnation technology in effective management of land and the environment
The programme is geared towards training future graduates of Estate Management with the requisite academic and practical background for the professional practice of Estate Surveying and valuation in both private and public sectors of the economy as well as further academic development. The core areas of the programme are: Real Estate Valuation and Appraisals; Plant and Machinery Valuation; Landed Property Investment and Facilities Management; Feasibility and Viability Appraisals; Land Administration and Use; Planning and Development; Project Management.
The curriculum comprises academic and practical exposures of the future graduates to the art and science of estate surveying and valuation (estate management) within the duration of the programme, which includes: Research and development of concepts, theories and solutions to problems of land use, valuation and ever expanding socio-economic, technological and political environments of our country and the world as a whole; Training and manpower development through short-term courses, Workshops and seminars for stakeholders and civil servants in land administration, assets management for the states and local governments within the university catchments area.
Department of Fine and Applied Arts
Although academic training in the Visual Arts was originally conceived to enable individuals develop their artistic skills with regard to “accurate expression” in Drawing, Painting, Sculpture and related fields, it has since evolved into an enterprise for stimulating creativity through the manipulation of forms and materials. The relationship between art (as creative expression) and cultural growth in the humanities, science and technology has made it increasingly obvious in recent times that art training should not be confined to the production of pure aesthetic objects alone. If its full potentials as a cultural catalyst are to be realized, art should be taught not only to produce painters, sculptors, potters, printmakers, illustrators, textile designers and graphic artists, but also to influence developments in Architecture; Urban Planning and Landscape Design; Industrial Design; Resource Management and Modem Technology in general. No art form would be valid and authentic if it did not reflect and advance the hopes and aspirations of the society of which it is a part.
The department aims at producing competent artists with the right intellectual perspective on the role of art as an instrument of social development. Specifically, the department endeavours to achieve the following objectives:
a. To stimulate and nurture artistic creativity in all ramifications
b. To encourage and guide students to use their creative skills to enhance the quality of living in the Nigerian environment
c. To maintain a balance between practical and theoretical component of the programme. This is to ensure the production of artists who would be both visually and culturally literate
d. To constitute a programme of study that will enable students combine the international dimensions of Art with a deep knowledge of local artistic and cultural traditions, emphasizing the development of high professional skills, motifs and the cultivation of a personal idiom of expression
e. To raise the level of aesthetic and cultural awareness in students and by extension, other members of the society through research, academic publications and art exhibitions
Department of Geography and Meteorology
The philosophy underlying the Geography and Meteorology programme is to produce graduates imbued with the ability to acquire appropriate knowledge to make their contribution to the development of Nigeria, Africa and the global community. This is to be achieved by equipping the students with a broad foundation and specialized knowledge in the field of environmental sciences in general and in the various sub-fields of Geography and Meteorology in particular. It also aims to prepare them to meet the human and natural resource needs of a developing society, and develop in them entrepreneurial knowledge, a sense of public responsibility and a spirit of self-reliance.
Accordingly, the main objectives are:
a. To instill in students a sound knowledge of Geography and Meteorology, an appreciation of its applications in different socio-cultural contexts, involve students in an intellectually stimulating and satisfying experience of learning and studying the workings of society
b. To properly equip students with adequate, and relevant academic and technical knowledge and skills, for tackling problems of spatial planning, and development of the environment
c. To provide students with broad and well balanced knowledge of geographical theories and methods
d. To cultivate in students the ability to organize and formulate principles, according to acquired geographic and meteorological concepts, which they can apply to the observation, analysis and interpretation of spatial and ecological problems in their immediate and wider environments
e. To develop in students a range of useful competencies in public, private and self-employment
The Department of Geography and Meteorology is totally committed to the training and development of well-informed, self-reliant and disciplined graduates who are competent in observing, analyzing, synthesizing and conceptualizing all aspects of the physical, social and economic enviromnents.
Department of Quantity Surveying
The philosophy underlying Quantity Surveying education is to develop and advance the science and practice of the profession with emphasis on construction, project planning, procurement, cost management and contract administration. Traditionally, the profession of Quantity Surveying is concerned with financial control and probity in the evolution, planning and execution of construction projects. It is therefore imperative that the degree programme should equip students with the theoretical background and practical skills to enable them evaluate analytically the cost management issues of design and construction.
The quantity surveyor interacts and collaborates with a wide range of specialist members of the design and construction team, and this calls for a multidisciplinary knowledge of other related professions. The training of quantity surveyors should therefore embrace all facets of construction work and management if they are to function effectively as financial managers of the construction industry.
Objectives of the degree programme in Quantity Surveying are:
a. To train competent graduates with sound knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of the profession and its supporting and related disciplines in order to provide cost control and management services on diversified construction projects in the public and private sector
b. To provide relevant and adequate general knowledge to enable graduates interact effectively with the society and with the ever-changing environment
c. To produce graduates who with subsequent industrial experience will become competent practitioners, registrable with the recognized professional bodies of quantity surveyors both within and outside Nigeria
Students are trained in the following major aspects of the programme: Measurement of Building Works; Measurement of Civil and Industrial Engineering Works; Tendering and Estimating; Contract Administration; Professional Practice and Procedure; Construction Economics; Project Cost Control; Construction and Project Management; Constiuction Technology; Material Science and Specification; Building Services; Building Maintenance and Facilities Management; lnfonnation Technology; Laws of Contract, Tort, Arbitration, Land and Tenure; Architectural and Structural Design Theory and Practice; Accounting, Budgeting and Financial Management; Entrepreneurial Studies and Marketing; Research Methodology and Presentation.
Graduands of Quantity Surveying are expected to develop a wide range of abilities andcskills to enable them to evaluate, synthesize and interpret construction industry infonnation and data using information technology and present oral and written scientific materials, reports and documents to industrial professionals and other clients/stakeholders.
Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics
Surveying is a multi-disciplinary subject, which serves as the foundation discipline in Engineering, Environmental Design and Studies, and Land Administration and Planning. Surveying provides the spatial locations of the earth‘s features and other environmental information necessary for designing engineering works, physical planning, location and exploitation of natural resources as well as land administration. The role of surveying in military science is obvious. The surveyor therefore should be seen as professional and an academic geoscientist who should have a sound foundation in both mathematics and physics.
Traditionally, surveying and mapping were concerned mainly with positioning, mapping and production of maps, charts and plans. Data capture was usually accomplished by conventional analogue, optical and electro-optical equipment, which processes were very tedious and required specialized knowledge and expertise. In the last two decades however, advances in computer and space technology have revolutionized geodata capture, processing and management. The development in digital technology means that various processes of data capture, analysis and display are becoming integrated and realizable in real time. This modern mapping technique is generally referred to as Geomatics or Geoinformatics. The Surveying and Geoinformatics programme of the University is designed to train Surveyors (Geomaticians) who are fully professional, highly academic, technical and knowledgeable in the art of surveying and mapping, digital data acquisition, processing, management and presentation.
Graduate Surveyors provide services and working tools for numerous other professionals and scientists. The graduate surveyor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University is trained in five core areas: Land Surveying (Cadastral Surveying, Engineering Surveying, Topographic Surveying, Digital Mapping Techniques); Geodesy (Geometrical and Physical Geodesy, Astronomy, Global Positioning Systems); Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing; Hydrography and Remote Sensing; Geographic Information Systems.
Graduates of Surveying and Geoinformatics are trained to carry out: pre-analysis and design of survey projects and write out instructions and specification, and survey measurements, prepare and lodge cadastral plans and large-scale topographic maps and plans; data processing and analysis with modern digital electronic computers and produce full professional and technical reports; digital mapping and development of geospatial data management system for annotation and interpretation and better appreciation of environmental elements.
They are also able to understand and appreciate layout designs and specifications, and undertake the translation of the designs from blue print to the ground, as Well as interpret survey law and regulations and other land related legislation and professional ethics. In all, they are able to participate fully in the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessment.