On February 20, 2024, a delegation from the National University Commission (NUC) visited the American University of Nigeria (AUN) to assess its Information Technology infrastructure and its impact on learning. The team was thoroughly impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities at AUN.
During the visit, the NUC delegation met with President DeWayne Frazier, at his office. Other top management personnel present included the Interim Provost, Prof. Adewale James, the Interim Registrar, Mr. Daniel Okereke, and the Dean of the School of Information Technology and Computing (SITC), Prof. Ozcan Asilkan, others were the Director of the Office of Technology Support, Mr. Francis Charming, Prof. Abdulmumini Sa'ad, Director of Academic Planning, and Mr. Benson Ali, Interim Librarian.
President Frazier highlighted AUN’s distinctive features, including the integration of entrepreneurship into the curriculum, practical community service, research partnerships, alternative virtual instruction, online and hybrid courses, membership in multiple international associations of universities and colleges, and the availability of technological tools that improve teaching and learning. “Technology plays more than 75% role in our daily activities,” President DeWayne stated.
Mr. Francis Charming, Director of the Office of Technology Support, noted the various roles that his department's units, such as Information Technology, Information Systems, and Information Security, play in ensuring the smooth operation of University activities. He also explained AUN’s emphasis on technological tools for teaching and learning by using systems such as OpenERP b for administrative, financial, purchasing, and auditing activities, the e-book system for online resources, Care-plus for healthcare, Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for work requests and maintenance, the e-wallet module for students' easy on-campus business transactions, Canvas for lecture delivery, tests, and assignments, Turn-it-in for plagiarism detection, and so on.
Mr. Udey Felize, NUC's team lead, expressed admiration for AUN, stating that NUC should use AUN as a basis for assessing other universities in Nigeria. “I see a lot at AUN, I could tell the difference. We are coming to learn instead of to assess,”
After a comprehensive tour of AUN's technological facilities for inspection and evaluation, the NUC delegation recommended the incorporation of profitable Distance Learning programs.
Reported by John Abah