DELSU Committed To Producing Quality Graduates, Says VC

By Patrick Ijeh

Prof. Andy Egwunyenga, the Vice-Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka, has reiterated the university’s commitment to maintaining collaboration with the National University Commission (NUC) to ensure the quality of her students upon graduation.

Egwunyenga stated this today 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, skill 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.

Such advancements are pivotal in solidifying Delta State University’s position as a centre of excellence, he added. Prof Egwunyenga promised that the University will wholeheartedly implement the forthcoming NUC policy paper seeking to harmonize the operations of CRIP, CES and SIWES 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 around universities in Nigeria to see the structures and functions of the institutions responsible for the promotion of research, skill 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 to produce professionally trained graduates who can identify opportunities and explore them in the interest of 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.