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The Department of Mass Communication of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN), held a guest lecture on the importance of educational broadcasting Programmes for level 400 students. The lecture is part of the innovative methods of teaching incorporated by the university to expose students to career-related challenges and opportunities and learn from the experiences of professionals. The course facilitator Dr Haruna Isma’il stated that resource persons always have a first-hand experience with industry-related opportunities and challenges. Such individuals are very vital in motivating students to prepare adequately for future demands. While delivering his lecture, Mr Balarable Danlami said educational Programmes are significant in bridging the increasing knowledge gap that currently exists. He explained that educational Programmes are supported and sponsored by organizations like World Bank, UNICEF, KALMA and State Governments among other stakeholders to facilitate easy learning at basic levels.   Mr Danlami said it is advisable for students pursuing a career in broadcast journalism to prioritize educational broadcasting to speed up the development process in the country. He noted that educational Programmes have a huge career prospect in reference to the development of the tech industry. Some of the key priorities of educational broadcasting he pointed out include duration, sponsors, choice of language, speed of communication and expertise. They serve as the building blocks of effective message delivery, he added. One of the students who attended the lecture, Khadija Isa Gerawa, said she learnt a lot from the experiences shared by Mr Balarabe. She now understands some of the challenges and impact of educational radio Programmes on the development of communities. In his words, Kamal Danladi, also a student of level 400 said it is indeed a rare opportunity for them to be educated by a professional. He hopes to benefit from such lectures in the future.

The management of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) received the second batch of the National Universities Commission (NUC) team for its ongoing resource verification for post-graduate Programmes. This is in line with the institution’s plan to expand in providing quality education services.  Prof Ajith Kumar V.V., the Vice-Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria said that commencing post-graduate Programmes is indeed a great milestone every university wishes to attain during its lifetime. He applauded the NUC team for supporting SUN in its journey to realizing its vision.  On his part, Prof Sule Magaji, a professor of Economics from the University of Abuja and the team lead of the resource verification, thanked SUN for its hospitality and kind gestures. He then congratulated the Vice-chancellor for taking the university to greater heights, especially in the aspect of bridging the existing digital divide as the world develops rapidly.  The NUC team toured the university campus while verifying the available resources like lecture halls, conference rooms, laboratories, the library, and e-resources among other facilities. The team assessed the resources available for Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (P.hD.) courses in Economics, Forensic Accounting, Microbiology, Entrepreneurship, etc. 

His Excellency, Mr Mas’udur Rahaman, the Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nigeria, visited Skyline University Nigeria campus in Kano to deliver a lecture at a symposium organized by the International Relation of the university today. Delivering the welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria, Prof. Ajith Kuma, V.V. said the university is honoured to learn from the expertise of a high-level diplomat like Mr Masudur Rahaman. He added that not all the time do students get access to such rare privileges of meeting with influential people within their chosen career paths. On his part, H.E. Masudur stated that he is intensely fascinated by the services provided by the prestigious institution. Having served as a diplomat in Sharjah, UAE, he recounts that SUN has been doing a wonderful job in providing good quality higher education. His lecture titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Multi-Polar World: Experiences of Developing Countries’ delved deeply into global geopolitics in today’s rapidly changing technology-driven world. He admitted that technology is opening up more opportunities for developed and developing countries to manipulate technology for their benefit, explaining that technology is no more within the confinement or copyright of the world’s strongest nations like the USA and Canada today. He added that current global trends are multidisciplinary so there is an increasing demand for multifaceted approaches to solving challenges, which indicates a curriculum revamp in the Higher Education sphere. With so much experience from Bahrain, Russia, UAE and China among others, he stated that Nigeria’s diversity is the strength that would support its trajectory to more prosperity.   Mr. Farid Illo the Head of the Department of International Relations at SUN said the symposium was carefully curated to expose the students to recent developments that are necessary for their career development. In the words of Hafsa Dahiru, one of the participants, I learnt alot about global political economy and how Nigeria can adopt ways for development similar to Bangladesh’.  The Vice-chancellor finally expressed his profound gratitude to the embassy of Bangladesh in Nigeria for accepting the invitation to visit Skyline University Nigeria. He thanked the High Commissioner for his availability to share his thoughts with the students of SUN on contemporary global issues.

Not all learning processes facilitate the exchange of information between a learner and a tutor. The importance of the interaction between both of them is that it eases every process of imparting knowledge, especially in schools and most importantly in higher education institutions. In adverse cases, the overall essence of knowledge sharing and learning is often defeated when it is devoid of this interchange. This is why projects are highly prioritized in higher education teaching and learning.   Learning is forever an endless circle. New things and ideas continuously emerge as the world progresses by the day. By building on existing knowledge, new ideas create ways by which others can evolve to support the loop. Whether old or new, projects play an important role in scholarship – it unveils the skills of students.   One important thing that project-based learning does is that it allows students to discover new knowledge and alternative ways of solving their academic and future challenges – critical thinking. Without carrying out these projects, students might be unable to explore new ways of carrying out activities or problems associated with their career choices and how they can swiftly navigate them.  Project-based learning provides additional skills for students such as leadership, collaboration and networking. Through group projects, leadership skills can be inculcated whenever students are tasked with the responsibility of coordinating with their peers to produce the best quality resources. This particular task has supported the career of many people in Nigeria and beyond, by excelling in leadership thereby paving the way for development.  When given individual tasks, students take charge of their affairs and are always keen to accomplish their tasks. Again, public speaking skills and deficiencies are usually uncovered when students are given individual tasks, projects or presentations. In contrast, students that are not confident tend to lose focus and are vulnerable to anxiety and its effects. Others who are confident readily grab such opportunities to display their skills and talent and excel with relative ease.  The needed effective participation of students is gotten from a project-based approach to learning. Some students are timid whenever they are engaged in class projects. This set of students is comfortable with average or low performances. So when projects are given to students, they tend to bring this set of laggards on board. It significantly increases student engagement and improves their understanding. Ultimately, it develops the curiosity of students to yearn for more ideas. For higher education lecturers, project-based learning offers an amazing opportunity for feedback. The result of the interaction that happens during and after projects is very helpful for improving teaching and learning methods. This learning process can be efficient in enabling a seamless higher education experience for youths.

Often, acquiring a college degree or any other related certification isn’t just enough to land you your dream job. More recently, it is becoming increasingly difficult for graduates and students to lay their hands on highly competitive opportunities. For youths aspiring to pursue careers, these persistent realities are major setbacks; for creative others, they see limitless opportunities. Internships offer prospects for graduates and students to advance their careers by exploring a variety of technicalities within workspaces. Hence, engaging with professionals effectively supports their career choices and experiences and is necessary for personal and professional growth. It enables them to apply the knowledge gained in classrooms practically. Here, they get to experiment with their strengths, weaknesses and areas they need to improve. There have been massive layoffs by many reputable companies globally as the swift development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to transform public engagements, especially in job delivery. Regrettably, more of these layoffs are on the way. But with internships, students and graduates can explore other viable areas they can harness and develop their skills along those paths. Without gaining this experience, it will be challenging to function effectively in a work environment or get a job.   Worldwide, soft skills such as leadership, organization, time management, teamwork and problem-solving are desperately needed by employers, organizations or companies, to meet current product and service delivery demands. They easily help in securing a job when coupled with classroom knowledge. Acquiring these experiences places you rightly ahead of your colleagues in terms of job seeking and class performance. Internships are very vital in career development because of their countless benefits. There is a wide array of internship opportunities in different disciplines such as Health Sciences, Management, Law, and Communication among others. Interns get to learn basic ethics needed in any workplace that is not just within the bounds of their discipline. Ethics are essential to building trust within your career path and potentially qualify you for more similar and attractive opportunities.  Interns stand to test their knowledge, connect with a network of professionals, get introduced to workspace dynamics, determine areas of interest and ultimately encourage you to carve an appropriate niche. These are just the tip of the iceberg. The intention behind an internship experience is to develop your career as a student so that you would define your suitability and readiness for a similar position after graduation. For graduates, it equips them with the right skills to search for the right job and effortlessly discover it.

Students of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) have participated and won 1st and 2nd Runner-Up positions in the pitching competition organized by TiE University MENA Regional Pitch Competition 2023 running in its fifth year in the Middle East. All the regional finalists of the competition made their way through over 150 applications and over 30 jury members for the regional face-off. The competition was open to both graduate and undergraduate university students of the respective regions. Representing 16 different universities, 26 teams have ideas spread across 13 industries and competed in three different categories to have three regional winners -Emirati, MEA and GCC/UAE. After a rigorous selection of the best ideas from over 150 applications from across the regions, 8 teams made it to the shortlist categories for the regional-level competition final round. Out of the 8 shortlisted teams, 4 teams were from Skyline University Nigeria, 2 from Lagos State University, 1 from the University of Ibadan and 1from the Federal University of Technology. The pitch – UniversityX from Lagos State University emerged victorious and won first prize and is eligible to participate in the TiE Global finals. The Plastic Company – Recymade team emerged as the first runner-up while Care-Home Plus emerged as the second runner-up, both teams are from Skyline University Nigeria. All three finalists will fly to pitch for the global finals in May 2023 at Silicon Valley, in the USA. This year’s Programme for the first time ran an emerging entrepreneur category with a regional championship for the region of Middle East and African student entrepreneurs. Thus, SUN students were opportune to participate. The Tie Programme offers rare opportunities for future-generation entrepreneurs as students to bring forth their entrepreneurship ideas to global discourse. It is an exciting platform that allows students to present feasible ideas for business ventures. It actively supports youth development and innovation through this initiative. The President Emeritus of TiE Dubai Mr P K Gulati and Pro-Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria, Mr Nitin Anand said the idea of including universities in other countries apart from UAE to participate in the competition was a huge success. They are thrilled about the engagement of teams from Nigeria, Kenya and a few other African countries. The winner and all other participants were encouraged to continue exuding the courage and confidence they showed throughout the Programme for their future endeavours.  

To acquaint academic staff with information on how to easily publish their research and papers in globally acknowledged journals around the world, Skyline University Nigeria organized a one-day workshop titled “Getting Published; From Start to Finish”. The session was facilitated by Dr Surajo Kamilu Sulaiman, a senior lecturer from the Department of Physiotherapy, Bayero University Kano. In his opening remark, Dr Isa Usman Lawal the Dean of the School of Basic Medical Science (SBMS) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy at Skyline University Nigeria said, he was pleased that the resource person was able to accept the invitation to facilitate the workshop within the short period of notice. He also noted that the session is quite imperative for staff to excel in their respective careers and contribute effectively to global discussions. In his words, Dr Surajo thanked the management of Skyline University Nigeria for providing him with the opportunity to deliver a lecture in the prestigious institution. He reiterated the importance of publications in today’s rapidly changing world and how academics have a big role to play in global development. Dr Surajo highlighted that Africa as a whole contributes less than 1% to global publications with Sub-Saharan Africa being the lowest. Although Nigeria is among the countries that contribute the most from West Africa, the level of publication from the continent is relatively low, especially because of the immense growth rates that have been recorded by active journals and newly created journals in the world. The session took the participants through the rigorous nine processes of getting an article published especially for global visibility and impact. The facilitator also enumerated the cycle of publication which is significant in supporting innovations and ideas to be continuously disseminated. Finally, Dr A. Senthil Kumar, the Dean of the School of Science and Information Technology (SSIT) presented the facilitator with a certificate and award of recognition on behalf of the management of SUN, for ably facilitating the workshop that would be beneficial for the institution and Nigeria as a whole. In attendance, were Deans, HODs and academic staff from different departments of SUN.

Starting university or resuming school after a holiday is always tricky. Both statuses require calculated efforts to adapt to the higher education learning environment. For new students, the new concepts and ideas that the university teaches need a lot of time to understand and a lot of preparation while for returning students, going back to school requires a lot of psychological revamping. Anxiety, stress and fear overwhelm new students such that they simply resort to reading when necessary -for informed tests and general examinations. This usually takes a toll on them as they tend to face low grades in their first academic year. It equally affects their overall grades that’ll as they dictate the outcome.  These experiences faced by newbies are slightly different from that of returning students except for exceptional cases where students are battling with low grades. But, these sets are also confronted with problems of trying to remember most of the things they were previously taught. This is a relearning process.  Because of the demands of the higher education system to foster knowledge production, reading has to be done not exclusively for passing tests and examinations but to inculcate and nurture productivity in the creation of new ideas. Hence, this is why students are always encouraged to read and understand the basics of their discipline or career path. Essentially, practicing productive reading requires engaging yourself in the world of information about your subject area. As a student, you’d find it very interesting to have a deeper understanding of the ideas communicated such that the qualification you receive at the end of your stay, is earned and worth your effort. For students and all reading enthusiasts, wander in the world of writers and researchers. Reading is beyond a short-term goal, it’s a lifetime investment. It aids your creativity and unlocks the doors of limitless opportunities – getting a dream job or a life-changing opportunity. 

The management of Skyline University Nigeria organized a one-day orientation exercise for new students that have been admitted during the spring intake, 2022-2023AY. The process is to acquaint students with the necessary guidelines and policies that would support their fruitful stay at the university. Welcoming the students, the Vice-Chancellor of Skyline University Nigeria alongside the Registrar, Deans of Departments, HODs and other heads of Student Support Services charged the new students on how they can harness the richly endowed institution to become successful. In his remarks, Prof. Ajith Kumar V.V. explained the orientation exercise as an important tool to guide the students as they step into another phase of learning in their lives. His presentation navigated around the history of Skyline University Sharjah which led to the birth of Skyline University Nigeria. He congratulated the students for choosing Skyline University Nigeria to study their respective career choices. In his kind words to the students, “Your parents have invested so much in you. Make it worthy”. He then encouraged the new students to maximize the enormous opportunities made available by the university so that they can able to give back to their communities after gaining knowledge and developing their characters. Prof. Ajith also indulged students in time management as it is essentially significant for their careers and beyond. He said, “College life is the best life you can have with thousands of opportunities to network, participate in competitions and cull leadership skills needed in this century”. Speaking during the exercise, the Registrar of SUN Mr Haruna Aliyu presented the several academic and administrative services available in the university. He encouraged students to attend lectures to ensure their eligibility for exams as only 75% of attendance qualifies students and the importance of the institution’s Learning Management System |(LMS). Mr Aliyu charged students to abide by the school policies on acts such as drug abuse and the use of mobile phones during lectures. In their various remarks, the Deans and HODs encouraged students to make themselves a part of the institution’s process. Skills, values and knowledge are the core principles that dominated their presentations. They advised students to be good ambassadors of SUN and be part of extra-curricular learning processes. As part of the orientation process, representatives of the management of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the Library, the School of Continuing Learning (CCL), and Corporate Affairs, the Chief Security Officers (CSO) made engaging conversations on policies that can guide can students’ stay on SUN campus. The students were captivated by the experiences shared by the current Student’s Representative Council’s president, Haruna Baffa. Then, they proceeded to collect books and campus tour around the vibrant environment of SUN campus.

University life ushers youths into a new world of endless opportunities, thoughts and a myriad of ideas. University education and learning are advanced and an upgrade from secondary education. Unlike secondary or high schools that are preparing grounds for future challenges, the tertiary system focuses on knowledge production through research and creative learning. Exposure to these new ideas and thoughts or scholarship demands careful crafts of effective studying and learning. This is one of the biggest challenges faced by newbies in the system. Keeping pace with new styles of learning makes it intensely for a large number of students to get good grades in their first year of study. Apart from consistent attendance in class, styles of studying play the most role in enabling students to have positive results. There is always a depth attached to new knowledge imparted to the students in the university and the same depth, is required from them during tests, class presentations and examinations. Some important basic skills that come in handy for starters include research, communication and thinking skills. The reason why these are essential is to allow newbies to have a solid foundation in whatever discipline or career path they have chosen. With a firm footing, it will be easy for students to navigate around the academic system with minimum difficulty. For research skills, students are preferably expected to search for additional information by finding the information, reading books, taking and making notes and sorting information. Thinking skills creatively complement research as it tests understanding, memory skills and how fast you can process information to come up with your own similar thoughts – processing information is also known as critical thinking skills. Communication skills are very vital. After rigorous research, readings and understanding aided by critical thinking, next is to communicate the new knowledge in either written or oral form. Students who master the art of connecting ideas and communicating them in written formats are likely to excel in their examinations. When coupled with the ability to make excellent presentations in class, their results are awesome. All these if harnessed can collectively and effectively guide learning for students in higher education institutes, with exciting and memorable experiences.