Vice-Chancellors Speech (24th graduation)

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Vice-Chancellors Speech (24th graduation)

SPEECH

 BY

PROF. DEOGRATIUS JAGANYI

VICE-CHANCELLOR

 DURING THE

MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY 24TH GRADUATION CEREMONY

 GRADUATION THEME: THE ROLE OF HIGER EDUCATION IN DRIVING SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRY FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC EQUITY THROUGH LINKAGES

 ON

 FRIDAY, 8TH DECEMBER, 2023

 AT

MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY HAPPY VALLEY GROUNDS, THIKA

 

  • Salutation
  • The Chancellor, Prof. John Struthers,
  • The Chief Guest, Juma Mukhwana, PhD, HSC, Principal Secretary, State Department for Industry, Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry,
  • Members of the University Board of Directors,
  • Chairman, University Council, Dr. Vincent Gaitho,
  • Members of the University Council,
  • Members of the University Management Board and Senate,
  • Distinguished Guests,
  • Mount Kenya University Staff,
  • Parents and Guardians,
  • Graduands and Students,
  • Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

  • Preliminary Remarks

I take this opportunity to welcome you all to the 24th Graduation Ceremony of Mount Kenya University (MKU). As I congratulate all the Five Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Three (5,763) graduands for completing their studies successfully, I acknowledge with gratitude the support accorded to the graduands by parents, guardians, sponsors and staff among others during their studies. Ahsanteni sana!

Mr. Chancellor Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, today, we are graduating Five Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Three (5,763) graduands who we are celebrating their academic achievement. Out of these graduands; three thousand, four hundred and twenty-nine (3,429) are Male, while two thousand, three hundred and thirty-four (2,334) are female. All these graduands have fulfilled all the academic programme requirements for conferment of various degrees and award of various diplomas and certificates as follows:

  1. Nineteen (19) Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degrees.
  2. Five Hundred and Thirty-One (531) Masters Degrees.
  3. One Hundred and Thirteen (113) Postgraduate Diplomas.
  4. Three Thousand, Six Hundred and Seventy (3,670) Bachelor’s Degrees.
  5. One Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Seven (1,177) Diplomas, and
  6. Two Hundred and Sixty-Three (263) Certificates.
  • Student Matters

 Student Enrolment

The University has remained resilient and has continued to strive in enrolling students for various academic programmes. In the current semester/trimester of September-December 2023, the University registered a total of 58,588 students. This is the highest student enrolment that the University has ever had, a clear testimony that MKU has over the years established its niche and maintained quality education.  

 

  • Student Co-curricular Activities

MKU students continue to participate and excel in co-curricular activities.  Students participated in following events:

  • 2023 Kenya National Music Festivals where MKU students presented 41 items. 19 items won first position and finally 3 items were performed up to the finals and the statehouse gala. Among them, MKU’s play titled “Roses of Blood” was selected for presentation in the Kenya International Theatre Festival in November 2023 at the Kenya National Theatre.
  • Nurturing our student leaders by exposing them beyond our borders; MKUSA Chairpersons attended the African Leadership Forum held in October 2023 in Entebbe Uganda. Thereafter, the student leaders visited Ugandan Parliament in the Ugandan State House in Entebbe.
  • Engaging in exchange programs; sixteen (16) medical students from Spain, Poland, Italy and France visited the University in August. This offered great opportunities for our students to learn and interact with them at a professional level.
  • Students Enabled Differently participated in co-curricular activities. Eleven (11) visually impaired students participated in a charity event of climbing Mt. Longonot; this event was organized by the Kenya Society for the Blind. A group of twenty-nine (29) students also participated in the Uhai Festival 2023 that were held in Chuka University in November, 2023.
  • Celebrating our culture, heritage and diversity; MKU celebrated culture week in November. The motto for this year was ‘Celebrating Our Rich Cultural Heritage and Diversity’. During the week, there were presentations through music, drama, poetry, cultural and modern dances and modelling among others.
  • Empowering our students spiritually through various programmes; Our religious groups have continued to participate in various activities. These include mission work to various communities, in Kisumu, Makueni, Mombasa, Kiambu among others. Our Muslim fraternity held a Grand Daawa Conference in November 2023 where great teachers and speakers from the region attended.

 

  • Academic Programmes

In order to align the University curricula to the emerging trends and address the market demands, the University Senate has supported three new curricula namely; Master of Pharmacy in Cosmetic Technology, Master of Pharmacy in Industrial Pharmacy, and Master of Science in Industrial Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine.

Further, to establish suitability, relevance and to make MKU programmes cost-effective in the era of technology integration, the University has continued to progressively upgrade its e-content modules into SCORM files digital content, which is self-paced with voice over.   The University has continued to upgrade the E-learning platforms and the student management information systems to support real-time Integration with Microsoft Teams to enhance blended learning. This improves students, teachers experience on the digital platforms, content delivery and quality of teaching.

Additionally, the University endeavors to support and strengthen postgraduate training.  Consequently, a new roadmap for postgraduate training has been implemented that will guarantee timely completion of postgraduate students.  The Postgraduate Center in Nairobi Campus has been enhanced to support postgraduate students.

  • Research, Innovation, and Community Engagement

Mount Kenya University has continued to implement her strategy on research, innovation and community engagement. Some of the highlights include;

  • Research and Innovation

The University held its first inaugural Research, Innovation & Digital Agri-Expo 2023 in November, 2023. This event endeavored to share research and innovation outputs with communities and industry partners.  The event attracted more than 20 industry exhibitors. During the event, the top 3 student innovations were awarded cash awards to enable them improve on their innovation in preparation for commercialization phase.

The University is currently market testing one of its pioneer “WEMA” black soap product. This is a product that is envisioned to promote the use of locally available resources while creating opportunities for researchers to continuously innovate on the diverse products of indigenous trees. Towards achieving this, the University is strengthening the growing of more herbal based trees in its botanic garden at Happy Valley in Thika. This is a venture that is currently leveraging on partnership with environmental champions in growing more trees and harnessing them for innovative and research-led products.

Other research-based activities and milestones worth noting include: Vice-Chancellor’s Research and Innovation Grant of Kshs. 1,518,500 given to the members of staff in September 2023; the ongoing Seven (7) National Research Fund (NRF) funded projects and the four (4) NRF-funded Ph.D students projects.

  • Community Engagement

In respect to community engagement, MKU is currently working with Partners for Care (PFC) to carry out research on waterborne disease prevalence in Kenya so as to support PFC’s initiative of distributing WaterSafe containers to all primary and secondary schools’ classrooms.

  • Workshops

As part of its mandate to promote research activities, MKU hosted a four-day research agenda workshop under the auspices of “Award of Applied Research and Teaching for Sustainable Development in Africa” in November, 2023. The workshop was jointly funded by DAAD and MKU.  The delegates interrogated topics on; sustainable development, climate and environment dynamics, social protection, innovation, entrepreneurship and micro-financing Sub-Sahara Africa.

  • Staff Welfare

A health workforce is key to staff performance. The University has strengthened the Staff Fitness Centre and various staff wellness initiatives.   The University has also enhanced staff contractual period, medical cover and management of staff provident fund. All these are geared towards improving the welfare of staff.

  • Quality Assurance

The strength of an institution is the ability to maintain quality management standards that lead to significant achievements. At the beginning of the year 2023, the University put perspective strategies of enhancing quality of services throughout the year and this has been achieved. These include; audits, compliance checks, monitoring and evaluation in various processes; all in an effort to enhance the effectiveness of the Quality Management System to ensure institutional compliance in all aspects and customer satisfaction.

Pursuant to compliance with the Commission for University Education quality standards, the University has continued to position itself as a premier institution of higher education. Recently, the Commission inspected Embu, Machakos and Malindi Regional ODEL Centres and the Centres have complied with the CUE standards threshold.

 

  • Conclusion

 Finally, I thank the University Board of Directors, Council and Senate for the great support towards achieving the University mission. To the graduands, congratulations once again on your outstanding accomplishment.  I conclude with the words of Dwayne Johnson,

“Success is not overnight; it is when every day you get a little better than the day before.  It all adds up”. 

 I am sure through your studies at MKU, you have become better persons. You have succeeded and this is the reason we are all here today to celebrate you. I wish you success in your careers.

Thank you and God bless you.

 

I WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR, 2024

 

Prof. Deogratius JAGANYI

VICE-CHANCELLOR

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