A STUDENT’S GUIDE TO THE
VIRTUAL LEARNING
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (VLMS)
AND THE STUDENT MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (SMIS).
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QUALITY POLICY
Mount Kenya University is committed to provision of quality
teaching, research and consultancy and community service to
meet the requirements of its customers.
In pursuit of this commitment the university shall comply
with all applicable requirements of continually improve the
effectives of the Quality Management System based to ISO
9001:2008
The universities Top Management shall on annual basis
review this policy and the established quality objectives for
continuing suitability.
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INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUAL LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Virtual learning management system (VLMS) is a web based collaboration and courseware
management platform that is designed by the Mount Kenya University, for students. The
VLMS provides a flexible yet powerful collaboration solution that supports teaching,
learning, research and administrative functions.
At Mount Kenya University, the VLMS is rolled out at virtual campus. The virtual learning
management system(VLMS) offers Mount Kenya University a set of robust features to help
instructors better communicate and collaborate with their students, while fellow students
enjoy a rich environment that helps them manage and organize their academic life.
As a student of Mount Kenya University Virtual Campus, you will use the VLMS as their
primary means of out-of-classroom communication. The VLMS is configured to provide the
following course resources:
syllabus, scheduling, announcements, resources, assignments, grades, grade book ,chats,
lessons forums ,test and quizzes and email.
SMIS
A student management information system (SMIS) provides information that university
require to manage efficiently and effectively.
The system will allow students to have:
1. Easier and faster online registration of course units
2. Easier access of course modules and other learning materials.
3. More interactive features per course unit i.e. live chat, forums, study groups, sms
broadcast, etc.
4. Auto registration of course units triggered from SMIS
5. Easier marking of assignments and cats and broadcasting of students CAT marks
Students are being notified that they shall follow the below outlined procedure during their
registration.
1. Go to the bank and pay at least 60% of your school fees. Payment to be deposited in
either of the following Bank Accounts
Equity Bank, ACC. No- 0090292435067
KCB Bank, Acc. No - 1121032222
Coop Bank, Acc. No - 01129279981300
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Fina Bank, ACC. No- 2014200002
Standard Chartered Bank, ACC. No- 0102049817400
Family Bank, ACC. No- 005000019336
NB: When making bank deposits, always ensure that you indicate your correct admission
number. After you have deposited your funds using the correct details, visit the student
portal on the website (www.mku.ac.ke) after one working day to check your statement.
Confirm whether your account has been credited with same amount. NB: This apply to
cash deposit only. Cheques and Agency deposits has to be presented to the cashier for
receipting and updating.
2. Go to the MKU Students Information Management System (SIMS) to register for this
semester units. Use the below outlined procedure.
Go to http://studentportal.mku.ac.ke/umis/studentportal/course_registration.php or go
www. mku.ac.ke quick links and click on student portal
Type your student Reg. number in full e.g. BBM/213/44556 OR BBIT(DL)113/8976
Use your national ID / passport no. or Mobile no. (Without spaces) as your initial
password. Any issues
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Login (should you encounter any issues with login in, please use the following email,
distance.learning@mku.ac.ke and the students support officer will respond to your
issues or call 0702 041 042, email is preferred)
Click on timetable and search for the unit codes of the units that you are doing. To search for
the correct unit codes use „ctrl f‟ and type the unit title that you are searching
Note down the correct unit codes and then Click on course registration and enter the
unit codes for the units that you are taking this semester.
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After you have input all the unit codes, click on „register courses‟.
The units that you have registered for will appear at the top of the page. As shown
below
check all the units and make sure you confirm
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AFTER CONFIRMATION THE STATUS WILL CHANGE FROM PROVISIONAL TO
CONFIRMED
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Make sure that you register for the examination center
CONNECTING TO THE VIRTUAL LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Ensure you have a compatible browser. VLMS is optimized to work reliably with Mozilla
Firefox, however most other web browsers should work fine except Apple‟s Safari. To
download a free copy of Firefox web browser, please visit Mozilla at
“http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox”. Follow the installation instructions provided on the
Mozilla web page.
Click on the following link: http://virtual.mku.ac.ke/portal
Enter your user id and password. Your user id is typically your registration number and
your password is either national id, passport number,mobile phone number , or your surname.
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VLMS LAYOUT OVERVIEW
In VLMS, the main page shown above consists of three main work areas: My Workspace
worksite, Course Worksites, and Worksite Options.
The Course worksites horizontal tabs link to each course you are enrolled in during the
current
semester.
Announcements
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Assignments
Chat Room
Discussions
Grade
Grade book
Email
Resources
Schedule
Syllabus
Forum
Test and quizzes
The Worksite Options allow you to explore available options within your worksites
(horizontal tabs) mentioned above. The worksite options can vary from course to course,
depending what features the instructor has enabled. To ensure you are up to date, frequently
check every worksite option for each course regularly.
Announcements
Virtual campus associate faculty members will often post Announcements to keep students
up to date. The announcement tool provides a summary of all worksite announcements. It is
important that you frequently read all course announcements to ensure you are up to date and
aware of changes in the course as they occur.
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Schedule
You can use the course Schedule feature as a quick and easy way to verify course times and
test times, show when assignments are due and display special events. To see a summary of
all of your schedules together, use the schedule feature in “My Workspace”. This is a great
tool to help you plan your weekly work schedule.
Assignment
Your assignments can be easily retrieved, reviewed and submitted within VLMS. To see a
list of
upcoming and completed assignment, use the Assignment tool in the worksite options.
Clicking on the title of the assignment will open the assignment instructions and provide a
submission option. You can submit your assignment electronically by using the built-in
word processor provided by VLMS and/or attaching your assignment via the “Add
Attachments” option. Once complete, click the submit option to complete the process.
Assignments past due cannot be submitted unless special arrangements are made with
your instructor.
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To verify your assignment has been successfully submitted, enter the Assignment worksite
and your assignment should appear as submitted as shown below.
Checking Grades
Once your assignment has been graded, your grades can be posted in VLMS by your
instructor. To checkyour grades for a particular course, select the appropriate worksite tab
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(course name) then select Gradebook within the worksite options. Your grades will appear
in a similar fashion as shown below.
Resources
How to access the modules (notes)
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In case you experience any technical challenge, kindly contact us through the below
details; Phone: 0702 041 042 : E-mail: distance.learning@mku.ac.ke.The ICT team will
respond.
3. In case you have any academic related(units allocation/registration, credit transfers,
curriculum issues, study leave and deferrals, supplementary and special examinations,
transfer of courses, graduation list, examination timetable, attachments/project supervision,
practicum . and ,clearance of students among others) issue, kindly contact our dedicated eschool coordinators as follows;
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A. Post Graduate coordinator
Name: Dr. Joyce Gikandi
E-mail: jwgikandi@mku.ac.ke
Courses Coordinating
Master of Business Administration
Master of Arts in Public Administration & Management
Master of Arts in Governance and Ethics
Master of Arts in monitoring and evaluation
Masters of Education
Masters of Arts in Development studies
Masters of counseling psychological
Masters of Arts in procurement
Post graduate Diploma in project planning and management.
Inquiries on all other post graduate courses including PhDs
Post graduate student seminars
Post Graduate Diploma in Education
B. School of Business and Public management Coordinator
Name: Cyrus Mutuku
E-Mail: c.mutuku@mku.ac.ke
Courses Coordinating
Diploma/Certificate in Business management
Diploma/certificate in human resource management
Diploma/certificate in purchasing and supplies
Diploma/certificate in entrepreneurship
Diploma/certificate in banking and finance
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Bachelor of Commerce
Bachelor of Business management
C. School of Social Sciences Coordinator
Name: Emilly Gitau
E-mail: ewgitau@mku.ac.ke
Courses Coordinating
Bachelor of Development studies
Bachelor of Education(Arts)
Bachelor of Counseling Psychology
Bachelor of Education Early Childhood studies
Bachelor of Arts in security studies and criminology
Bachelor of Arts in peace studies and conflict resolution
Bachelor of Arts in mass media and communication
Bachelor of science in health records and information management
Diploma in community development and social work
Diploma in security studies and criminology
Diploma in public relations and Diplomacy.
D. School of Pure and Applied Sciences Coordinator
Name: James Thogo
E-mail: jthogo@mku.ac.ke
Courses Coordinating
Bachelors of Business and information Technology
Bachelors of Information Science
Bachelors of science in information technology
Diploma/certificate in business information technology
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Bridging mathematics
Get more support from our Virtual Campus coordinators at various MKU Campuses and Centers
as per below contacts.
Name
Campus
Contacts
Joseph mangeli
Mombasa & malindi
jmangeli@mku.ac.ke
Dorcas mungai
Nakuru Campus & Kisii
dnjoki@mku.ac.ke
Naomi Kerumbo
Harriet Wangui
Charles Nganga
Haron Tinega
June Chabari
campus
Kitale Campus
Kakamega Campus &
Kisumu
Garissa Centre
Lodwar Campus
Eldoret Campus
Kigali Campus(Rwanda)
Thika
Mercy Mwaura
Nkubu Campus
Roy Wangurunga
Nelly Kemunto
rwangurunga@mku.ac.ke
lkemunto@mku.ac.ke
nkerubo@mku.ac.ke
hwangui@mku.ac.ke
cwanjau@mku.ac.ke
htinega@mku.ac.ke
jchabari@mku.ac.ke
mmwaura@mku.ac.ke
Also, get more support from various MKU Virtual Campus departments through the below
contacts.
1. Admissions Office(students admissions and registration, students general welfare, general
orientation of new students, admission letters): wnzuve@mku.ac.ke
2. Accounts Office(finance related issues) : cchege@mku.ac.ke
3. Exams Office(exams related issues): examsinquiriesv@mku.ac.ke
4. E-content and Learning Materials(course modules): mmarine@mku.ac.ke
5. Students Support : jchabari@mku.ac.ke
6. System administration mnyaga@mku.ac.ke
MKU VIRTUAL CAMPUS
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