Proceedings of the General Assembly held in Mwanza, Tanzania in April 2010

The President of ACUHIAM, Prof John C. Maviiri is happy to inform you that the ACUHIAM General Assembly will be held from 26th to 30th April 2010 at St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwanza, Tanzania.

As usual, you are expected to attend plus one researcher of your institution.

ACUHIAM Secretariat will bear the cost of the meeting, but you are to provide your own transportation and also pay for your board and room.

The theme of the Assembly is: Education System for Peace. This was recommended as a follow-up of the ACUHIAM Conference on Justice, Peace and Reconciliation which was successfully held in June/July 2009 in Nairobi.

Please note the dates of the General Assembly 26th – 30th April 2010 inclusive.

Further details concerning the General Assembly will be communicated in due course. But if you seek some clarifications and ideas, please contact the ACUHIAM Secretariat on acuhiamsecretariat@hotmail.co.uk, linkages@cuea.edu, acuhiam@cuea.edu

Among the invitees to the ACUHIAM General Assembly will be:

Please note that the Prof John C. Maviiri is at the end of his term as President of ACUHIAM. You are all invited to come and vote for the new President of the Association.
Also, during the General Assembly, there we will be other activities, these include:

Kindly confirm your participation, fill in Registration Form and return it to the Secretariat as soon as possible to help us finalize the programme.

GENERAL ASSEMBLEE 2008

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
Prof John C. Maviiri

ACUHIAM GENERAL ASSEMBLY
BUKAVU – D.R. CONGO, 29 APRIL – 3 MAY 2008

First and foremost I would like to thank the members of ACUHIAM for having elected me as their president in absentia. It was a pleasant surprise for me. When I was informed of your decision, I took it with the seriousness that you had expressed. I knew that a lot of dedication was required.

Since I took over the leadership of ACUHIAM in May 2006, a lot of activities have taken place. I am particularly grateful to those Rectors and Presidents of ACUHIAM who encouraged me to do what it takes to revive ACUHIAM when we met at the General Assembly of IFCU in Bangkok, 2006. In that meeting, they encouraged me to call for a workshop to draw the way forward for ACUHIAM. This workshop was held in Nairobi, November 2006. It was an eye opener able to see the many possibilities that our association has in the area of collaboration and linkages. The report of that workshop is being proposed for you to adopt and to take appropriate action.

I would like to acknowledge the good work that my predecessor Prof. Oscar Eone Eone did for the association. In particular, I am happy to inform you that we had a smooth hand over in Bangkok. I learnt a lot about ACUHIAM from him.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to both IFCU and Missio Aachen for their generous contributions that have enabled us to carry on with our activities. We used their funds for the improvement of ACUHIAM and advancement of its projects.

1. Activities of the President and the Secretariat

The President called for an ACUHIAM workshop on November 9, 2006 for the purpose of mapping the way forward for the association. In that workshop a Scientific Committee was established to help the President in steering the activities of the association. In the same workshop, it was agreed that every university or institute member of ACUHIAM will have one contact person whose duty will be to link his/her respective institute with the ACUHIAM Secretariat.

The President attended two IFCU Board meetings in France March 2007 and in the USA, March 2008. In those meetings he learnt a lot on how ACUHIAM members could benefit as active members of IFCU as well.

2. Engagement of the Scientific Committee

The establishment of the Scientific Committee was one of the successes of the association. The Scientific Committee held two meetings in Nairobi on 22 February 2007 and 8 November 2007 respectively. In these two meetings the Scientific Committee was able to come up with different projects which should be ongoing. It was also instrumental in organising this General Assembly.

3. Communication Success

After taking the Presidency of ACUHIAM, I established a Secretariat at my home University in Nairobi. I appointed Dr Peter Gichure as the Secretary. The Secretariat has worked very well and efficiently. The ACUHIAM Secretary has a fully functional office. This has made our work light. We have a secretary in the office who is bilingual and this has enabled us to communicate to all members and to translate all documents in the two languages of French and English. Most of the activities of ACUHIAM Secretariat have been sponsored by the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). We are most grateful for this contribution. We have no salaries to pay, neither do we have to pay rent for the office space we are using. All these are catered for by CUEA!

In the course of these two years we have been able to come up with a draft on Quality Assurance prepared by Sr. Bandiho.

We are also proud to have launched the Nairobi Declaration at the end of the workshop of November 2006. I am confident that this General Assembly will adopt this declaration.

We have also designed an ACUHIAM website which requires content of updated information from our member Universities and institutions. We acknowledge the efforts of Prof. Kanyandago who made this a reality.

We have also embarked on establishing the ACUHIAM Journal. It is my hope that members will contribute to this journal so that we can share ideas that will challenge us in our universities. We thank Prof. Ndumba for the effort he has made to edit the journal.

4. Challenges

a) I note with concern that communications continues to be the biggest problem among ACUHIAM members. Some members do not bother to respond to emails, letters, faxes or telephone calls. Our Secretariat has incurred a lot of expenses trying to persuade members to respond.

b) There is no active engagement among members, e.g. research, staff development, and exchange staff/students. We need to do more in this area. This is what will make us visible in the challenging world of higher education today.

c) Finances to run the Association continue to present a lot of challenges. Annual membership fee payment is the responsibility of each institution. Without these payments our association will continue to be crippled.

5. Way Forward

a) As a way forward, I ask you to adopt and take action on the Nairobi declaration and the resolutions that we shall make in this General Assembly.

b) I encourage you to embark on our project of research. A proposal for research has been made with some principles to guide us in doing research: Catholic, Pragmatic, Practicaland African.

Let us consider seriously the themes for research which were identified by our Scientific Committee as:

c) Last but not least, I appeal to the members to pay their annual contributions promptly within the calendar year. This will help the secretariat to give you a better service.

QUALITY OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN SOCIETIES

THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE OF ACUHIAM

PRESENTED BY
SISTER HELLEN A. BANDIHO – COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON

I am honored to speak to the ACUHIAM representatives today as a chairperson of the Scientific Committee---a committee that was recommended during our last assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. During that assembly, we agreed to create a Scientific Committee comprising of 4 members …Two from English speaking universities and the other two from French speakers. I am honored to introduce to you the Scientific Committee members.

For French speakers we have:
Prof. Eloi Messi Metogo – Catholic University of Central Africa
Prof Georges Ndumba - Catholic Faculties of Kinshasa

For English speakers, we have:
Prof. Peter Kanyandago - Uganda Martyrs University
Sr. Dr. Hellen Bandiho – St Augustine University of Tanzania
During our first meeting which took place at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), this committee gave themselves the following responsibilities:
Sr. Dr. Hellen Bandiho – St Augustine University of Tanzania  - Quality assurance
Prof. Peter Kanyandago - Uganda Martyrs University – ACUHIAM Website design and Academic linkages
Prof. Eloi Messi Metogo – Catholic University of Central Africa – Research initiatives
Prof Georges Ndumba - Catholic Faculties of Kinshasa ACUHIAM Journal   
All these initiatives aim at Quality Assurance which is Catholic oriented and relevant to our society; a theme for this assembly.

 ACHIEVEMENTS
What we have achieved so far:

A theme for this Assembly was chosen by the President, the Secretary of ACUHIAM together with members of the Scientific Committee. We believe that Quality of the education we offer is a topic that is timely, relevant and significant for the growth of our Catholic universities whether we are in the formation stage or well established. We cannot overemphasize the importance of quality at a University level. It is a life long journey.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY QUALITY
The Catholic secular higher education is relatively new. Therefore, these Universities are in the process of learning, transforming and creating their identities. In the midst of turbulences and the environment in which they operate, quality education becomes the backbone for their survival. Catholic University in Africa will only be attractive and persuasive by their truthfulness of their mission as Catholic Institutions of Higher Learning.

In his paper that appears in our first Journal, Rev. Prof. R. White of St. Augustine University of Tanzania describes a Catholic university as follows:

That the Catholic university places emphasis on professional excellence at the service of the common good not individualistic capitalistic competition for wealth-accumulation and respects the dignity of the human person over using persons as instruments for amassing power.

The Catholic university emphasizes research which is not publication for promotion but which is effectively applied to solve the problems of our communities, especially the problems of poverty and oppression. 

Catholic universities are distinctive in the dedication to the personal growth of the students.  The teaching seeks to awaken in every student a sense of personal lifetime vocation in society, and the university provides a community life in which the many talents of students can be developed.
If these principles are not adhered to, my dear brothers and sisters, we might as well become public universities. Quality is not just graduating many students from our Universities or getting educational awards. As representatives of African Catholic universities, we are invited to create universities whose quality is also grounded in Catholic values. Our teaching should help students to aspire for good governance, respect, human rights, and fight against all forms of corruption. Our education should promote justice, protect the environment and help to eradicate poverty.

My dear brothers and sisters, yes, quality may bear unique meanings to each university but in all these universities, the signs of Catholicity should be tangible, convincing and alive.

I invite you to work in your respective groups so that in the end we may come up with concrete ways that will take us beyond Theoretical Quality to Active Quality.

THANK YOU!

(Dr. Charles Kitima contacted donors to assist ACUHIAM in Quality Assurance. He is still working on soliciting funds. He invited all universities to participate in this project. More info as we proceed with the project)

Our workgroups will be facilitated by:

Prof. Georges Ndumba
This group will work on Quality and the Catholic Identity

Prof. Peter Kanyandago
Quality and Prevention of Poverty

Prof. Dr Jean Bosco Matand
Quality, Good Governance and Human Rights