Duties of the Senate in Nigerian universities | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
11th March 2020
The Nigerian university system has various hierarchies of control. A major one is the senate in each university.
Here,we describe the senate is the academic engine of every university. Without thesenate, there is no university.
Otherhierarchies necessarily exist but cannot unilaterally determine the award ofdegrees, which is usually the main reason why students are attracted touniversities in the first place.
You must have known by now that universities in Nigeria are mainly regulated by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
TheNUC partners with various specialised stakeholders in determining thecurricular content of each university. Among its mandate is the accreditationof universities and the courses each offers.
Bylaw, every university is expected to work within that framework.
Beyondthe NUC regulations, each university self-regulates its academic programmesthrough the power vested in its senate.
Inthis post, EduCeleb.com elucidatesthe duties of the senate within a university, based on the Nigerian experience.
Thelaw granting universities autonomy in Nigeria is dubbed the Universities(Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 2003. It is supplementary to thelaw establishing each federal or state university in the country.
Its provisions lists the following as members of thesenate of a university.
(a) the Vice-Chancellor;
(b) the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (s);
(c) all professors of the University;
(d) all deans, provosts and directors of academic unitsof the University,
(e) all heads of academic departments, units and researchinstitutes of the University;
(f) the University Librarian; and
(g) academic members of the Congregation who are notprofessors as specified in the Laws of each University.
A Vice-Chancellor is the academic head of everyuniversity. In schools in some other parts of the world, this title might beequal to that of the President of the university. He statutorily chairs allmeetings of the senate and see to the daily administration of a university. His/herappointment is subject to the approval of the governing council of eachuniversity.
The number of Deputy-Vice Chancellors vary from oneuniversity to another. In practice, the governing council approves theappointment of each Deputy Vice-Chancellor. In some cases, it is based oneither an election within the senate or nomination by the Vice-chancellor. Inother cases, it follows the strict screenings applicable to the appointment ofa vice-chancellor as determined by the governing council.
A person becomes a professor after at least a decade devoted to teaching and research in the university system. In an earlier post, EduCeleb.com published that in Nigeria today, the NUC has made it mandatory that holding a PhD is another major criterion. Fulfilling these and other requirements to become a professor guarantees a person membership of a university’s senate.
Deans head faculties within universities while provostshead colleges within same schools. The responsibility of each is intertwined.There are also other academic units universities would create to promotelearning, research and development. Prominent across universities in this caseis the title Director of Academic Planning.
Under each faculty are departments and possibly, otheracademic units. The heads of each even if they are not professors, are membersof the senate.
The university librarian heads the team that oversees thelibraries within each university. This role, however non-academic it seems, hashuge impact on the academic sojourn of students.
The congregation of a university refers to a formalmeeting of senior members of the institution. The law is specific about theinclusion of members of the Congregation who are not professors as specified inthe Laws of each University here.
The Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment)Act, 2003 states that theSenate shall have powers in all academic matters including the organization andcontrol of:
Studentsstudy various courses while on campus and conducting a research is part of therequirements they must fulfil before graduation. The Senate, with the guidanceof the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) set by the NUC, ensuresexcellence in teaching and research.
Contraryto popular belief that it is the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)that admits students into tertiary institutions, it is actually the Senate ofeach university that determines that. You would just have to meet the admissionrequirements set by the Senate of your university of choice as advertised inthe JAMB brochure. Universities admit students through the Unified TertiaryMatriculation Examination (UTME), Direct Entry and inter-university transfer,according to the BMAS.
Asa student completes each of his/her courses in the university culminating ingraduation, it is the Senate of each university that would approve theirresults within the framework of the BMAS. The senate approval would qualify theperson worthy of being awarded a certificate in a discipline which he/she hadcompleted a programme. The Senate also has a say on who to get an honorarydegree in a university as it would recommend its choice to the governingcouncil.
Thesenate would within its resources utilise faculty members to promote researchin various specialised disciplines within the university. In some cases,universities with financial resources would even sponsor students and academicsto conduct research. Granting fellowships, scholarships, prizes and similarawards are parts of it.
Eachuniversity’s senate would perform functions including but not limited toestablishing new faculties and departments, organising and controlling coursesof study, halls of residences, and similar institutions.