The testament to Covenant University’s excellence and unique academic output was recently corroborated when a team from the University of Alabama, on a working visit to the University, applauded the rare display of brilliance by products of the University.
The Head, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Alabama, United States of America, Professor Heath Turner, gave the validation when he led two other University of Alabama academics on a courtesy visit to Covenant University’s management team.
Professor Turner, who came in the company of Dr. James Sheehan and Dr. James Harris, both of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Alabama, said he was interested in learning what the faculty base of Covenant University was doing that has made the University consistently produce exceptional students and possibly establish a working partnership.
“Having engaged with your faculty and students, there is no doubt that we have mutual areas of interest in which the University of Alabama and Covenant University can work together,” he enthused.
Professor Turner said the academic leadership of the University of Alabama got to know Covenant University through the exceptionality of two of her graduate students, who have displayed an unusual degree of academic brilliance and have been consistently impressive in their work at the university. “I never knew of Covenant University. But when these two students came into our graduate school, we were so impressed and wanted to know more about the university they were coming from,” he added.
The immediate past Head, Department of Chemical Engineering, Covenant University, Professor Vincent Efeobokhan, said the students and faculty of Department of Chemical Engineering were impressed with the level of engagement the visitors had in the department and were motivated about the prospects and opportunities that exist when a working Memorandum of Understanding is evolved between both institutions.
Responding, the Head, Department of Chemical Engineering, Covenant University, Dr. Ayodeji Ayoola, appreciated the leadership of the University of Alabama for the existing ideas shared with the students and faculty during the parley held earlier in the day.
Dr. Ayoola said the leadership of the department is excited about the direction of discourse and the framework that has been established, noting that the friendly disposition of the University of Alabama towards a collaborative intent with Covenant University will be enthusiastically welcomed. “We will do what is necessary to evolve great research and grant application ideas that will be mutually beneficial to the faculty of both universities,” he opined.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abiodun H. Adebayo, thanked the team for giving the University Management honest feedback on the performances of her alumni at the University of Alabama.
Professor Adebayo said such feedback enables the University to remain committed to her founding vision and mission statement of running a departure philosophy that is poised to provoke a radical turn from the existing norm. According to him, the intent of developing a total graduate that will challenge the status quo and proffer solutions to the plethora of problems bedevilling development on the continent is at the base of the mandate of Covenant. “We are committed to making this relationship work and ensuring that both institutions get the best offerings this collaboration can give,” he posited.