General
CAES’ New Students Advised to Work Hard and Guard Against Hooliganism
The Principal, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Makerere University on Wednesday, 8th August 2018 advised the new students admitted under the college to work hard so that they can be retained as academics.
“We all worked hard to attain these positions; you also need to work hard such that you can remain with us, but all this calls for no retake“ he said.
The Principal was speaking during the orientation of new students admitted to study under the college in its different departments and schools. Held in the Biology Laboratory, the college-based orientation was attended by over 600 undergraduate students.
Members of staff including management and administrative staff addressed students on number aspects including academics, discipline, security, financial management, health among others.
Every academic year, first year students are oriented first at the university level and then at college and departmental levels on university policies, general conduct as well as dos and don’ts of the university.
Speaker after speaker welcomed students to CAES describing it as the best science college in the university which they should be proud of.
“It is one of the best, largest and most diverse colleges because it offers the largest number of disciplines. Our strength is in diverse areas like soil science, agronomy, crop science, agricultural economics, extension and innovation, food science and nutrition, and agricultural engineering among others,“ explained the Principal Bernard Bashaasha.
During the orientation the students were informed about the university processes, requirements and rules for registration as a key requirement for recognition in the university, fees payment, library access, pass marks and penalties for non compliance with the academic conduct which includes suspension and dismissal from the university.
The 2018/2019 first year students were also cautioned against anti-social behavior including theft, drunkenness, fighting, exchange of sex for marks, involvement in strikes, disrespect of fellow students based on background, forging documents and bad company saying this tarnishes the image of the university.
The students were also advised to desist from changing courses without expert advice, follow the right channels in addressing their problems, always read notice boards, be mature and responsible, be innovative, and have the self drive to read on their own.
Prof. Bashaasha in his submission re-echoed the fact that the university is facing competition from other private Universities. He nevertheless challenged the students not to fear the competition but work towards beating it and retaining the position of Makerere as number one in Africa.
He however advised them to always focus on what brought them to the university and utilize the available student leadership and other available resources like the bio-technology lab, food technology and business incubation centre, animal science and forestry among others.
On a special note, Bashaasha advised the students to always visit the available worship centers and meet with the religious leaders for special counselling if the university has not solved their problems and advised them to avoid getting into trouble by avoiding places like nightclubs and bars or else retakes awaited them. He also called upon the students especially the girls to dress appropriately in respect of themselves, the staff and fellow students.
Bashaasha advised the freshers to always take part in the inter-hall and inter-university games in addition to academics so as to refresh their minds and perform better.
The college, he said, has got nine centres which they must utilize well in order to make the most of their stay at the university. These include the; Continuing Agricultural Education Centre (CAEC), Centre of Excellence in Waste Management, Centre for Climate Change Research and Innovation (MUCCRI), Food Technology and Business Incubation Centre (FTBIC), Regional Centre for Crop Improvement (MaRCCI), Agricultural Resources Research Centre among others.
The Team leader Finance Mrs. Baguma congratulated the female students upon having been admitted in a science-based college CAES on merit given the fact that many female students drop out of school.
“For the years I have spent in Makerere, it is my first time to see a female College President. In the past women were considered to always be lagging behind but for you, you are special. Don’t lead to the downfall of CAES. You should be knowledgeable about the university policies and don’t be misguided as far as finance issues are concerned.
Don’t lead yourself to actions that will put you in trouble. Don’t think you will fall in love with lecturers to award you marks but work hard to progress in your careers” she advised.
The college registrar Mr. Edward Obura advised the students who applied for tuition loans not to be overly dependent on them if they are to meet the university’s fees payment deadlines.
“There is limited stock for loans, but since you are required to pay 60% of the tuition you must try outside the box such that you can get registered on time“ he said.
The college custodian Mr. Isaac Obuli Egesa advised the freshers to take advantage of his office so as to ensure safe custody of their property.
“I oversee opening and closing times of this college and look out for those who might be moving with harmful gadgets. I will not allow them, since am the shock absorber for all the staff and students in the college”.
He added, “We are an environmental college, irresponsible littering will not be allowed because we have to leave by the name of our college, “he said.
Story compiled by;
Agnes Nankebe Nantambi,
Intern, Communication Office, CAES
By: Moses Lutaaya
The Directorate of Graduate Training is rolling out the Research Management Information systems (RIMS) to efficiently and effectively monitor the academic progress of all graduate students.
“RIMS will be used to track efficiently every stage of activity of graduate studies from course works, research concept to thesis completion.” The Director of Graduate Training, Prof. Julius Kikooma said.
He added, “The RIMS team is here to share developments on the system that are designed to support the agenda of Makerere university. When graduate students enter a given chapter of their research works, their supervisors will automatically receive mail prompts to swiftly handle, give comments and guide the students on the way forward.”
During the roll out training recently at the College of Health Sciences in Mulago, Prof. Kikooma said, “The Directorate of Graduate Training is working in collaboration with Directorate of Innovation, Research and Partnerships (DIRP) and the Directorate of Information Communication and Technology Support (DICTS) to ensure a smooth training to all the schools and colleges. Digitalising the graduate management process is anticipated to increase the number of graduate admissions and completion in the long run.”
“As the three directorates, we sat and reviewed the university graduate strategy and policies around it. We got reviewed policies and procedures approved by the University Senate last year. We no longer have provisional admission letter requirement for our PhD students. It is now full admission straight away and we follow a cohort system of admission for the PhD by research students.” He added.
RIMS is a version of how the Directorate of Graduate Training aims to handle the process of systematic tracking of every point of progress in the entire academic journey of graduate students.
The Directorate of Graduate Training has so far conducted the RIMS training at three Colleges namely; College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Business and Management Sciences (COBAMS) and College of Natural Sciences (CONAS).
The critical stakeholders on the RIMS value chain include Heads of Departments, College Principals and Deputy Principals, Directors, School Deans, Supervisors as well as Graduate coordinators. “All the above are key actors and must be able to use RIMS in the graduate process, capturing all profiles of students and supervisors and should be able to use it appropriately.” He emphasized.
He said that RIMS will bring all stakeholders on the same page and will be able to adequately troubleshoot any hinderance to progress when course works are done, to dissertation and thesis completion. Makerere university target is to increase its graduate students’ enrollment from 19% to at least 30% in the next five years.
Prof. Bruce James Kirenga, Principal College of Health Sciences welcomed RIMS training saying that this kind of E- learning and supervision tracking is the way to handle graduate studies as it seems to reduce the turn around time for student- supervisor responses.
“Every activity in the graduate students learning journey is monitored swiftly. Whatever the students upload on to the system, supervisors get message pop-ups on their mails, review the works immediately and attach comments for the students to appreciate and manage appropriately.” He said.
Prof. Kirenga added that the audit trail created under RIMS will provide good progressive academic reports and improve the journey to Doctoral studies.
“Heads of Departments are able to see all students in the department, any pending system approvals, observe completion rates and total progressive over view of each student and that the total overview of department performance will be clearly seen under RIMS.” He added.
Dr. Robert Kalyesubula – the Chair. Dept of Physiology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences said RIMS will improve the efficiency of supervisors while handling the graduate students.
“RIMS views all documents and proposals of students. We will be able to observe which supervisor takes long to respond, the number of days they have taken to respond and how long an issue has pended undone at a certain level.”
The Ambassador of Israel in Nairobi accredited to Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania and the Seychelles, H.E. Michael Lotem on 11th June 2025 made a farewell visit to Makerere University as his tour draws to a close. He was accompanied by his Deputy Ambassador, H.E. Ariel Arviv and received by the Chairperson of Council, Mrs. Lorna Magara and the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Winston Tumps Ireeta. Also present in the meeting were the Deputy Principal College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Assoc. Prof. Kizito Maria and the Dean Margaret Trowel School of Industrial and Fine Art (MTSIFA), Assoc. Prof. Amanda Tumusiime.
Mrs. Lorna Magara in her welcome remarks informed the Ambassador that Makerere is translating into a research-led University, with innovation hubs taking root. “Just last week we signed into operation an organization fully owned by the University called the Makerere University Technology and Innovation Centre.
“What that is going to do is coordinate all the innovations in the units as well as knowledge transfer, startups, and linkages with industry and Government” Mrs. Magara explained. “What we are seeking to do is commercialize research, to foster startups, incubation centres, but also knowledge transfer” she added.
Mrs. Magara noted that this aspiration feeds directly into the Government’s drive to promote Science, Technology and Innovation. “For a very long time Makerere has just been a knowledge hub; you have all these PhDs but knowledge that does not translate into industry,” she clarified.
Explaining how the component of intellectual property (IP) is addressed, the Acting Vice Chancellor, informed Ambassador Lotem that the University has in place an Intellectual Property Management Office (IPMO) headed by a Manager as well as a Deputy Director in Charge of Research, Innovation and Partnerships. The IPMO, he added, is tasked with registering all the IP that arises from staff and student research.
“We have an Intellectual Property Management Policy that stipulates how intellectual property created by staff and students is owned, managed, and used,” explained Prof. Ireeta. The Makerere policy stipulates that the University shall keep 60% of the net revenue coming out of the commercialization of IP with 40% going to the researcher/ research team.
Prof. Ireeta further shared that innovations currently undergoing IP registration are from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and the CEDAT. He reiterated the University’s commitment to establishing the Makerere University Technology and Innovation Centre to coordinate all innovation IP management efforts. “We want to have the University at the fore of registering all IP with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) as opposed to individual researchers as it was in the past.”
On the question of venture capital/funding, Mrs. Magara explained that although individual researchers have been winning grants to fund their projects, Government’s annual allocation of UGX 30 billion through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF) has gone a long way to boost research and innovations.
Using Israel’s thriving agricultural innovations in the desert as an example, Ambassador Lotem noted that to maximize output and profitability, innovation ought to simultaneously work on both ends of the equation i.e. adapting plants to grow in challenging climates while devising appropriate technology to supply much-needed nutrients.
Picking up on Mrs. Magara’s statement that the College of Health Sciences (CHS) conducts a great deal of Makerere’s research in the areas of Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, Ambassador Lotem said he would be happy to link Makerere researchers to ongoing collaborative efforts between Israeli companies and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), especially in Malaria.
“To give you an idea about what innovations we are talking about, we have one company that developed a technology/protocol to sterilize mosquitoes and it is environmentally friendly because they sterilize only one generation, and they are looking to do a pilot” he noted.
“We have another Israeli company that does a big pilot with biological nets” Ambassador Lotem shared before adding, “a third uses drones to identify the habitats of mosquitoes. These kind of things can be done here and we know how to bring others.”
Other examples of Israeli companies shared by Ambassador Lotem that are seeking to conduct pilot studies include one that developed a special type of shrimp that eats snails that host bilharzia causing parasitic worms. The other is a biological material that when put in contaminated water kills the germs and reduces turbidity.
Chipping in on the discussion, Ambassador Arviv said, “on our side we know that there are a lot of opportunities and a lot of projects that have already began and we want to see how we can help them.”
Earlier, Assoc. Prof. Kizito Maria had informed the meeting that his tenure as Dean MTSIFA played witness to a number of academic exchanges and workshops with Bezalel Academy Jerusalem and Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, facilitated by CoCuDi Center and The African Studies Gallery. However, he added that these collaborations were never formalized by signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
In response, Ambassador Arviv reassured, “We will find the contacts to understand the specific needs; if its students exchange, etc. and then they will work on a Memorandum of Understanding as a basic” she stated, adding “I think we can take it from there.”
The visit concluded with presentation of Makerere University Souvenirs by Mrs. Lorna Magara to Ambassadors Michael Lotem and Ariel Arviv in her office.
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