The Vice-Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Prof. Daniel Nwachukwu, has directed all academic staff of the University to register and maintain an active profile on Google Scholar as part of strategic efforts to enhance their academic profile, research visibility and the global ranking of the institution.
Prof. Nwachukwu gave the directive yesterday during the 2nd meeting of the Committee of Deans of Faculties held at the Vice-Chancellor’s conference room.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, in today’s knowledge-driven world, visibility is as important as productivity. He noted that many lecturers in the University are conducting groundbreaking researches but are not visible on the global academic map because their works are not captured on major academic indexing platforms.
He stressed that compulsory registration on Google Scholar will not only project individual lecturers but will cumulatively increase the webometric ranking and reputation of AE-FUNAI globally.
He explained that Google Scholar is the world’s largest and most widely used search engine for academic publications., adding it’s that significance includes: global research visibility, citation tracking and impact measurement, enhanced university ranking, networking and collaboration, and the preservation of intellectual output.
The Vice-Chancellor further charged all academic staff to use only their official university email addresses (@funai.edu.ng) for all official correspondences within and outside the University. He decried the persistent use of personal emails like Gmail and Yahoo for official transactions, stating that the practice is unprofessional and will no longer be tolerated. He therefore directed all staff without an official email to proceed to the Directorate of ICT for immediate creation.
In the same vein, Prof. Nwachukwu warned strongly against extortion, intimidation and exploitation of students by both the teaching and non-teaching staff. He stated that any staff caught in such acts will be punished in accordance with the extant rules and regulations governing the University.
He charged the Deans of Faculties to provide purposeful leadership in their faculties and ensure that all staff under them discharge their duties responsibly. He also urged them to encourage students to report any case of intimidation, molestation or extortion by staff, to serve as deterrent to bad eggs in the system.
“Going forward, any staff caught extorting, molesting and intimidating students will not be spared by this administration,” the Vice-Chancellor stressed.
The meeting was attended by all Deans and principal officers of the University.
