Leadership And Management
Quality of Training and Research
Information and Communication Technologies: Building Capacity in African Universities
Women in African Tertiary Institutions: Equity, Empowerment and Advancement
Improving management and access to African scholarly work:
Projects on Major Emerging Issues

Leadership And Management

Study Programme on Higher Education Management In Africa

To achieve the stated objectives, the following activities are planned:

• the identification and training of new researchers, and the provision of advanced training for the best researchers in the previous Phase;
• the development or support of networks of higher education researchers and institutions; 
• funding or promotion of research into selected higher education issues, and the dissemination of the results; and
• stimulation of policy debates on issues of higher education management and finance.

 

The activities described above are expected to have the following outcomes:

• An expansion of the pool of African higher education researchers and an improvement in their capacity and professionalism;
• The beginnings of community among African higher education researchers, with a greater degree of self-identification and self-activation, and explicit links to institutions involved in higher education work;
• a body of higher education material, based on indigenous research, published and disseminated through the print and electronic media, seminars, etc; and
• increased engagement of researchers and their product with policy and policy-makers.

 

Senior University Management Workshops (SUMA)

There will be at least one SUMA workshop a year for top university executives especially new Rectors, Presidents and Vice-Chancellors. These workshops, which will alternate between Anglophone and Francophone/North African countries, will deal broadly with strategic planning, management of human resources, student issues, management of information systems, research management, financial management, university funding policies and institutional culture.

There is already a considerable amount of relevant work on many of these topics, and the AAU organises "training of trainers", as well as case study writing workshops, as a supplement to these materials. These will form the basis for the preparation of curricula and course materials for the workshops.

To the extent possible, SUMA workshops will be run on cost-recovery basis. 
 

Expected Outcome

The workshops are expected to increase awareness of management issues and the sharing of experiences among senior university people, thereby enhancing the management capacity of university leadership.
 

Budget Estimates
 

	USD	USD
Study Programme on Higher Education in Africa		2206000
Capacity-building	906000
Research	650000
Co-ordination	650000
SUMA		1600000
Course Preparation	400000
Workshops	1200000
		3806000

Quality of Training and Research

A. Towards a Dynamic Process of Curricular Reform and Innovations

To establish a dynamic process of curricular reform and innovation in African universities that will enable the institutions to:

• respond adequately to the challenge posed by rapid knowledge generation and application;
• take advantage of the large volume of globally available knowledge.

• enhance the quality of their educational provisions.

To achieve this objective, the following activities are planned:

• sensitization of African university leaders about the need for, as well as trends and characteristics of contemporary, curricular reform, design and innovation;
• workshops/seminars on the art of curricular design and innovation, including the place of curricular design and innovation in the quality assurance and relevance of training/research; and the exchange/review of information on good practices; and
• capacity-building activities aimed at producing a cadre of African specialists in curricular reform, design and innovation.
• quality enhancement activities in AAU member institutions.

• African university leaders that are sensitized to imperative of continual curriculum reform and innovation in a world of rapid global increase in knowledge generation and application;
• dissemination of information on curriculum design and innovation;
• a cadre of African specialists in curricular reform, design and innovation.
• quality enhancement in AAU member institutions.

 

B. Regional Cooperation in Graduate Training and Research

To improve the quality of graduate training and research in African universities
 

Planned Activities

To achieve this objective, the following activities are planned:

• establishing/strengthening of fifteen (15) networks of universities for graduate training and research in fields of specialisation of the networks;
• provision of support for the upgrading of equipment and facilities in the participating institutions;
• provision of support for staff exchanges and dissertations/theses each year for the participating institutions; and
• proper coordination of the networks.
 

The following outcomes are envisaged:

• fifteen (15) established/strengthened;
• improved quality of graduate training and research in fields of specialisation of the networks;
• academic mobility among the participating institutions;
• graduates in the fields of specialisation of the networks.

 

Information and Communication Technologies: Building Capacity in African Universities

Survey on the Use and Application of ICT

• Identification of institutions for the survey
• Identification of consultants for the implementation of the survey
• Review of the report at a Technical Meeting of Experts
• Dissemination of the results of the survey

A main report with a general overview on the use and application of the ICT in higher education in Africa with full details on the situation in the higher education institutions in Africa, including:

• internal policies and structures and on-going development strategies and projects related to ICT,
• needs of the institutions in the use and application of ICT in relation to information dissemination, teaching, learning, research, networking and management
• roles of the AAU, the higher education institutions, and other stakeholders in the promotion of the use of ICT
• strategies and plans for the strengthening of the institutional capacities of the institutions (universities, colleges, polytechnics, grandes écoles, research centres...) in the use of ICT.

Creation of a network of African ICT experts

Planned Activities

• analyse available human resources with ICT experts (including subject matter) with ICT ;
• build and maintain an online database and directory of ICT experts;
• establish an e-forum to facilitate the sharing of ideas; and
• disseminate information related to the use of ICT in HEIs in Africa
• Organize technical meetings to review work on ICT improvement activities

A pilot regional networking with 10 selected Universities/Research Institutions in the following areas:

• database creation and management
• on-line teaching and learning
• list serve for exchanging and sharing experiences and good practices in the use and application of ICT.

Establishment of a database

This will involve an in-house development of a database containing relevant information on the use and application of ICT in higher education institutions as stated under the survey outcomes.

Expected Outcome

A baseline database against which to measure progress in the future.
 

Development and implementation of a coherent programme for improvement in the use of ICT

Planned Activities

This will draw from the outcome of the survey and the technical expect meeting and consultation with the universities and donor partner.

Expected Outcomes
 

• Strategic plans containing strategies for the development and implementation of a coherent programme by the AAU to strengthen institutional capacities of African higher education institutions in the use of ICT.

 

Women in African Tertiary Institutions: Equity, Empowerment and Advancement

Objectives

To develop a culture of gender equity and sensitivity in African tertiary institutions.

Planned activities 

The planned activities are:

• gender equity awareness activities such as on-campus seminars/workshops; sub-regional conferences focused on concrete measures aimed at achieving gender balance in African tertiary institutions;
• assistance to African tertiary institutions in setting up gender units and carrying out gender-specific activities;
• empowerment of women in African tertiary institutions through grants for theses/dissertations and professional conferences within African;
• setting up of a network of women and men African tertiary institutions who are active in gender studies;
• carrying out a survey of gender equity instruments in African tertiary institutions with a view to identifying/eliminating provisions which hinder the advancement of women with the institutions' hierarchy.

 

The following outcomes are envisaged:

• better awareness of gender equity issues in African tertiary institutions;
• establishment and operation of gender units in African tertiary institutions;
• empowerment of more women in African tertiary institutions;
• networking among women and men engaged in gender studies in African;

• database of gender instruments in African tertiary institutions and the identification/elimination of provisions which hinder the advancement of women with the institutions' hierarchy.

A: The Database of African Theses and Dissertations

Planned activities

The following activities have been planned to achieve the stated objectives:

• Site visits to participating institutions aimed at assessing existing capacity
• Provision of equipment (hardware and software) for participating institutions
• Training workshops for selected personnel of participating institutions 
• Data entry and quality control
• Web-server development
• CD-ROM Production and dissemination
• Development of copyright guidelines

The project is expected to have the following outcomes:

• A well-documented and accessible electronic database on African theses and dissertations at each participating institution and an integrated database at the AAU Secretariat

• A number of African universities and institutions with the capacity to organize, digitize and manage their collections of theses and dissertations
• A network of African institutions with access to a central source of information
• Increased recognition for the work of African scholars and protection for the intellectual property rights of individual researchers
• A CD-ROM version of the integrated database

B: Digital Library for Theses and Dissertations

• Awareness creation
• Identification of interested parties
• Inventory of infrastructure
• Exploration of current procedures and policies
• Identification of training needs for students and lecturers
• Pilot with 2 institutions

 

(Seminars, equipment, software, training and travels)

C: Guideline for Copyright and IntellectualProperty Right

• On-line discussion
• Experts meeting
• Draft of document
• Dissemination (seminars, workshops and etc...)

 

(Literature survey, consultancy, experts meeting, stationery, communication, etc...)

D: Collective Acquisition and /or Access to Academic Literature

• Needs assessment
• Identification of the sources
• Subscription to databases/journal packages
• Meetings
• User training

Planned Activities and Budget Estimates

These will be developed as appropriate. (Rough estimate - $500,000)