Nigerian university partners with IU Kokomo
August 4, 2006
KOKOMO, Ind.—On July 27, Indiana University Kokomo signed a partnership agreement with Babcock University (BU) in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. BU President Kayode Makinde, accompanied by Vice President for Development and Strategy Olukunle Iyanda and Vice President for Finance Luke Onuocha, came to the Kokomo campus to finalize the agreement with IU Kokomo Chancellor Ruth Person.
Accredited as a private university by the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999, BU was founded in 1959 as Adventist College of West Africa. Seventh-Day Adventist Church continues to own and operate the university, which offers degrees in 23 subject areas. BU’s 11 academic departments are organized as three faculties (colleges): Education and Humanities, Management and Social Sciences, and Science and Technology.
Under the partnership, IU Kokomo will initially concentrate on helping BU improve its curricula in public management, nursing, and homeland security.
Robert Dibie, Ph.D., assistant dean of IU Kokomo’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), helped initiate the partnership, after delivering the keynote address at a Babcock University conference in June 2006.
SPEA will lead IU Kokomo’s involvement in the partnership, which could involve faculty and student exchanges, joint research and conferences, and sharing of technical information. Tentative plans have been made for Assistant Professor of Public Affairs Karl Besel, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Political Science Matthew Bradley, Ph.D., to teach in Babcock’s summer school program. Dean of the IU Kokomo School of Nursing Penny Cass, Ph.D., has interest in helping Babcock University to establish a modern nursing program.
BU recently invited Dibie to serve as the editor of its Journal of International Politics and Development.
From left to right, seated, Chancellor Ruth Person, President Kayode Makinde, Olukunle Iyanda, and Luke Onuocha; standing, IU Kokomo deans Niranjan Pati, D. Antonio Cantu, Robert Dibie, and Susan Sciame-Giesecke.
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