enhancing research, publications and innovation in upcoming african universities by mouhamad...
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Enhancing Research, Publications and Innovation in Upcoming African Universities
by
Mouhamad Mpezamihigo, PhD &
Wardah Rajab-Gyagenda, PhD
A paper presented to the 5th Biennial INORMS 2014 Congress held between 10th and 13th April 2014 at the Hilton Hotel,
Washington DC, USA
2www.iuiu.ac.ug
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
BACKGROUND
EAST AFRICAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICS
THE STUDY
SUMMARIZED SURVEY DATA
MAJOR CHALLENGES
MAJOR CONCLUSIONS
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BACKGROUND
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BACKGROUND Over 10 years, student enrollment in Ugandan higher education
expanded by 10% and university licensing by 30%.
More public and private tertiary institutions have been started.
In 1988 IUIU pioneered private higher education in Uganda. In the past 25 years it focused largely on teaching, learning and staff development.
By 2013, 34 new universities were established in Uganda and several in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi (the East African Federation/Community).
Each country in the East African Federation has a national regulatory Agency that accredits both academic programmes and institutions.
Many of the upcoming universities have recently established research offices/departments, and are engaged in limited research activities.
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LOCATION OF EA IN THE CONTINENT
MAP OF EAST AFRICA
Source: maps-africa.blogspot.com, 8/4/2014
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Higher education is seen as an instrument that develops individuals, society and national economies.
Emerging policy changes that allow regulation of Universities and Tertiary Institutions include:
a. Act 2001 as amended- for Uganda;
b. Universities Act, No. 42 of 2012 as the successor to the Commission for Higher Education which was established under Universities Act Cap 210B of 1985 for Kenya;
c. Universities Act (Chapter 346 of the Laws of Tanzania) for Tanzania;
Public institutions can not absorb all the qualified students in the region nor can government afford to finance them (M. Mpezamihigo, 2012).
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EMERGENCE OF HE IN EA COUNTRIES
EAST AFRICAN UNIVERSITY STATS
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CATEGORY % INCREASE
RANK
Business colleges 31.6 1
Management and Social Development 13.2 2
Theological Institutes 13.2 2
Affiliated Colleges 10.5 4
Universities 7.9 5
Health Colleges 7.9 5
Art and Design 7.9 5
Non-University Degree Award 5.3 8
Technical Colleges 2.6 9
Hotel/Tourism Institutes 2.6 9
Study Centres 2.6 9
TABLE 1
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RANKING OF UGANDA HE EXPANSION BY CATEGORY (2006-2010)-Analysis
TABLE 2
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RANKING OF UGANDA HE EXPANSION BY CATEGORY (2006-2010)-Cont.…
CATEGORY % INCREASE RANK
Petroleum Institute 2.6 9
Research Centre 2.6 9
Media Institutes 0.0 14
Law development Centre 0.0 14
Aviation Colleges 0.0 14
Meteorology 0.0 14
Cooperative Colleges -2.6 18
Agricultural Colleges -2.6 18
Teachers Colleges -5.3 20
TABLE 3
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STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN UGANDAN HE
CATEGORY
2006 2010 NET INCREAS
E
% INCREASE (5 YEARS)
ANNUAL %INCREASE
University 92,605 (67.5%)
130,242 (70.8)
37,637 40.6 8.1
Others 44,585 (32.5)
53,743 (29.2)
9,158 20.5 4.1
Total 137,190 183,985 46,795 34.1 6.8
Universities in Uganda are currently offering more than 2000 Academic Programmes - (danger of duplications)
Source: NCHE - 2006 and 2010 State of Higher Education in Uganda publications. Adopted from M. Mpezamihigo (2012).
KENYA UNIVERSITIES STATISTICS BY JUNE 2013
22 Public universities
9 Public University Constituent Colleges
17 Chartered Private Universities
5 Private University Constituent Colleges
12 Private Universities with Letter of Interim Authority
2 Registered Private Universities
Source: www.cue.or.ke (April, 2014)
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TANZANIA UNIVERSITIES STATISTICS
BY APRIL 2014
11 Public universities
4 Public University Constituent Colleges
17 Private Universities
15 Private University Constituent Colleges
3 Centers for Public Universities
11Centers for Private Universities
Source: www.tcu.go.tz (April, 2014)
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THE STUDY
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THE RESEARCH SCOPE This paper explores steps taken by East African universities to
establish the following:a. Research offices/departments, b. Research publication and innovation agenda, as well as c. Efforts to mobilize research funding.
The paper also highlights challenges these universities face in:a. Enhancing research, publication and innovation strategies, b. Building viable infrastructure, c. The highly competitive and global world of research grants, d. Funding faculty and student research, as well as e. Supporting faculty professional development
33 universities were surveyed, largely Ugandan based
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THE SURVEY
Questionnaires were designed and pre-tested.
Preliminary data were collected from 33 universities.
Data were processed and analyzed to provide the basis of this paper presentation.
There was limited time to cover the entire East African region.
There is plan to collect additional data.
The study is ongoing
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SUMMARISED SURVEY DATA
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TABLE 4 UNIVERSITY NAME COUNTRY PUBLIC (PU) / PRIVATE (PR)Bugema University Ug PrBusitema University Ug PrBusoga University Ug PrEcole Normale Superiore (ENS) Br PrInternational Health Sciences University Ug PrIslamic University in Uganda Ug PrKampala International University Ug PrKampala University Ug PrKumi University Ug PrKyambogo University Ug PuLivingstone International University Ug PrMasinde Muliro University of Science and Technology Ke PuMbarara University of Science and Technology Ug PuMorogoro University Tz PrMountains of the Moon University Ug PrMutesa I Royal University Ug PrNdejje University Ug PrNkumba University Ug PrSt. Lawrence University Ug PrThe International University of East Africa Ug PrUganda Christian University Ug PrUganda Martyrs University Ug PrUnited States International University Ke PrUniversity of Burundi Br PuUniversity of Nairobi Ke PuVictoria University Ug PrKey: Ug-Uganda; Ke- Kenya; Tz-Tanzania; Br-Burundi 33
81.8% Ugandan18.8% Other East African Countries
75.8% Private24.2% Public
84.9% Established after 1990 (inclusive)
15.1% Established before 1990
Gender Frequency PercentMale 18 54.5Female 14 42.4Missing 1 3.0Total 33 100
Qualification Frequency PercentBachelors 3 9.1Masters 20 60.6PhD 10 30.3Total 33 100.0
TABLE 5
TABLE 6
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SOME DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
FIGURE 1
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RESEARCH OFFICE, UNIT, DEPARTMENT OR DIRECTORATE
55% have a research Directorate
30% have a research unit
24% have a research department
The study could not establish other details of unit, department or directorate
FIGURE 2
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RESEARCH AGENDA, POLICY AND PUBLICATIONS PER YEAR
Research Agenda Frequency PercentYes 28 84.8No 5 15.2Total 33 100.0
Research Policy Frequency Percent
Yes 24 72.7 No 8 24.2 Missing 1 3.0 Total 33 100.0
Required Articles to be published per year per academic or research staff Frequency Percent1-2 articles 15 45.45
3-4 articles 3 9.0
More than 4 articles
3 9.0
Missing 12 36.36Total 33 100.0
Articles published per year Frequency Percent1-3 publications 16 48.48
4-6 publications 3 9.0
10 publications and above
4 12.12
Missing 10 30.30
Total 33 100
TABLE 7 TABLE 8
TABLE 9 TABLE 10
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RESEARCH BUDGET ALLOCATIONS
Budget Vote Frequency PercentYes 28 84.8No 4 12.1Missing 1 3.0
Total 33 100.0
TABLE 11FIGURE 3
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SOURCES OF RESEARCH FUNDSFIGURE 4
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MAIN RESEARCH COLLABORATORSFIGURE 5
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UNIVERSITY RESEARCH WEB-BASED PORTALS
Only 30% of the universities surveyed had their research related information uploaded on the university official website.
Even those that uploaded the information, most of it was scanty.
Lack of information on the website did not mean that no research, publications and innovations are taking place but that very few if any outside the university settings are aware of what is going on.
Recent (March 2014) universities exhibitions of universities and other tertiary institutions held in Kampala Uganda and organized by the National Council for Higher Education indicated that a lot is going on in the different universities but is not publicized.
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MAJOR CHALLENGES
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HE THE EAST AFRICAN REGION AND ITS CHALLENGES
Governance: Failure to separate ownership from University management.
Staff Capacity: Many lack senior staff to champion research and mentor
young and upcoming scholars.
More teaching: Lecturers carrying a lot of load and therefore do less of
research and community out reach programmes.
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Partnerships: Lack of industry-university partnerships
Less Research: Generating less of new knowledge and providing
solutions and striving to remain relevant.
Facilities: Lack of modern facilities such as research labs,
libraries, student centres, sports grounds etc
Infrastructure: Poor ICT Infrastructure and intermittent bandwidth
and therefore low use of ICTs in teaching, research and community out-reach
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HE CHALLENGES Cont.…
UNIVERSITY FINANCING-CRITICAL FACTOR
Majority (90% or above) depend on tuition collections for their recurrent budgets and less is allocated for research activities
No university can charge unit cost for courses it offers, not even for the non-laboratory based or field intensive academic programmes.
Frugal financial management is one of the greatest requirements for successful provision of private university education.
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FUNDING SOURCE DIVERSIFICATION
University own corporations,
Tuition fees (should not exceed 40% )
External research grants (great potential exists)
Commercial and consultancy activities
Establishing endowments
Donations from Alumni and other philanthropists (remains untapped in African universities)
Government subventions and tax waivers (difficult to achieve)
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MAJOR CONCLUSIONS
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CONCLUSIONS Teaching Focused:
Most of the Upcoming Ugandan Universities are mainly teaching and doing less of research due to several factors such as lack of adequate resources, teaching overloads, and issues affecting the general administration of universities.
Locally Funded: Majority of universities obtain research funds mainly from internally generated
resources, which are competed for by other activities like recurrent budgets and capital development.
New Institutions: Many of the universities surveyed are still young and lack senior staff to mentor
the young scholars into rigorous research, publications and innovation.
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CONCLUSIONS Cont.…
Low Publications: Although majority indicated having established research offices, the
publications output is still at its lowest.
Internal Collaborations: Most of the collaborations are done internally within the university, thereby
missing out on opportunities external to the home institutions.
Web-Postings: Most of the universities do not post research information on their websites,
which limits the visibility of the institution to the outside world.
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RESEARCH PENDING IN THIS STUDY
Additional data on Publications and innovations
Rolling out to universities outside Uganda in order to complete the original objective of the paper.
Comparing the same in other African regions (West Africa, North Africa and Southern Africa)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT INORMS 2014 organizing Team and SRA International for
accepting our abstract and presentation.
Research team: Dr. Wardah Rajab-Gyagenda Sharif Waliggo Yusuf Kaweesi Dr. Musa Matovu
Mrs. Amaal Kinene of Kampala University who facilitated the distribution of questionnaires to different Universities in Uganda.
Islamic University in Uganda who financed my trip to INORMS 2014.
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