The Board of Undergraduate Studies and Field Attachment Programmes (BUGS/FAP) plays a key role in the realisation of one of the University’s strategic objective of providing quality higher education and training. BUGS/FAP ensures that the programmes offered at the University are competitive and aligned to market needs through coordination of timely review and development of client driven quality academic programmes.

BUGS/FAP endeavours to increase linkages and collaborations with institutions and industry through field/industrial attachment (FA) and teaching practice (TP). The Board coordinates and facilitates the posting and supervision of students in all the academic programmes that have FA and TP; which aims at equipping the students with practical skills and attitudes.

Field/industrial attachment is a minimum duration eight (8) weeks of engagement with industry that is crucial in equipping the students with work place experience and training that meets the changing trend in the labour market.  Teaching practice is conducted for one school term by Education students after having completed the Methods of Teaching Courses.  The TP exercise provides the student-teachers with an opportunity to enhance professionalism, and acquire collaborative and interpersonal skills. Field/Industrial attachment and teaching practice is tenable after three (3) years and/or Four (4) years of study for the respective Degree programmes and after two (2) years of study for Diploma programmes.

In pursuit of experiential in agriculture related programmes, BUGS/FAP has engaged farmers and farming enterprises for student attachment. In this programme known as Farm Attachment Programme (FAP), students are attached on farms for eight weeks. The students work with the farmers and are expected to gains hands-on skills and implement relevant projects and activities on the farm. Feedback from the students emphasised the need for reliable, unbiased sources of agricultural information to farmers which was key in the development of Farm-Up Connect (farmup.egerton.ac.ke), an online platform that is beneficial not only to the farmers but also to other stakeholders in the agriculture sector. The platform is hosted on the University website under the Division of Research and Extension and currently has content on production and marketing issues for maize, potato, dairy, poultry, and a few other selected cross-cutting issues.

BUGS/FAP coordinates the partnership between Egerton University and Arava International Agricultural Training Centre (AICAT) in Israel that provide hands-on skills and technology transfer to students undertaking agricultural related programmes. This 11-months attachment programme provides selected students with an opportunity to be attached to various farms and farmer organizations in the Arava region of Israel. The students are five days a week in the farms and one day a week in class at AICAT. Alumni of the AICAT programme have been instrumental in creating interest by young university graduates in agricultural enterprises in the country with quite a number successfully establishing their own farming enterprises.

The specific responsibilities of the Board of Undergraduate Studies and Field Attachment Programme as stipulated in the Egerton University Statute 24 (2) of 2013 include:

• The review of and recommendation to the Senate on the quality of undergraduate degree and diploma curricula;
• Promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration at undergraduate level with a view to facilitating coherence and resource use optimisation with regards to training;
• Formulation and review of course scheduling policies for the purpose of enhancing coherence, flexibility and liberalisation of the respective curricula;
• Coordination of recommendations to the Senate on rules and regulations formulated by Departments and Faculties governing the undergraduate degree and diploma programmes;
• Coordination of the Award Scheme for academic excellence amongst undergraduate students and forwarding recommendations thereon to the Deans Committee;
• Coordination and facilitation of Field/Industrial Attachment programmes and Teaching Practice.
• Other functions as may be assigned or delegated by the Senate in accordance with the Statutes.