STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE
This is the THIRD EDITION of the account of stewardship of Professor Idowu Olayinka who recently completed his five-year term as the 12th Vice Chancellor of the University Nigeria on the 1st of December, 2020. In this volume is documented the achievements of his administration in the areas of STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE, Publishing these feats, as said in the previous editions means inviting everyone to not only note the achievements but to also attempt to confirm the veracity of the claims of Idowu Olayinka, learn from his actions and place commendations when impressed (and criticisms when not). We wish you a good time with Olayinka’s exploits below:
STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE
‘Salus populi, suprima estlex’
(The welfare of the people is the ultimate law)
Cicero
In terms of staff development and welfare our modest achievements include the following:
We devolved and decentralized powers to Faculties to conclude all Part I Promotion cases up to the Senior Lectureship Grade at that level. Approved cases are then forwarded to the University Appointments and Promotions Committee for Academic Staff for Noting, with effect from the 2017 Promotion exercise. This singular measure has greatly complemented other pro-active measures we have taken since 2015 to reduce the volume of paper work considered by the Committee with a salutary effect in a significant reduction in the processing of promotion matters.
The Appointments and Promotions Committee for Academic Staff embarked on a comprehensive review of the Regulations and Guidelines of Promotions for Academic Staff which became effective with the 2017 Promotions Exercise. Some of the contentious issues that were discussed exhaustively included the percentage contributions of each candidate in multiple – authored publications. Publication Outlets. Acceptable publications include a refereed book, journal articles, articles in refereed conference proceedings, monographs, technical reports, patents and copyrights. All must possess distinctive academic quality, originality and contribution to knowledge; Percentage of total number of candidate’s entire publications that must have been published within the two years preceding the promotion year. The guideline mandated that a candidate being considered for promotion must have attended, at least, one relevant conference/workshop outside Nigeria since he/she was last considered for promotion.
A candidate for professorial position is expected to have up to 40% of his/her publications on Google Scholar for international feasibility, thereby contributing to the university’s global ranking.
Assessment of Community Service, Administrative Duties and Teaching Competence became mandatory for all candidates seeking promotion. Candidate are expected to have scored at least 50% of the maximum points for teaching effectiveness.
There has been a considerable reduction in the turnaround time for promotion exercise, especially for the professorial promotions which involve the compulsory input of two assessors within Nigeria and one foreign assessor per candidate. The testimony of one of the candidates, Professor Olusanya Elisha Olubusoye, of the Department of Statistics via his email of Monday 4th March 2019 is as follows:
“Dear Sir,
The motivation for writing you is to appreciate the process that made my promotion possible in a seamless and timely manner. I have had two successive promotions to Reader and Professor during your tenure. Frankly speaking, the experiences have been so soothing and devoid of the harrowing experience and long delays that characterized promotion exercises in the past. I feel obliged to thank you profusely and to recognize the hardworking spirit of those involved in the various stages. Thank you Sir and may God continue to guide you as you strive to make UI better. God bless you Sir.”
Our commitment to staff welfare has been attested to by several individuals outside the University of Ibadan. Samples include the following electronic mail from one of our external assesors from the University of Jos in February 2019:
ejikeme gray <ejikemegg@yahoo.com>
To:Idowu Olayinka
11 Feb at 03:20
Prof., Good morning, sir. I will always be proud of you for your prompt responses to academic activities relating to your staff welfare, growth and development. Thanks for acknowledging the receipt of my email forwarding the report of the assessment of the publications of your staff. May God continue to bless and protect you for being a gift from him to your hard-working staff members. Prof. Gray Goziem Ejikeme. UNIJOS.
In the same vein, Professor Olu Obafemi of the University of Ilorin and former President, Nigerian Academy of Letters, in a WhatsApp message he sent to me on 24 May 2018 while inquiring from him about the progress with our request that he should kindly assess the publications of one of our staff wrote thus: ‘I will do my best dear VC. You show a worthy concern for your staff’.
Similarly, Professor Rotimi Adagunodo of the Department of Computer Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife wrote as follows:
ROTIMI ADAGUNODO eadagun@yahoo.com
To: Vcextass vcextass@ui.edu.ng
Fri, 08 May, 2020 12:08
Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for your mail Sir. It is highly encouraging, commendable and worthy of note that despite the prevailing pandemic and lockdown circumstances that the whole world is going through the Management of the University of Ibadan still remembers to make their External Assessors happy.
Please find attached the required details as presented in the sample template.
Thank you once more and I pray the University will continue to deliver quality intellectual services to humanity for many years to come.
Please continue to stay safe.
Kindly accept the assurance of my highest regards.
Thanks.
Professor E. Rotimi Adagunodo (OAU)
Below is comment by another External Asessor, Prof Matthew Ilori of the University of Lagos.
From: “Matthew Ilori” <milori@unilag.edu.ng>
To: “vcextass” <vcextass@ui.edu.ng>, “idowu olayinka” <idowu.olayinka@ui.edu.ng>
Sent: Thursday, 12 December, 2019 01:32:45
Subject: Professorial Assessment – Dr. YYY, Department of Microbiology
Dear Sir,
How are you and the entire family. Thanks a lot Sir for the support we received at the 250th birthday celebration symposium of Alexander von Humboldt. Your sparing time to honour us was a great blessing.
I have completed the assessment of the publications of Dr. YYY for promotion to the position of full professor. Attached is the report. I did not receive any hard copy of the publications but it was sent electronically. That’s a great feat Sir.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Best wishes Sir.
—
Matthew Olusoji Ilori FEnv., FAS
Professor of Microbial and Environmental Biotechnology,
Director, Institute of Maritime Studies,
University of Lagos, Akoka-Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Tel: +234-8023195170; +234-8035094551
Email: milori@unilag.edu.ng; sojiilori@gmail.com
We have been holding regular meetings of the Appointments and Promotions Committee since the inception of this administration in December 2015. This was a promise I made as a candidate for the position of Vice-Chancellor and to which I am irrevocably committed. In spite of the current lockdown and closure of the university on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to process the outstanding promotion cases. From December 2019 when the last meeting of the Committee held and till date, we have received completed assessors reports for 70 of our colleagues. We are eager for the Committee to meet as soon as possible in order to make the affected colleagues and their families happy in partial compensation for their consistent hardwork over the years. We are convinced that timely processing of promotion matters is a fundamental aspect of the mission of this administration in promoting staff welfare. On Wednesday, 8th July 2020, a Head of Department from the Faculty of Clinical Sciences narrated to me how one of his junior colleagues with a pending 2016 professorial promotion case has almost gone into depression because of the unintended but protracted delay in announcing his promotion. I am aware this is not an isolated case, for which reason those of us who are priviledged to be in any position of authority to positively influence things would always put the interest of our colleagues first, the odds in our way notwithstanding.
In this vein, I have advised the Registrar to send out the call for 2020 promotions for Academic Staff latest by 31st July 2020. The Call for 2020 Promotion of Non-Teaching Staff was published on 16th July 2020. The alternative is to postpone things indefinitely while the promotion arrears to the affected staff keep mounting.
Nonetheless, it is gratifying that the number of professorial staff in the University of Ibadan has increased by 119% over the last 15 years, from less than 279 in 2003/2004 to 610 in 2018/2019 (Figure 1). This is in spite of the fact that not less than 98 Professors have left the University over the last five years alone on account of attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 years and the highly unfortunate incidents of death.
Figure 1 : Number of Professors and Readers at the University of Ibadan, 2003-2019 (Source: Pocket Statistics, Academic Planning Unit, University of Ibadan)
We always put in a word for our staff wherever it becomes necessary yo do so. A recent example is the e-mail sent to me on 6th July 2020 by the Director of Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Professor Omolade Oladele, in respect of the allowances of some of her staff.
Appreciation – Salary Scale Adjustment for VTH Staff
Yahoo/Inbox
Omolade Oladele <lade.oladele@gmail.com>
To:Idowu Olayinka
Mon, 6 Jul at 21:17
My Dear Vice Chancellor,
Thank you immensely Sir for acceding to our request to implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and Consolidated Health Salary Structure for the core staff of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. By this gesture Sir, you have boosted the morale of our personnel which will certainly improve service delivery at the VTH. I left a letter to this effect at your office this morning.
We appreciate you Sir,
Warm regards,
Professsor Omolade A. Oladele, DVM., MVSc., Ph.D., FCVSN
(Avian/Poultry Medicine)
Avian Diseases Unit
Department of Veterinary Medicine
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
The University of Ibadan Academic Staff Promotion Portal (ASPP) for Part II Cases
In the recent past, the university has witnessed undue delay in the return of the assessment reports and innovative efforts were put in place to identify the causes of these delays and way to address the causative factors. Top on the list of these causative factors includes inadvertent communication gap and/or delays by the Deans of Faculties in getting the list of assessors across to the Vice-Chancellor after the approval of prima facie cases; communications with the local and foreign assessors via regular hard copy letter of request for consent and sending of hard copies of candidates publications to assessors. A trial test of sending electronic copies of publications of candidates to assessors over the last two years or so shows a tremendous improvement in the reduction in time taken to complete the assessment of professorial promotion cases.
Hence, the Postgraduate College has developed and tested the University Academic Staff Promotion Portal specifically dedicated for Part II cases involving promotion to the grades of Reader and Professor. This is ready for deployment this month, July 2020. It will be of tremendous help in seamless operations of the Office of Director of Special Duties (DSD). The Portal would assist the Vice -Chancellor’s office and the Deputy Registrar (Human Resource and Development – Academic Staff) in the effective, efficient and timely processing of already established prima facie cases at the Appointment and Promotions Committee.
The hosting of the University of Ibadan Academic Staff Promotion Portal will among other things help in maintaining the confidentiality of all Part II promotion cases; Deans of Faculties / Institutes /Academic Centers will be able to monitor the updates of promotion cases; this will reduce and/or eliminate the cost of courier postages incurred in the sending hard copy of consent letters and publications to selected assessors. Moreover, as part of strengthening of e-governance in the University, the office of the Deputy Registrar (Human Resource and Development – Academic Staff) would be empowered to follow promotion cases digitally and reduce the usual huge paper works for the Part II promotion cases.
For the records, the ASPP is the product of an initiative and creative higher-order thinking of the Director of Special Duties, Professor Temitayo Ewemoje, for which we are very grateful.
Several programmes and training workshops were carried out to facilitate the development of academic staff. These include:
Fostering Improved Visibility of Research Output at The University of Ibadan. Researchers are no longer assessed by publication numbers but citations and H- index (measure of research impact), while Institutional rankings, are mostly determined by evaluating institutional research output using recognized citation index (e.g, SCOPUS, GOOGLE), amongst other factors.
With the above understanding, a comprehensive academic survey to largely prompt signing up with citation index for improved visibility and also to generate information was accomplished.
Open Educational Resources (OER) Sensitisation Workshop: This was organized by ITeMS on Wednesday 30 May, 2018 after University of Ibadan ranked 5th of the 50 Universities that participated in the National Universities Commission (NUC) OER ranking in December 2017. This was to ensure that staff release their OER for upload to ensure improved ranking of the University. Post sensitisation Faculty follow up also held from 3-7 September, 2018.
Training by professors from Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago: Facilitated by Prof. Funmilayo Olopade of University of Chicago and postgraduate College. The workshop was on big data science for outstanding Postgraduate students and junior Academics in Science, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Collaboration planning meetings on subject matter were also held with relevant units of the University.
Masterclass for Principal Officers, Deans and Directors on “Internationalisation and Innovations in Education and Research: Resource Mobilisation for Nigerian Higher Institutions”: was delivered on the 25th and 26th April 2018 with the following focus:
ArcGIS software Deployment Training: To encourage the deployment of the ArcGIS software and interdisciplinary collaborative research around geo-informatics, a campus-wide ArcGIS software training facilitated by GIS Konsult Ltd was instituted. Subsequent to an initial interactive session with 34 representatives from 19 Departments identified as relevant units on May 18th 2017, one hundred and ninety-two (192) Heads of Departments and Deans/Directors of Faculties/Institutes, respectively attended another workshop on 28th and 29th of March, 2018.
ACU Certificate in University Administrative Practice Workshop: The University hosted the event in collaboration with the Association of Commonwealth Universities from Monday 14 to Friday 18 August 2017, targeted towards university administrators at mid-level in their career (Assistant Registrar, Senior Assistant Registrar or equivalent rank).
Arts in Medicine Workshop
Sponsorship of members of the academic staff in the Faculty of Pharmacy to pursue the Special Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) Conversion programme at the University of Benin from 2017-2019. This is a condition specified by both the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and the National Universities Commission in partnership with Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in America (NAPPSA) to enable us commence implementation of the Curriculum of the six-year Pharm D programme at the University of Ibadan. The first batch of seven academic staff sponsored by the University of Ibadan participated in the programme during the 2017/2018 session, while the second batch, comprising eight academic staff, took part during the 2018/2019 session. The total cost to the University was about Thirteen Million and Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N13,500,000.00).
In addition to the Conference Support in the sum of Twenty Million Naira (N20,000,000.00) which we regularly received from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund annually, we comitted at least Eighty Million Naira (N80,000,000.00) of our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) annually to support the large number of members of staff desirous of attending local and international conferences through the Conference Support Grant programme.
Through the Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, the following training workshops were organised:
Training Course for Conversion of Chief Secretarial Assistants to Data Processing Officers Cadres, July and August 2016.
Workshop on Natural Language Processing, Organised in Conjunction with IFRA for Academic Staff and Students of Africa Regional Centre for Information Science and Selected Students of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages.
To motivate deserving staff for improved productivity and self-actualisation, a lateral conversion of 11 members of staff of the Bursary Department who are professionally qualified as Associates or Fellows of relevant professional accounting bodies from Executive Cadre to the Professional Cadre was undertaken in March 2019.
Similarly, a lateral conversion to Administrative Officer of 24 members of staff in the Registry who were on the Executive Cadre was undertaken in April 2019. Out of this number, 20 already possessed higher degrees of Master while three are Barristers and Solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
We processed the Lateral Conversion of three academically and professionally qualified Chartered Accountants who were hitherto Chief Executive Officers to the grade of Chief Accountant in the Bursary Department was concluded in September 2019.
Within the period in reference a total of 1,461 junior non-academic staff received promotion (363 in 2015, 735 in 2016, 145 in 2017 and 218 in 2018) while 2,298 senior non-academic staff were promoted (473 in 2015, 572 in 2016, 418 in 2017, 339 in 2018 and 496 in 2019). It is gratifying to note that through our deliberate policy and plan implementation the promotion of non-teaching staff in the university is now up to date.
Lateral conversion of 32 qualified staff from the administrative to the academic cadre was effected between 2018 and 2019. Seventeen of these colleagues had completed their Ph.D as at the time of the conversion while the remaining 15 were at different stages of completion of their doctoral research programmes. This was at a period when the University was unable to recruit new academic staff on account of stringent government policies including but not limited to seeking approval from the Federal Character Commission, the Budget Office, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and massive shortfall in the personnel grant received from the Federal Government.
Conversion of six disused garages into three no units of one bedroom apartments by the Senior Staff Housing Committee at a cost of 6.7 Million naira. The new staff housing housing units were commissioned for use on Friday, 12th July 2019. The project was supervised by Direct Labour which helped greatly in saving costs.
Eight number other units of one bedroom and two bedroom units were equally remodeled by the Senior Staff Housing Committee.
Moreover, a new block of six flats was constructed along Elliot Close by the Senior Staff Housing Committee, thus bringing the total number of new senior staff housing units during the tenure to 17.
Fostering Improved Visibility of Research Output: In recent times, researchers are no longer assessed by publication numbers but citations and H- index (measure of research impact). Therefore, to improve individual and institutional visibility, on 1st November 2019, academic staff were mandated to sign up with Google scholar citation and ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) platforms. The analytics from being more visible over time will serve as a metrics for internal growth assessment in terms of citations and H-index.
Fostering Multi-/Inter-disciplinary Research: With financial support from the postgraduate school, the Multidisciplinary Research Collaboration (MRC) is an initiative to further drive the actualization and sustenance of the vision and mission of the University of Ibadan in consolidation of its reputation as a world-acclaimed university. This is geared towards drawing upon the pool of dynamic and resourceful faculty in the junior and middle-ranking cadres (Lecturer II to Senior Lectureship) to form 30 cohorts of multidisciplinary groups across the university. Each group is constituted by 5 members, making the entire selected population 150 in all. Each group chose both internal and international mentors from a pool which was made available to them and based on their research topics.
Besides a preliminary meeting that held a few weeks before, a major workshop for the cohorts held from 29th to the 30th, October 2019. During the workshop, senior academics from the university served as resource persons to explore the fundamentals and potentials of multidisciplinary research collaboration for cutting edge and transformational research. Of the initial 30 cohorts, 18 were able to unveil their research projects during the workshop (Table 1). It was gratifying to note that all the 18 groups had been working closely with their internal and international mentors whose guidance and input were acknowledged during the presentation. On account of the enthusiasm of a few other workshop participants one more cohorts has been constituted, making the functional cohorts nineteen.
As a follow-up to the workshop, the Planning Committee has adopted for implementation the suggestion of one of the international mentors that the preliminary research of each cohort should be awarded seed funds by the university.
Table 1: Cohorts in the Multidisciplinary Research Collaboration (MRC)
S/N
Cohort Leader
Disciplines
Mentors (International/internal)
Topic
1
Dr. O. OBI-EGBEDI
Renewable Natural Resources/ Agriculture/ Sociology/
Engineering/Law
Prof. Momoh A. Yakubu /Prof. B.O. Agbeja
Deforestation, Livelihood and Climate Change in Nigeria
2
Dr. Mutiat T. OLADEJO
History/Environmental Design & Management /Computer
Science/Law/ LARIS
Prof Chidi Oguamanam/ Prof. R.A. Olaniyi
Housing Culture, Built Heritage and Urban Development in South Western Nigeria Since 1914
3
Dr. Wale OWOSENI
European Studies /Science/ Religious Studies/ Philosophy/
Pharmacy
Prof Pius Fasinu/Prof. Oyedunni Arulogun
Sacrifice, Medicine, And Healing in Yoruba Culture
4
Dr. Y. AKANLE
Anthropology/ Sociology/History/Agriculture/
Communication and Language Arts
Prof Akin Ogundiran/ Prof. O.C. Adesina
International migration and cross border criminality
5
Dr. D.O. ADENIJI
Classics/ Philosophy/ Computer Science/Law/Religious Studies
Prof. Omolade Adunbi, Prof Delmiro Fernendez-Reyes and Prof. Ikeoluwa Lagunju
An interdisciplinary approach to disability and human diversity
6
Dr. E. J. ISUKU
Arabic and Islamic Studies/Education Management/Engineering/Classics
Prof. MBM Avoseh/Prof. Ayobami Ojebode
Digital Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition for Out-Of- School Youths in Sub-Sahara Africa: A Case for Youth Empowerment in Nigeria
7
Dr Muyiwa ADIGUN
European Studies/ Clinical Science/ STEM Education/African Studies/Law
Prof. Karin Barber/Prof. Arinpe Adejumo
Educating the girl child in Nigeria: Sexual abuse
8
Dr. B.R.O. OMIDIWURA
Agriculture/Renewable Natural Resources/ Philosophy/English/ Religious Studies
Prof. Adams Bodomo/ Prof. Francis Egbokhare
Role of Social Media in the 21st Century: A Critical Investigation of Religion and Food Security in Nigeria
9
Dr. Adejoke Olukemi AKINYELE
Urban & Regional Planning/Teacher Education/ARCIS/ Forest Production and Products / Sociology
Prof Ezenwa Okoli / Prof. V.O. Oladokun
Knowledge Sharing on Waste Management in A Closed Community
10
Dr. Joshua Oluwatoyin ADELEKE
Institute of Education/ Theatre Art/ Arabic and Islamic Studies /Science/Philosophy
Prof. Mojubaolu O. Okome / Prof. O.E. Olubusoye
Identifying and Strengthening Core and Soft Skills Capacity Among Undergraduate Students: A Case Study of University of Ibadan
11
Dr O.O. OMOTOSHO
African Studies /Science/ Veterinary Medicine/Educational
Management/CESDEV/Philosophy
Prof Toyin Falola / Prof. Taiye Fasola
The Traditional Use, Identification and Scientific Evaluation of Indigenous Medicinal Plants Used to Manage Microbial Diseases in Southwest Nigeria
12
Dr. Funmilayo AGBAJE
Guidance and Counselling/Agriculture/Economics/Public
Health/IPSS
Prof Saheed Aderinto / Prof. P.O. Olapegba
Sustainable Technology and Innovation for Human Security and Development in Nigeria
13
Dr. A. M. Adegbore
Adult Education/ LARIS/ Science/ Law/Clinical Science
Prof. Oyeronke Oyewumi / Prof. A. S. Jegede
Combating Herdsmen-Farmers Crises in Nigeria: A tripartite role of legal, communication and information Technology
14
Dr. Samuel Olalekan OLAJUYIGBE
Forest Resources Management/CEMRS/
Early Childhood Education/Adult Education/Political Science
Dr Olumayokun Olajide / Prof. E. R. Aiyede
Forest Edge Community-Based Early Childhood Education in Nigeria
15
Dr. Ndidi Mercy OFOLE
Adult Education/ Guidance & Counselling /Special Education/ African Studies/Public Health
Prof S.S. Ilesanmi / Prof. A.S. Jegede
An Inclusive Education Model for Students with Special Needs in Institutions of Higher Learning in Nigeria
16
Dr. O. S. OYAMAKIN
Veterinary Medicine/ Renewable Natural Resources/Economics/ Statistics/Engineering
Prof Folorunsho Fasina / Prof. D.O. Oluwayelu
Building A Diseased Free Nation Through Data Acquisition, Analyses and Management of The Incidence
Of Rabies and Lassa Viruses in Southwest, Nigeria
17
Dr. Babatunde O. OGUNBOSI
Agriculture/ Pharmacy /Economics/Dentistry/
Clinical Science
Prof Stephen K. Obaro / Prof. Iruka Okeke
Antibiotic Resistance: The One Health Approach
18
Dr. Ibitayo Ayoade ADEBAYO
Early Childhood Education/ Public Health/CEMRS/Science/ Institute of Child Health
Prof Adebayo Oyekan / Professor Ayotola Aremu
The use of Multimedia Technology in promoting healthy food choices among adolescent in Nigeria
19
Dr. Esther O. OYEFESO
Special Education/ ARCIS/Guidance and Counselling /Institute of Education
Prof. A. A. Olorunnisola / Prof. Kola Babarinde
Collaboration with Organizations within and outside Nigeria for staff development:
Leadership Masterclass: Was delivered by an industry partner (EZ37 Solutions Nig. Ltd) in collaboration with International Coach Federation as a half day event themed “Coaching for Organisational Efficiency”. The Masterclass was focused on increasing soft skills in leading and managing positive change for organizational efficiency. The leadership masterclass held on May 2nd, 2019. In attendance were principal officers, provosts, Deans, Directors, Heads of Departments, Deputy Registrars and Deputy Bursars. The discussions centered on “Who Needs a Coach?”, “Coaching as a Leadership Tool” and “A Case Study on Impact of Coaching on Organizational Efficiency”. After which three parallel breakout sessions were held on:
Emotional Intelligence
Decision-Making
Problem Solving
Leadership Coaching Sessions for Principal Officers, Deans and Directors: Leadership coaching has been proven to be an important tool to overhaul leadership style, discover unrecognized strengths, be assertive, build teams, resolve issues, be more skilled in communication and learn other effective strategies to motivate, inspire, thereby improving oneself and the organization, amongst other benefits. In partnership with International Coach Federation Foundation (ICFF) through their programme tagged IGNITE: Engaging Humanity Through Education, Principal Officers, new Deans and Directors were assigned to credentialed coaches for 6 coaching sessions spanning July to December 2019. The signing of the MoU and the meet and greet event between the leadership of UI and their Coaches held on July 1st, 2019.
Figure 2: Signing of the MoU and the meet and greet event between the leadership of UI and their Coaches
Workshop to Increase Expertise Stream on The Enterprise Systems Education for Africa (ESEFA): Through a multidisciplinary team lead by Prof. Victor Oladokun, largely from Departments of Industrial and Production Engineering, and Computer Science, the University of Ibadan is already involved with SAP University Alliances (SAPUA). The awareness workshop held on 10th July, 2019 in collaboration with SAP University Alliance, South Africa to increase the footprint of ESEFA by encouraging faculty members to undertake the requisite training necessary to educate next generation talents with SAP skills for the intelligent enterprise and the experience economy, engage with SAP events, build industry partnerships, launch graduates in the SAP ecosystem, and inspire young thinkers. Fifty-two academic staff were in attendance.
ArcGIS software Deployment Trainings: Anchored on the ESRI grant, which consists of lots of GIS software and online education resources for location intelligence.; these trainings are intended to optimize the usage of the ESI donation by actively encouraging students and lecturers of the University to adopt the GIS technology. Staff and students’ trainings are ongoing, most recently at UI School of Business, Department of Computer Science, Department of Industrial and Production Engineering and open to any interested Department.
Figure 3: Presentation to MBA Entrepreneurship Class of Ibadan School of Business by our Industry Partner, Mr Tolu Afolayan of GIS Konsult Ltd
Hosting of Workshops, Conferences and other events for Academic and non- Academic Staff:
Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the University of Ibadan “Developing the Next Generation of Researchers” Workshop: The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the University of Ibadan (UI) from Tuesday, 2nd to Thursday 4th April 2019 collaborated to develop Next Generation of Researchers in a 3-day international workshop. The workshop had two hundred and fifty-two (252) registered participants.
Hosting of the 34th Conference of Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU): The conference themed “Prioritizing Quality Assurance: Teaching, Research and Professional Conduct” held from August 25th-27th 2019. The conference had in attendance 76 Vice Chancellors, 22 Spouses of Vice Chancellors, 76 Delegates and others, 6 Resource Persons, 18 Deans and Directors of University of Ibadan (who attended the welcome reception and opening ceremony).
Figure 4: The opening ceremony and cross-section of Participants at the 34th AVCNU Conference
Hosting of Women in Data Science Conference: Held in collaboration with Women in Data science, Stanford University on April 27, 2019. Women in Data Science conference was aimed at enlightening business leaders, technology enthusiasts, statistics professionals, government agencies and students on the current trends of data science and its huge potential to help transform businesses and the entire Nigerian economy. Two hundred and fifty participants were in attendance.
Hosting of Africa 2050 Summit: The summit themed “Who Will Fix Nigeria?” was hosted in collaboration with the Circle Media Plus and African Voice Newspaper UK. The summit was an intellectual gathering of concerned political leaders, industry leaders, media giants, erudite and youth from different institutions across Nigeria. The event held on 17th August 2019 with Prof. E. R. Aiyede of the Department of Political Science and Dr Muyiwa Adigun of the Faculty of Law being keynote speakers, among other individuals.
Connecting staff with Town to increase University of Ibadan’s Societal Impact:
University of Ibadan-Nigerian Airforce Collaboration: With the intention of ensuring collaborative research and other linkage; a team from the Nigerian Airforce visited the University on 21st January 2020. The following concept notes were presented for possible exploration:
Mathematical Simulation of Military Operations
Development of Combat ration from locally available foods for the Nigerian Air Force
Internet of Warfare Things (IoQT) for Effective Implementation of War Strategies
Development of methodologies for enhancing the resilience of critical operational systems
Arising from this visit, researchers from the University of Ibadan have been invited to deliver lectures at the Air Force War Course 6/2020 on 15 June 2020. Additionally, preliminary surveys are ongoing to take some of the concept note forward to execution.
World Bank Sponsored Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP)/UI Collaboration: The inception meeting with the University of Ibadan, IUFMP and the World Bank delegates held on the 17th June 2019 with the following terms of engagement:
The University of Ibadan team will develop continuing education certificate courses/modules to improve the expertise of the staff of MDAs implementing the findings and solutions from the IUFMP.
The University of Ibadan team will incorporate the City, Flood and Drainage Master Plans geo-database into graduate level multidisciplinary research projects. This will involve IUFMP providing research problems backed by seed grants, which will be competitively allotted to postgraduate students.
To foster capacity development, knowledge exchange and long-term project sustainability, annually, IUFMP team will provide a list of available internship positions with short job descriptions, which will also be competitively assigned to postgraduate students in relevant discipline.
Partner with the University of Ibadan to organize geo-hackathon Season 2 by providing funding for the programme and the “problem statements” and “design challenges” that align with the objectives of the project and around the IUFMP objectives.
Hold a Partnership Forum for Stakeholders (Private Sector, Academia, NGOs, Government, and other counterparts) at UI International Conference Center to discuss urban resilience challenges. This is expected to be facilitated and organized by UI team and IUFMP while the funding will be provided by IUFMP.
The University has set up a committee to work with IUFMP on how to operationalize the training, research and internship components of the proposed collaboration. The University has sent a draft Memorandum of Understanding to IUFMP/Oyo State Government for consideration. The MoU is to serve as a framework for the partnership and a guide for delivering our respective responsibilities within the collaboration. We are aware that the draft is receiving the attention/input of the State ministry of Justice towards further processing.
Grant Application: Improved access to Grants RFAs by staff and numbers of annual grants application attempts. From March 2017 to date, over 60 grants RFAs have been identified and forwarded to academic staff to facilitate application with an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach.
Grant Attraction: From the available database, presented in Table 2 are the grants attracted into the University from 2019 till date (Multi-year grants that spilled into 2019 are also captured). I am certain this table does not capture all grants, drawing attention to the fact that it is important that all grants are reported to the Research Management Office for proper records.