By Enoch Tyulen and Nankpak Cirfat
The Head of Department History and International Studies Prof. Baba Thomas Bingel and the Exam Officer Department of Archeology and Heritage Studies Mr. Mafulul, have expressed satisfaction with the level of preparedness towards the forthcoming accreditation exercise.
According to Bingel, the 11th of June 2017 is the new date slated for the accreditation exercise as supposed the earlier date fixed by the National Universities Commission, while 31st June will be the accreditation date for the Department of Archeology and Heritage Studies.
Mr. Mafulul said all is set for accreditation as the laboratory, among other requirements, are set and well equipped with fossils, artifacts, iron implements, a washing section, field samples and other equipment.
Among the requirements for the exercise are: the staff rank ratio of 20:35:40 for Professors, Associate Professors and Senior lecturers respectively, the students admission requirements, all staff files, staff development conferences and training, question papers, marking schemes, students project, external examiners reports, examination misconduct files, library- both physical and e-library, budget, funds, fire extinguishers, sanitary conditions, staff offices and the curriculum. Each of these points has its individual score and the pass mark for a successful accreditation program is 70%.
The process of accreditation is not an easy one as it demands quite a lot, especially in terms of finance, Mr. Mafulul added.
According to Bingel, only 11 programs will be accredited out of about 65. The rest have been staggered into three stages. He said the Institution is not able to fund everything and the Department is saddled with the task of hosting the NUC accreditation team from the little monthly imprest it receives.
Prof. Bingel urged his students to be of good conduct and knowledgeable on basic things because the accreditation team may decide to engage any of them in an interactive session and if they fail to give correct answers, it will affect the overall score.
He further said the accreditation exercise is very important as it would improve the efficiency of the system and grant the Department permission to admit more students after two sessions of not admitting students into the Department.
Edited by JM
