Federal University Dutse: Striving towards academic excellence
Today, the Federal University Dutse (FUD), Jigawa State, will be graduating its 5th set of students. A total of 786 students are graduating; out of which 52 made first class honours in various disciplines, 291 obtained Second Class Upper, 338 made Second Class lower, while 105 had third class. Also, 162 postgraduate students will be graduating.
In a pre-convocation media briefing on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Fatima Batul Mukhtar, explained that since its establishment, over eight years ago, the university had witnessed remarkable academic and physical development.
“At inception in the 2011/2012 academic session, the university started with three faculties but has increased its academic departments to 32, with six faculties, a College of Medicine and Health Sciences and a School of postgraduate studies. Equally, the students’ population has steadily increased from 202 in 2012 to the current number of 9491,” she said.
She added that arrangements have been concluded to establish the Faculty of Education this year with a novel programme - B.ED Basic Education, to address the paucity of qualified teachers in the basic education sector and a B.Sc in Library and Information Science to also address the gap in Library management in the proposed Faculty of Education.
Professor Mukhtar said the university is also proposing four new programmes in the Faculty of Management Sciences apart from the five existing programmes. They are B.Sc Cooperative studies, B.Sc Entrepreneurship, B.Sc Insurance and B.Sc Public Administration. These programmes have been approved by the Senate of the university.
On the issue of admission of new students, the VC said the admission process ended on Saturday January 11, 2020. The total admission quota for the university was 3,500 but the total number of admitted candidates (both DE and UTME) was 3460 across the faculties/departments.
Similarly, to take its proper place in today’s digital and competitive world, the university had distributed 231 E-Pads to Academic staff from Lecturer II and above to promote innovation in teaching and learning and to members of Senate for E-Senate. The university successfully commenced the long awaited E-Senate on Thursday January 30, 2020.
In the area of Academic Staff Training and Development (AST&D), the university secured intervention from TETFund for foreign and local training of Academic Staff for the 2016/2017 academic session to the tune of N176, 701,914. The university also secured TETFUND intervention for conferences during the period under review to the tune of N58, 962,129.
A total of 11 academic staff secured private scholarships for various post graduate programs. Five obtained Chinese scholarship, one PTDF, two Indian scholarships, one NITDA, one United Kingdom and one Uzbekistan scholarships. The university paid for the return tickets of five of the staff.
Also, a total of 10 senior non-teaching staff were granted approval to proceed on full time study fellowship in various programmes within the country while twelve went on part time basis. A total of ten junior staff were also given approval to undergo various study programs on part time basis and one was released on full time.
In the area of partnerships, the university participated at the General Assembly meeting of Australia-Africa UNINET Network in Vienna, Australia. The varsity was admitted into the network and the Deputy ViceChancellor Academic Services was elected as the Deputy President of the Nigerian delegation.
In a similar development, the university has concluded and signed a partnership agreement with the University of Sheffield United Kingdom for the latter to train some staff of FUD in the area of “solutions for sustainable financing’’. This partnership was supported by a grant of 12000 pounds from the British Council given to few select Nigerian Universities to support improvements in funding and sustainability models in Nigerian higher education sector.
Some MoUs signed by the university were that with the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) as well as with Investment and Oil Limited to establish a petrol station, a gas plant, and shopping mall at the Federal University Dutse on BOT basis.
FUD also enjoyed several interventions from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources for the provision of water and reticulation; Federal Ministry of power, in the area of upgrade of electricity supply in the university and alternative power supply as well as the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing which constructed 0.7km road project as part of the 2km road being approved for the university.
Other interventions came from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development which built and equipped a multi-million naira Agribusiness Incubation Centre for the university; donation of solar power street light projects under the Corporate Social Responsibility of Premium Pension Limited to the university as well as NCC’s several Interventions in the area of ICT.
Recently, the Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro, commissioned eight projects worth over N2bn in the institution.
A breakdown of the projects indicated that five were executed under the 2013 special intervention, while three fell under the 2016 normal intervention. The 2013 special interventions were basically those under the Basic Medical Sciences comprising Human Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Public Health and Twin Lecture Theatre, while three projects under the 2016 normal intervention comprised twin laboratories for Chemistry, Microbiology laboratory and School of Postgraduate Studies building Phase I.
Despite the numerous remarkable achievements made so far, the university still faces numerous challenges which include perimeter fencing; hostel accommodation; staff offices; lecture theatres and halls; large multipurpose hall as well as indoor sports complex.
The VC has appealed to members of the public, the host government, partners, and stakeholders to continue to support the university in all its activities of training, research, and community partnership and in ameliorating its challenges.