Vice Chancellors Monthly Message, 31 August 2014 A message from the Vice Chancellor Dear Colleagues, This message comes from a background of reflection. As a University with a large staff community, it may not be feasible to interact with you all in each month. I believe this monthly message will help to bridge the gap in our interface. As we strengthen our IT infrastructure, I hope that we will in the near future be able to hold regular interactive meetings through webinar. I am writing this month’s message at a time when we will soon be holding yet another University of Zambia graduation ceremony. As always, this will be a wonderful occasion for students and their families and indeed for the academic staff. It was the intention of management to hold this year’s graduation ceremony under the banner of the rebranded graduation attire. However, this initiative has been put forward to the 2015 graduation in order to allow for adequate planning of the logistics and procurement processes. The 2014 academic year opens its doors to new first year and returning students on 21 and 28 September respectively. Our new student numbers have increased. This follows selection from both the 2012 and 2013 batch of school leavers. Our short term intervention to provide additional teaching space has led to the conversion of the New Dining Hall into a lecture hall. In the long term, the teaching and learning infrastructure challenge will be resolved through the impending construction of a multipurpose teaching and learning centre. I am also delighted to mention that the construction of a lecture theatre, computer lab and offices for the Department of population studies has begun. I commend the School of Humanities and Social Sciences for realizing this project to its conclusion. We shall enter into the coming academic year with a new degree programme in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; a major in business studies. This programme marks a major step forward to roll out Business Education at the University of Zambia which will culminate in the school of business by the end of 2014. I am delighted to mention that in the coming month, we will be collecting recyclable waste paper for resale. The Chairman – Keep UNZA Clean is expected to spearhead a culture shift by our cleaning agents, to package all waste paper in designated bags and provide a central depot for its collection by the buyers. This initiative should help in mopping out waste paper that is causing environmental concerns at the Goma fields and other locations on campus as well as raise money. I urge every member of the University Community to support this standing initiative. In the period 8 to 10 September 2014, eighty (80) of our staff will be participating in a training workshop at Radisson Blu on the Road to Excellence . Our collaborating partners from Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) have gladly agreed to train our staff jointly with participants from the corporate sector. I urge my colleagues who will be privileged to take part in this workshop to join me beyond this training, to be campus agents of change. Together, we will make a big impact in driving success at the University of Zambia. I will be in Europe to attend a closure meeting of the NICHE Project with the other two Vice Chancellors of the Public Universities from 6 to 14 September 2014. I will then proceed to have two board meetings back to back from 15 to 24 September 2014. I will be on leave from 29 September to 1 December 2014. Best wishes. Prof Stephen Simukanga VICE CHANCELLOR
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 05:59:07 +0000
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