This archive report was first published on 31 July 2019.
On June 21, JKUAT held its 33rd graduation ceremony, awarding 118 PhDs. However, a probe by the Commission for University Education (CUE) has uncovered irregularities in the process.
According to CUE's report, tabled before Education CS George Magoha, the university failed to monitor students' progress during PhD training. This led to 58 students, or 65% of the 89 College of Human Resource Development PhD graduates, being trained in satellite campuses without qualified academic staff.
As CUE's report states, 'There was non-adherence to the guidelines with respect to; supervision load and duration of research component of PhD programme.' Furthermore, 'There was no evidence of meetings between supervisors and supervisees as no record of such meetings was availed.'
The JKUAT Board of Examiners, responsible for considering the oral presentations of PhD graduates, had only four members instead of the required six. CUE's report also highlights that most examination reports submitted were not comprehensive enough to improve the quality of the students' work.
Moreover, the Board of Examiners' reports for the oral examination identified fundamental weaknesses in the theses, yet they went ahead to give a verdict not consistent with the findings. CUE's report also reveals that most students published in journals hosted by AJPO Journals, in which a number of academic staff of CoHRED had an interest.
Out of the 118 PhD graduates, 112 had been approved by Senate and their names appeared in the Graduation Booklet. CUE has ordered JKUAT to present evidence of the students' publication of two articles in referred journals for each PhD awarded.
JKUAT Senate has been given three months to review all the PhDs awarded during the 33rd Graduation ceremony. CUE has threatened to recall all non-conformed PhDs until the set graduation requirement is fulfilled. The commission has also ordered JKUAT to review all PhDs awarded in the past graduations.
Records show that JKUAT awarded 327 PhD degrees and 2,101 master's degrees during the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd graduation ceremonies held in June 2018, November 2018, and June 2019.
