After two days of scrutiny and verification exercise at the Department of Biological Science, a 3-man team from the National Universities Commission (NUC) heaped plaudits on the leadership of the department and management of the University for doing what was necessary to put the programme on a sound footing.
The head of the accreditation team, Professor Segun Adeyemi, said many things in the department impressed him and the team as it pertains to teaching and imparting knowledge in the field of Biology.
He noted the strict adherence to the admission policy as it relates to the basic requirement for admission into the programme. "We interacted with students in the department, and they demonstrated soft skills, which in our objective evaluation is a commendable initiative in their curriculum," he added.
Professor Adeyemi, who was accompanied on the assignment by Professor Mohammed M. Abubakar and Mr. David Egwumbe, said they were impressed with the external examiner's report on the examination processes of all students in the programme. He praised the staff mix in the department, as it complies with the NUC Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) of staff-student ratio for teaching and grading the number of students in the programme.
The accreditation team commended the array of laboratory technologists with the capacity, requisite qualification, and professional certification needed to operate these laboratories both at the department and at the central instrumentation lab of the university to meet the needs of the department.
Professor Adeyemi noted the department took issues of safety seriously in their day-to-day activities, which makes for a good learning, teaching, and research environment. "I must say this: we are impressed with the level of research and collaborative activities going on in the Department of Biological Sciences. Research collaborations with UNESCO, WHO, and the Federal Ministry of Health are ongoing and must be celebrated," he enthused.
The NUC team advised the department to upgrade the animal house, considering the level of research being carried out is beyond what other universities in the country are presently engaging in. Professor Adeyemi said the employer and industry ratings of graduates of the programme and university were impressive, and he advised the university to maintain the standards set.
In his remarks, the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies, Professor Akan Williams, representing the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abiodun H. Adebayo, thanked the team for carrying out a smart and detailed review of the programme, and at the same time pointed out to the university what needs to be done to be at the peak of the programme's operation.
Professor Williams stated that due to the current technological environment, the University is constantly evolving mechanisms to meet students in their ICT space and deliver all academic content to their devices.
He, however, assured the team that Covenant University management is committed to working in line with the dictates of the NUC to deliver the best academic learning and research-enabling environment for faculty, staff, and students in the department. "We will take deliberate steps to ensure that what will help position our programmes at the cutting edge of technological operation is available for all our students and teaching staff," he posited.
Professor Williams commended the team for the thoroughness it injected into the assignment and promised the University Management would consider every piece of advice and suggestion made in the quest to standardise the programme's teaching, learning, and research cultures.