On January 16, all six deans of AUN schools held a joint interactive session with the new students during the 2020 spring semester orientation.
The purpose of the interactive meeting was to familiarize the students with their respective departments and schools, the mandatory rules to obey during registration and selection of courses to have successful study years in the university.
Dean, School of Arts & Sciences (SAS), Dr. Patrick Fay, acknowledged that SAS is the biggest and most populous school in AUN with more than 500 students and more than 46 faculty members.
The courses offered in SAS are Natural & Environmental Science (NES), Petroleum Chemistry, Communication & Multimedia Design (CMD), English Language & Literature, Mathematics, Economics, Politics & International Studies, and General Education (Liberal Education) which is a mandatory course for all students across various disciplines.
"We share partnership with top universities abroad such as Johns Hopkins University, and the American University in Cairo, to mention a few, and our faculty members are qualified local and international experts who are trained from different parts of the world."
Dean Mathias Fonkam described his School of Information Technology & Computing (SITC) as a one-stop-shop in Nigeria and the Sub-Saharan Africa region which offers the core computing degree programs (Computer Science, Information Systems, and Software Engineering).
"We train our students to become entrepreneurs in the IT sector. Most of our alumni are now startup owners and top officials at renowned IT firms in Nigeria, Africa, and beyond."
Dean, School of Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE), Yusuf Attahiru, told the students that problem solving and hands-on skills are the way forward in this age of technological evolution and innovation, which is why the focus of the school is on experiential learning and training. SBE specializes in industry-relevant areas such as Entrepreneurship, Accounting, and Business Administration with concentrations in Management, Finance, Marketing, Management & Information Systems, Supply Chain & Logistics, Big Data Analytics & Fintech.
"We equip our students for the industry and to become employers. Apart from the traditional classroom studies, we provide room for starting and running your own business in AUN to prepare you for the challenges ahead."
Habib Usman who represented the Dean of the School of Law (SOL) said just like every other university, the AUN law program is a composite degree of five years but has something unique in store for the students. The School offers some special courses in bioethics, cyber law and gender & development that prepare law graduates to meet up with the challenges of the emerging future.
"As a Development University, AUN is the only university in Nigeria with an automated law clinic. Through the law clinic program which is a replicate of the law firm where students are trained in the academic setting, we focus on the practical aspects of the law."
Dean, School of Engineering (SoE), Dr. Abel Ajibesin, affirmed that the logic behind the AUN School of engineering is to groom world-class engineers through radical, innovative & multidisciplinary approaches to classroom delivery. He added that it provides a serene learning environment and state of the art laboratory that will provide students with emerging technology skills to solve technical problems in Nigeria and beyond.
Dean Ajibesin maintained that despite being a new school in the university, SoE is well-structured with five undergraduate Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) accredited programs: (chemical engineering, computer engineering, electrical/electronic engineering, systems engineering, and telecommunication engineering).
"To whom much is given much is expected. So, I enjoin you to be independent and creative ... patent your ideas and create startup out of it."
Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Professor Chris Mbah, encouraged parents who are yet to obtain graduate degrees to enroll in AUN's flexible postgraduate program without having to leave their jobs.
"Our postgraduate degree program is specially designed for working-class people. Each student is assigned an instructor to follow up after weekly classes to ensure a hitch-free and shining degree in a conducive learning manner and environment."
Reported By Rofiat Adekunle