University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani - Ghana

UNIVERSITY OF ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, SUNYANI - GHANA

PROFILE OF ACADEMIC SCHOOLS AND DEPARTMENTS

2013

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 History and Background

Discussions on energy and natural resources use have for many decades’ generated arguments that call for the sustainable utilization of natural resources. In Ghana, the rate at which natural resources are depleted through human activities is alarming and has called for interventions to protect natural resources for now and for future use. The need for sustainable energy generation at the other end of the development continuum has also presented some challenges that need swift national attention. The sustainable availability of energy and the need to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels has become a global concern and more importantly for developing countries such as Ghana. The environmental impacts of fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil on the natural environment, with dire global warming consequences have also called for alternative energy sources.

In Ghana, policies on sustainable energy date back to the early post independence era. The Seven-Year Development Plan of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah outlined plans to implement energy solutions to match the development needs of the Country. This Plan, however, was short lived due to political tensions. Several policies on natural resource use and sustainable energy needs of Ghana exist.

In the face of these, establishing a higher institution of learning and research with adequate focus on energy and natural resources became pertinent and important for Ghana. The University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR); a public funded University established by an Act of Parliament (The University of Energy and Natural Resources Act, 2011, Act 830) was established in 2011. The University is mandated to train the next generation of graduates to acquire requisite skills to help alleviate the numerous challenges confronting the energy and natural resource needs of the country. The University, at full operation, would be made up of six academic Schools, namely:

·  School of Engineering*;

·  School of Sciences**;

·  School of Geosciences;

·  School of Agriculture and Technology;

·  School of Natural Resources*; and

·  School of Graduate Studies

*started in the 2012/13 Academic Year

**started in the 2013/14 Academic Year

Apart from the main campus in Sunyani, the University shall have campuses in Nsoatre and Dormaa Ahenkro. The School of Sciences, School of Natural Resources and the School of Graduate Studies shall be situated on the main campus in Sunyani. The School of Engineering shall be situated in Nsoatre whilst the Schools of Agriculture and Technology and Geosciences shall be situated in Dormaa Ahenkro. The University shall in addition establish four (4) field training centres in Mim, Brosankoro and Kyeraa for students in Agriculture and Forest Resources Management and one at Bui for students in Engineering.

The University has local and international collaborations with research institutions, universities and industry giants to provide cutting edge education in energy and natural resources.

1.2 Vision and Mission

1.2.1 Our Vision

The University exists to become a world class institution for generating, advancing and applying knowledge in energy and natural resource sciences. The University looks forward to a more dynamic future where its core businesses-teaching, research and community outreach in the areas of energy and natural resources would become directly and indirectly significant to the socio economic development needs of Ghana, Africa and the world. To achieve this, the University in the short, medium and long terms shall pursue vigorous organization of resources and expansion in admissions and infrastructure to support teaching and learning. The University shall assign well trained human resources in areas that are more critical to the developmental agenda of the Country. The University shall build, strengthen and enhance teaching and research at the undergraduate level. At the post graduate level, the University shall improve existing courses; build staff capacity which shall lead to the mounting of new programmes.

1.2.2 Our Mission

The mission of the University is to promote the development of human resources and skills required to solve critical energy and natural resources challenges of society and undertake interdisciplinary academic, research and outreach programmes in engineering, science, economics and environmental policy. The University shall operationalize its vision and mission by adhering to its core values. The University shall be shaped by the following core values:

·  Promote innovation, creativity, freedom of the thought and creative expression;

·  Operate with integrity, commitment and transparency;

·  Respect for conservation of energy and the environment;

·  Partnership with stakeholders in skills and knowledge generation and application;

·  Responsive to the needs of its students and partners communities; and

·  Promote and incorporate sustainability concepts across all University courses/programmes as well as exemplifying the sustainability culture by faculty, staff, students and alumni.

The University’s main mission is, therefore, to train the next generation of skilled personnel to formulate energy and natural resources policies and manage the socio economic development policies, plans, programmes and projects at all levels of national development. The University, based on its core values, shall approach energy and natural resource education in a multi dimensional and interdisciplinary manner.

1.3 Existing Four-Year Bachelor’s Programmes (As at September 2013)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Renewable Energy Engineering)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Environmental Engineering)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Electric and Electronic Engineering)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Applied Mathematics)

ü  Bachelor of Science (Natural Resources Management) with options in:

a) Forest Resources Management

b) Wildlife and Range Management

c) Ecotourism

d) Social Forestry

e) Wood Science and Forest Products

f) Land Reclamation and Restoration

g) Fisheries and Aquaculture

2.1.1 Four-Year Bachelor of Science (Natural Resources Management)

At present, especially after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, sustainable development or sustainable resource management has become an attractive idea for resource managers. It is estimated that about 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood. In the face of climate change and the unprecedented economic crisis, forests have a prominent role to play in sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation in the developing countries like Ghana with emphasis on the transition to a green economy – and its finance and human rights aspects.

Protective and environmental functions of the forest resources are becoming more important than timber raw material production of the forests. Forests house rich variety of flora and fauna species, conserve biodiversity of forest ecosystems and genetic diversity of great number of native and endemic species which should play vital environmental and economic roles for the present as well as future generations at local, national and even global levels. Amenity and recreation functions of forest areas have also increasingly gained importance for rapidly urbanizing populations of the country and they are expected to become the prime management and utilization objective of the significant forest areas in the near future.

The local people living in and around forest reserves and other protected areas have the right to live in their environment, but not at the cost of destroying natural resources. Lack of social and economic infrastructure in the forest fringe communities lead to social pressure on forest resources which should be reduced for the sustainable management of forest resources. Forest planning should take account of the demands of the local people in terms of socio-economic needs and other resources. In particular, opportunities for income-generating activities should be offered to rural people. Ecotourism implementation in suitable forest communities may be the best alternative income-generating activity that are also ecological sound thus securing the natural resources through sustainable forest resources utilization and management. Such ecotourism projects should aim for direct and indirect improvement of income levels and living standards of the local people.

Wildlife comprises of the innumerous varieties of wild plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms that exist on our planet earth, rather than just cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Knowingly or unknowingly, we largely depend on this wildlife for every elementary requirement in our life. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the medicines we consume, a variety of building materials used for construction, numerous chemicals used for manufacturing our necessities, all are extracted from the wildlife existing around us.

The wildlife in Ghana is dwindling in size due to population increase and its associated increase demand for land for agricultural production and infrastructure development. Many wildlife species have become extinct or have moved into nearby countries where the ecology is suitable for the development of the wildlife. The School of Natural Resources is poised to provide a strong and vibrant leadership to the wildlife and natural resources industry to meet the increasing demand for, recreation, tourism biodiversity conservation and green spaces. This will require an intimate knowledge of climate, species, and infrastructure, political, social and legal systems. In order to boost tourism in Ghana, the wild life industry must be developed. The graduates of this programme therefore will be exposed to wild life conservation, sustainable management and restoration of wild life habitats in Ghana’s forest ecosystems.

Bachelor of Science (Natural Resources Management)

Year One - Semester One

UENR 100: Quantitative Literacy 2C/hrs

ARITHMETIC: Estimation, percentage change, use of calculator: rounding and truncation errors; order of operations. STATISTICS: experimental probability: counting; mutually exclusive and independent events, graphical displays of data: pie and bar charts; frequency polygons; visual impact of scale changes, central tendency and spread: comparison of data sets using mean, median, mode and standard deviation, quartile deviation, range; percentile rank, the idea of correlation: measuring and evaluating the relationship between two variables, common sources of error: sampling error; GEOMETRY: measurement: units and conversion of systems; length; area; volume, familiar'' shapes: rectangles, triangles, circles, cubes, cones, cylinders, spheres, the Pythagorean relationship, angles: slopes of lines; parallel and perpendicular lines; right angles; similarity, complex shapes: approximation by "familiar" shapes; solution region for a system of linear inequalities in the plane. ALGEBRA: linear equations: equations in one unknown; systems in two unknowns; methods of solution. Proportionality, graphs and tables: constructing; reading, interpreting; extrapolating from; the notions of direct and indirect variation, simple exponents: roots and powers; products and quotients with a common base, concept of function: constructing discrete and continuous functions; graphical representation of functions; zeros of functions.

UENR 101: Academic Writing and Communication Skills 2C/hrs

Fundamental issues in grammar and composition to improve their language skills, reading and writing skills relevant to University work, including structure of the essay, completeness and coherence in essay writing; summarizing as a skill basic to exposition, writing from sources, citation and referencing skills, avoiding plagiarisms, writing and oral presentation skills, developing interpersonal intelligence, communication styles.

SNAR 101: General Mathematics 2C/hrs

Set theory, differentiation and integration; graph fitting matrices; carrying capacity of the environment and simple epidemic models, Simple differential equations, Population models including exponential growth, logarithms and trigonometric functions; equations, sequence and series; other applications in natural resource management.

SNAR 103: Introductory Plant Morphology and Anatomy 3C/hrs

General structure of the plant body; the axis, stele, cellular complexity of plants; arrangement, shape, size, and development. Morphology and function of the root, leaf, stem, flower, fruit and seed. Modification of leaf, stem and roots. Microscopic structure of the plant cell. Cell inclusions: nucleus, plastids, mitochondria, vacuoles, ribosomes, endoplastic reticulum, Golgi apparatus/dictyosome, ergastic substances. Meristems: Definition, classification, structures and functions. Primary plant tissues and functions: parenchyma, collenchymas and sclerenchyma; phloem and xylem. Secondary plant tissues: with special reference to the secondary xylem (wood).

SNAR 105: General Meteorology and Climate Change 2C/hrs

Structure and patterns of the atmosphere and its effects on renewable natural resources; agriculture, etc. Introduction to the large-scale processes responsible for determining global and regional climate and atmospheric circulation; small-scale processes responsible for determining the climates of specific environments; measurement of meteorological elements.

UENR 105: Introductory French I 2C/hrs

Introduction to the fundamentals of the French language. The focus is training the ear to ‘’hear’’ and reproduce patterns and meaningful sounds (words, sentences) while respecting the rhythm and the intonation of French spoken at a normal and natural speed. Students will be exposed to vocabulary and basic grammar in context, and will learn to use them in oral communicative situations: asking and answering simple questions relating to one’s activities. Verb tenses, grammatical concepts and expressions in the context of their use in simple every day conversation. Students’ understanding of basic words and expressions in French to enable them talk about themselves, their families and their immediate environment. Introducing themselves and others, telling time, reading simple sentences in announcements or notices will be another focus of the course.

SNAR 107: Basic Genetics 2C/hrs

Elements of heredity and variation – quantitative and qualitative; chemical nature and physical structure of genetic materials, multiple allele and polygenic inheritance; variation in a population: changes in chromosome numbers; mutations; introduction to population genetics and gene conservation.

SNAR 109: General Biochemistry 2C/hrs

General features of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, compartmentalization of cellular processes, tissue cells selection, cell disruption and fractionation. Structure, function and metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, general overview of DNA replication, transcription and translation; molecular basis of mutations; Broad introduction to the major topics in biochemistry with emphasis on such as photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism; amino acids, protein amino acid metabolism; enzymes, co-enzymes carbohydrates, carbohydrate metabolism; lipids, lipid metabolism; nucleic acids; porphyries; nitrogen cycle.

SNAR 111: General Chemistry 2hrs

Atoms, molecules and compounds. Types of chemical bonds: atomic, molecular, hydrogen, ionic bonds. Quantitative Analysis: Accuracy and precision, weighing and calibration of volumetric glassware, preparation and standardization of solutions, acid-base titration, simple pH calculation. Physical Chemistry: electrochemical series, redox reaction, chemical equilibrium. Organic Chemistry: alkene, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, organic acids, aromatic compound, substitution reaction, halogenations, free radicals. An overview of the periodic. Formation of salts, electron configuration. Qualitative Analysis: test for anions and cations, identification of salts and functional group. Lucas test for primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols.