The Copperbelt University is a public university in
Kitwe
Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...
,
Zambia. It is the second largest
public university after The University of Zambia. The language of instruction at the university is English.
Overview
The Copperbelt University is a public university established through
Act of Parliament No. 19 of 1987. It currently operates from five campuses: Jambo Drive Main Campus, Parklands Campus, Ndola Campus,Kapasa Makasa Campus and TAZARA Campus. The TAZARA campus is currently offering only Railway, Mechanical and Electromechanical Engineering.
These campuses are located in
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
an areas in the cities of Kitwe,
Ndola and
Chinsali
Chinsali is a town in Zambia, which is both the district headquarters of Chinsali District and provincial headquarters of Muchinga Province.
Location
It lies just off the road between Mpika and Isoka (Tanzam Highway; Zambia's Great North Roa ...
in the Copperbelt and
Muchinga Provinces of Zambia.
The Copperbelt university has the biggest
school of Engineering
Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...
in the country, offering a variety of engineering fields as bachelor's degrees with honors. It is the first institution in Southern Africa to offer
Mechatronics,as an achievement.
The Copperbelt University has the biggest school of
built environment, offering programs such as
Architecture,
Real Estate,
Urban and Regional Planning and Construction Economics Management (which also branches into
Quantity Surveying).
The university's core business is to provide teaching, learning, research, consultancy and public service. These are carried out through its ten faculties:
*School of Engineering
**Bachelor's degree in
Civil Engineering (Hons).
**Bachelor of Science in
Construction Management
Construction management (CM) is a professional service that uses specialized, project management techniques and software to oversee the planning, design, construction and closeout of a project. The purpose of Construction management is to control ...
**Diploma in Civil Engineering
**Diploma in Construction
**Bachelor of Engineering (with honors)
Electrical Electronics
**Bachelor of Engineering (with honors)
Telecommunications
**Bachelor's degree in
Mechanical
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
,
**Bachelor of Engineering Mechatronics
**Bachelor of Engineering
Aeronautical Engineering.
**Bachelor of Engineering in Electromechanical Engineering
**Bachelor of Engineering in Railway.
*School of
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
Natural Sciences
*School of
Natural Resources
*School of
Business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
*School of the
Built Environment
**Bachelor of Science in Real Estate
**Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning
**Bachelor of Science in Construction Economics Management
**Bachelor of Arts in Architecture
*School of
Information and Communication Technology
**Bachelor of Science in
Computer Science
**Diploma in Information Technology
**Bachelor of Information Technology
**Bachelor of Computer Engineering
**Bachelor of Science in Information Systems
*School of
Humanities and Social Sciences
*Directorate of
Distance Education and
Open Learning
Open learning is an innovative movement in education that emerged in the 1970s and evolved into fields of practice and study. The term refers generally to activities that either enhance learning opportunities within formal education systems or b ...
(DDEOL)
*
School of Medicine
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...
*School of Mines and Mineral Sciences
*bachelor of engineering in chemical engineering
*Dag Hammarskjold Chair for Peace, Human Rights and
Conflict Management
The Copperbelt University has about 15,900 students and produces an annual average of 1, 500 graduates who form a nucleus of experts in critical areas of national development. These include mining, banking, construction, environmental, agricultural, real estate, educational, medical, engineering and manufacturing sectors.
History
The Copperbelt University is a public university established through the Act of Parliament No. 19 of 1987. Prior to 1987, the university existed as a campus of the University of Zambia Federal System with two schools; namely: School of Business and Industrial Studies (SBIS) and School of Environmental Studies (SES). The campus was referred to as the University of Zambia at Ndola (UNZANDO) until 1 December 1987. As of 1 January 1989 the Zambia Institute of Technology (ZIT) was incorporated into the Copperbelt University to form the School of Technology. Since 1987, the university has significantly grown from only two faculties to ten by the end of 2013. The total number of students in 2017 was 11,900 and having had over 54,000 students in the past 25 years. The university too is proud of its graduates who are holding key responsibilities in various sectors of the economy within the country and beyond. At its first graduation ceremony in 1992, the university had only 100 students then graduating from the various disciplines but graduating average of 1,500 as at 2017.
In 2014, the School of Medicine received US$1 million in donation from the
Council of Zambian Jewry, of the
African Jewish Congress and the
World Jewish Congress.
On September 9, 2020, Mafishi, a large fish that was housed in a pond at the university died. The fish was said to bring good luck to students taking exams. President
Edgar Lungu joined the nation in mourning.
Notable alumni
*
Felix C Mutati, the former minister of finance, studied accountancy at CBU (UNZANDO)
*
Margaret Mhango Mwanakatwe
Margaret Mhango Mwanakatwe is a Zambian politician who was the Minister of Finance from 14 February 2018 to 14 July 2019. She worked previously as a businesswoman, accountant, and bank executive. She was the director for business development in ...
, the former Zambian Minister of Finance studied her
Bachelor of Business Administration at CBU (UNZANDO).
Affiliations
Association of Commonwealth Universities
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...
; Association of African Universities; African Council for Distance Education;
Southern African Regional Universities and is a signatory to the SADC Protocol on
Higher Education.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Universities in Zambia
Kitwe
Forestry education
Buildings and structures in Copperbelt Province
Educational institutions established in 1987
1987 establishments in Zambia