General
Mak Deans Forum Deliberates on Safeguarding Policy, Career Guidance & Mentorship
The Makerere University Deans’ Forum (MUDF) was inaugurated on 14th June 2019 following a sensitisation workshop for academic leaders aimed at building a sustainable research culture and research management systems for quality and relevant research output. The Forum, it was further envisaged, would create a platform for Deans to share and network beyond the University Senate Meetings. Four years down the road, these interactions have borne fruit, with several collaborations across the board.
“The Deans Forum has accorded us the opportunity to initiate new Deans, share reports, and embark on collaborative projects between; the Makerere University School of Public Health and the School of Statistics and Planning, as well as with the School of Computing and Informatics Technology, the School of Engineering and the School of Business, and the School of Biomedical Sciences working with a host of other Schools,” explained Prof. Umar Kakumba, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs (DVCAA) and Patron MUDF.
The Patron further congratulated the outgoing MUDF Chairperson-Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze, Vice Chairperson-Prof. Arthur K. Tugume and Executive Committee members for serving the Forum wholeheartedly. He reiterated that academic leadership in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) rests on the shoulders of Deans as they are “focal people when it comes to building the strengths of the University’s core service delivery.”
Prof. Umar Kakumba made the remarks at the Forum held on 28th September 2023 aimed at onboarding the Deans on the process of enhancing safeguarding at Makerere University through co-creation of the applicable policy. The same Forum was also aimed at validating the Draft Makerere Policy on Career Guidance and Mentorship, currently in its final stage of formulation.
“Today is a great opportunity to highlight the enhancement of safeguarding at Makerere” remarked the DVCAA. He emphasized that safeguarding is a contemporary and important aspect for Makerere University because “It builds the University we expect for everybody to thrive, be they staff, students and all those that come to seek or provide services”.
He added that any incidents that happens in the environs of the University affect the Makerere brand and in the absence of a safeguarding policy, the institution may face harm and all forms of prejudice, while individuals are at the risk of harassment, discrimination and bullying. Prof. Kakumba informed the Deans that Makerere had put in place a drafting team for the safeguarding policy and enlisted a local partner; the Optimal Safeguarding Centre of Excellence (Optimal-SCOE), to conduct an environmental scan and support the technical aspects. “I thank the Mastercard Foundation for supporting our efforts to enhance safeguarding at Makerere University.”
The eight policy frameworks that have been identified for review during the safeguarding policy drafting exercise include; 1) The Policy and Regulations against Sexual Harassment, December 2018, 2) The Gender Equality Policy, December 2021, 3) The Policy on Students Accommodation, August 2021, 4) The Human Resources Manual (As amended), December 2022, 5) The Makerere University Risk Management Policy, February 2022, 6) The Makerere University Policy on Persons with Disabilities, May 2022, 7) The Makerere University Students Regulations, 2015, and 8) The Makerere University Communications Policy, March 2013.
The drafting team in their presentation reported that the policies were analysed based on five elements of safety and protection and eleven forms of harm/risk recommended in safeguarding frameworks in HEIs. The five elements include; 1) Identification, 2) Prevention, 3) Reporting, 4) Response and 5) Management. Similarly, the eleven forms of harm/risk include; 1) Physical harm/risk, 2) Emotional harm/risk, 3) Neglect, 4) Discrimination, 5) Cybersecurity threats, 6) Financial exploitation, 7) Material loss, 8) Sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH), 9) Academic misconduct, 10) Substance abuse, and 11) Protection of academic freedoms of staff and students.
On validation of the Draft Makerere Policy on Career Guidance and Mentorship, Prof. Kakumba emphasized that it was important to institutionalize and customize these two closely linked aspects so as to produce graduates that not only have good grades but also possess the moral fabric and productivity that boosts their employability. Accordingly, the office of the DVCAA appointed a three-member team to support the policy development process, which is in line with the Makerere University Strategic Plan, 2020-2030. The Plan’s strategic focus on Innovative Teaching and Learning seeks to create an appropriate environment that supports students to meet their academic and professional aspirations.
A presentation from the drafting team revealed the goal of the policy as to “Ensure all students at Makerere University access career guidance and mentorship support that enables them to make informed-career choices and builds their capability to effectively transition into the world of work.” The policy will be implemented at college level, with support from the Career Guidance and Mentorship Desk under the office of the DVCAA.
The two polices were welcomed by the Deans as essential and timely. Feedback from the Forum further called for the need to; consider adding the notion of identities to the Safeguarding Policy, integrate a framework for positive passive mentorship for students as well as staff, and factor in two levels of active mentorship at basic and specialized levels.
The Deans further called for the; inclusion of Graduate mentorship fellows in the framework, continuous retooling of staff on mentorship and career guidance, and holding weekly mentorship workshops for students and staff. Mechanisms for identification and orientation of international and industry-based mentors for specialized areas as well as the need to take advantage of staff trained on mentorship and career guidance were also proposed in response to staffing shortages or areas where there was lack of expertise.
Furthermore, the Forum called for the inclusion of; The Makerere University Information and Communication Technology Policy Framework, March 2020 and The Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) Policy among the policies identified for review. The feedback also called for the establishment of well-facilitated student support centres to help boost mentorship and career guidance efforts.
The day’s forum concluded with the election of new office bearers for some of the positions of the MUDF Executive Committee. The former Vice Chairperson, Prof. Arthur K. Tugume was successfully elected to the position of Chairperson, while Committee Member, Prof. Saudah Namyalo was elected Vice Chairperson. Dr. Martin Baluku, Dr. Claire Mugasa and Dr. Justus Twesigye were elected as new committee members.
Delivering his acceptance remarks, Prof. Tugume thanked fellow Deans for entrusting him with the Forum’s leadership and called for the promotion of multidisciplinary research. He recognized that whereas the Deans lead different disciplines, their leadership style should increase consensus both within their Schools and with other schools. “If we did that even the work of Senate would be much easier” he added.
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.
“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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