INTRODUCTION
The Directorate of Research and External Relations(DRER) was conceptualized and birth via a Management decision on 5th February, 2019 to merge the erstwhile Linkages and External Relation Unit with the Research arm of Directorate of Academic Planning, Quality Assurance and Research(DAPQAR) to form a broad based and inter-related unit; which, while being the interface between the University and the Outside world would also expose academic and by extension university at large to the world’s best practises, especially in Research.
FOREWORD
In line with the Directorate of Research and External Relation’s best practices, the Directorate stands on two major pivots: (a) Research, which encompasses academic staff as well as students and (b) External Relations which include collaborations and building relationships that are beneficial to the University. The present staff members are:
DRER STAFF
The year 2023 started with a lot of promises and hopes of higher and better achievement in the Directorate. Plans were made, training were planned for both teaching and non-teaching staff to improve the quality of the university workforce but as the saying goes , man proposes but God disposes. Due to economic situation of the Institution and of the country in general, the activities of the Directorate drastically reduced. Despite the economic meltdown, the Directorate In collaboration with the Digital Bridge Institute organized scheduled Advanced Digital Appreciation programme which aimed at empowering and equipping staff with the knowledge of basic ICT office productivity tools which include the Internet, use of e-learning facilities as well as collaborations in virtual course delivery. The programme which was targeted at both Academic and non-academic staff that do not possess requisite computer skills lasted from Monday 8th May, 2023 to Friday 12th May, 2023 with One hundred participants in attendance.
National Resaerch Fund(NRF) Projects:
The Directorate hosted two teams from TETFUND for monitoring and evaluation of the NRF projects that are on-going which are domiciled in TASUED, These are the projects led by Prof.Abisola Akerele and Dr. Adefunke Ekine. The visitation was successful and the research teams were commended for the work done so far and were encouraged to ensure completion of the project on time. Dr. Adefunke Ekine’s project “Development and Validation of a Gender Responsive Pedagogy for preventing Gender-Based violence in Primary Schools” While Prof. Abisola Akerele’s project is “ Formulation of Nutrient-Dense Biscuit to Reduce Malnutrition Prevalence among Vulnerable under-5 and School Age Children in Nigeria.”
Carnegie Diaspora Programme:
In July 2023, the Deputy Director in the person of Dr. Adefunke. Ekine had the opportunity to present a report on the activities of the Carnegie fellow(Prof. Olufunke Okome) at the Association of African Universities Conference(COREVIP 2023) in Namibia. The title of the joint paper presented in ” Mentoring and Crop Fertilization for African Scholars in Higher Education Issues, Challenges Opportunities”.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, despite the economic situation of the Institution in year 2023, the Directorate still strove to make its presence felt among the members of staff as our training are unending and we have been able to celebrate our little wins looking to better results as the years go by.
Prof. S.E.Oladipo
Director(DRER)