Varsity Focus (Dec, 2010)

Abstract

We welcome you to our last issue of the 2010 edition of the Varsity Focus which brings you up to speed with some of the recent activities that have taken place at UoN in the last quarter, which we admit has been one of the busiest seasons of the year.

The University held its 43rd Graduation Ceremony which ushered in 4,473 graduates from the Colleges of: Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences; Architecture and Engineering; Biological and Physical Sciences; and Education and External Studies.

This congregation brought the number of UoN alumni to 117,531, and with the forthcoming 44th Congregation featuring the Colleges of Health Sciences and Humanities and Social Sciences, the number is expected to rise past the 120,000 mark.

To improve its research activities, the University increased its kitty by Kshs 938 million after receiving a five-year research grant from the United States Human Health Services Agencies which are partnering with PEPFAR to strengthen training at the College of Health Sciences among other institutions in Africa.

Another project which received a shot in the arm, is the revival of the Kibwezi Dryland project by the Israel government linked company, Hydro Eco Kenya limited, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the University to move the project to the next phase of implementation. With the implementation, the project is expected to operate at its 90s fame, when it reigned as a leading dryland project in the region offering research opportunities, practical learning and also served as a production unit.

In October 2010, we also admitted over 3,900 first year students mainly comprising of 2008 KCSE candidates who are government sponsored, to commence the 2010/11 Academic Year.

Still on the students front, the University, jointly with donors, organized a colourful prize giving ceremony to award 198 best students of the 2005/06 and 2006/07 academic years, while the Mitsubishi Corporation continued with its annual scholarship programme, providing nine students from the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies with scholarships.

Our outreach efforts are well articulated by our female students who organized a one day free breast and cervical cancer medical clinic.

Our position as the ultimate institution of choice for intellectual discourse remain unchallenged, only recently the UN through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Global Human Development Report in a colourful ceremony at the Multipurpose Hall (8.4.4) in a parallel event that was also held at New York and Rome.

This was followed by another key event with the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, who interacted with academia and students in a live television debate on the thorny issue of ethnicity in the country.

The edition also features the valedictorian of the last graduation ceremony: Linda Nkatha, a graduate of architecture who emerged the best overall undergraduate student – Linda has since been absorbed as a tutorial fellow, a talent scouting programme in the Department of Architecture and Building Science. Still on profiles, we have highlighted Prof. Isaac Macharia, an ENT, Specialist from the Department of Surgery for his outstanding accomplishments as a scholar and his contributions to society particularly in his area of specialization.

These and more stories comprise our last edition of 2010 Varsity Focus which we hope is quite informative and an interesting read for all of us. We also take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy 2011.

- Charles E. Sikulu -