terview Friday, July 29, 2022 EbEnEzEr11 bi with Senyonyi and Noll The Senyonyis and the Nolls rs speak about past, future of uCu s in the past 25 years evements at UCU in the nts during my tenure to be: n Uganda; 2) planning and s; and 3) keeping its focus and lay leaders for the church, in Uganda can compete university to be the university private universities, none has lt with me for best practices Something interesting happened one time and regarded my voice in the public square as their voice. Some of the public university Vice Chancellors also benchmarked with UCU. UCU has shown that a Christian university can produce graduates that the market prefers to others because of the added values and Christian ethos. Ironically, this also worked in the favor of staff members who sought job opportunities elsewhere. In fact, given the volatile environment in universities, UCU has shown that the Christian worldview gives stability to university education and students can enjoy the best atmosphere for study. UCU pioneered defining a ‘Christian university’ for Uganda. This is important because prior to the founding of UCU, no university was intentional about Christian faith matters, even those that were churchfounded. Now, all universities in Uganda founded by Christian churches or by Christians, have attempted to use UCU’s model, even to the detail of worship services. when students asked me to increase fees to put asphalt on the dusty roads. They had called for work on the roads. After sensitization of the Guild Leaders about the costs involved, computed as a cost for each student, the leaders suggested we do it. It is the only time students asked the University to increase fees! How would you describe the role and value of the Church of Uganda regarding UCU? Some voices say the Church should hand over UCU to government (to become government aided) to alleviate the challenge of increasing operational costs. What is your view? Noll: The founding of Uganda Christian University, along with Bishop Tucker College, is part of the sacred history of Church of Uganda. The Church through its House of Bishops upholds the Christian identity of UCU, and the Archbishop, as Chancellor, has the right of regular or special visitation. The Government is responsible to provide for the education of its citizens, which is why it reached out to private and religious bodies to take on the burden as the university population exploded. Just as Government partners with business and NGOs for the common good, so there are ways it can and should work with private universities. But for the Church of Uganda to hand over UCU to government control would be contrary to its Charter and its distinctive identity and would be a tragic mistake. Fact Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo (RIP) was the first Chancellor of Uganda Christian University. The UCU Chancellor is always the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda. To honour Nkoyoyo’s services to the university, UCU named its multipurpose hall after Church of Uganda’s sixth archbishop. Nkoyoyo died in January 2018. s of the recurrent budget. In due time, however, we used the undesirable and very limiting method of nominal increments on fees to the chagrin of our students, but they bore it stoically most of the time. It was a bigger challenge with financing infrastructure development. Throughout my 10 years as VC, we did not access external financing for infrastructure development. So, most of the time we used innovative ways to get by, cutting costs as necessary, cautious shopping and bank loans to build the infrastructure, but all the time mindful to use money for its intended purpose. Senyonyi: The Church of Uganda’s proprietorship of the University is vital for preservation and energizing of the original purpose and vision for founding the University. Whereas Church of Uganda involvement in the University is legally delineated, and maybe, restricted, the Church has been given latitude and forums through which this can be done. In particular, the Church should strengthen its advocacy for UCU to Government, to the Church organs and to the general public. The Church needs to lend its extensive credibility to UCU, to use its large and diverse membership and its public clout to advocate for legal frameworks that enable an environment supportive to the thriving of private education in Uganda. The Archbishop and all Church of Uganda leaders owe it to themselves to keep keen interest in what is going on at UCU. Handing over UCU from the Church to the government would be a mega-mistake for several reasons. People suggest this easy way due to financial hardships, but the University can find ways to survive through temporary hardships. First, I know of no Government aided university in Uganda, and there is no such arrangement in the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA); the Law exclusively provides for either a public or a private university. Government can only own the university. Secondly, Governments are incurably inefficient and insufferably bureaucratic. This would inevitably hinder innovative management ways for running the University. Thirdly, all assets of the University would now be vested with Government, not the Church of Uganda, including its precious historic structure and maybe, the archives of the Church of Uganda. Finally, and most importantly, a take-over would nullify the original vision of the Church, as is already happening with another university that Government is taking over. UCU would have to become a secular university under such an arrangement – it would become like the poorly run public universities we have in Uganda currently. Where do you want to see UCU in the next 25 years? Noll: I would hope that UCU will maintain (and deserve) its reputation as a centre of excellence and for providing a “complete education for a complete person.” As it matures, I would expect that UCU will continue to develop new programmes, research partnerships, and international networks. At the same time, I would hope that it can continue to provide a firm foundation for the undergraduate population in their personal, professional and spiritual lives. Senyonyi: UCU should be on the cutting edge in research within its fields of study. UCU should be producing graduates that are taking up leadership roles in all spheres in their countries – in politics, business, law, medicine, agriculture, engineering, and others. UCU should be a continent-wide first-class university mentioned among the top twenty or so in Africa, and routinely attracting students from across the continent.
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