General
Makerere University Launches the MakAdvance System
Makerere University Endowment Fund on Tuesday, 2nd August, 2022 launched the MakAdvance System at the Frank Kalimuzo Central Teaching Facility. The system aims at not only automating and streamlining efforts by the University to raise funds towards different purposes and causes, but also building a digital and interactive alumni database.
The event was attended by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and a member of the Endowment Fund, Assoc. Prof. Umar Kakumba, the Chairperson of the Board of the Makerere University Endowment Fund, Prof. Margaret J. Kigozi and many other people from the university administration and media houses.
The university intends to engage its many alumni and members of the extended Makerere community to give back to their alma mater and participate in building Makerere for the next hundred years as it celebrates its first centennial anniversary.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Nawangwe highlighted that one of the causes that will be supported by the MakAdvance system is the scholarship scheme.
“We are introducing scholarships for minorities in Uganda. We have some groups in Uganda where none of the members has ever accessed university education,” he said.
The scholarship program will benefit from the resource envelope which will have been mobilised through this new system.
He also emphasised that the activities of the Makerere University Endowment Fund were not new, having their origin in the 1930s when a group of former Makerere teachers living in Britain decided to set up the fund for Makerere University.
With real-time updates on events and projects going on at the University, the MakAdvance system has been purposed to improve the relaying of information to stakeholders and consequently the mobilisation of the requisite resources for ongoing projects in the university.
Prof. Umar Kakumba intimated on the necessity and importance of the endowment fund.
“All higher institutions worth their names across the globe heavily thrive on endowments. So this is an opportunity for Makerere to redeem its endowment and I am confident that the MakAdvance system will play a vital role,” he said.
Dr. Margaret Kigozi appealed to all alumni to participate in this endeavour. She intimated that this was an opportunity for them all to give back to the university that has impacted their lives. “Your endowment fund is moving, let your former classmates know about this, if your name is not in the database, let us know,” she added.
The system is going to cover the alumni and stakeholder management and profiling by managing the information through registering the alumni, enrolling different alumni chapters, allowing different alumni societies to register and listing a full alumni directory. As of this moment, information of over 300,000 alumni has been obtained.
With regards to donations to the university from the alumni and public at large, it will also cover Payment Management and Donor Ranking. The former option provides convenient payment options for soliciting donations towards the different causes in the university whereas the latter recognizes donors in different categories based on the amounts they donate.
It will also be useful in organising the activities taking place at Makerere through its Cause Management option which will distinguish between those that are time sensitive and those that are long term. The Events and Webinar Management option will also facilitate these efforts.
Communications of the MakAdvance system will be coordinated by the Dashboard, Social Media Management and Fund Profiling options which will enable the administration of information in the system and the generation of reports on the ongoing activities.
Finally, it will also provide access to the university Souvenir and Gift shop which has a number of memorabilia and University branded materials for sale to students, alumni and the general public. The Souvenir and Gift Shop has both an E-commerce and online presence and a physical address which is the ground floor of the Frank Kalimuzo Central Teaching Facility.
For more details about the MakAdvance System, visit https://endowment.mak.ac.ug
By Bernard Buteera
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, has applauded the partnership that exists between Makerere University and Mastercard Foundation. He said this during the Networking luncheon he hosted in honour of Mastercard Foundation Scholars at Makerere, who won the Resolution Fellowship project at Baobab summit in Kigali.
“Mastercard Foundation is one of the biggest partners for Makerere University and we are so proud of this partnership which has borne a lot of fruit” Prof. Nawangwe said.
The Vice Chancellor thanked the Scholars of Mastercard Foundation for being creative and innovative, and for making Uganda and Makerere University proud, when they won 6 out of the 9 Resolution projects that were given grants at the Baobab summit in Kigali.
“I would like to thank the young people whom we are celebrating today, who made me proud as the Vice Chancellor of Makerere, when they swept almost all the awards at the global stage” Prof. Nawangwe said. He further revealed that during the summit in Kigali, they kept reading Makerere University during the awarding of projects, and at some point he pretended not to be happy, because he was in the company of other Vice Chancellors, but inside of him he was beaming with joy.
”The Resolution social venture projects are extremely important in many ways; Firstly, they encourage young people to be creative and innovative, so that they are able to come with initiatives and projects, which enable them to create their own jobs, instead of moving around looking for jobs which have become fewer, while the population is growing.” Prof. Nawangwe emphasised.
On his part, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, and also the Chairperson of the Steering Committee of Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Makerere University, Prof. Umar Kakumba, applauded Mastercard Foundation for the support it renders to young people not only in Uganda and Makerere University, but also all over the world.
Prof. Kakumba further enumerated the different initiatives Mastercard Foundation at Makerere University which had created profound effect to the young people in Africa and Uganda in particular.
“As a country and specifically as Makerere University, we cannot run away from the idea of developing young people, because they are the current and next generation of leaders, innovators and change makers. We have a duty to skill, mentor and provide them with the continuous capacity to innovate and create economic opportunities for themselves and other young people.” Prof. Kakumba said.
Prof. Kakumba called upon the Makerere University community to emulate what Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program was doing in terms training and skilling the young people at Makerere University.
”The rest of the university faculty should emulate what Mastercard Foundation ScholarsProgram was doing, for instance every student of Makerere University should have a mentor, and also undergo entrepreneurship training.” Prof. Kakumba pointed out.
Prof. Kakumba further revaled that going forward Makerere University was going to adopt a strategy where the University would make Entrepreneurship as a first choice career pathway.
”We are all aware of the challenges of youth unemployment in Africa and Uganda in particular. As an institution of learning, Makerere University needs to normalize entrepreneurship as a first choice career pathway for all the graduates.” Prof. Kakumba said.
The Country Director, Mastercard Foundation – Uganda, Mr. Adrian Bukenya, revealed the Foundation was happy with the partnership with Makerere University, which dates back to 2013 with the establishment of the Scholars Program.
”Mastercard Foundation is proud of the partnership with Makerere University, which began with the Scholars Program in 2013, that has educated and empowered over 1000 young people to study at Makerere University.” Mr. Bukenya said.
Mr. Bukenya pointed out that the Foundation was happy to support young people beyond the Scholars Program, to ensute that every young person transitions to diginified and fullfilling work.
”As a Foundation we want a world where young people are included and are thriving and their leadership and contributions matter. A future where young people are driving transformative change and achieving their full potential.” Mr. Bukenya said.
Ms. Pauline Gangla,the Head of the Scholars Program, Eastern and Southern Africa Partner Network at Mastercard Foundation, thanked Makerere University for both the academic and entrepreneurship the university had imparted on the Scholars of Mastercard Foundation.
“I would like to thank the University for the Academic Support and entrepreneurship training given to the Scholars of Mastercard Foundation, here at Makerere University. During the summit it was evident in the way the Scholars pitched their projects, the level of confidence they exhibited was very high.” Ms. Gangla revealed.
Ms. Gangla pointed out that the Foundation was very keen on safe guarding measures, to ensure safety and security of the young in the University.
“The Foundation was keen on safe guarding measures, where there is zero tolerance to any form of misconduct against young people. Young people should be treated with respect and dignity within the University and their communities.” Ms. Gangla pointed out.
Prof. Justine Namaalwa, the Program Coordinator, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Makerere University, thanked the University and the Foundation for the visionary partnership which has created profound impact in the University and the country in general.
“We are here to celebrate innovation and creativity exhibited by Mastercard Foundation Scholars over time since 2017, when Scholars started competing in the Resolution Venture Challenge, and all these are fruits of the visionary partnership between Mastercard Foundation and Makerere University.” Prof. Namaalwa revealed.
Prof. Namaalwa pointed out the Scholars Program at Makerere University was proud of the 21 Resolution Social Venture (SVC) projects and 46 Scholars Entrepreneurship Fund (SEF) which Scholars has established and were making profound impact in their communities. She further revealed that projects had created both personal social development for the Scholars and their communities. She thanked the Vice Chancellor and the entire management, the Steering Committee, the Mentors and all other stakeholders who had supported scholars to grow their projects.
Bernard Buteera is the Communications Officer, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Makerere University.
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