Past Issues
In This Issue
- Interviews
for the Position
of Coordinator for ERN Unit
-
- Ford
Foundation
International Fellowship Program
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An
electronic update on Higher Education events, services and products
AAU ACTIVITIES
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Interviews
for the Position
of Coordinator, Education and Research Networking Unit, 4th
and 5th
April 2006, Accra, Ghana
The position of Coordinator,
Education and Research Networking Unit, was widely advertised to all
AAU member
institutions, on the AAU Website and those of allied organisations, and
in the
AAU e-Courier. In addition, a wide range of stakeholders and active
participants in the field of ICT in Africa was asked to encourage and
solicit
applications from suitable candidates.
A
total of 30 applicants responded, and 7 were short-listed for
interview.
At
the end of the
interview, panel members agreed unanimously that, given the special
qualifications, experience and presence required of the Coordinator,
Dr.
Boubakar Barry, a Senegalese was eminently suited for the position.
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Strategic
Meeting of the
WGHE Steering Committee, 24th and 25th March
2006,
Libreville, Gabon
The meeting held at
Libreville, Gabon from
24th to 25th March 2006 was to review the conclusions and
recommendations of an
Internal Assessment Task Team (IATT) in order to make strategic
decisions about
the Group's mandate, composition and mode of governance and operation;
and to
outline a process for developing the Group's next 3-year Strategic Plan.
Professor Akilagpa
Sawyerr,
Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU),
presented
the conclusions and recommendations of the IATT on behalf of Ms.
Piyushi
Kotecha (Chair).
The meeting also adopted
the recommendation
that the WGHE Steering Committee be composed of representatives of
tertiary
education institutions (universities; polytechnics and teacher
education
institutions); government ministries; and donor agencies. Members were
informed
that ADEA nominates the technical government representatives in
consultation
with its Bureau of Ministers and the WGHE Secretariat. The SC was asked
to
provide clear guidelines and support to enable technical government
representatives to reach out effectively to their constituents.
The WGHE Coordinator and
the AAU Secretariat
were commended for the high output during 2005. Specifically, the
impressive
Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit and the quality of the
CHOGM-WGHE-commissioned
paper on Education in Africa: Innovations and Challenges, by Professor
Paschal
Mihyo.
The meeting noted the
particular and
invaluable contributions of two of its past Steering Committee members,
Dr
William Saint and Dr Betsy Heen, to the work of the Internal Assessment
Task Team.
For
further information contact: Email: info@aau.org
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Ford Foundation
International Fellowship Program
Global Partners
Meeting
Orchid
Sheraton
Hotel, 12th – 18th March 2006, Bangkok, Thailand
Held in
Bangkok,
Thailand from March 12-17, 2006, the IFP Global Partners Meeting was
the first
opportunity since 2002 for interaction among staff of the many local,
regional,
and international organizations that comprise IFP's operating network. Over 80 participants attended the six-day
meeting, including representatives from the 20 “International Partners”
(IPs)
that manage program operations as well as the three organizations
responsible
for placing fellows in universities in North America and Europe
(Placement
Partners-PPs). Several university
program directors, the head of the IFP evaluation project based in the
Netherlands, and staff from the New York-based Secretariat and the IFP
unit at
IIE in New York were also well represented.
The overall
objective of the meeting was to draw on the learning and experience
represented
by all the organizations and individuals who have developed IFP over
the past
five years to reflect on what has been achieved as a global program,
discover
what is to be achieved in the future, and decide how to organize to
accomplish
these goals.
Three “Macro
Questions” served as the basis for organizing the sessions namely: What
are the
best practices and program learning of the past 5 years?; How can we
best
support the promise of the Fellows?; How can we best achieve the
promise of the
program?
To address these
questions, various formats were used, including plenary sessions with
multiple
speakers and panels, regional and cross-regional breakout groups, and
interactive workshops. The intent
throughout was to create a supportive environment for the free exchange
of
experience and ideas. The participatory
methodology was a conscious effort to encourage maximum participation,
especially from some of the junior staff members with limited previous
international
exposure. The
IFP Secretariat
spearheaded an interactive planning process that began formally three
months
before the actual meeting and enabled all participants to contribute to
both
the content and format of the meeting agenda.
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AAU PARTICIPATION IN EXTERNAL MEETINGS
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AFUNET
Meeting, Maastricht,
Netherlands, 2nd – 5th March 2006
The AFUNET
meeting held in Maastricht from 2nd
to 5th March 2006, had two main objectives: to review the
AFUNET
project and work out a budget and a business plan. Representatives of
United
Nations University (UNU); International Telecommunication Union (ITU),
European
Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN); University of Sweden participated
in this
meeting.
AFUNET which was
created to "deliver and to support network infrastructure and service
to
education and research community of Africa" had received mandate of its
members to act in this regard. However, during the AAU Conference on
African
Research and Education Networking Infrastructure held in Tunis, the
project was
officially presented as a new initiative which AAU was asked to host
following
persistent calls for the need for African leadership.
The Head of
Communication and Services at the AAU, Dr. Pascal Hoba participated in
identification of main activities to for the year; and in developing a
business
plan for funding.
With
regard to the success of the initiative the
AAU should target getting the majority of African universities aboard
in order
for them to derive maximum service from the project.
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European
Commission and
UBUNTUNET Alliance Meeting, Brussels, Belgium 6th to 7th March 2006
The meeting
which was held in Brussels from 6th to 7th March 2006 was to connect
UBUNTUNET
to Géant. Ubuntunet was lunched as a regional African Network in
Southern and
Eastern Africa during the AAU Conference on African Research and
Education
Networking Infrastructure held in Tunis in March 2006. Soon after the
launch, a
memorandum of understanding was signed between some African countries
to help
build a regional research network and interconnect to Géant.
The European
Commission will extend financial support to Ubuntunet to enable it
connect all
institutions of research of the Southern and Eastern Africa sub-region
to the
network. All top officials of the European Commission, including the
Commissioner for Information Society were present. An invitation to
tender for
a feasibility study of the project was launched.
AAU’s
participation in this meeting stems from the fact that members of
Ubuntunet
Alliance are also members of AAU and as a continental body elected by
its
members to lead on issues pertaining to better connectivity for African
universities. The AAU presented a progress report on what it has been
doing so
far in this field as well as the future prospects for achieving its
mandate at
the campus, national and continental levels.
The AAU would
have to encourage its members to form networks in order to set up a
wider group
or alliance like Ubuntunet. This will
facilitate connectivity of the institutions and negotiation for cheaper
bandwidth for its members.
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UNESCO Forum: 4th Regional Scientific
Committee Meeting
for Africa, Paris, France, March 9 - 10, 2006
The AAU was
represented at this meeting by the Secretary-General of AAU, Prof.
Akilagpa
Project Officer at the AAU who is a member of the Committee. The agenda of the meeting covered:
- The report from the UNESCO
Forum
Secretariat;
- The
publication of World Bank
commissioned papers;
- Proposal
on future fields of work;
- Conceptual framework of the Committee;
- Discussion
and decisions of future
work of the Committee;
- Venue/dates for next Regional
Scientific Committee meeting; and
- Venue/date/theme
for the next Regional
Research Seminar
Of particular
interest to the AAU was the proposal that the AAU host the second
Regional
Research Seminar on The Role of Higher Education in National
Education
Systems in March 2007. This is to
be done in collaboration with the University of Ghana, the National
Council for
Tertiary Education and the UNESCO Office in Accra.
A Local Organising
Committee made up of representatives of the University of Ghana, the
National
Council for Tertiary Education and the UNESCO Office in Accra, under
the
Chairmanship of the AAU is to be set up and the content of the Seminar,
which
is to be financed by the Forum, is to be settled by a Planning
Committee.
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Working Session on Establishing of
Centres of Excellence
in Africa, Paris, France, March 13 - 14, 2006
<>Prof. Georges
Haddad, Director – Higher Education Division at the UNESCO Headquarters
in
Paris, convened a meeting involving NEPAD and the AAU as a follow-up to
the
launch of an initiative on “Academics Across Borders”, in November 2005. The theme of the consultation was Establishing
of Centres of Excellence in Africa as part of the renewal
of higher
education on the continent. The meeting
was attending by the AAU Secretary-General, Prof. Secretary-General.
<>The
principal
document for discussion was a paper prepared by the NEPAD for the
establishment
of five centers of excellence in priority areas across the continent. Discussion centred mainly around the concept
of centres of excellence, policy on the establishment of such centers
and a
process for the identification and selection of institutions to be
supported as
such centers.
The main
policies included:
- The initiative will begin with the
establishment of five centres of excellence in the first five years and
additional centres added over time;
- The centers will necessarily be active
in more than one African country;
- Subvention for each center would be of
the order of US$5 million to come from African Governments. This does not preclude other funding sources
at a later stage;
- This opportunity should be widely
publicized throughout Africa and ample time provided for the
development of the
preliminary applications;
Committees of
the following disciplines will be set up to handle the selection
process.
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social
sciences including economics
- physical sciences including
mathematics and IT
- biological sciences and
agriculture
-
health
sciences
-
engineering
It was agreed
that the NEPAD proposal be endorsed but as a tripartite document with
the AAU
as the implementing agency.
The UNESCO
Department for International Cooperation in Higher Education agreed to
prepare
a note of the discussion and circulate it for comment.
In addition, the representative of NEPAD
undertook to write directly to the AAU, formally inviting the AAU to
serve as
the implementing agency in the next stage of the proposal.
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36th
Graduation Ceremony of University of Cape Coast,
The
Association of African
Universities (AAU) was invited to the 36th Graduation Ceremony of the
University of Cape Coast (UCC), Cape Coast on March 20th
2006. The
Vice-Chancellor of the University, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Addow
Obeng,
expressed his profound gratitude to both staff and students for their
brilliant
academic performance.
The
Vice-Chancellor in his
speech, underlined the signs of satisfaction for which the university
is proud
of. Rev. Prof. Obeng said that by siphoning off more potential students
into
the Distance Education programmes, the university simultaneously
reduced the
pressure on campus infrastructure and thus provided an expanded room of
opportunities for more students.
He
said to further increase the
numbers and improve on the quality of delivery, the university was
engaged in
discussions with ZTE Corporation, a Chinese Information Technology (IT)
firm,
to assist it in establishing permanent study centres with internet and
teleconferencing equipment in all the regions of the country.
He further
stated that this would require government’s approval to complete the
process
and, therefore, called for quick action when the final document was
presented
to the government.
Minister for
Education and Sport, Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo reminded lecturers of the
need for
intellectual regeneration as the physical infrastructure of the
university
continued to be improved and expanded. He said the government would
continue to
meet its obligation towards the universities and urged the authorities,
faculty
and non-academic staff, as well as students of UCC to complement the
government’s efforts by ensuring that the certificates from the
university
would have integrity to reclaim the confidence of the public.
The ceremony was graced with the presence of
many dignitaries, including Ambassadors of various countries in Ghana
and the
chief of the region.
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Gender and Institutional
Culture in Five African Universities
(GICAU) - Final Project Workshop, Cape Town, South Africa, March 28 –
29, 2006
The final
Workshop of the Gender and Institutional Culture in Five African
Universities (
GICAU) project held at the university of Cape Town, South Africa from
March 28
– 29, 2006. Those who were present at the meeting include: Prof. Amina
Mama
(African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town), Dr. Terri Barnes
(University of the Western Cape), Prof. Olusola Oyewole (Association of
African
Universities, Accra, Ghana), Dr. Charmaine Pereira, (Resource Person :
Abuja,
Nigeria), Prof. Abiola Odejide (Deputy-Vice-Chancellor, University of
Ibadan,
Nigeria), Prof. Rudo Gaidzanwa (University of Zimbabwe), Dr. Dzodzi
Tsikata
(University of Ghana. Accra, Ghana), Dr. Aminata Diaw (Cheikh Anta Diop
University), Ms. Zene Tadesse (Addis Ababa Univeristy)
and Dr. Rahel Bekel (Addis Ababa University)
The Workshop which was Chaired by
Prof. Amina
Mama, the Project Facilitator and Coordinator was organized to review
the
research findings on the GICAU project and contribute to the final
research
report. Five Major presentations were made ; one from each of the five
Universities that were focused in the project. Generally, the
presentations
were of high standards and various contributions were made towards the
improvements of the final reports. The Workshop was an opportunity for
the
participants to benefit from the contributions and opinions of each
other. The
project participants were highly committed to the project and they
showed
strong exuberance for the furtherance of the project beyond its current
level.
The project hopes to be able to disseminate the outcome of the project
by
publishing the results in a booklet which they hope could be launched
in each
of the participating Universities through AAU. In addition, the
participants
were encouraged to ensure that they publish their findings in
peer-reviewed
Journals and give appropriate acknowledgement to the support given by
AAU for
the project.
The project sets
out to document and gender analyze the institutional culture of
selected
African universities. A gendered approach to the university in Africa
will
treat the university as a key site at which the gendered social
relations ad
identities (masculinities and femininities, intellectual and
professional
identities) are produced, contested, and ultimately either perpetuated
or
transformed, in postcolonial national contexts which are in any case
undergoing
rapid social and political changes. It will also be attentive to the
fact that
African universities are situated in national contexts characterized by
gender
inequalities that are not easily theorized because they are always
simultaneously imbued with differences of class, ethnicity, religion,
rural/urban location, and sexuality. A methodology workshop, and
detailed in
the report of that event. A methodology and a Data Analysis Workshop
had earlier
been organized as part of this project.
- The project was designed to cover
the production of five institutional
case studies. These are A study of gendered decision-making practices
by
students, academics and faculty within the structures of faculty boards
at
Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
(Diaw).
- Studies of institutional change as
seen through several decades of the eyes of women graduates and staff,
at the
University of Ghana, Legon (Tsikata) and Addis Ababa University
(Tadesse).
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PUBLICATIONS
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ANNOUNCEMENTS / CALL FOR PAPERS
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The announcements that follow are
available at the CODESRIA website (www.codesria.org).
Applications
should be sent to specific web
addresses provided after each
announcement or to :
B.P. 3304, CP 18524
Dakar, SENEGAL
Tel. (221) 825 98 21/22/23
Fax : (221) 824 12 89
Sub-Regional
Methodological Workshops for Social Research in Africa 2006 Special
Session for
Nigeria
Theme: Fields and Theories
of Qualitative Research
Date: 24
- 28 July, 2006
Venue: Ibadan, Nigeria
Call for Applications
Applications must be
submitted by 31 May, 2006.
For full details, kindly
visit the website or send mail to:
methodological.workshop@codesria.sn
Child
And Youth Studies Programme: National Working
Groups
The deadline for sending the
research proposals is 31 July 2006.
The
outcome of the selection process will be made public by 31 August 2006.
For full details, kindly visit the website or
send
mail to:
child.youth@codesria.sn
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South
Africa Women in Science Awards
The Department of Science
and Technology introduced an exciting range of recognition awards to
honour
Women in Research and Science, Engineering and Technology in South
Africa in 2003, i.e. The Women in Science Awards.
<>The
call for these awards
for 2006 is now open and the closing date is 15 June
2006. The awards will be
presented at a ceremony on the 4th of August 2006 in Gauteng,
South
Africa.<>For further details kindly
send mail to: wisawards@dst.gov.za.
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IDRC Research on
Knowledge
Competition
This research competition is
being organized by IDRC as part of the Research on Knowledge
exploration under the newly
established “Innovation, Policy and Science” Program Area, which
supports the
development of science, technology and innovation policies to alleviate
poverty
in developing countries. This competition will support research to
better
understand the changing roles of universities in the South, and the
implications for developing country governments and research
institutions.
The
Research Competition
The overall objective of
this competition is to develop an ongoing “knowledge network” that can
advance
collective understanding of the “Changing Role of Universities in the
South.”
To build enduring partnerships, grantees will interact with each other
and with
UniDev throughout the research process. <http://developinguniversities.blogsome.com/>
The research competition
includes three different competitions (Regional, National, Graduate)
and is
open to researchers and research institutions throughout the developing
world.
Some recent thinking on the changing role of Southern universities is
available
on the RoKS website and should be consulted when developing proposals.
Objectives
and Research Themes
This competition invites
research proposals that address the following questions:
- What are the new forms of
universities in the South, what is driving
this change, and what does this change mean for universities in the
South?
- How should the role and impact
of university research in the South be
in order to meet its development potential?
- How should entrepreneurship and
academic research functions be linked?
The deadline for concept
note submission is June 16, 2006
(5:00pm
EST) for Regional and National Awards. Deadline for Graduate Awards'
applications is September 1, 2006. Submissions received after that date, or
which are incomplete,
will not be eligible for consideration. Concept notes that
are qualified through a peer review process will be asked to submit
full
proposals.
Information regarding the
status of your application, other than our confirmation of its receipt,
will
not be available. For more information and to download a complete
concept note
application kit, please click on:
http://www.idrc.ca/roks/ev-94514-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
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University of Botswana African
Conference on Primary/Basic Education
The Department of Primary
Education, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana is pleased to
announce
the African Conference on Basic/Primary Education: Achieving
Universal
Basic/Primary Education in 2015: Myth or Reality? holding from,
October 16
-19, 2006, in the University of Botswana, Gaborone.
Kindly visit the following
websites for details on the Conference:
Home <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/index.cfm?pid=197>
Introduction <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=198>
Call for Papers <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=200>
Submission of Papers
<http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=203>
Conference Programme
<http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=206>
Registration <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=202>
Location <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=199>
Accommodation <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=205>
Visa Problems <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=207>
Organising Committee
<http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=201>
Contacts <http://www.ub.bw/UBACPBE2006/secondary.cfm?pid=204>
UB home <http://www.ub.bw>
African Conference on
Primary/Basic Education 2006
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CALENDAR
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AAU Higher
Education Events
- AAU Executive
Board Meeting, 8th to
10th June, 2006, Harare, Zimbabwe.
- Revitalising
Higher Education in Africa:
Developing the AU Framework of Action for the Second Decade of
Education in
Africa, 5th to 8th June, 2006, Johannesburg,
South Africa
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Vision of AAU
The Vision of the Association of African Universities (AAU) is to
maintain the AAU as the representative voice of the African higher
education community both within and outside Africa.
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Mission of AAU
The Mission of the Association of African Universities (AAU) is to
raise the quality of higher education in Africa and strengthen its
contribution to African development by fostering collaboration among
its member institutions.
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AAU
e-Courier
AAU e-courier is a monthly information bulletin that is distributed
electronically to AAU members, partners and the African High Education
Community in order to keep them inform of the association's activities.
This Online monthly news is produced by the AAU Communication and
Services Department. For more information about the bulletin or to send
in your comments, please contact the editor, Dr Pascal Hoba:
Direct line: + 233- 21 761609; E-mail: phoba@aau.org
Web site: www.aau.org
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