Relationship with regulatory bodies

Due to the fact that SIWES is a multi-level regulated affair, the University, first and foremost intimated the relevant regulatory agencies namely NUC and ITF. Therefore, a letter of Application for Inclusion of NAUB SIWES for Funding was written to ITF, through NUC. The Coordinator had also visited ITF Head Office in Jos, Plateau State and ITF Area Office in Maiduguri, Borno State, and informed them about the establishment of the NAUB SIWES Unit. Regulatory guidelines and SIWES instruments such as SCAF Forms, Form 8 and templates of Master and Placement Lists were provided by ITF.

SIWES activities – First Semester

SIWES is a timetable-dependent affair. Any delay in the process will affect the academic calendar of the University. Therefore a detailed procedure and timeline of events for an academic session was designed. The procedure is as follow;

Preparatory Meeting

Immediately the students resumed for new academic session, preparation for the session begins with a meeting of SIWES Committee which is convened to review the past year’s performance and prepare for the current session.

Submission of Eligibility List

During the second week of the commencement of new session, the departments shall submit hard and soft copies, to the SIWES office, of the lists of students that are qualified to partake in forthcoming SIWES/SWEP. The criteria will be based on the benchmarks set by the University/departments.  

Returning Log Books

During the fourth week, Departments shall collate Log Books and Form 8 from students who have completed their SIWES/SWEP in the preceding semester/semester break. At this juncture, the Departments shall cross-check to ensure that the students have fully completed the log book, while Form 8 is duly endorsed and attached to the log book. Departments may adopt a checklist to ensure compliance.

Presentation and Grading

Also during the fourth week, students are required to submit a written SIWES Report and present same before a departmental panel of examiners. The report and the presentation shall be graded by the panel. In the same vein, the industry-based supervisors had earlier graded the students using a criterion provided to them. Therefore, the Departments shall then compute the total scores of each student based on the following components;

SIWES Assessment Criteria

SN	Grading Areas	Responsibility	Marks (%)
1	Assessment of Log Book Entries	Departments	10
2	Supervisory Visit by University	University Based Supervisor	20
3	Daily Supervision during training	Industry Based Supervisor	25
4	Written Report on Student Experience	Departments	20
5	Oral Presentation of Report	Departments	25
	TOTAL		100

 

Submission of Log Books and Results

Finally during the fourth week, the departments shall submit the log books, Form 8 and Students’ SIWES/SWEP results to the University SIWES Office. Such submissions shall be accompanied with cover letter, to be duly acknowledged.

Vetting of Logbooks, Form 8 and Results

During the fifth week of the first semester, all the submissions above shall be vetted to ensure that the students have filled all the required fields and submitted all the required documents. Departments whose submissions are not intact will be asked to make up what is missing.

Preparation of Master List

Upon receiving The Eligibility List from the Departments during the second week, the University SIWES Unit will, in the beginning of sixth week, prepare a comprehensive Master List as required by NUC and ITF in the stipulated Excel format. The list will be sorted by department/faculty.

Submission of Departmental Placements List and Acceptance Letters

During the sixth week, eligible students who were issued with request for placement letters in the third week, will be required to submit acceptance letters they received from their prospective places of industrial attachment. They shall be submitting to their respective Departmental SIWES Coordinators for onward preparation of departmental Placement List and submission of same to University SIWES Unit. At this juncture, the students will be asked to pay the sum of ₦1,250 only as fee for logbook.

Vetting of Master List

In order to submit a clean and error-free Master List to NUC, the harmonized Master List will be subjected to rigorous vetting during the eighth week. This is with a view to correcting all errors. Where the need arises, clarification(s) may be sought from the Department(s) or the student(s) concerned.

Submission of Master List to NUC

The vetted harmonized Master List will then be printed in ten (10) hard copies, alongside Covering Memo and Table of Contents. The University SIWES Coordinator will then submit 8 copies to NUC Office in Abuja, 1 copy to ITF headquarters in Jos and a copy to Vice Chancellor’s Office during the ninth week.

Preparation of Placement List

Upon receiving Departmental Placement List and Acceptance Letters from the Departments during the sixth week, the University SIWES Unit will, in the beginning of tenth week, prepare a comprehensive Placement List as required by NUC and ITF in the stipulated Excel format. The list will be sorted by department/faculty.

Vetting of Placement List

In order to submit a clean and error-free Placement List to NUC, the harmonized Placement List will be subjected to rigorous vetting during the tenth week. This is with a view to correcting all errors. Where the need arises, clarification(s) may be sought from the Department(s) or the student(s) concerned.

Submission of Placement List to NUC

The vetted harmonized Placement List will then be printed in ten (10) hard copies, alongside Covering Memo and Table of Contents. The University SIWES Coordinator will then submit 8 copies to NUC Office in Abuja, 1 copy to ITF Headquarters in Jos and a copy to Vice Chancellor’s Office, during the twelfth week of first semester.

Verification of Logbook by ITF

During the fourteenth week, the University SIWES Unit will invite the ITF Area Office to come and verify/vet the logbooks submitted to by the Departments in the fourth week. The Unit will also arrange to host the ITF officials in terms of workstation and other working materials.

Orientation Lecture/Issuance Logbooks

During the first semester exams, an orientation program will be conducted to sensitize all the students placed for industrial training. They will be taught how best to conduct themselves before, during and after the industrial training.  The students will also be taught how to fill the logbook, SCAF and Form 8, among other SIWES documents. SIWES Unit is the organizer, while ITF officials will be the facilitators during the orientation. Therefore there will be provision for publicity through Notice Boards and other electronic media, as well as invitation to all Deans and HODs. The orientation is compulsory on all accepted eligible student.  During orientation, log books will be issued to students who have paid for it.

Schedule of Supervisory Visit

Immediately after the students left for their industrial training, the Placement List will be sorted out by faculty/town of the placements. This will enable the SIWES Unit to post supervisors to each city/town where students are posted. The posting of the supervisors will be based on Faculty, that is, students posted to a given city may be supervised by any academic staff from the same faculty. The same supervisory schedule will be used for first and second visits.

SIWES activities – Second Semester

First Supervisory Visitation

During the second week of the commencement of second semester, staff who are scheduled for SIWES supervisory visitation above shall embark on the visits to their various destinations. During the visit, staff will assess the students based on familiarity with company’s operations, comprehension of problems, methods of approach to solving problems by the student, sense of discipline on the job, as well as general comments on the student and the employer. The assessment shall be strictly confidential. Therefore after assessing the student, the University-based supervisor shall seal the form and submit to the respective Departmental SIWES Coordinator immediately after returning from the visit.

Internal Orientation

Eligible students who will be due for SIWES in the succeeding session will be sensitized during the tenth week, to equip them with the knowledge of scouting for placements relevant to their course of study. Faculties will be furnished with their respective job specifications, so as to assist the students in identifying most relevant employer of labor for their placement. 

Issuance of Scouting Letters

Also during the tenth week, the eligible students shall be given letters of request for Placement and Acceptance. The letters may be issued to the students in duplicates to help them scout the placement from multiple establishments simultaneously. Students will be given four weeks to return the acceptance letters.

Second Supervisory Visitation

During the eleventh week of the commencement of second semester, staff who are scheduled for SIWES supervisory visitation above shall embark on the visits to their various destinations. During the visit, staff will assess the students based on familiarity with company’s operations, comprehension of problems, methods of approach to solving problems by the student, sense of discipline on the job, as well as general comments on the student and the employer. The assessment shall be strictly confidential. Therefore after assessing the student, the University-based supervisor shall seal the form and submit to the respective Departmental SIWES Coordinator immediately after returning from the visit.

Annual Events

In order to further prepare NAUB graduates to be attractive to industries, NAUB SIWES will be organizing two annual events to expose final year students to be employable after graduation. The two events are: Graduate Employability Enhancement Training and Career Fair.

Graduate Employability Enhancement (GrEEn)

Graduate Employability Enhancement Training is expected to enhance NAUB graduates’ employability chances in the competitive labor market, thus giving them an edge over other graduates. The training becomes imperative due to the intense struggle for the few job offerings in the labor market. This is coupled with the huge gap between the industry practice and existing curriculum of academic institutions. Thus customized modules will be prepared and presented to augment the graduates’ soft skills.

Career Fair 

Corporate entities, captain of industries and employers of labor will be invited to come to NAUB for a Career Fair.  A career fair is an event that gives students and employers a chance to meet one another, establish professional relationships, and discuss potential job and/or internship opportunities.

Finally, the success of the Scheme is dependent on the coordinated efforts by the regulatory agencies, the University, SIWES Unit, Staff and Students in their involvement in the administration and management of the Scheme. It is worthy to note that what is outlined in this document may be subjected to review from time to time.