- By Ikenna Nwokedi
The Faculty of Agriculture, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, on Tuesday, 17th December 2024, held a one-day staff training boot camp on academic writing and presentation.
The colourful event which was held at the Prof. Charles Esimone Hall of the UNIZIK Business School had its theme as, “Publishing with Confidence, Promote with Ease.”
Declaring the event open, UNIZIK Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ikechebelu commended the Faculty of Agriculture for the noble academic programme geared towards raising the status of the members of staff of the institution and the University’s Profile. Prof. Ikechebelu who was represented by the Special Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor (SAVC) on Academic Matters, Prof. Frederick Odibo said the core mandate of any academic institution is teaching, research and community service.
The Ag. VC informed that the Faculty of Agriculture is at the forefront of achieving this objective through capacity building workshop on academic publication which would impart knowledge on the teaching staff and enhance research. He also affirmed that for UNIZIK to reach her desired mileage, one of the criteria would be through the quality of the research publications available in public space and the number of citations from the research work.
In her address, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Cordelia Ebenebe informed that her administration has set a road map in place that will ensure the visibility of the teaching staff members through quality research output and publications. Prof. Ebenebe who was represented by Prof. Caleb Ezeano informed that the training is to inundate staff about publishing and navigating the challenges that come with that academic process.
Delivering her address on the topic, “Ensuring Accessibility and Affordability: Nigerian Digital Repository in the Era of Rising Publication Cost”, The National Librarian/CEO National Library of Nigeria, Abuja, Prof. Chinwe Anunobi highlighted the importance of the library in enhancing academic research and development.
Prof. Anunobi, who was represented by the Nigerian Library Association (NLA), Anambra State Chapter, Dr. Ngozi Osuchukwu offered that the training is important in tutoring teaching staff of the institution on rudiments of scholarly writing, intellectual property and processes involved in publishing in reputable journals especially open access journals with a modest publication fees which are impactful and useful for academic development.
On his part, the CEO of Boldscholar Research Limited, Abuja, Mr. Godswill Chukwuemeka described the boot camp training as a laudable project which will help scholars of the institution to advance their understanding of writing and be knowledgeable about best ways to submit their research work without being turned down by high impact factor journals.
Mr. Chukwuemeka stated that Boldscholar Research Ltd is involved in the training to see how research works churned out from the ivory tower can be greatly visible to the global community. He also promised to make published journals to be accessible within the country and can be used for innovation and technological advancement.
Another stakeholder who aired his view during the training was the MD/CEO Anambra State ICT Agency, Awka, Mr. Chukwuemeka Agbata, who was represented by the Special Assistant to the Governor on MDA support, Hon. Castro Ideke.
The Chairman, Central Planning Committee, Dr. John Ogbodo in his remarks and vote of thanks noted that the essence of the training is to ensure that the University teaching staff will be properly informed on processes behind publishing on scopus and Web of Science database as well as finding suitable journals that are cheap and affordable within their reach. He thanked the resource persons for their insights while promising that at the end of the training they will be well equipped to enhance their profile through their publications.
The event also featured award presentations to programme partners, hands on and interactive sessions on setting the stage for academic writing success, writing and revenue generation, mastering academic writing styles and conventions as well as group photo sessions.