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DGRT & DICTS embark on the development of a tracking system for staff & graduate students’ research

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Whereas Makerere University has a number of systems, these have not been addressing a number of issues such as the ability to track and consolidate information in various schools and the Graduate school.

As the university moves towards being research led, the Directorate of Graduate Research and Training (DGRT) and the Directorate for ICT Support (DICTS) have embarked on developing a tracking system that will help collect and consolidate information about all research in the university, the researchers and graduate students generally.

With support from the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), DGRT received the needs-based-funds for a project called, Research Information Management System (RIMS).

The project which commenced about six months ago will collect information about all staff involved in research, about the research they are doing, what areas, to make up the research agenda of the university.

On the side of graduate students who are research students, the Directorate would like to have information on where they are in their research so that they can be tracked.

Assoc. Prof. Julius Kikooma emphasising the need to understand the Graduate Handbook 2013.
Assoc. Prof. Julius Kikooma emphasising the need to understand the Graduate Handbook 2013.

Assoc. Prof. Julius Kikooma emphasising the need to understand the Graduate Handbook 2013This initiative was disclosed by the Deputy Director, DGRT Associate Prof. Julius Kikooma while speaking at the opening of the three-day CHUSS 2023 Graduate Supervisors induction workshop at Essella Hotel on 18th April 2023.

Prof, Kikooma was invited to present on the general rules for graduate studies at Makerere University and the Research Ethics and guidelines for information and use by supervisors of graduate students.

Kikooma said, one of the key problems in the Directorate has been information about research and researchers and graduate students generally in the way they are handled and scattered.  The system he said will track every process about researchers in Makerere University both academic and graduate students.

“The system will support us to have all information about graduate students in one place so that we can be able to address key questions because we have never been able to develop a system that can quickly tell us beyond those students who have completed course work, and where they are”.

It will be possible to know that if a student had a two-year program, and they completed their course work, when did they complete it, when did they start a research proposal, where is it, was it approved, if it was approved, are they doing field work and if it is field work, when was it approved, who are their supervisors etc?”

Noting that the Directorate is a coordinating unit for graduate training with the actual work on graduate students in terms of teaching and supervision taking place in the schools. Prof. Kikooma said, the system will be helpful in terms of record keeping and reduction of reliance on information in hard copy files.

“Meaning that while we have a file for these people because we admit them, the school also keeps hard copy files of the students and sometimes depending on what is happening to the student at what level, the school may have information but which we do not have. And therefore we have been missing a system that can help us all consolidate that information about students and researchers”. He said.

The system according Prof. Kikooma is being designed to ensure that what is held on ACMIS system is the same as what is held on RIMS of the DGRT so that there is no conflict of information for different management purposes. The ACMIS is for the academic registrar’s department which is mainly registration, but RIMS will be for all processes about research for staff and graduate students.

Two weeks ago, Prof.  Kikooma said, the Directorate carried out a stake holder consultation where they tried to pilot some of the modules of the program. The different users of this information system gave feedback and the system experts were revising it.

It is hoped that in the next two-three months, the system will be rolling out the first modules.

Graduate supervisors’ induction training a good development

Kikooma commended CHUSS for initiating the program for retooling graduate supervisors saying, it is supposed to be a practice for a graduate school.

The capacity for supervisors should according to Kikooma continuously be built. As DGRT, he encouraged colleges to work with the directorate to ensure that every year supervisors are given some kind of refresher regarding what they are supposed to do as supervisors.

“It is one of the best practices for capacity building and colleges should go ahead to organise them tailored to their specific needs.

The way things happen in the world of academia, research and theory keep changing and so, it is right that continuously, there is a time created where supervisors are taken through some of the new developments, thinking, and how to support graduate students”. He added.

He urged participants to acquaint themselves with the university graduate handbook where different policies and guidelines are put together. The university has a current Graduate Handbook 2013 but the directorate is undertaking an exercise of revising it. The draft he said, will in two to three weeks be presented to the Board of Graduate research for approval and eventually to Senate.

Dr. Zaid Ssekitto giving the background to the graduate supervisors training.
Dr. Zaid Ssekitto giving the background to the graduate supervisors training.

Dr. Zaid Ssekitto giving the background to the graduate supervisors training CHUSS Coordinator for Graduate programmes Dr. Saidi Ssekito said the idea to have the Graduate supervisor’s induction trainings emerged last year when some staff enrolled on a similar program in the university.

While enrolment and graduating numbers of PhD and Masters students were increasing in CHUSS, Dr. Ssekito said, the number of staff was constant or reducing. In many departments many staff were retiring and leaving but not replaced.

At the same time, the college had over 40 Assistant Lecturers with PhDs, yet to be a graduate supervisor, the policy allows those at a rank of Lecturer.

“Some of the PhD Assistant Lecturers had applied pending promotions and as they kept on waiting, the college management bought into the idea and organised induction training to take them through what a graduate supervisor should do.

 We want to be taken through the issue of graduate supervision training as a pedagogy. We are here to be trained as we wait for promotion so that we can be legally allowed to be graduate supervisors”. He said.

The 2023 Graduates supervisor’s induction workshop brought together over 40 Junior staff facilitated by officials from the Graduate school and the College of Education and External Studies (CEES).

Dr. Peter Ssenkusu facilitating the training.
Dr. Peter Ssenkusu facilitating the training.

On day one, Dr. Peter Ssenkusu handled the aspect of Graduate supervision and knowledge production, a pedagogy and the Trainees Expectations.

Dr. Dorothy Ssebowa presented on Graduate student’s experiences of graduate supervision at Makerere or in other University  while Dr. Betty Ezati handled the aspect of the roles of Heads of departments, Deans and Principals in the management of Graduate Training and Supervision at Makerere University.

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Jane Anyango

General

Diploma in Performing Arts Admission List 2025/26

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released the admission list of candidates who passed the special entry examinations for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025

The following have been admitted by the University’s Admissions Committee on Private Sponsorship for the 2025/26 Academic Year

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

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Health

MakSPH, DJC Launch Short Course on Health Communication

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The heads of the Department of Journalism and Communication and the Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (centre) with participants from the first cohort of the Health Communication short course at Makerere University. June 5, 2025. Intensive one-month course on Health Communication, first cohort June 5 to July 24, 2025, jointly offered by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)’s Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (CHBS) and the Department of Journalism and Communication (DJC), School of Languages, Literature, and Communication (SLLC), co-designed in 2024 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation through Amref Health Africa, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.

By Okeya John and Primrose Nabankema

The intensive one-month course, running for the first time from June 5 to July 24, 2025, is jointly offered by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)’s Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (CHBS) and the Department of Journalism and Communication (DJC) at the School of Languages, Literature, and Communication (SLLC), co-designed in 2024 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation through Amref Health Africa.

It seeks to equip healthcare providers at the community level, public health and environmental health practitioners, communication specialists, health educators, community development officers, social scientists, and policy makers, among others, with strategic communication skills to improve public health messaging, strengthen community engagement, and support evidence-based interventions, ultimately empowering participants to effectively engage communities and improve population health outcomes across Uganda and the region.

Launching the course, the heads of the Department of Journalism and Communication and the Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences noted that participants who complete the short course will gain practical tools to influence behaviour change, build trust, and deliver timely, accurate, and relevant health information to the communities they serve. The first cohort attracted more than 60 applicants, with 36 reporting for the opening in-person session on June 5, 2025, at MakSPH in Mulago. Between now and July, participants will undergo a hands-on, multidisciplinary learning experience within the Certificate in Health Communication and Community Engagement program, which combines theory and practice.

Among the participants in the first cohort of the certificate course, designed as a pilot for the anticipated Master of Health Promotion and Communication to be jointly offered by the two departments at Makerere University, is Ms. Maureen Kisaakye, a medical laboratory technologist specialising in microbiology and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and currently pursuing a Master’s in Immunology and Clinical Microbiology at Makerere. She is driven by a passion to help reverse the rising tide of AMR, a growing global health threat where drugs that once worked are no longer effective. Kisaakye is particularly concerned about common infections, like urinary tract infections, becoming increasingly resistant and harder to treat.

“I enrolled in this course because I’m an advocate against antimicrobial resistance, and it came at a time when I needed to deepen my knowledge on how to implement our projects more effectively and engage with communities. The experience has broadened my understanding of AMR and its impact on society, and strengthened my passion for community-driven health initiatives and advocacy,” Kisaakye said, explaining why she enrolled for the short course.

Ms. Maureen Kisaakye (in white) during a youth-led community AMR and WASH awareness campaign in informal settlements in Kamwokya, Kampala, on 12th April, 2025. Intensive one-month course on Health Communication, first cohort June 5 to July 24, 2025, jointly offered by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)’s Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (CHBS) and the Department of Journalism and Communication (DJC), School of Languages, Literature, and Communication (SLLC), co-designed in 2024 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation through Amref Health Africa, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
Ms. Maureen Kisaakye (in white) during a youth-led community AMR and WASH awareness campaign in informal settlements in Kamwokya, Kampala, on 12th April, 2025.

Kisaakye’s work in antimicrobial resistance extends beyond the lab. Having earned her degree in medical laboratory science from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, she founded Impala Tech Research in 2024 to drive impact and save lives. She has led grassroots AMR campaigns that integrate antimicrobial stewardship with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) education in underserved urban communities, including the informal settlements in Kampala. She also has since designed peer-led initiatives that empower university students as AMR Champions, building a network of informed youth advocates. Kisaakye believes the health communication course will sharpen her ability to design and deliver impactful, community-centred interventions in response to the growing threat of drug resistance.

“The department collaborates with many partners within and beyond the University, including the School of Public Health, where we are working to develop the subfield of health communication and promotion. Our goal is to train specialists in this area and build a community of practice, something we have each been doing in our own spaces. There’s a lot of work ahead, and COVID-19 showed us just how urgently we need a generation trained to do this kind of work, and to do it very well,” said Dr. Aisha Nakiwala, Head of the Department of Journalism and Communication, during the opening of the short course on June 5.

Dr. Aisha Nakiwala, Head of the Department of Journalism and Communication, underscored the partnership between DJC and MakSPH as a crucial step toward strengthening public health through strategic communication. June 5th, 2025. Intensive one-month course on Health Communication, first cohort June 5 to July 24, 2025, jointly offered by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)’s Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (CHBS) and the Department of Journalism and Communication (DJC), School of Languages, Literature, and Communication (SLLC), co-designed in 2024 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation through Amref Health Africa, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
Dr. Aisha Nakiwala, Head of the Department of Journalism and Communication, underscored the partnership between DJC and MakSPH as a crucial step toward strengthening public health through strategic communication. June 5, 2025.

She assured participants they were in good hands and underscored the importance of the partnership between the Department of Journalism and Communication and the School of Public Health, describing it as a vital collaboration that brings together strategic communication and public health expertise. This dynamic, multidisciplinary approach, she noted, is essential to developing practical solutions that empower communities, strengthen health systems, and ultimately improve livelihoods.

The course offers a hands-on, multidisciplinary learning experience, with participants intended to explore key modules including Health Communication and Promotion, Risk Communication, Smart Advocacy, Community Mapping, Community Mobilisation and Empowerment, and Strategies for Community Engagement. The course combines theory with real-world application, and its assessment includes a field-based project and a final exam.

“You are our first cohort. We are seeing the fruits of our efforts in bringing this short course to life. It was born out of a joint initiative to develop a Master’s programme in Health Promotion and Communication,” said Dr. Christine Nalwadda, Head of the Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences. “We carried out extensive consultations with our different key stakeholders during the process and discovered a real need for such a course. It was the stakeholders who even named it; this course name didn’t come from us.”

For Kisaakye, by the end of the course in July, she hopes to have sharpened her skills in health promotion and strategic communication, particularly in crafting targeted messages that help individuals and communities effectively respond to threats such as antimicrobial resistance. She also aims to gain practical experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating community health initiatives that can strengthen her advocacy and drive lasting impact.

Dr. Marjorie Kyomuhendo, one of the course facilitators, engages Mr. Jackson Ssewanyana, a participant in the first cohort of the Certificate in Health Communication and Community Engagement, as Ms. Maureen Kisaakye listens in. June 5, 2025. Intensive one-month course on Health Communication, first cohort June 5 to July 24, 2025, jointly offered by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)’s Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (CHBS) and the Department of Journalism and Communication (DJC), School of Languages, Literature, and Communication (SLLC), co-designed in 2024 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation through Amref Health Africa, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
Dr. Marjorie Kyomuhendo, one of the course facilitators, engages Mr. Jackson Ssewanyana, a participant in the first cohort of the Certificate in Health Communication and Community Engagement, as Ms. Maureen Kisaakye listens in. June 5, 2025.

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John Okeya

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