It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the School of Postgraduate Studies of Covenant University. Postgraduate studies are the natural next step for you as you continue pursuing your academic goals, having gone through undergraduate training successfully. Here at the School, you can go on to obtain a Master’s or Doctorate Degree in any of our thirty-one programmes. We provide a conducive atmosphere for our students, as well as seasoned academics who teach and supervise them as they go through the writing of their projects and theses respectively. We have lecture rooms and a well-equipped computer laboratory exclusively for our students, in order to ensure that they get the best out of their studies. We also have a well-stocked library, including a virtual library from where our students also source materials. Our students win a number of grants and fellowships, especially Fulbright Fellowship, every year. These give them the opportunity to travel abroad to work under supervisors and use laboratories outside Nigeria, thus enriching their theses. We also have mentoring services for the benefit of our students, and in this way providing all-round guidance for them. So, you have come to a good place to study, and you will not regret your decision. Once more, I warmly welcome you to the School of Postgraduate Studies of Covenant University.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Nigerian educational system today is the dearth of qualified academics with the relevant postgraduate qualification and practitioner base to provide the much needed academic human resource to power the academic programmes in Nigerian Universities. Covenant University’s School of Postgraduate Studies was set up to provide a solution to this challenge. Starting from the bedrock of a Staff Development platform, the University, through the School of Postgraduate Studies, is committed to developing and implementing postgraduate programmes which will provide the foundation for achieving the University’s goal of being a leading Research University in its desire to align itself with Nigeria’s Vision 20-2020, which seeks to consolidate the Country’s leadership role in Africa in particular and the world at large.

In line with the Vision of the University to raise a new generation of leaders, the School of Postgraduate Studies promises to be one of the leading centres for postgraduate training in research, scholarship and skills acquisition for the needs of contemporary Africa and the world at large.

Our mission is to engage in best practices in academic programmes, research and services to produce very high-quality graduates through the use of life-applicable, life-promoting and cutting-edge scientific research as well as information and communication technologies for data acquisition and analysis in knowledge delivery systems. In this way, the School, through the University, hopes to contribute to the achievement of the quality education, which in turn will help in development and poverty reduction, which is Target 8a under Goal No. 8 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Objectives of the School

• Develop the spirit of enquiry in the Postgraduate students through training in research in an atmosphere of intellectual independence and individual creativity combined with a strong sense of teamwork.
• Foster, through instruction, a deeper understanding of key concepts and an increasing ability to apply fundamental ideas to new problems in the students. The student in the Postgraduate School must, therefore, be made to realise quite early that intellectual growth and subsequent success are directly related to the depth of command of basic principles and ability to apply those principles. Hence, although postgraduate studies are usually associated with a high degree of specialisation, such specialisation must be achieved in the context of extending mental horizons, producing new orientations, and developing a depth of understanding in the relevant discipline.
• Provide training in research for those whose future careers will lie in teaching and research at university level, and for those who may have to operate in research and development situations in public or private sectors.
• Provide both short and long-term training facilities aimed at improving and upgrading the existing and potential high-level manpower needed for planning, implementing and reviewing national development plans as well as improved productivity and performance in the private sector.

Committee of the School of Postgraduate Studies

The Dean is supported by a thirteen-member Committee in coordinating postgraduate studies at Covenant University. The Committee meets statutorily on the second Monday of every month mainly to deliberate on recommendations sent to it from the University’s four Colleges. The papers accompanying the recommendations are scrutinised and sent back to the relevant Departments, where necessary, for corrections to be effected. The papers are then sent to Senate for approval.

Physical Location

Covenant University’s School of Postgraduate Studies is located within the ultra modern Lecture Theatre Complex. Apart from the dedicated classrooms for postgraduate lectures, there are spacious office spaces for the Dean, the Sub-Dean, the Secretary of the School, an Assistant Registrar, four Administrative Officers, a Front Desk Officer and two Cleaners.

Postgraduate Internship Programme at Industry and organizations

Covenant University’s Postgraduate internship programme aims to achieve the University’s mission of raising a new generation of leaders by exposing graduate students to life in the society, industry and organisation. To achieve this objective, graduate students of the University had been placed at different organisations for the period of six weeks. It is also required that all interns be directly monitored and supervised by the appropriate officer at the place of placement.

Senior Faculty from the University conducts periodic checks on the interns. In addition, an Internship Evaluation Form (Confidential) is given to the Industry Supervisor to complete and return to the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies at the end of the Internship.

The Terms of Reference for the Internship Programme can be stated as follows:

• To create avenues for linkages and collaboration with industry, intergovernmental organisations, parastatals etc. for possible staff exchange/internship and professional exposure for CU Faculty.
• To facilitate placement opportunities with the external context.
• To coordinate, monitor and report to Management through the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies (SPS), the activities of the interns as is made available by the University Supervisors of the Interns.
• To assess interns performance and compliance with professional ethics & academic inquiries/examination along with the lines of Covenant University Core-Values, Vision, Mandate and the postgraduate internship requirements and build in such records into the grading system of the Postgraduate Programme of Covenant University.
• To recommend the financial cost of the scheme to Management through the Dean, SPS.
• To facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of the interns.

On their return to Covenant University, each of the interns submits a report, detailing his/her activities during the period of Internship. The Internship Committee also submits a report to the Dean. The following is an example of such a report.

Introduction

Covenant University’s Postgraduate internship programme aims to achieve the University’s mission of raising a new generation of leaders by exposing graduate students to life in the society, industry and organisation. The Internship programme was organized for students studying for Master’s degrees at Covenant University. The purpose was mainly to get the students gain practical experience in their various fields. The programme would also prepare them for the choice of their possible research topics for their current Masters and future PhD theses. To achieve these objectives, graduate students of the University were placed at different organisations for the period of six weeks between July and October 2008. Twenty-eight (28) Graduate Assistants participated in the programme. They were drawn from nine (9) Departments across the University:

• Accounting
• Business Studies
• Computer and Information Science
• Economics and Development Studies
• Human Resources Development
• International Relations
• Mass Communication
• Political Science
• Sociology

Based on stipulated guidelines approved by the University, the interns are expected to produce an intership report after the completion of the programme.