Pro-Chancellors Decry Regulatory Interference By Professional Bodies In Varsity Administration

The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities (COPSUN) has lamented regulatory interference by professional bodies in university administration, calling on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to include members of professional bodies on its accreditation teams for universities to eliminate such interference.

This was part of the resolutions contained in the communique of COPSUN, signed by the chairman, Prof. Ayodeji Omole, and made available to newsmen in Ibadan after its 73rd quarterly meeting.

The committee resolved that “the National Universities Commission (NUC), as the regulatory authority for the university system, should be legally strengthened and empowered to exercise overriding authority over university administration nationwide, with the professional bodies serving only as part of the accreditation team, being headed by NUC.”

According to the release, “COPSUN received the reports from our various universities over the growing interference of professional regulatory bodies in university governance.

“These organisations, though legally established and constitutionally empowered, subject universities to multiple overlapping exercises such as resource verification, accreditation, indexing, induction, and licensing.

“These acts put a lot of pressure on the universities, leading to accreditation fatigue in most universities’ systems”.

On the extension of tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, Osogbo, COPSUN said it received a report, “That the vice-chancellor’s tenure had been extended by two years beyond the statutory five-year term through the executive pronouncement by the Visitor with proposal to amend the University law to legitimise this illegal extension, which was deemed contrary to the existing legal framework”.

The Pro-Chancellors resolved to formally notify the Visitor (Governor Adeleke) of the University regarding this illegality and the need to adhere strictly to the existing law of the University in line with the University Miscellaneous Act of 2012, as amended.

“The Pro Chancellor of the University, who is a member of COPSUN, is also urged to adhere to law and due process to safeguard the governance integrity of the university system,” the committee said.