Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Lecturers at the faculty of Social Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University have been advised to stick to personal development and job discipline for increased job performance and productivity.
Ikengaonline reports that the message was conveyed to the lecturers at the maiden faculty staff orientation and re-orientation workshop that took place at the university auditorium on Tuesday.
Delivering a lecture on the event themed, “Professing Knowledge…of the things we think, say or do!,” Prof. Emeka Ezeonu of the institution admonished lecturers not to restrict their work to classroom teaching but expand by acquiring sound knowledge in diverse areas to get to the desired heights.
Ezeonu, a former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official explained that the business of a university lecturer is not restricted to teaching, but extends to community engagement, knowledge transfer, continuing education, cultural and art programmes, consultations and advisory services, as well as alumni relations.
Speaking further, Ezeonu urged lecturers to be problem solvers by thinking critically, creatively and analytically. He identified impartiality, respect for diversity, confidentiality, responsible conduct of research as ways to foster good reputation in the field.
Also speaking, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) UNIZIK Chapter, Comrade Stephen Ufoaroh, while chairing the event, emphasised the need for continuous training and retraining of staff of the institution.
He said the orientation will help the staff understand the rules and regulations of the job they are doing and to be properly guided and prepared for the job expected of them.
In the other lectures, Associate Provost (Humanities) of College of Postgraduate Studies, Prof Emmanuel Obidimma, urged the lecturers to maintain proper relationship with the students. According to him, the supervisor-supervisee relationship plays crucial role in determining students academic performance.
Also, Mr. Victor Ohis while speaking on staff development, admonished lecturers to keep abreast the vision and mission of the university to understand the purpose for which they were employed and to perform optimally.
In his remark, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Charles Esimone, commended the faculty for the initiative to organise the workshop. He admonished staff not to place their emphasis on monetary values or wealth but the passion to share knowledge, develop students to impact the society.
The VC advised lecturers to go outside their comfort zones in self development by ensuring that they attend conferences, network with peers in other institutions to boost their opportunities of growth in the profession.
He also promised to continue to encourage cross fertilisation of ideas in the institution.
Earlier in his welcome address, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof Frank-collins Okafor, said the workshop was in fulfillment of one of his campaign promises of putting in the best in bringing back the fast-eroding academic culture in the Faculty, and by extension, the University.
He said “the training came as a result of the great concerns and worries generated by the current experiences in the life of our hitherto respected profession, and the mission of Project200.”
“The workshop was inspired by the current Faculty mantra of “doing ordinary things extraordinarily,” is a game-changing paradigm in a situation where some young colleagues have lost the grip of the fact that academic as a profession, has a culture; a culture of respect and a culture of discipline and diligence; a culture of professional pride and a culture of academic self-fulfillment, exemplariness and unquenchable desire for innovation and result-orientedness rooted in teaching, learning and community service.”
He narrowed that the aim was to change the narrative and also to bring the staff to speed with the new promotion guidelines and current innovations in the university’s postgraduate programme.
