Prof Idowu Olayinka, the Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan(UI) has thanked all stakeholders – staff, students, alumni and friends of the insitution – for their unflinching support in 2019.
The Vice Chancellor stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.
Read the full statement below:
REFLECTIONS ON 2019 AND PLANS FOR 2020
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN
Dear Member of the UI Community,
We thank all our stakeholders – staff, students, alumni and friends of the University of Ibadan – for your unflinching support in 2019. The assistance and understanding you have shown contributed immensely to the peace that we currently experience. We do not take this for granted.
The suspension of student union activities has been lifted and a new Executive Council and a Students’ Representative Council are now in place following the successful elections held earlier this month.
In both formal and informal engagements with the new student leaders, we have been informed that their priorities will comprise the following:
(i) Capacity building and Skill acquisition program (these will raise self-sufficient and financially independent students and graduates. Entrepreneurship would replace unemployment.
(ii) Employability workshops: For those that still want to go with full time employment, we plan to give specific attention to things needed to face employment procedures.
(iii) Mock Exams: There will be mock exams for tasking courses in each faculty. This will prepare students for the real exams and bring about academic excellence .
Management has assured the students of our maximum cooperation in the implementation of their laudable programmes.
As our students are wont to say: ´UI…What starts here changes the world’. Many of our alumni and students continue to do us proud by winning laurels both nationally and internationally and we are always very eager to celebrate their achievements.
We have attracted a Visiting Fellowship from the T Y Danjuma Foundation which is aimed at supporting research at the Akinkugbe Kidney Centre in the College of Medicine. This is dedicated to catalyze the reduction of the burden of chronic kidney disease and its devastating consequences on the African continent and beyond.
The Aret Adams Foundation has endowed a Professorial Chair in Geological Studies in the Faculty of Science. This is in honour of the late Mr Godwin Aret Adams (1938-2002), the first undergraduate student of Geology at University College Ibadan/UI and pioneer Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Based on some of the performance gaps identified from the previous years there will be new interventions, while efforts will be made to sustain existing programmes in the new year.
Some planned activities are outlined below.
1. We are earnestly working towards the full deployment of the Central Result Management System (RMS) which will enable all examination results and students’ transcripts to be computed electronically in all the presentation formats at both the levels of Faculty Board of Examiners and Senate. As we should know, the process of deployment of the RMS has started, and this is responsible for the delay in the presentation of the 2018/2019 First Semester results. However, with the full cooperation of all staff involved in the process, we trust that the 2018/2019 First Semester results will be ready for presentation in Senate by the end of January 2020. Our target is that by the time we shall be considering the 2018/2019 Second Semester results, the RMS would have been fully and seamlessly deployed.
2. By the beginning of the 2019/2020 academic session, we will commence the gradual deployment of a Learning Management System (LMS) to enhance the process of teaching and learning in our University. This is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of lectures and other forms of training programmes. airfThe Information Technology and Media Services (ITeMS) Unit in conjunction with the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and other relevant units and officers of the University have commenced work on this software. Before the end of the current 2018/2019 Session, a university-wide sensitization and training programme will commence on the use of the LMS. Subsequently, it will be test run in selected departments before it is adopted by all academic departments in the University.
3. Management has commenced arrangement to create a Central Electronic Staff and Students’ Data Management Office (CESSDAMO). This will serve as a one-stop shop for all information on all staff and students, both past and present, of the University. The Committee set up to design and develop this has been working in earnest and the electronic office is expected to commence operations at the beginning of the 2019/2020 academic session.
4. In the last six months, a committee set up to facilitate the installation of an improved IT Infrastructure on campus has been holding strategic meetings with various ICT firms in the bid to arrive at the best means of advancing the ICT Infrastructure of our University. The objective is to provide a seamless campus-wide internet access for all staff, students and visitors. This will cover the entire administrative areas on the main campus, the College of Medicine, Distance Learning Centre and all staff and students’ residential areas. We are working towards a significantly improved IT Infrastructure, and consequently IT services, by the commencement of the 2019/2020 Academic Session. The technical and financial details for the project have been done already.
5. ITeMS and the Academic, Records and Administrative Data Processing Division of the University have been working on how to reduce the turn-around time for the preparation of academic transcript to a maximum of 72 hours after application for our alumni. Current students are also expected to have access to their transcripts 24 hours after Senate approval of results.
6. Arrangements are on-going to ensure that fresh students are issued Smart Identity Cards as soon as their process of registration is completed.
7. Training seminars (physical and webinars) will be delivered by Merck Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Limited to both technical and academic Staff. This will go on regularly throughout the year.
8. Follow-up collaborative research visit to Nigerian Air Force Headquarters in Abuja.
9. Geohackathon challenge Season 2: The 2nd season of the geohackathon challenge was flagged off on 6th November 2019 in partnership with World Bank Assisted Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) domiciled under Oyo State Government and other Industry Partners. The Timeline comprises establishment of an Incubation Hub by February 2020.
10. Collaborative visit in April 2020 by a team from Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA to further explore and clarify the nature and dimensions of our institutional partnership in addition to the proposed joint hosting of a conference on Oyo Art and Archaeology at Wake Forest University.
11. Fostering Multidisciplinary Research (2nd Tranche): The first tranche targeted researchers of the grade of Senior lecturer and below in Arts, the Social Sciences, Law, and Education. The 2nd tranche will be focused on developing collaborative research agenda geared towards providing sustainable solutions to societal needs in Agriculture, ICT, AI, Energy and medicine. It will follow the same pattern of starting with a guiding workshop delivered by outstanding senior academics after which each Cohort will be assigned internal and international mentors with a possible seed grant as a proof of idea.
12. Capacity building on entrepreneurship, skills acquisition and provision of access to funding programme for students in partnership with Entrepreneurial Empowerment Initiative (EEI AFRICA). This will be carried out in various Faculties/groups of Faculties in 2020. The initial launch held on December 11th, 2019.
13. 3rd Edition of the 2-days “Beyond Smart Masterclass” targeting outstanding students with First Class, Distinction and students with the highest CGPA in the Second Class Upper (Honours) division from each Department.
14. The 5th Edition of University of Ibadan Research and Development Fair: This will hold in November 2020.
15. The 1st Edition of University of Ibadan-Small and Medium Enterprises Fair: This will hold in November 2020.
16. The 3rd Edition of University of Ibadan/First Bank of Nigeria Career Fair will hold in November 2020.
17. Launch of an educational audio tape produced by Dr I.A. Salami of the Department of Early Childhood and Educational Foundations.
18. A review of the Quality Assurance Policy and deployment of technology in automating teaching quality assurance assessment.
19. Proposed partnership with Oyo State government on repositioning education in Oyo State in the Survey of Pupils and Students’ performance; Monitoring and Supervision of Schools; Training and development workshops for Teachers, Ministries and TESCOM Officials; Survey of infrastructures; Survey of personnel; Adoption of schools as models; Production of instructional materials.
20. University of Ibadan – Microsoft African Development Centre Collaboration including the following elements:
a. Microsoft Certification opportunity for students.
b. Train-the-Trainer: Based on previous models and Microsoft in collaboration with ITeMs and Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).
c. Microsoft sponsored Visiting Professor to the University of Ibadan from renowned USA Universities.
d. Internship and Sabbatical placement at Microsoft ADC Opportunities for students and staff, respectively.
e. Microsoft Endowed Professorial Chair.
f. Technology Hub.
21. Probable take-off of the Nigerian Research Universities Consortium (NIRUC).
22. Launch and operationalization of formal mentorship programme starting with Female academic staff.
23. Remodeling of the Post Graduate Reading Room at the Kenneth Dike Library (KDL) has been completed. A total 20 (x 6 cubicles) reading tables and 120 ergonomic chairs were added to the furniture in this reading space. Ergonomic chairs are designed to be adaptable to the user’s needs and are associated with higher productivity levels due to the customized support that they offer). In addition, the reading room has been properly illuminated and made more conducive to serious academic exercise. The positive feedback from our library users have encouraged the library management to consider modernizing all the exiting seven reading spaces in the library in phases in 2020.
24. By the first half of 2020, two reading rooms on the West and East wings of the 2nd floor of the KDL and the Closed Access Unit (4th Floor) reading rooms will be rehabilitated and made more suitable for reading /learning activities for students.
25. All the floors except the 4th floor in the KDL have been connected to solar power/ inverter backups in 2019, while, plans are in place to have the 4th floor connected in 2020. When the batteries are fully charged, our library users conveniently read undisturbed till the Library closes at 10 pm irrespective of power outages. In addition, most of the library users could thereafter relocate to the 24 hour library service reading room to read till day break.
26. Zoning library spaces into the Quiet and Noisy zones are in line with best practices in modern librarianship. Whilst the quiet zone is meant for serious academic/research work with very minimal interactions amongst readers, the noisy zones are spaces dedicated to group or collaborative work, socialising and relaxation amongst students. The creation of a chat room or group study space in 2019 has greatly impacted on the reading patterns of our undergraduate students. The success of this innovation has encouraged the Library management team to replicate such a space for the post graduate students at the Akinkugbe’s Corner in 2020.
27. The University Health Service (UHS) is poised to empower individuals and the community for improved health and wellbeing through information/public enlightenment activities; execution of a community-wide survey on perception and utilisation of the health service; capacity building especially in the areas of customer service/care, geriatric care, adolescent care, hospital chaplaincy; improvement in workplace wellness as well as multi-sectoral policy and action; reduce waiting time and bottlenecks by digitalisation of records, electronic medical records, and improved use of appointment systems; establishment of UHS Corners and Friends of UHS clubs for advocacy.
28. We are developing a policy on People Living with Physical Disability.
29. We are undertaking a Review of the Senate Standing Rules and Guidelines.
30. A committee is developing a new Five Year Strategic Plan, 2020-2025 for the University.
31. We shall undertake recruitment of new staff to take care of the establishment of new programmes, and attrition due to retirements, resignations, and the unfortunate incidents of deaths.
32. We shall ensure completion of on-going and new infrastructural development projects.
We are very excited about all these creative and innovative developments and we cannot wait to unveil them. Alongside with other many routine academic and administrative programmes, we eagerly look forward to a most rewarding new year.
We are satisfied with our modest gains in 2019 and pray to God for good health for all members of our awesome team to continue to deliver superior results in 2020.
With renewed thanks for your continued support, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Idowu Olayinka
Vice-Chancellor
University of Ibadan
31st December 2019
