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RUFORUM Triennial Thought Pieces: ISSUE 15 – Prof. Luke E. Mumba

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Transformational Institutional Leadership in Higher Agricultural Education

Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) play a key role in shaping the present and the future; transforming minds and processes, and nurturing talent. Hence the quality and direction of leadership in these higher educational institutions is of paramount importance. Transformational leadership is a value-based approach where a leader is expected to be visionary, an inspiration, a role model, and an intellectual stimulant. This kind of leadership, which goes back to 1978 when it was framed, places a lot of value on individualized consideration. Given the diversity of staff (academic and non-academic), transformational leadership in Higher Education Institutions requires good chemistry in order to achieve successful operational and strategic results.

Transformational leadership has to be supported by various institutional policies which should guide staff in their various offices and positions. For example, having in place and spear heading the teaching and learning policy, sexual harassment policy, Quality Assurance framework, communication policy and consultancy policy, among others, are some of the key attributes.

There is no leadership without willing followers. Willing followers are those who have embraced and bought into the vision of the institution and the leader. If we as Vice Chancellors take the path of leadership without followers, our term in office will have just been a walk alone.

Strategic partnerships

A leader needs to be a problem solver, with networks in Government, in Industry, with Alumni and internationally which when brought to bear, help to resolve the challenges the institution is faced with while building the synergies that the University requires. This is where partnerships are important. As a University (University of Zambia), we have a dedicated strategic direction on fostering community outreach and beneficial partnerships and have created over 300 strategic partners who in the case of the School of Agricultural Sciences include both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and indeed many other agro companies.

Organizational politics

For the public universities, we face political influence in University Governance. But I believe from a leadership perspective that we will successfully deal with this challenge by starting from having an Institutional vision which must be shared with internal and external stakeholders. The vision must include how the people aspects will be addressed knowing fully well that the success of the vision depends on human capital implementing the different strategic initiatives in the university. This vision must also include how the University will build research capacity and foster partnerships, address knowledge generation challenges and foster skills development.

Another way to go navigate the political landscape is to institutionalize everything we do in the University. We need to have strong systems in place to the extent that even when you have a person with average leadership skills in the University, they can manage in the face of strong systems.

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Mark Wamai

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

Mak Editor

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Directorate of Graduate Training Completes Training of First Cohort Training of Supervisors

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By Moses Lutaaya

The Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) has in collaboration with Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors.

Participants were academic staff from two colleges namely, College of Engineering, Art and Design (CEDAT) and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).

The three-day training that took place at the Telepresence Centre, Senate Building ended on Friday 20thJune 2025.

In his closing remarks to the participants, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “This is the first cohort we are working together with the Center for Teaching and Learning to put together continuous professional development Program so that we are able to enforce the new teaching and learning policy.”

He said that before lecturers are allocated students for supervision, they must first go through this form of formal teaching and learning training to equip them thoroughly with certification required of supervision of graduate students.

“We are coming up with process to ensure that the certificates earned by participants allow you to supervise graduate students. This is the direction of the university and we must ensure that such trainings are concluded and completed successfully by all participants”, Prof. Kikooma.

Prof. Julius Kikooma – Director of Graduate Training

“We can only have you certified upon completing all the exercises in the training process. This is when you will be eligible to receive the work load for supervision”, He added.

“This training of Supervisors is going to be continuous so that all academic staff in colleges and schools are equipped. This first cohort is going to be our building block to the future trainings in the colleges.”

With such capacity building trainings, Prof. Kikooma said that the university is on the right path to achieving its targets in the new strategic plan of increasing the number of graduate students while progressively reducing the under graduate students.

He further hinted that, “We are in the process of writing a curriculum on this, which will be presented for approval before it is rolled out.”

He echoed all participants to share the knowledge they have acquired adding, “Share all you have learnt, do not keep it. Be open minded, have proper communication channels and the sky will be the limit for you.” 

Dr. Robinah N. Kulabako, The Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at CEDAT welcomed the training adding, “This training is very pertinent. I have had the opportunity to supervise Masters and PhD students for over 15 years and I must say that the need to be subjected to this training cannot be over emphasized because there is need to learn, unlearn and relearn many aspects involved in the supervision process.”

She added, “We are moving towards knowledge-based supervision rather than experience-based supervision. This means we must be informed and equipped to be able to advise, guide and mentor to be able to lead a successful supervision journey for both supervisor and supervisee.”

Dr. Andrew Gilbert Were – a lecturer at CEDAT and a participant said, “It is important that all supervisors of graduate students receive this certification from Makerere University through a systematic training process that enables them to attain diverse skills to facilitate learning of graduate students from diverse cultures and with unique set of circumstances.”

“This training is long overdue. In fact, it was an oversight that we could be allowed to supervise students without undergoing supervisors’ training.”

Dr. Dorothy Ssebowa, The Director Centre for Teaching and Learning support- CEES said, “The training this time round has had a mix of early career professionals including Lecturers, Supervisors and Professors share experiences. We have learnt a lot more from experienced supervisors who have shared practices on how they have done supervision over the years.”

“The knowledge and experience-based approaches have made this collaboration very active, interactive and learner centered which has resulted into a collaborative learning from the interdisciplinarity of staff from CEDAT and CAES. The issue now is to continue with professional development across all levels.” She added.

The Makerere University Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors. This activity was supported by the iCARTA – Institutionalization of Advanced Research Training in Africa, a NORHED II Project at Makerere University.

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CEDAT’s Department of Architecture to Undergo Major Studio Refurbishment with Industry Support

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R-L: Arch. Kenneth Ssemwogerere (Head of Department, Architecture), Dr. Kizito Maria Kasule (Deputy Principal, CEDAT), and Mr. Kayongo Daniel (Plascon Uganda National Sales Manager) during the official handover of a donation at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University, on Tuesday, 25th June 2025.

The Department of Architecture at Makerere University’s College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology (CEDAT) is set to begin a significant refurbishment of its design studios starting 1st July 2025. This initiative marks a pivotal step in enhancing the learning environment for architecture students and fostering innovation in design education.

The refurbishment project has received a significant boost from Kansai Placon Uganda Limited, which donated UGX 15 million worth of paint to support the transformation. This contribution highlights the growing partnership between academia and industry in shaping the future of architectural education in Uganda.

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Alex Isemaghendera

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