News Flash January 2016

7/24/2019 News Flash January 2016

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The number of recipients of Honorary Doctoratesof the Open University of Tanzania has increasedafter conferment of honorary doctorates to two more

distinguished persons during the 30th graduationceremony that was held on 21st January in Dar es Salaam.

The former President of Tanzania HE. Dr. JakayaMrisho Kikwete was conferred the Doctor of Lettersin International Cooperation and Development inrecognition of his signicant contributions to socialeconomic development and regional peace. The fteenthPresident of the Chosun University in South Korea Prof.Chae-Hong Suh was conferred a Doctor of Sciencein recognition of his contributions to development inscience and technology, both locally and internationally.

The chairman of the OUT Council Prof. Samwel Wangwecongratulated the two recipients of the HonoursDoctorates on behalf of the OUT community, tellingthem that the University community is looking forwardto continue receiving their contributions in order to

promote national development and prosperity andcontinue to share common objective of using open anddistance learning in promoting quality and affordable

quality education for sustainable development.

During the ceremony, three candidates were awardedtheir PhDs, twenty received their Masters degrees andothers received their bachelors, diplomas and certicates,making a total of 69 graduands.

In the past, OUT conferred Honorary Doctorates toseven other distinguished individuals, including the lateMwalimu J.K. Nyerere; the late Nelson Mandela; HE.Ali Hassan Mwinyi the second President of Tanzania;HE Benjamin Mkapa the third President of Tanzania;Dr. Koichira Mastuura Director General UNESCO; Dr.Jane Goodall an anthropologist and a UN Messenger ofPeace, and Prof. David Mellor Chairperson of the UKTelecommunications Academy. The number of OUThonorary doctorates since its establishment in 1992 hasnow reaches nine.

The OUT Chancellor Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro conferring a Honorary Doctorate to HE Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete during the 30 thOUT

graduation Ceremony, Kinondoni Regional Centre grounds, 21stJanuary 2016


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The Open University ConsultancyBureau (OCB) conducted aworkshop to build capacity ofacademic staff on how to competitivelybid for consultancy services. The twodays workshop was opened by theVice Chancellor Prof. Elifas Bisandaon Friday 15th December 2016 at theODL Tower conference hall.

Giving his remarks, the ViceChancellor insisted on the importanceof such training for the staff;Consultants are not born; they aremade by equipping them with theright knowledge and skills. We hopethat this workshop will provide theparticipants with added skills for

them to be able to bid for and winconsultants in their areas of expertisesaid Prof. Bisanda.

The workshop was facilitated by Prof.Ninatubu Lema from the Bureau

OCB conducts capacity buildingworkshop for Academic Staff

The OCB Director Dr. Emmanuel Mallya

addressing the workshop participants.

ODL Tower, 15thJanuary 2016.

for Industrial Cooperation (BICO)of the University of Dar es Salaam,a mogul in the area of consultancyservices who is also the Chairpersonof the OCB Board and Dr. WilliamPallangyo, former Head of the OCB.

The Director of OCB Dr. EmmanuelMallya took the opportunity to explainthe roles and responsibilities ofacademic staff regarding consultancyservices at the University, insistingon the importance of registeringall their assignments. OCB wasestablished in 2008 with the objectivesof streamlining and coordinatingconsultancies and contractedresearch at the University. Up to

the moment, OCB has signed MoUswith several institutions to teamup and collaborate in consultancyservices, and through these effortshas generated a substantial income tothe University

Twenty two academic staff fromthe ve Faculties and two Institutesparticipated in the workshop, and

were trained on different aspects ofconsultancy bidding, including howto professionally prepare differentdocuments that are required inbidding for consulting services suchas the Expression of Interest.

FASS conducts workshop for Food Processing IndustryThe Faculty of Arts and SocialSciences (FASS) in collaboration withthe Small Industries DevelopmentOrganization (SIDO) organized a

one-day workshop on innovationactivities in food processing industry.The workshop took place on 22ndJanuary, 2016 at the ODL Towerconference hall and was coordinatedby the Faculty Dean Prof. DeusNgaruko and Mr. Mato Magobe aFaculty member.

About 40 small scale food processorsfrom Dar es Salaam city participatedin the workshop, which aimedat gathering information andopinions from food processors aboutnetworking and their innovationactivities. The key question addressedwas how networking helps foodprocessors to carry out innovationactivities. It is understood thatnetwork relations are a source ofdiversity of knowledge, information,nance and technology which arekey ingredients for innovation. Thefood processing industry is viewedas a key industry in ensuring foodsecurity and sustainability of themanufacturing sector as a whole.

The development of food processingindustry creates opportunities forstrategic partnerships with farmers,and such relations increase theproduction and quality of high valuecrops.

Several key issues emerged from theworkshop in relation to innovationincluding; Food processors facing problems

in nding markets for theirproducts. Lack of business management

knowledge and skills inidentifying strategic outletsand new needs in the markets,product/market trends andbroadening marketing channels.

Limited scope in innovationactivities due to lack ofinformation on technology andcredit.

Legal constraints and bureaucracyin compliance with the TanzaniaBureau of Standards and TFDAregulations.

Limited linkages with nationalknowledge organizationsfor innovations (Research &Development centres) like

universities, research and traininginstitutions.

The information obtained from theworkshop will be used as an inputin developing curricula for shortprofessional courses; developingcurricula for academic certicates,diploma and degree programmes ininnovations in the food processingindustry; establishing businessincubators involving the SMEs inthe food processing industry and

organizing annual stakeholderssymposia for SMEs in food processingindustry Tanzania.

Dean FASS Prof. Deus Ngaruko (left), addressing the workshop participants at ODL

Tower on 22ndJanuary, 2016.


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Participants of the training on Basic Counseling Skills in session, Mbeya Regional Centre, 25 thJanuary 2015

OUT staff trained on Basic Counseling

About thirty staff from all Regional Centres and theOfce of the Dean of Students were trained onBasic Counseling. The one week training workshopwas conducted from 25th to 29th January 2016 at theMbeya Regional Centre.

During the opening ceremony, the Vice Chancellor Prof.Elifas Bisanda explained that the rationale behind thistraining was the fact that distance learners have the highestrates of drop-outs and some of the contributing factorsis lack of professional guidance and counseling. OUTdecided to organize training for a batch of counselors soas to improve students welfare services said the ViceChancellor.

Distance learners may drop out from studies mostly dueto issues related to academics and social such as familymatters, nancial constraints, health problems andpsychological pressures. The trained counselors wereexpected to acquire some knowledge and skills to enablethem perform their duties.

The training workshop was facilitated by Dr. RachelMafumbate, a consultant from UNISA assisted by the

Dean of Students Dr. Zacharia Rwejuna and Rev. Dr.Lechion Kimilike of Iringa Regional Centre, who is also aprofessional counselor.

During the workshop, participants got an opportunity todiscuss issues such as the basics of communication, careercounseling, myths and facts of counseling, basic counselingskills that include skills in listening, questioning and bodylanguage.

On her part, the consultant Dr. Mafumbate advised OUTto set special rooms for guidance and counseling at theHQ and the Regional Centres because the service shouldbe done in privacy and not in the regular ofces.

The training participants are expected to practice theirknowledge and skills when back to their respectivecentres and were directed by the VC to continuouslysubmit monthly reports of their activities to the Dean ofStudents, who will in turn submit a collective report tothe Student Welfare Committee. This is just a beginning,

we will continue doing this and probably in the futureOUT will start a Guidance and Counseling degree at thepostgraduate level said Prof. Bisanda.


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Formulation of the OER Policy on another stepOUT in collaboration with theCommonwealth of Learning(CoL) and the OER Africasuccessfully conducted a two daysworkshop for ODL practitionerson formulation of the OUT policy

on Open Educational Resources(OER policy). The workshop wasfacilitated by Dr. Sanjaya Mishraof CoL and Dr. Tony Mays of OERAfrica.

The workshop, which was conductedfrom 28th to 29th January, 2016 atthe ODL Tower, aimed to review theOER progress in order to draft theOUT OER Policy document. Issuessuch as preparation, developmentand promotion of open accessresources, including copyright,licensing and quality assurance andcontrol were discussed.

On his opening speech, the ViceChancellor Prof. Elifas Bisandaexpressed his appreciation to CoLand OER Africa for the continuedsupport in the sharing of expertiseand experiences in the eld ofOER for the purpose of increasing

Facilitators and some of the participants of the OER workshop together with the Vice

Chancellor and the DVC-AC in a group phots, 28 thJanuary 2016.

equitable opportunities foreducation. OER is the roadmapto where the future of education inthe 21st century lies, OER enhancethe possibility of changing the roleof the teachers from provision of

knowledge to facilitation of thelearning process said the ViceChancellor.

OER provide potentials in changingthe education delivery mode frombeing merely the passing of tests andexaminations and getting awards toenabling learners to acquire tangiblelearning outcomes, thus learners

have a variety of learning resourcesfrom a wide range choice to freelylearn what they need.

The International Visiting Scholar Program participantshares experience of trip to China

Doreen and other visiting scholars in a Group photo

In late 2015 Ms. DoreenMwamlangala, an academicstaff at the Faculty of Law got anopportunity to visit the ShanghaiOpen University (SOU) in China fortwo weeks under the InternationalVisiting Scholar Program. Thisfollowed an earlier call for proposalthrough ACDE for academicstaff wishing to participate in theprogram. Ms. Mwamlangalasproposal titled Open EducationalResources: a comparative studybetween Shanghai Open Universityand the Open University ofTanzania won and she wasselected.

The main purpose of the programis to promote cooperation betweenopen universities, through academicexchange and to enhance the qualityof teaching and research in openand distance learning. Together

with the OUT representative, theprogram was attended by nine othervisiting scholars from the OpenUniversity UK; Open Universityof the Netherlands; Universityof Poitiers, France; Universidade

Aberta, Portugue; Universitat Obertade Catalunya, Spain; Zambian OpenUniversity; Universitas Terbuka,Indonesia; Yangon University ofDistance Education, Myanmar;

and Allama Iqbal Open UniversityIslamabad in Pakistan.

The visiting scholars participatedin different discussions and each


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The OUT and Chosun University teams discussing on implementation plan for their MoU. ODL Tower, 22ndJanuary 2016.

The Open University of Tanzania and theChosun University of South Korea continuedwith discussions on implementation of theMoU between the two institutions that wasestablished in 2015.

The President of Chosun University Prof. Chae-Hong Suh who was in the country to receivehis Honorary Directorate, visited OUT onFriday 22nd January 2016 and held discussionswith the implementation team. Prof. Suh wasaccompanied by Prof. Kyu-Young Jung DirectorLanguage Education Institute and Prof. DavidSong the OUT Liaison Ofcer for Asia/Pacic.The OUT team was led by the Vice Chancellor,accompanied by the Dean Faculty of Science,

Technology and Environmental Studies Dr.Leonard Fweja and other ofcials.

The two teams took stock of what steps havebeen taken with regard to the identied areas of

collaboration and narrowed down to start withLanguage Teaching and Cultural Exchange byestablishing the King Sejong Cultural Centreat OUT, meanwhile speeding up discussionson the establishment of the OUT EnergyResources Centre. These activities will involvetwo way movements of staff and later onstudents exchanges until the projects take off.It was mutually agreed that the key players inthe mentioned areas of collaboration will startengaging each other immediately, paving a wayfor signing of a Memorandum of Agreement(MoA) followed by a Service Level Agreementsfor every project/activity. A timeframe withtargeted milestones and evaluation scheduleswill also be in place by May 2016.

Later during the meeting, Prof. Suh expressedhis sincere and heartfelt appreciations for OUTin recognizing and honoring his professionalachievements through the Honorary Doctorate.

OUT and Chosun University further plan for MoU implementation

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gave a seminar presentation ondifferent aspects of open anddistance learning, such as qualityassurance, students support andretention etc. They also participatedin an international conference onThe Capacity Building of OpenUniversities in the Globalization Erain which eight papers were presentedand discussed. The conference

was co-organized by the ShanghaiOpen University and UNESCO

UNITWIN Network in Distanceand Open Learning. More than 200participants from 13 countries ofEurope, Asia, and Africa attendedthe conference. The conferencefocused on the exploration ofeducational reforms and the latestachievements in online distanceeducation. Participants shared theirexperiences and views on MOOCs,

ipped classroom, building capacityof staff in research through open and

distance education, learning supportservices, management services andother aspects.

The program was very informativeas it built the capacity of the visitingscholars on different aspects of ODL.Furthermore, it turned out to be notonly a collaboration between OUTand SOU, but a collaboration and

sharing of experiences with otherODL institutions from ten countries.


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The OUT VC Prof. Elifas Bisanda and the President of St. Marys University of Ethiopia Prof. Wondwosen Tamrat signing a

Memorandum of Understanding, VCs Ofce, 13thJanuary 2016.

The Open University of Tanzaniahas signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with St. MarysUniversity of Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

This followed the visit of the Founderand President of the UniversityProf. Wondwosen Tamrat who wasaccompanied by his Vice President forBusiness and Administration Dr. DaselegnBerie Meshesha to OUT on Wednesday13th January 2016. The aim of the visit wasto learn and share experiences and success

stories in day-to-day operations of the twoinstitutions.

The two visitors paid a courtesy call at

the VCs ofce where they were briefedon the OUT prole. Later on they visitedvarious units including the KinondoniRegional Centre, the SADC Centre, library,Institute of Educational and ManagementTechnologies and the Directorate ofExamination Syndicate where they werebriefed on a nutshell on the programmesand activities of OUT. Later on the helda meeting with members of the OUTManagement and discussed potential areasof collaboration.

The MoU between the two institutions willinvolve coordination of undergraduateand postgraduate studies, research andconsultancy activities.

OUT establishes collaboration with an

Ethiopian University


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The Vice Chancellor Professor ElifasBisanda held a brief function tocongratulate the OUT teams that participatedin the Tanzania Universities SportsAssociation (TUSA) held in Dodoma in lateDecember last year.

The OUT teams actively participated andshone in various games including netball andbasketball for women in which OUT emergedthe overall winners and was awarded cups. TheOUT basketball team for men took a secondposition and was also awarded a cup. OUT alsowon in long-jump and shot-put for males andreceived medals.

The VC congratulated the OUT players fortheir participation, excellent discipline anddedication, through which they promoted theUniversitys name and image to the public. He

presented prizes and certicates to individualteam members.

Professor Bisanda promised that next time theUniversity Management will provide moresupport to the teams in terms of provision ofrequired equipment and also organization ofpreparation camps. He directed the Dean ofStudents and the Senior Games Tutor to makedeliberate efforts of identifying talented sportsmen and women among OUT students in theRegional and Coordination Centres so as tostrengthen our teams.

TUSA Games is an event organized on arotational basis among local universities,

to bring together students from scores ofuniversities in the country. The last yearsgames were hosted by the University ofDodoma.

Captains of the OUT Teams showing off their cups.

OUT teams that shone in TUSA games awarded prizes

Documents

News Flash January 2016