Benue State University, Makurdi

Introduction

As a student of Benue State University, Makurdi, you will be exposed to three basic types of courses:

University-based courses (GST and EPS), faculty-based courses (for example MTH 101 in the Faculty of Science) and department/programme-based courses.

All university-based course are core, i.e. they must be registered for and passed before the student can earn a degree of the Benue State University, Makurdi. Furthermore, the level of passing (A to F) is an integral part of the quality of your degree in the same way faculty-based and department/programme-based courses are.

At present the GST load for all departments lies between ten percent (10%) and fifteen percent (15%) of the minimum graduation requirements (144 credit units for a four year degree programme) hence is too significant to be ignored. You are therefore urged to take GST courses seriously.

It is far better to have even a marginal pass (D) than a fail grade of (E) which automatically means Carrying over the course (registering it at the next available opportunity). This increases your burden in later years and reduces your chances of graduating within the minimum specified period with a good quality degree.

The Goal of GST Courses

The target educational goal set by the National Universities Commission, NUC, is to produce a complete individual with a broader vision than his immediate course environment provides.

Together with the introduction of the EPS courses, NUC aims to produce well-rounded, morally and intellectually capable graduates with vision and entrepreneurial skills in an environment of peace and social cohesiveness enabling them to undertake leadership roles in their communities and nationally.

Objectives of this Course

Based on the aim, the GST/EPS courses have the following objectives:

(a) acquisition, development and inculcation of proper value-orientation for the survival of the individual and society;

(b) development of intellectual capacities of individuals to understand, appreciate and promote peaceful co-existence;

(c) production of graduates with broad knowledge of the Nigerian Nation and people with a view to inculcating in them mutual understanding, respect and patriotism;

(d) exposing graduates of Nigerian universities to the rudiments of ICT for computer literacy and ability to live usefully in this ICT age;

(e) acquisition of entrepreneurial skills preparatory to a post university life with opportunities for job creation, and

(f) production of graduates capable of communicating effectively (both oral and written).

ADMINISTRATION OF COURSES

All GST courses are administered through the GST Unit headed by the GST Coordinator as listed in the table below:

List of Staff at the GST Unit with their offices

S/N0	Name of Staff	Staff Position
1	Dr. Bernard Tyubee	Unit Coordinator
2	Dr. Damian Tersoo Anyam	Unit Assistant Coordinator
3	Mr. Barnabas Terfa Hemba	Unit Secretary
4	Mr. Joseph Adoyi	Administrative Officer
5	Mr. Christopher Iornum Achir	Executive Officer
6	Mrs. Sandra Igyese	Assistant Chief Clerical Officer
7	Mr. Michael Iorwundu Gbaaondo	Typist/Computer Operator
8	Mr. Francis Tarhemen Ajijah	Messenger Cleaner
9	Mr. Samuel Terkende Akaamar	Security Personnel

The GST Unit situates at the old Library Complex. It is responsible for the registration of students for all GST courses, arrangement of halls for lectures, tests and examinations, issuance of official GST grades to departments and handling of complaints by students. It is anticipated that with time, the GST Unit shall thrive to oversee the production of standard study materials for all the courses.

Registration.
Every student offering one or more GST course(s) must come to the GST office for endorsement of their registration form subject to the following:

1. presentation of completed academic registration forms with the relevant GST course(s) entered; and
2. presentation of receipt from the Bursary Department or bank for the payment of all school fees including the GST registration fee.

Upon receiving and authenticating these documents, the designated GST staff shall endorse the registration forms. Students not duly registered shall not be allowed to attend lectures or to participate in the student’s evaluation processes of continuous assessments and examinations. Where it is discovered that a student sat for any of these without registration, his grade shall not be released to his Department until he has complied with this provision.

Hall Allocation for Lectures and Examinations
At the beginning and end of every semester, time tables are drawn for lectures and examinations respectively. The time tables specify where each student is expected to receive his lectures or write his examination. It is done for the convenience of everybody especially the students so as to avoid overcrowding. For tests and examinations, it is an offence for a student to sit in any hall other than that specified for his class except this is done with the permission of the supervisor/invigilator. At present all GST lectures are conducted between 7.00 a.m. and 9.00 a.m. in halls allocated based on students’ Departments. The mode of teaching varies with the course. Some courses require different expertise hence may involve the rotation of staff among the halls. For this reason, a student that moves from one hall to another may not get the whole lecture material for his/her programme. Individual courses are administered through Course Coordinators who are responsible for the appointment of course lecturers to handle teaching and produce question papers for continuous assessments and examinations for their courses. The list of current Course Coordinators is given in table below:

List of courses offered by the GST Unit with the names of the course Coordinators

Course Code	Course Title	Credit Units	Course Coordinator
FIRST SEMESTER COURSES
GST 111	Communication in English I	2	Dr. (Mrs) Mary Ogah-Adejoh
GST 113	Nigerian Peoples and Cultures	2	Dr. Chris Orngu
GST 121	Use of Library, Study Skills and ICT	2	Dr.ColumbusUdofot
GST 211	History Philosophy of Science	2	Dr. Benjamin.Anhwange
SECOND SEMESTER COURSES
GST 112	Logic, Philosophy and Human Existence	2	Dr. Oliver Agundu
GST 120	Communication in French	2	Mr. Victor Tarnongo
GST 122	Communication in English II	2	Dr. Nelson Alyebo
GST 222	Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution	2	Dr. Timbee Akuul
Total for First and Second Semester Courses		16

PERSPECTIVES ON NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND CULTURE

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GST Courses in Benue State University

The table below gives the courses offered by the GST Unit and the Directorate of Entrepreneurial Studies of the Benue State University, Makurdi. All the courses are relevant but students are required to register only for the courses prescribed by their departments. In a number of cases some departmental/programme courses are close substitutes for some GST courses for which there is no longer need for the student to offer.

Course codes, titles and units of GST courses available in Benue State University, Makurdi

Course Code	Courses Title	Credit Units
FIRST SEMESTER
GST 111	Communication in English	2
GST 113	Nigerian Peoples and Cultures	2
GST 121	Use of Library, Study Skills and Information & Communications Technology	2
GST 211	History and Philosophy of Science	2
SECOND SEMESTER
GST 112	Logic, Philosophy and Human Existence	2
GST 120	Communication in French	2
GST 122	Communication in English II	2
GST 222	Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution	2
Total for First and Second Semesters		16