By Akumbu Uche and Hope Ofobike
The Head of Department Mass Communication, Dr. Mrs. Christy G.E. Best has expressed delight over the quality of final year students’ undergraduate theses in the department for 2011.
About 160 students defended their theses from Tuesday, August 16 to Friday, August 19 at the department’s office.
Dr. Best told Unijos Echo that the quality of the work presented during the department’s viva was almost at par with those at the Masters level.
She described the viva session as an integral part of the academic curriculum saying, “It’s a departmental policy that is geared towards the growth and development of her students”.
She pointed out that the exercise is beneficial to students because “all fields of mass communication involve some degree of research”.
In addition to Dr. Best, members of the defence panel included a visiting lecturer, Danjuma Gambo of the University of Maiduguri, Prof. Augustine-Ufua Enahoro and other lecturers from the department.
Dr. Gambo described the critique of the students’ work as “proof of the integrity of the process”. “There is no perfection; corrections are made at every level as part of the academic culture”, he maintained.
He praised the variety of topics chosen by the students and said that his participation in the viva had been “a learning experience” for him.
Dr. Gambo also described the University of Jos as “an old but vibrant institution; one with a lot of courses relevant to the socio-cultural and economic needs of the environment”.
Completion of the undergraduate thesis is a requirement for the award of Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication.
