The Directorate of Quality Assurance in collaboration with the Directorate of Staff Training and Development, have organised a retreat in order to review the policies and standard operating procedures of the university.
The retreat, which was held at the University Library at the headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, had in attendance management staff, deans, directors and heads of unit of the university.
Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, emphasised the need to for the university to have an established culture and way of doing things.
“I want to take what we’re going to do here from the perspective of culture, and for me it is an idea, custom or social behavior of a particular people or society.
“I have linked it to civilisation because these are things that border on what we are doing today. Civilisation is the stage of human social and cultural development and organisation that is considered most advanced. It means that once we perfect whatever it is that we are doing, it means that we are civilised,”he said.
The Vice-Chancellor added that “What we are doing here today is like culture. By the time we perfect our policies, processes and procedures then we have what we refer to as quality assurance and then you become a cultured society.
“The most important thing about culture and what we want to do today is that it is learned and is passed down from one generation to another shaping individual identities and influencing their perspectives, attitudes and behaviours.”
He said “We can take NOUN as a society and an organization, so this means we must develop a culture. How do we develop this culture? We do this by learning it. By formulating it, you are learning and developing it.”
Peters said the university recently got a visit from the International Quality Assurance Agency and they asked for almost 200 policy documents to be submitted in March. Failure to do so, will stop their funding of ACETEL, because it shows that the university does not have quality assurance.
“Right from time we have had these policies but we have never documented them in a way and manner that is useful and in a manner that it becomes a culture to all of us”.
“Those of us that have been involved with accreditation, know that all they are asking for in accreditation are documents, and what documents are these? They are policies, and what is inside the policies? Processes and procedures. That is what they are looking for”.
The VC underscored the need for the retreat, saying that it was important that the university lays a foundation so that when staff of NOUN go somewhere else, people will know that the university is doing something great.
The Director, Quality Assurance, Prof. Juliet Inegbedion, who welcomed participants, said“We are gathered here to revisit, think and review our principles and regulations, governing the academic and operational activities in NOUN. This can only be achieved through adequate documentation of our policies, processes and procedures.
“If you are here, I congratulate you because you are a value to NOUN’s progress and success. I am just a year old as director in the Directorate of Quality Assurance. At my assumption of office, the mandate given to the directorate was to ensure that quality becomes the watchword in academic and operational activities in NOUN; where everyone can go to sleep during institutional or programme accreditations, and above all, excel in the institution’s vision, mission, objectives and core values,”she said.
Inegbedion stated that the policies are designed to serve as marketing strategy for the institution towards meeting the institution’s one million mark enrollment and beyond.
“Working along with the given mandate on 29th November 2022, the directorate made a call to all faculties, directorates, academic centres, units and registry to submit the policies guiding their operations.
“The responses were not pleasant. It was observed that there was no adequate documentation of polices and processes guiding the institutional operations, the director explained.
She said due to the poor responses, the directorate carried out a diligent review of all academic and operational activities in the university and identified 127 academic and operational activities that required immediate documentation of policies and standard operating procedures.
She stated that it was important that every activity in NOUN must have SOPs, because with that, the university can clearly define its activities and the steps taken to achieve the activities.
The director added that it will help in measuring the effectiveness and efficiency in job performances.
