PRE-DEGREE/CERTIFICATE REGISTRATION/SCHOOL FEES
Misconduct Senate Expels Seven Students, As NOTAP Registers Five New UniPort Patents …Approves Results, New Programmes
- Details
- Published: 25 February 2020
By Otikor Samuel
In response to established cases of gross misconduct against them in separate investigations, the Senate has summarily expelled seven students to serve as a deterrent to others. Of the seven, four were expelled for attempted tampering with the anti-plagiarism scan aimed at ascertaining the originality of students' research. Two of the expelled students were involved in examination malpractices, one of them was caught while extorting money from his fellow students.
The Chairman of Senate, Professor NdowaLale, broke the cheering news that researchers in the University have obtained five new patents which places UniPort first amongst higher institutions that recently received patents from the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in Abuja. Professor Lale congratulated the researchers, promising that Management would set a day aside to celebrate them for bringing honour to the University.
The expelled students included a Master of Science degree student in the Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies (CDRMDS), NnamezieChukwumaArinze (G2016/DRM/MSc/FT/157), who failed to resubmit the 'original copy' of his work within the specified period by Senate. The candidate had claimed that the copy which was found to be highly plagiarised was submitted “in error” to the School of Graduate Studies but failed to resubmit the 'correct copy.'
Two students of the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Obieze Simon Uti (G2013/MEng/PNG/FT/954) and EdidiongObotUfot (G2013/MEng/PNG/FT/965) were expelled for introducing special characters into their dissertations in an attempt to outsmart the anti-plagiarism test, while Felix OghenekomeOwhoefe (G2014/MA/HDS/FT/684) of the Department of History and Diplomatic Studies was caught for plagiarising over 57 per cent of his work with more than 30 per cent from one source.
Neetam Parry Deekor (U2009/5555315) and Blessing Ellah (U2012/5020021) both of the Department of Fisheries in the Faculty of Agriculture were expelled for cheating in Agricultural Biochemistry (AGR 303.2) during the 2017/2018 academic session, while Edward MeneNaduna (U2017/2540115) of the Department of Educational Foundations in the Faculty of Education was summarily expelled for extorting N360,000 from his colleagues in a joint course (LCS 100.1), which his Department offered alongside the Departments of Theatre and Film Studies and Linguistics and Communication Studies. Senate recommended that Management should investigate the Security Unit to ascertain how it handled part of the money refunded by Edward MeneNaduna. Expulsion of the offending students was part of major decisions taken by the apex academic decision-making body at its 449th Meeting which held on Wednesday, January 29, 2020.
The Chairman of Senate announced the appointment of Professor AniefiokUdoudo as the new Head of Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, DrsIberedemIwok and JoycelynEigbobo as Acting Heads of the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics and Child Dental Health, respectively.
Professor Lale also announced the emergence of DrEuchariaNwaichi of the Department of Biochemistry as the new Representative of the Faculty of Science in Senate and DrEzaalOkowa as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The 449th Senate withdrew the studentship of Bolouye Gift Ibomoh for abandoning his medical programme for three academic sessions without formal documentation or statutory authorisation from the appropriate authorities. The decision followed a recommendation of the Academic Board of the College of Health Sciences. It would be recalled that Senate at its 445th Meeting had directed the College to take a decision on the studentship status of MrIbomoh and report back to it.
Senate considered and approved the report of the Certificate Verification Committee following a presentation by its Chairman, Dr Cyril Nwankwo. The apex academic regulatory body proffered possible ways to tackle security challenges arising from the threat and attacks on the lives of some Committee members. Senate deferred discussion on the report of the Committee that reviewed the recommendations of the Visitation Panel to the Faculty of Education to a later date to afford members enough time to appraise the document.
Senate resolved not to delve into a case of alleged assault and threat to life involving a medical student, DeebiiNumbara and a female Graduate student in the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, Amarachi Emmanuel, since the matter has been decided by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Senate approved results from the Faculties of Humanities, Science, Education, Engineering, Agriculture, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Social Sciences, School of Graduate Studies and College of Health Sciences. Senate commended the Acting Head of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies, Dr Timothy Nte for clearing outstanding results in the Department. The 449th Senate also commended the Deans of the Faculties of Engineering and Management Sciences for ensuring timely submission of their results.
Senate directed the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies to immediately shut down the parallel portal for checking students' results. The directive followed the presentation of report by the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the matter headed by the erstwhile Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Professor Anthony Ibe. Senate heaped encomium on the Acting Head of Department of Accounting, DrFynefaceAkani for shutting down a similar unauthorised portal on his assumption of office, and further directed Heads of Department to upload their results onto the central portal at the Information and Communication Technology Centre two weeks after they are approved. It warned that appropriate sanctions would be levied against any defaulting Head of Department.
Following presentations by the Senate Committee on Academic Policies and Programmes (SCAPP) by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Professor Hakeem Fawehinmi, Senate approved a proposal for the establishment of the Post-HND programme in the School of Laboratory Technology. The new programme would run for three years leading to the award of the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree in Laboratory Science Technology. Senate also approved a proposal for a harmonised academic undergraduate programme in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies. The highest academic policy body approved the introduction of Fundamentals of Deposit Insurance Scheme and Practice of Deposit Insurance into the curricula of relevant Departments in the Faculty of Management Sciences as recommended by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Scheme in line with a subsisting Memorandum of Understanding with the University.
Due to a sharp decline in enrolment of students, Senate approved a request by the Acting Director of Post-NCE Sandwich degree programme Unit, Dr Gospel Kpee, for rationalising and grouping of courses taught in the programme for more efficiency.
Senate directed the Department of Computer Science in the Faculty of Science and Communication Studies component of the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies in the Faculty of Humanities to work out effective modalities on how best to migrate to Faculty status in line with the directive of the National Universities Commission (NUC). The directive followed a proposal by the SCAPP to migrate the Department of Computer Science to Faculty of Computing, with four initial departments. Senate, however, stood down the proposal for further deliberations.
