On 2nd October 2012, McPherson University opened its gates for operations and on November 17, 2012, it formally welcomed its first class of students. Since then, the University has graduated several sets of undergraduate students. The University felt she has reached adulthood to begin postgraduate studies after graduating multiple sets of undergraduate students. Interestingly, all her undergraduate programmes are fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). In addition, the University believes it must satisfy people’s desire for high-quality tertiary education. A major moment in McPherson University’s history therefore, was the founding of the College of Postgraduate Studies (CoPS) in 2021.
To guarantee that the take-off was perfect, talks were held at the University’s various decision-making levels. We acknowledged the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) guidelines for conducting postgraduate courses. The Departmental and College Boards of Studies considered curricula and applications for particular postgraduate courses and forwarded their recommendations to the Academic Planning and Curriculum Development Committee. The Committee carefully examined their recommendations before sending the final draft to the Senate for consideration.
Initially, the University Senate decided that the University would launch with just three postgraduate programmes: M.Sc. Accounting, MBA, and PGD, M.Sc., and Ph.D. Computer Science. The Senate took into consideration recommendations to float several programmes across colleges. A resource verification exercise was conducted by NUC on the programmes and facilities of the University and subsequently gave approval for their commencement. After three years of operation, the College of Postgraduate Studies recorded encouraging results with these innovative programmes. As a result, more programmes were forwarded to the NUC for resource verification in this second phase. These programmes include MA, MPhil/Ph.D., Ph.D., History and International Studies, M.Sc., MPhil/PhD, Ph.D., Mass Communication, PGD, M.Sc., MPhil/Ph.D, Ph.D., Accounting, MPhil/Ph.D, Ph.D., Micro Biology, MA, MPhil/Ph.D., Ph.D., Religion and Peace Studies. In the next phase, more programmes are positioned to come on board just as newly commenced undergraduate programmes are reaching maturity for inclusion at the College of Postgraduate Studies.
The University’s reputation for excellence in all of its endeavours has been upheld by the College of Postgraduate Studies. We’ll keep offering postgraduate programmes that are strong and cutting-edge and designed to generate top talent. As a result, the College is positioned to generate a highly qualified workforce for the industrial needs of the continent by utilizing cutting-edge teaching strategies that support scholarship and problem-solving.
The current Handbook includes information about the curriculum and organisational structure of the Senate-approved programmes. It also includes Rules and Regulations that govern graduate studies at the University. On behalf of the Faculty of the College of Postgraduate Studies, I welcome new and returning students of CoPS, wishing them a productive and rewarding academic engagement this session.
Professor Kenneth Nwoko Ph.D., MNAL, Fellow ACLS,)
Dean, College of Postgraduate Studies