AUN joins UN’s Global Priorities Group

AUN joins UN’s Global Priorities Group




THE American University of Nigeria (AUN) has joined nearly1,000 colleges and universities in the United Nations Academic Impact, UNAI, a global initiative made up of academic institutions that focus on global priorities such as peace, human rights and sustainable development.
AUN’s enrollment was announced Apri 6 via a UNAI email attached with a certificate of affiliation, signed by Arthur Georges and sent to Professor Margee Ensign, President of AUN.

Congratulating Prof. Ensign, the email read: “You join nearly 1,000 colleges and universities in some 120 countries who are working with the UN to promote these global priorities.

AmericanUniversityNigeria“As a member, AUN is expected to carry out at least one activity in support of the UNAI and its 10 principles during a calendar year. The membership entitles it to airing of all UNAI-related activities in the organization’s newsletter and on the website https://academicimpact.un.org/ . AUN is also authorized to use the UNAI logo in all its promotional materials.”

Membership of UNAI, it was learnt, is open to all institutions of higher learning granting degrees or their equivalent, “as well as bodies whose substantive responsibilities relate to the conduct of research.”

Although AUN has been involved in peace-building in North-East Nigeria since 2012, “the Boko Haram attacks on civilians have produced a massive wave of refugees, about 400,000, almost doubling the normal population of Yola,  home of AUN,” according to a release signed by Mr. Daniel Okereke, AUN’s Executive Director, Communications and Public Relations.

The Varsity, in partnership with the Adamawa Peace Initiative, API, has in the last few months, raised funds by appealing to philanthropists both in Nigeria and internationally, to feed displaced  persons camping in various locations throughout Yola. Many are being housed by AUN staff in their  homes.

“On April 1, Ensign addressed 345 AUN staff members hosting more than 550 displaced persons. The occasion was AUN’s monthly food distribution to these employees as part of its effort to maintain peace in Adamawa State.

She thanked the employees for their generosity in keeping displaced people and providing them with food, shelter, water, and most importantly, with hope. “What you have done is an amazing act of generosity and as the President of your university, I could not be prouder of what you have done for the last year to take care of desperate, hungry people who are in great need,” she said.

In another development, AUN has received approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to offer PhD and Master’s courses in Information Systems and Computer Science beginning in the 2015/16 academic session. This will be the Varsity’s second PhD programme. Last October, it  received approval to offer PhD and Master’s courses in Business Administration from NUC.

The approval followed the acceptance by NUC’s Management Committee of the Resource Evaluation reports turned in by a panel of experts which visited the university earlier in the year and attested to the institution’s preparedness to run these graduate programmes.

Boasting advanced technological infrastructure and digital content delivery in all taught subjects, AUN has been fully accredited by the NUC since 2003. Accredited programmes are Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Management & Entrepreneurship, Marketing, English Language & Literature, Telecommunication & Wireless Technology, Information System, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Economics, International & Comparative Politics, and Mass Communications (Communication & Multimedia, Advertising, Print Journalism, Television/Film, Multimedia Design.)

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