NUC grants full accreditation to 26 academic programmes of AE-FUNAI

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has granted full accreditation to 26 academic programmes of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ebonyi State. The University had during the recent visit of the Commission’s Accreditation Panels presented 28 programmes for accreditation. The programmes which includes: Accounting, Business Administration, English Language, History, Music, French, Igbo and Philosophy. Others are Anatomy, Fine and Applied Arts, Chemical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering and Civil Engineering. Among the programmes that were also presented for accreditation were Applied Geo-Physics, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Mass Communication, Criminology and Security Studies. From the result of the accreditation exercise which was released recently by the National Universities Commission (NUC) the 26 programmes received full accreditation status while the remaining two, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering programmes had interim accreditation. This rare and historic achievement is arguably the first of its kind in the history of Nigerian University system. It is also a bold testament to the commitment and determination of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba to reposition the institution to meet global academic best practices. The feat is made more poignant taking into cognizance of the fact that 17 of the fully accredited programmes had interim status before the arrival of the Vice-Chancellor in 2016, which means that the programmes would have been closed if not for the recent success. The NUC accreditation panels had during their visit to the University in 2018 commended the Vice-Chancellor for the massive improvement in the institution’s infrastructure and academic activities as well as in the provision of critical teaching and learning equipment. They maintained that the University had made bold steps in the various programmes presented for accreditation and urged the Vice-Chancellor and his team to sustain the tempo, as academic excellence is not a destination but an on-going process. While expressing his happiness on the feat attained by the University, the Vice-Chancellor, stated that accreditation exercise was an important peer review and quality assurance process for the University which is meant to improve the quality of its academic activities, not only to meet the minimum benchmark set by the NUC but also global best practices. He further explained that the university was doing its best in the area of quality assurance, noting that a directorate has been created in that regard. Prof. Nwajiuba maintained that all necessary academic facilities, equipment and staffing would be put in place to ensure that both Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Programmes receive NUC full accreditation in 2020. Moses Oyediran, Enugu