ACADEMIC POSTGRADUATE HANDBOOK
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Covenant University Press
Abstract
Description
Right from outset, the Proprietors of Covenant University noted the prime
position of postgraduate training for the overall success of the institution and the
rapid development of the nation. This was reinforced by the observed shortfall of
about 56% in the cadre of qualified academic staff for the Nigerian University
system. We were also driven by observed inconsistencies in postgraduate
education in the country in such key considerations as duration, quality and
need. There was another motivation regarding the quality of viable programmes
in such fields as accountancy and architecture as well as the need to firm up on
the research thrust to reflect the changing paradigms. These realities led to the
proposal to Senate on November 26, 2003, to establish the School of
Postgraduate Studies.
The Vision and Mission of the School as presented below:
Vision
To be a leading centre for postgraduate training for the needs of contemporary
Africa.
Mission
To produce very high quality postgraduates by engaging best practices in
programme, research and services, deploying life applicable, life promoting as
well as cutting-edge techniques in our services and delivery.
Objectives
Among other things, the objectives of the School have been to:
i. develop in the students, the spirit of inquiry through training in research in
an atmosphere of intellectuals’ independence and creativity re enforced
with a strong sense of team work;
ii. foster through instruction, a deeper understanding of key academic
concepts and applying fundamental ideas to solve problems of the society;
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iii. provide training in research for future academics and other high calibre
personnel in research and knowledge based organizations; and
iv. provide both short and long-term training opportunities to produce high
level manpower needed for the rapid development of the nation.
These vision, mission and objectives are driven by Committee of the School and
fully supported by the University Management led by the Vice-Chancellor.
Even before the National Universities Commission (NUC) set up the Benchmark
Minimum Academic Standards for Postgraduate Programmes in Nigeria, the
School had put in place measures to ensure quality and standards. One such
measure has been our “Double Filter” mechanism for thesis processing. This
involved the use of Assessors and Examiners for each candidate. We have also
emphasized lecture delivery in modular forms. We have attracted the very best of
brains from within and outside the country to enrich the quality of our
postgraduate training. Many of the renowned scholars in this audience have
assisted us in this regard as Visiting Professors, Assessors and Examiners. We
remain ever grateful.
The cumulative effect of our strategies has been excellence all the way starting
from our staff development efforts in the early days. Indeed, our first Ph.D
graduate won the prestigious Microsoft Award in Software development. Many of
our graduates have won the Fulbright and many other competitive fellowships.
By 2009, the NUC visited our School of Postgraduate Studies and granted
permission to all our 22 Departments and 32 programmes to run postgraduate
courses even for the external context. We have since opened our doors to the
world to come to learn and partner with us to birth the critical change we all
desire.
Covenant University has just made a turn over the first decade. In the last ten
years, we laid the foundation for excellence as a prelude to the World-class
consciousness. In this new decade, we have a mandate to make it to be the list of
the top 10 universities in the world. We are aware that research is a key driver
of this agenda. There is hardly any meaningful research without a robust
postgraduate programme. Such a programme must run on well-defined
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parameters. That explains our enthusiasm to produce a handbook of the School
of Postgraduate Studies.
We express gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor and the Management of Covenant
University for providing the needed support in the process of producing this
handbook.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), L Education (General), Q Science (General)