Professor Andy Ogochukwu Egwunyenga, Vice Chancellor, Delta State University, Abraka, has reiterated the University’s commitment to maintaining collaboration with the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) to ensure the quality of her students upon graduation.
Prof Egwunyenga stated this on Monday while receiving a delegation from NUC who were in the University to evaluate the University’s directorates for research development, skill acquisition, entrepreneurial studies and industry-based training.
The Vice Chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof Rosemary Okoh, thanked the NUC delegation for coming to assess the University’s performance in the promotion of research, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and industry-based training under the Centre for Research and International Programmes (CRIP), the Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) and the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) respectively.
The VC emphasized the University’s continuous gains from NUC assessments.
According to him, these reports highlight both the institution’s strengths and areas for enhancement, fostering steady progress, saying that such advancements are pivotal in solidifying Delta State University’s position as a centre of excellence.
Prof Egwunyenga promised that the University will wholeheartedly implement the forthcoming NUC policy paper seeking to harmonize the operations of CRIP, CES and SIWES in order to boost the quality of her graduates.
The NUC team, made up of Mr. Idris Mamman; Chief Officer, and Mr. Audu Bako; Principal Officer, took turns to inform the Vice Chancellor that the Commission decided to go round universities in Nigeria to see the structures and functions of the institutions responsible for promotion of research, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and industry-based training, and the mechanisms put in place to guarantee their effectiveness by the universities.
The team pointed out that the evaluation visit became imperative as it was observed that many universities fail to sustain effective partnerships with industries in the training of students in order to produce professionally trained graduates that are able to identify opportunities and explore them in the interest of the society.
They also noted that many universities engage in useful research that the industry is not aware of and that this absence of collaboration fails to align with the nation’s interests.
The team stated that NUC aims to encourage research-focused universities to actively promote their research outcomes to benefit industries and society alike.
