QUALITY ASSURANCE – BACKBONE OF UNIJOS

The Quality Assurance unit is a critical component in the University of Jos that plays a crucial role of ensuring the quality of academic programs or activities, research and services that occur regarding the students’ academic activities, staff-student ratio and also the profile of staff as regards the needed requirements to run a program in the university.

The unit maintains academic standards, evaluates curriculum effectiveness, supports accreditation and certification, supports resource allocation amongst others in the university. The unit is also the backbone of the university, ensuring that every service provided meets the highest standard of quality.

The Quality Assurance unit is saddled with the responsibility of timely release of lecture and exam timetables, ensuring that lectures are delivered as at when due. This may also include inaugural lectures and all other lectures that pertain to activities on the campus. It is involved with accreditation of programs. There are currently fourteen (14) programs that have been accredited. It also ensures that new proposed programs are being attended to where the NUC comes for resource verification to ensure that lecture venues are provided for and are adequately sufficient for the comfort of the students and the lecturers concerned.

The unit also takes charge of activities that lead to the advising of the management of the university to mount up new programs in line with new trends. One of the current issues is that the directorate under the quality assurance unit goes out to find out the new things that need to be seen on the campus.

Mrs Nanyi Solomon Yemzing who works directly with the senior deputy director of the quality assurance unit, who spoke on behalf of the senior deputy director, Mrs F.N. Meekyaa, during an interview said, “Sixteen years of being in the unit, the unit  has held two workshops and  seminars to enlighten students about the unit and it’s responsibilities as a unit, which has never been enough in enlightening students on knowing the important of the quality assurance unit.

For every examination conducted in the university, a team from the quality assurance unit goes out to monitor because the units in this directorate work in synergy. The unit does not work in isolation. It has the quality assurance unit, the monitoring and evaluation unit and the data management unit.

The team goes around to check and ensure that the examination exercises are hitch-free and in most cases they have met students and interacted with them. They have also by way of information let Heads of Departments know that if there are any challenges, the unit is always at reach. It has always done that  because it normally has two meetings for lectures and two meetings for examinations in every semester making it a total of four. In these meetings, representatives from faculties attend because each faculty in the university has a faculty representative on the Senate central timetable committee, which the Quality Assurance unit is also a member. This was a channel for students to know better about the unit but it also may have not been enough. For the students also, since the university is a research environment, it is expected of them to know what happens around them and the university’s student handbook, be it from the department or faculty. These are always reflected where the students are encouraged to read to know more about the academic environment of the university but there is also a need for the unit to do more. This would be a challenge, but it also has to let the students know that there is a unit that is willing and ever ready to attend to their needs as it has always done.

Even as there is a need for the unit to do more, there are challenges it faces, such as funding and manpower. There are technologies required for the smooth running of the unit that may not be readily available due to scarcity of funds.

There is also the need for more hands because the teams cannot be everywhere at the same time. This need wasn’t possible for the University to meet by employing more staff because of the regulation of the federal government. However, the unit still hopes that as time moves on, the federal government would have seen the need of the institution where more hands are needed and replacements for those who are either ill or retired.

A proposal on ground by the NUC requiring that each faculty and as a stepdown department to have a quality assurance unit that would be closer to the students. By doing this, it would help the unit know the needs and what is happening as regards the students who are the major stakeholders. This is the new development that will help the students and also the unit perform well.

The unit’s call to the management is to see a time where there will be more manpower in the unit and also the implementation of the document (proposal) which is already out there, and for students to hunger for knowledge because it is part of the reason why they are in the institution.

Few conversations with some students gave insight on how many of them are not knowledgeable of the existence of the Quality Assurance unit in the University.

Hannah Songden a 400 level student of the Department of Economics in her words said “No, I have not heard of the unit before, this is my first time. Well, it’s good news. I just hope that they’ll actually be able to enforce the things that they are supposed to enforce.”

According to Divine Solomon from the Faculty of Management Science, Department of Actuarial Science, “The proposal is a good one because, for example, out of 5,000 students let’s say 4,000 might not even know what the unit is all about, so I feel like once different offices are being opened at faculties and departmental levels, it’s going to really, enlighten more students to know more about that unit.”

Joshua Enenche and David Dokotrin also said they have never heard of the Quality Assurance unit.

It is safe to say that many students are yet to know the quality assurance unit and its functions.

It’s a beautiful thing to say that the NUC is working in ensuring the quality assurance unit is brought closer to the students to enhance their knowledge and learning speed.

In as much the university is working and playing its roles, students are also advised to play their roles in ensuring excellence in their academics.

Reports and Photos by Ita Peter  and Nangu Rejoice Hussaini (Quality Assurance Correspondent) (5/5)

Edited by Israel Fakwagh Ciboh