Over 100 MBA & MA Daystar University students locked out of this year’s graduation are sighting irregularities at the University’s Research Bureau delaying students to clear the dissertation on time.
The students argue that the flawed system and some staff are behind the massive number of students who have been deleted from the graduation list at the last minute with zero communication for the graduation scheduled to take place this Saturday, July 1st July 2017.
“We have been submitted the bound thesis which are signed off by all relevant parties but the university has declined to our plea,” said the group. TechMoran has sent out an email to Daystar University to get more details.
According to the group, the irregularities include; supplementary fees besides normal school fees to Editors for students to be cleared sitting at Kshs 20,000/ which was never communicated at the commencement of the course. This fees is paid directly to the Editors and not the school yet the Research Head at the Research Bureau complains about substandard thesis drafts from supervisors. The set deadlines are released were released on email to a few on 21st June while the deadline was to be 23rd June with the graduation on 1st July 2017. This is impossible to meet since the University insists on one binding bureau maybe a way for the university to raise money. The supervision process is unbearable torture that has rendered majority of the students to drop out.
The group adds that the University’s Research Bureau lacks capacity and has only one professor assigned to read and approve over 200 theses from graduating students. The professor has been cited complaining of fatigue until she herself was unable to review the said documents within the required timelines by the University senate. How does such a big gap pass the Commission of University Education?
The students are calling for detailed audit and investigations by Commission of University Education as its detrimental to an institution of higher learning expected to produce future leaders in this Country. No wonder the job market has lurking professionals.
The students adds that despite several appeals and talking to the different University authorities, the VC Timothy Wachira has refused to hear them citing that the university is looking for a list to graduate in December.
All the powers in this university, lie with the VC yet he does not deal directly with the students. Some of the senior staff say ‘He is a semi god and that’s why students admission in Daystar has drastically reduced and those who are finishing are either pulling out before completion or extremely frustrated,” “It is his way or the highway the students” told TechMoran citing anonymity.
The student added that Daystar being a Christian non for profit organization and the most expensive private university in the country and once the most prestigious has been running continuous ads across the media to restore its lost glory and attract more students. Something it never had to do before.
“When the appeal results were released, some of the students were approved and some were discriminated without proper explanation. Infact, the VC refused to see us and refused to sign off the appeals made by the different deans of faculties. A VC who fails to understand the stakeholders has no reason being a VC,” said another student in the group. “The VC has made it clear that he is NOT going to talk to any students about graduation.”
After spending all the years at the institution, the students are wondering why the university is unwilling to see them graduate and join the job market yet the University stands to gain or lose nothing. Could it be a way of getting numbers for December graduation?
The students have sacrificed a lot not to mention the financial burden we put on our families to attain this degree by even offsetting family properties or taking bank loans to facilitate the hefty school fees bill. How will these students give positive recommendations after such torture?
Some of the students had already booked after graduation party venues with deposits and invited family and friends from around the Country & across East Africa. Who will reimburse this?
