University of Buea, Cameroon

by https://www.all-about-cameroon-today.com
(Buea)

University of Buea
Motto; Knowledge with Wisdom
Nickname; “The place to be”
Affiliation; University of Manchester
Website; www.ubuea.net

The University of Buea is located in Buea in the South West Region of Cameroon. It was founded as a university centre in 1985. It became a full flesh university in 1992 on the basis of a presidential decree. It is one of the two Anglo Saxon universities in Cameroon, the other one being the newly created university of Bamenda in the North West Region of the country.

The University has at the head of its administration a vice chancellor in the person of DR NALOVA LYONGA.

The University of Buea aspires to become a leading university in the quality and relevance of its teaching, research and services by 2015.

The University of Buea will provide opportunities for quality teaching and research in a conducive environment, and in a manner that makes its graduates relevant to the needs of the job market.
The University is dedicated to the continuous quest for excellence in research, the promotion of moral and human values, and service to the community.
Conceived in the English-speaking tradition, the University of Buea seeks to foster the essence of that system, while situating itself within the larger bilingual and multicultural context of Cameroon.
Its teaching and research programmes emphasise relevance encourage tolerance and promote creative, critical and independent thinking.
The University of Buea seeks to foster collaboration and maintain a cordial relationship among all stakeholders and, especially, to promote the welfare of staff and students who are key actors in the university system.

The University of Buea was born following reforms in universities in Cameroon. The University of Buea, fondly referred to as UB, was conceived in the English-speaking tradition. It seeks to foster the essence of that system, while situating itself within the larger bilingual and multicultural context of Cameroon.
Buea, where the University is located is a historic town, a former capital of German Kamerun, former capital of the federated State of West Cameroon and now the provincial capital (head quarters) of the South West region of Cameroon.

Although the university draws its student population mainly from the English-speaking part of Cameroon, it also serves the other regions of the country in particular and Africa in general.
Admission into the University of Buea is competitive and based on selection from the pool of admissions applications. Paper applications are no longer accepted as everything is done through the internet.

The student population as of the academic year 2012/2013 was over 12,000. Out of this number, over 50 were physically and visually disabled. Adequate welfare provision for this later category of students remains a challenge and a priority for the university administration.
About 300 permanent and 200 part-time, a highly qualified and diversified staff caters for the students. The University is in partnership with partners in more than 40 universities in Africa, Europe and North America. Apart from teaching, the University staff is also involved in research in fields that are relevant to national development.

In addition to the academic staff, University of Buea has about 473 support staff.
The University of Buea is made up of seven faculties;
- Engineering
- Arts
- Education
- Health Sciences
- Science,
- Social and Management Sciences
- Agriculture and Veterinary medicine and

TWO PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS;
- The Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) and,
- The College of Technology (COT).

Training at the University of Buea is supported by modest infrastructure including; lecture halls, teaching and research laboratories, amongst others. For effective implementation of the New Policy on University Governance which lays emphasis on effectiveness, efficiency and management principles based on rigor, transparency and results.

The university is connected to a fiber optic linked to the Cameroon telecommunication company, Camtel,
In keeping with the New University Governance Policy of Cameroon, the outreach activities of the university are increasingly involving the private sector in funding and training so as to ensure that the graduates are relevant to the labour market.
The University of Buea provides mentorship and plays a supervisory role to several tertiary educational institutions all over Cameroon.

As in most English-speaking institutions, the governance system of the university is based on concentration and devolution of management, with structures such as Council, Senate, Congregation and Committees on which staff and students are represented. This has enabled the university to make considerable strides and to be recognized as a progressive African university of choice.
The University of Buea campus has a wide optical-fiber network that links most of the buildings to the internet via a VSAT link. The IT Centre offers Internet services to staff and students at a relatively low cost.

Available in the campus of the University is an ultra-modern Library. It operates in two buildings;
- The main library is housed in a newly constructed building. It houses the open stacks book collection, quick reference and general reference books.
- The annex library contains special collections such as reserve Books/Lecturers Notes, Archives, Journals and Cameroon collection. In addition to these, the Annex Library houses a collection of cassettes, video tapes, micro-film and multi-media (CD-ROM) resources.
Faculty staff and students of the University of Buea can borrow and use the library collection. Alumni, users from institutions affiliated with UB and members of the public can also use the library with due authorization.

Outreach and cooperation activities of the university seek to create strategic alliances with institutions and organizations at home and abroad to exploit the opportunities of an increasingly globalised world. Because of this, the University of Buea has links with many foreign universities and cooperation and some international organizations. The linkages are aimed at exchanging of staff and students whilst international organizations assist the university with capacity building of staff and funding for research. There is also increasing collaboration with national institutions and enterprises. While institutions provide support in teaching and research, enterprises, for now, only provide facilities for practical training of students. There is therefore great potential for growth in the collaboration of enterprises in the areas of research and development.

There is also establishment of partnerships with private institutions of higher education. The aim is to help young private institutions to grow in stature to produce graduates with skills that correspond to the needs of the job market.