The authorities of the University of Jos, Plateau State said it has received approval from the National Universities Commission for the establishment of two new programmes in the Institution.
The latest programmes for which the NUC gave approval, according to the Senior Deputy Registrar of the institution, Abdullahi Abdullahi, are B.Sc. Actuarial Science and B.Sc. Marketing, both in the Faculty of Management Sciences of the University.
According to Abdullahi, this followed the recent resource evaluation visit to the University by panels of experts from the NUC to assess the human and material resources available for their establishment.
He said: “A letter conveying the Commission’s approval to the Vice-Chancellor of the University and signed by Dr G.B. Kumo, the NUC Director of Academic Standards on behalf of the NUC Executive-Secretary, directed that the programmes should commence effective from the 2014/2015 Academic Session.”
The letter further stated that the programmes should be run in the campus of the university on a full-time basis.
The NUC enjoined the University to provide adequate human and material resources for the development and growth of both programmes.
It is gathered that the latest approval brings to 22 the total number of programmes approved by the NUC in the University of Jos in the last two years under the present management led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai.
In the 2012/2013 Academic Session, two programmes were approved: B.Ed. Early Childhood Education and B.Ed. Technology Education.
Programmes that were approved and commenced during the 2013/2014 Academic Session included B.A. Fine and Applied Arts, B.Sc. Quantity Surveying, B.Sc. Banking and Finance and B.A. Archaeology.
The programmes that are commencing during the 2014/2015 Academic Session in addition to the two newly approved ones are B.Eng. Civil Engineering, B.Eng. Electrical/Electronics Engineering, B.Eng. Mechanical Engineering and B.Eng. Mining Engineering.
Others are B.Sc. Criminology and Security, B.A. Music, B.Ed. Physical and Health Education, B.Ed. Integrated Science, DVM Veterinary Medicine and B.Agric. Agriculture.
These are to commence alongside B.URP Urban and Regional Planning, B.Sc. Insurance, B.Sc. Estate Management and BDS Dental Surgery.