The Babcock University
Babcock University: A Journey into Higher Education
- Babcock University, established on September 17, 1959, was initially an Adventist College of West Africa, initially for 7th Adventist workers in West Africa.
- The university underwent several transformations and was officially recognized by the Nigerian government in 1999.
- The university was formerly a residential institution, with over 12,000 students, primarily from the West African sub-region.
- The university’s philosophy is holistic education, focusing on cognitive, psychomotor, and affective development.
- The first set of students arrived in 1999, with their matriculation ceremony presided over by the 7th Day Adventist Church’s world leader, Pastor Professor Jan Paulsen.
- The university maintains a regular academic calendar, with announcements of the time and date of graduation for all programs.
- The university’s stability and regularity have made it a popular choice for students and parents, with many students opting for education travel schemes in the US.
Babcock University Ilishan Remo in Ogun State provides a peaceful and serene setting for learning and research.
It was established on the 17th of September 1959, when it began as an Adventist College of West Africa, founded by the 7-Day Adventist Church.
It opened as a senior college of training for church walkers from West Africa, which had only seven students.
After undergoing several Transformations, the federal government of Nigeria announced Babcock University as one of the first three private universities in the country on the 20th of April 1999, the certificate of registration was presented to the pioneer chancellor and chairman of the University Council Pastor Luca Daniel on the 10th of May 1999, at a ceremony prided head over by the then minister of Education at the national universities Commission NUC Abuja.
The founders of Babcock University formerly inaugurated the institution on the 17th of June 1999, to become one of Nigeria’s leading institutions, dedicated to academic excellence and Community impact.
The Vice-Chancellor and President of Babcock University Professor TAYO ADEMOLA highlights some of the achievements recorded by the institution and how it has played a major role in shaping the future of higher education in the country.
Babcock University started as a small American liberal arts college way back in 1959, it was called Adventist College of West Africa.
A group of American missionaries came to Ilishan Remo with the sole purpose of training 7th Adventist workers for this West African sub-region, and only seven students were admitted in 1959, the college started growing admitting students from Ghana, Sierra Leon, Gambia, and all over West Africa until 1975 when the Adventist College of West Africa metamorphose to Adventist Seminary of West Africa.
It was affiliated with Andrews University in Michigan whereby students who have two years of study here and move to Andrews University or the other Adventist universities around the world.
in 1999, 40 years after the establishment of Adventist College of West Africa Babcock became one of the first three universities to be approved by the federal government of Nigeria, and from the small beginning of seven students, today we have over 12,000 students here on this campus, and Babcock is more or less a residential institution.
We believe in training the head, the heart, and the hand because we believe that for one to be thoroughly educated one must have holistic education, not just the cognitive development but also the psychomotor domain and the affective domain, and that’s what can make Nigeria great when graduates are Holistically developed.
The first set of students numbering 1006 arrived at the University on the 13th of September 1999, their matriculation ceremony was presided over by the visitor to the university, president of the general conference, and world leader of the 7th Day Adventist Church from Washington DC USA Pastor Professor Jan Paulsen on the 28th of January 2000.
Babcock University Pride Serve by the grace of God on having a very regular academic calendar it’s been our culture since its Inception in 1999, once the matriculation is to be done we announce the hour and the date when students will graduate all things being equal if you have a four-year program, we announce the date on the day of the matriculation if it’s 5 years program, we announce it and for up to 2019, when covid came in and we were forced to close, we have been having a stable academic calendar, and I think if there’s anything that has made the society to really like Babcock, is just because of the stability and the regularity of our of everything that we do here in Babcock university.
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We mentioned the last day to enter into class, we mentioned the day we evacuated for a session and because of it, many of our students and the parents could plan their program.
Every year we have hundreds of our students go to the US for the education travel scheme because the organizers of the program in the US know that Babcock will always vacate at the right time, and they have been able to build our students into their program and that has helped many of our students, hundreds of our students now are studying in the US because they use the root of this scheme to be able to a culturized and be able to fit in into for higher degrees in the United States.
According to the senior vice president of academics at Babcock University prof. Philemon Amanze said in terms of standards, students come to Babcock University based on the established standards set by the jamb in Nuc.
The candidate must have five credits including mathematics and English to be given admission to the University, and we stick to it very seriously, with no waivers because that basic standard is important to launch the undergraduate program in any area of your study, we uphold that to the letters.
The student on the campus, will discover that to meet the standard, you need to attend classes, for example, every student must meet up to 75% attendance to classes, a student can’t be out of the class and be meeting the standard, the student has to attend and be in class punctually and regularly to meet the attendance requirement to qualify the student to take the examination at the end of the semester.
The university commenced with three faculties which later became schools, they are the faculty of Education and Humanities, The Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, and The Faculty of Science and Technology with a total of 11 departments, the School of Law and Security Studies became the fourth School.
Babcock University now has a Postgraduate School, which began in 2010, and a medical school which took off on January 202 12, as a pioneer private university in Nigeria since 1999, Babcock has continued its Legacy of upholding Excellence.
The director of communication and marketing, at Babcock University SULEIMAN JOSHUA, maintains that the Babcock brand evokes Strength, confidence, and a forward-looking vision of the University, as well as the significant impact of its programs.
It has grown to become a renowned Center for Learning and Innovation, with more than 12,000 students pursuing various courses.
Prof. TAYO adds I believe in transparency and accountability, for example, at the end of Every semester, all the teachers are rated by the students without them putting their names on it, and we do statistic analysis of this for us to be able to get the feedback, we have an office of institutional efficiency Effectiveness, that we look at all the feedback and we be able to plow back that feedback call every teacher this is what you are doing right this is what you are not doing right based on the feedback from the students.
The same thing to administrators, we have an academic colloquium at the beginning of every semester, where staff are given opportunities without any intimidation to reflect on how the administrators are feared, and then we harness their questions and concerns and use that to improve the style of administration.
The vice president, of student development, at Babcock University, Prof. SUNDAY AUDU said, that in the hostels, we have a system of administration, that takes care of the students to ensure that everyone is safe, and then we work hand in hand with the directorate of security services to ensure not to harass students, but to ensure that no one is harassed.
is something else to put a security system in place to harass and police people, but we look at it from the positive side,
- the security system is there to ensure that every student is safe
- 2.We have the student support center, that tries to work with students to ensure that no student drops out of school here.
We take the weak and strong students, and those who have health or study challenges and we work with them, what makes it unique is that even where you fall or fail or falter we walk with you to restore you, we base our Service delivery on restoration it’s a keyword restoration.
According to the vice president, of financial administration at Babcock University, prof. folorunsho A. adds that our pricing system is also modest, it may appear heavy but, it covers a lot of things, when the student Comes in, it covers tuition, feeding, and even medical.
Not many private institutions are running catering Services in a central setting the way we are doing it, some of them are outsourced and they don’t get involved in that, but we are intentional about that because we are also particular about nutrition.
Prof. GRACE TAYO the director of Research Innovation and International Corporation said, we have food safety and food security, this is a big issue all over the world, and we look at how to focus on our indigenous plants food has Become expensive, feeding livestock and animals have also become very expensive.
One of the areas that we concentrate on is food safety and food Security, which is to see how we can bring down the cost of production by looking at Alternatives.
The vice chancellor said, we have the parents consultative Forum, whereby the parents hold us accountable, we have the executive, they engage us on so many areas, what we can do or what we have not been doing right, and with that we able to buckle up to do better for our students and the parents.
Is important that we let our stakeholders assess or evaluate us and, get feedback to be able to improve the university better, and this has been working since 1999.
Every semester we also have student Congress where they engage the administrators, we have the parents, we engage the administrator, and we have the governing Council, they engage us and with it, all the feedbacks are harvested for better productivity. Prof. TAYO added.
The expansion policy of the institution to meet market demand and Global challenges led to the addition of more departments and new programs, the latest additions are, the Department of Music and Creative as well as Education Foundations at the School of Education and Humanities.
At the moment, Babcock University has 10 schools of faculties which are the Benjamin S. Carson College of Health and Medical Sciences, the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences, and the School of Education and Humanities. Others are the School of Law and Security Studies, the School of Management Sciences, the School of Nursing Sciences, and the School of Public and All-Lighted Health. The rest at the School of Science and Technology, the Veronica School of Social Sciences, and the College of Postgraduate Studies.
Babcock institution has been recognized as the top private institution in Africa and as a leader in the private education sector in Nigeria.It has produced several graduates who are making an impact globally.
SULEIMAN JOSHUA maintains, that the Awards which we have won and which is dear to us, is the brand award that was given to us by the World Branding Forum in the United Kingdom, and we have won that award five consecutive times, from 2015 to 2019. and it made us proud, we were crowned as the education brand of the year in the whole of West Africa. So that is in terms of our visibility, positioning, and research output that is significant, it enables us to Benchmark with some of the best IV League institutions globally and it also positions us as not just a local player but an international player in the education sector.
Since 2012, Babcock University has operated its world-class teaching hospital as a beckon of innovation and research, with a special focus on cancer research, and plans to establish the Babcock University Cardiac Research Center.
The management of the institution is committed to advancing Health Care, particularly the prevention of common cancers in children.
Transformation Of Babcock University As A Beacon Of Innovation, Research
Chief medical director, Babcock University Teaching Hospital, prof. Barnabas Mandons said it’s a faith-based 7th Day Adventist Hospital, we are anchored on three values, care, competence and, compassion.
The medical school and the teaching Hospital were established for Global consumption but with local content to train our Nigerians and other Nationals that will come in here for training in medical education.
We developed that concept because we feel as a church, we can make our contribution by harnessing competent Nigerians to come and help train Nigerians who would not want to go to Europe or America for medical education.
So we give them qualitative medical education in this part of the world.
What makes the Babcock Teaching Hospital different
- We are a faith-based institution.
- We are anchored and Excellence
- We are training missionary doctors who will go into the community to give competent Compassionate Care to people who are suffering from diseases. at the same time spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Nations and communities in which they find themselves so that the ministry of healing can be completed based on our Christian belief and Faith.
The director of research, innovation, and international corporation, prof. GRACE said Babcock started as a teaching University, but over the years it’s gradually evolved to be more intensive when it comes to research, currently, Babcock University has research themes focusing on the environment, food safety and food security, and Adventist heritage.
We looked at the sustainable development goals, and the philosophy of education of the 7-Day Adventist Church which is the proprietor of Babcock University, and from there we coined those themes and looked at the needs of the society as well.
The provost of the College of Health and Medical Sciences John Sotunsa said Currently we know that we have a lot of Exodus of Our professionals and, the cost of education is also going high.
We also note that even the space for admission into medical specialty is gradually getting smaller, and what we trying to do to introduce into the menu, is to make a difference and join hands with others in the institution in increasing the capacity.
The government now has given us a 100% increase in quota, but the increasing quota is not all that it takes, we need to make sure that we improve quality.
What we’re trying to do, is that we have a lot of hands-on and that will not be limited to only our students, a lot of students will be able to apply and be able to have online training and, then they come in for one week at our skill acquisition lab and they’ll be able to do a lot.
With an average intake of 240 medical students per annum and state-of-the-art Facilities, Babcock University Teaching Hospital remains at the Forefront of Medical Education and Research in Nigeria. These facilities serve a dual purpose which is training medical students and provision of Essential Medical Services to neighboring communities.
Prof. Barnabas mandons said the facilities Medical have been upgraded, it’s a training center for our medical students, and it’s a 120-bed capacity hospital. we have medical students hostels and classrooms for teaching students whenever our teachers go there to expose them to rural posting because ile-efe is like a semi-urban environment, where all common diseases that the students need to know are usually found.
The other hospital we have is in Leashian, a 50-bed hospital Comprehensive Health Center, and we also have a students’ hostel and lecture rooms.
It’s a referral center for neighboring Villages and towns, and our students spend 3 months there annually for their training on an orientational basis.
These three centers are maintained by Babcock University Teaching Hospital, and they’re able to give services to these communities so we have contributed significantly in training doctors and providing services to the teaming population of Nigerians. Our referrers from the cardiac center are global, most of the time we have them from outside the state, Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt and they all come here for cardiac surgery or intervention.
According to prof. Grace Tayo, adds that Babcock University belongs to a network of About 117 universities and colleges all over the world, so we use that network as an advantage to us.
For example, Nalanda University is solid in the area of Health. We have collaborated with them in sourcing for grants there’s a grant by Nalanda University called the Grasp Award, which is a grant for research and school Partnerships of about $75,000, and now Babcock University researchers have won that award twice.
At Babcock University, Research is a Cornerstone of academic Endeavors, the management has insisted that it is committed to advancing research in various disciplines with particular emphasis on health, and its link with the 7-Day Adventist Church further strengthens the mission and values of Babcock University.
Prof. Barnabas maintains that we develop that concept because we feel as a church, we can make our contribution by harnessing competent Nigerians to come and help us train Nigerians who would not want to go to Europe or America for medical education. So we give them qualitative medical education in this part of the world, so what makes us different number one, we are a faith-based institution, we’re anchored and Excellent, we are training missionary doctors that will go into the community to give competent Compassionate Care to people who are suffering with diseases.
According to prof. Grace the farmers can now make use of some of those plant products instead of using expensive antibiotics or some other premix or additives that they include in the feed, those additives too can have an impact on public health.
The existing framework at the University gives students access to resources and opportunities that enhance their learning experience, some students at the University spoke about their experience on campus.
A student, Pascal Ebereonwu said in my own honest opinion, I’ll find it the availability of the lecturers and staff, this is something you do not find in a lot of universities, you can reach your project supervisor and get an adequate amount of time with them, Converse get projects, I like the seven core values that the Babcock University always preaches, and it always goes in all the activities they propose, I would say when you go through Babcock and let Babcock University go through you as well, and you can’t spend four years and still come out the same.
I can say confidently that I’m a better person than I once was in all regards besides holistically.
According to another student, Emmanuel German, there’s a lot of discipline at Babcock University and regardless of the laws, these laws build and improve us.
It helps in self-improvement and growth, I would recommend it to a friend.
Another student, Freda Etim Fredrik said being a Babcock student, is very different from the average University student because this is a Christian school, an Adventist institution. The rules and regulations, we expected to go to church, and the dress code is quite different from other universities.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate my experience with my lecture, like the teacher-student relationship a 9 over 10.
The current president of the Student Union government at Babcock University, Justice Chibueze, expressed that while serving as the current executive president of the Student Association (SUG) it is unique.
Babcock University has a unique brand, the level at which we do things here in Babcock, is different from other institutions.
There’s this expectation that you have to meet especially, for someone like me serving in an official capacity, I have to attend classes and be present for meetings with the school and other external bodies. As a student, it hasn’t been easy, because the level to which you have to attain here is very high, our A’s grade here starts from 80. SUG president added.
Over the years, Babcock University has grown to be more than just a citadel of learning, it has become a community of Scholars, innovators, and change agents who are dedicated to serving humanity and making positive impacts in the world.
The management of the institution says it’s committed to Excellence, Innovation, and community service so that Babcock University can continue to produce and Shape Leaders of Tomorrow as well as Inspire generations to come.
Credit: TvcNews