A delegation of staff from Wollega University in Ethiopia paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor Makerere University on Friday 10th November 2017 to share experiences and learn from the good practices at Makerere University.

Led by the Vice President Dr. Dunkana Negussa, the team said they were in Makerere University to learn from the experiences of a long standing, highly regarded University on the African continent.

Dr. Dunkana Negussa said Wollega University is a young institution that has been in existence for only ten years but with high dreams and aspirations and that Makerere University was one such institution to learn from as one of the oldest and academically stable institution with high ranking in the region.

While receiving the delegation on behalf of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Barbanas Nawangwe, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs, Dr. Ernest Okello Ogwang commended the management of Wollega University for choosing to come to Makerere University to share ideas and experiences.

He said Makerere University is indeed a leader in the academic area in Africa and that this can be confirmed from the great leaders in Africa who went through the gates of Makerere University, citing the examples of Kenneth Kaunda, Mwai Kibaki and others.

Dr. Okello Ogwang welcomed the move by Wollega University to come and study how Makerere University operates but expressed disappointment over the lack of interest in the arts and humanities area. He observed that although the interest from the visiting team was in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), language and humanities in general are equally important as a mode of instruction used in STEM.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs advised the team to identify key persons with whom to initiate relations in the specific areas of interest in the respective units and that the formalization of the relations in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding would follow in due course to further strengthen the relationship between the two Universities.

The Visiting team expressed interest to learn from the operations in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES), College of Education and External Studies (CEES), Directorate of Research and Graduate Training (DRGT) among others.

Other members on the visiting team included Dr. Temesgen Garoma, the Administrative Vice President, Dr. Negash Gelata, Business and Development Vice President, Dr. Hirpa Legesse, Research and Technology Transfer Vice President, Dr. Tifhseit Salomon, Community Engagement and University Industry Linkage Vice President.

Article by:  Ms Harriet Musinguzi, Communication Officer, School of Law