Gulu University (GU) is a university in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. It is one of the nine public universities in the country, as of September 2016.

Location

, GU has three campuses. (a) The main campus is approximately , by road, north-east of the central business district of

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...

, the largest city in the Uganda's Northern Region. This is approximately , by road, north of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. (b) The second campus is in the town of

Kitgum Kitgum is a municipality in Kitgum District in the Northern Region of Uganda. The town is administered by Kitgum Municipality Council, an urban local government. It is the largest metropolitan area in the district and the site of the district ...

, approximately , by road, north-east of Gulu, close to the international border with

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. That campus became operational in 2011. (c) Upon the request of the Kingdom of Bunyoro, the university established a campus in the city of

Hoima Hoima is a city in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Hoima District. It is also the location of the palace of the Omukama of Bunyoro. Location Hoima is approximately , by road, nort ...

, offering agriculture, the environment, computer science, information technology, business studies, accounting and education.

History

GU was established by Act 7 of 2001 of the

Parliament of Uganda The parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. Unicameral, the most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer t ...

. That Act was subsequently amended by Act 3 of 2006. The university admitted its first students and commenced teaching activities in September 2002.

Progress

On 23 January 2010, during the fifth annual graduation ceremony, GU awarded degrees to 1,050 graduates, including 40

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

s, the first graduating class of the Gulu University School of Medicine (with the help of the

University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

). The graduates also included thirteen students who received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree.

Former association with Lira University

In 2009, GU established a constituent college in the city of

Lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

, which is about to the southeast of Gulu. The campus, then named Lira University College, admitted its first students in August 2012 (100 of them). It continued operating in this capacity until the Ugandan Parliament (Act No. 35, July 2016) elevated it to an independent

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

. Since 1 August 2016, it has been referred to as

Lira University Lira University (LU) is a university in Uganda. It is one of the eleven public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country. Location The university campus is located on approximately of land, about , by road, northwest of down ...

Academic courses

Undergraduate programs

, the following undergraduate academic degree courses were offered at GU, according to an advertisement placed in the

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language newspaper published daily in print form and online. Overview ''New Vision'' is one of two main national English-language newspapers in Uganda, the other being the ''Daily Monitor''. It is publi ...

by the university.

Faculty of Agriculture and the Environment

* Bachelor of Agriculture *

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Biosystems Engineering *

in Agri-Entrepreneurship and Communication Management *

in Food and Agribusiness

Faculty of Business and Development Studies

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

* Bachelor of Public Administration * Bachelor of Development Studies *

in Economics * Bachelor of Quantitative Economics

Faculty of Law

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Faculty of Education and Humanities

* Bachelor of Arts Education * Bachelor of Business Education

Faculty of Medicine

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United K ...

Faculty of Science

* Bachelor of Science Education in Biological Sciences * Bachelor of Science Education in Physical Sciences * Bachelor of Science Education in Economics * Bachelor of Science Education in Sport Science * Bachelor of Science in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

* Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology

Postgraduate programs

The following postgraduate degree courses were offered at GU in January 2016.

Faculty of Medicine

* Master of Medicine in Surgery * Master of Medical Anthropology

Faculty of Business and Development Studies

* Master of Arts in Public Administration & Management * Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation Studies * Master of Arts in Governance and Ethics

Faculty of Science

* Master of Science in Applied Tropical Entomology and Parasitology * Master of Science in Agri-Enterprises Development * Master of Science in Food Security and Community Nutrition

Students

In July 2014, GU admitted 2,500 privately sponsored students and approximately 250 government-sponsored students. The total student population in 2014 was about 5,000, including diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate programme enrollees.

Staff

, GU employed 421 full-time staff, of whom 241 were academic staff and 180 were non-teaching staff. As of August 2013, the university had a shortage of 73 academic staff, according to Vice Chancellor Jack Nyeko Pen-Mogi.

References

External links

Gulu University Website

The Neapolitan Project To Develop The Faculty of Medicine at Gulu University

Latest News from Gulu University

Gulu University to Build Multi-billion Teaching Hospital, Bio-science Lab
{{Gulu District Gulu Acholi sub-region Northern Region, Uganda Education in Uganda Gulu University Educational institutions established in 2001 2001 establishments in Uganda

Location

History

Progress

Former association with Lira University

Academic courses

Undergraduate programs

Faculty of Agriculture and the Environment

Faculty of Business and Development Studies

Faculty of Law

Faculty of Education and Humanities

Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Science

Postgraduate programs

Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Business and Development Studies

Faculty of Science

Students

Staff

See also

References

External links