THE CALL

 The Association  of African Universities (AAU) (www.aau.org and www.blog.aau.org) is pleased to invite all African Higher and Tertiary Education Institutions to apply for Institutional Workshops for the 2021/2022 Academic Year.

Interested HEIs are requested to apply online through this link to provide further information on their specific needs, and to ensure that the workshop(s) focuses on identified capacity development area(s) which requires urgent attention –  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AAUWORKSH19TO20

The AAU is the Apex Body and Voice of Higher Education in Africa. It is also the implementing arm of the African Union on Higher and Tertiary Education matters. Furthermore, the AAU is the Coordinator for the African Union Commission’s Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2015-2025) Cluster on HE. This activity seeks to fulfil some of CESA’s 12 strategic objectives which are in line with revitalizing the quality of all aspects of Higher Education in Africa.

The Association of African Universities  has extensive experience in organizing and delivering high-quality workshops,  and has been implementing numerous workshops and webinars tailored to institutional, national and international needs, over the years.

WHAT IS AN INSTITUTIONAL WORKSHOP?

An Institutional Workshop is a capacity building workshop organized by the AAU for staff of a particular institution. The workshop content is designed in collaboration with the institution in order to meet its specific needs. In terms of duration, they take between 3-10 days and are normally delivered in that institution or at a selected venue outside the campus.  It can also be conducted online upon request by an institution. The cost of delivering the Institutional Workshop is negotiated between the AAU and the concerned institution. Below are the contact details for inquiries and further communication:

CONTACT INFORMATION

1. Violet Makuku vmakuku@aau.org; vmakuku@gmail.com +233 263 129 798
2. Pamela H. Boamah: adomboamah1@gmail.com+233 249 644 795
3. Agnes Apedoe: secgen@aau.org+233 20 815 2735     +233 55 349 5797
4. Frank Asefuah (Technical Challenges): fasefuah@aau.org +233 548 880 855

WHY PARTNER AAU FOR YOUR CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS?

 The AAU has extensive experience in organizing and delivering high-quality workshops tailored for the needs of higher and tertiary education practitioners. The AAU has effectively trained over 63,000 academic staff since its founding in 1967. The AAU has a vast database of higher education experts that it mobilizes to support the delivery of the required workshops – including Francophone, Arabic, Lusophone and Anglophone experts. The AAU is ready to design and deliver workshops that are customized to the specific needs of institutions.

ADVANTAGES OF INSTITUTIONAL WORKSHOPS

A follow-up research and impact assessment by AAU indicated that there are more benefits from implementing institutional workshops which include, but not limited to:
i) The creation of a common understanding of concepts, themes and areas being covered by the workshops;

ii) The institution’s community ends up with a shared vision which they can all rally behind and support with adequate understanding of the concerned aspects;

iii) One key advantage this type of workshop has over the others is that  many employees can be trained at once at a highly affordable and more competitive rate as opposed to sending individuals to attend workshops outside the institution. There is a realization of economies of scale since unlimited numbers of participants can be trained at once in one institution;

iv) Institutional workshops eliminate travel, accommodation and subsistence costs, which normally prohibit the sending out of more personnel to attend relevant capacity building activities.
v) This model encourages quick implementation of recommendations agreed upon during the workshop with less to no resistance from employees because of a common realization of the need to act once the workshop is over.

vi) Such workshops enable management and staff to freely deliberate on key issues and make meaningful as well as objective decisions within a relaxed learning environment with an external facilitator (expert in the area concerned) as the moderator.

vii) The workshops are tailor-made to address the key areas of concern indicated by the institution and prospective participants during the online registration.

viii) There is ample time for the institution to plan and properly budget for all the workshops that are needed for each academic year.

ix) It becomes easy for the AAU and the institutions to assess, later on, the impact and implemented key recommendations.

 

SOME THEMATIC AREAS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL WORKSHOPS

 

THEMATIC AREA	SOME EXAMPLES OF WORKSHOPS
Teaching and Learning	·         Online Teaching and Learning Management ·         Learner-Centred Teaching Skills for 21st Century HE & Tertiary Education Personnel ·         Good Assessment Practices in HEI Education ·         Educational Technologies (EdTech) ·         TVET Education ·         Innovations in Teaching & Learning
Leadership & Management for African HEIs	·         University Governance ·         Leadership Development ·         Management Development ·         Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning; ·         Legal Issues in Higher Education ·         Examination Ethics and Academic Integrity ·         Faculty Development ·         Best Practices in Donor Fund Management ·         Procurement & Contract Mangement Systems for Universities ·         Capacity Building for University Registrars and Administrators
Research Quality	·         QA in Research for the 21st Century Higher & Tertiary Education Personnel ·         Research Leadership ·         Research Methods ·         Scientific Writing Skills ·         Proposal Writing ·         Laboratory Management ·         Research Communication & Partnerships ·         Data ethics and skills for reproducing research using Stata ·         Public Private Partnerships
Financial Resources for African HEIs	·         Resource Mobilization for HEIs ·         Financial Management for HEIs
Quality Assurance	·         Quality Assurance for HEIs ·         African Quality Rating Mechanism Evaluations
Library Management Systems & Knowledge Management	·         Database of African Theses & Dissertations ·         KOHA Library Management System
ICT	·         Cyber Security for African HEIs ·         Quality Websites for HEIs ·         Coding Skills for Everyone
Communication	·         Communications Skills & Strategies for African HEIs ·         Social Media Skills for African HEIs
Students and Youth Affairs	·         Student Leaders Workshop ·         Unversity Counsellors and Psychological Services Practitioners ·         Student Affairs Practitioners in African Universities
Special Workshops	·         Tailor-made workshops adapted to the needs of institutions

 

 

SOME PAST INSTITUTIONAL WORKSHOPS ORGANISED BY THE AAU

Below is a table showing some of the institutional workshops held in the past few years. They have resulted in the creation of, for example, robust quality management systems, improvements in teaching skills and higher student satisfaction  in the area of teaching and learning as well as better handling of issues with legal implications.

 

	Institution	Country	Workshops Title	Dates
1	Ho Technical University	Ghana	Quality Assuance	2017
2	ABM University College	Botswana	Quality Assurance (QA)	2018
3	Botswana Accountancy College	Botswana	Legal Issues	2018 2019
4	Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN)	Botswana	Quality Assurance/Innovative Teaching Skills/Research Methods	2019 2020
5	Great Zimbabwe University	Zimbabwe	Quality Assurance	2019
6	Reedemer’s University	Nigeria	Quality Assurance	2019
7	University of Rwanda	Rwanda	Quality Assurance/Innovative Teaching Skills/Resource Mobilization	2019
8	University of South Africa-Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resource	South Africa	Innovative Teaching Skills	2019
9	Igbinedion University, Okada	Nigeria	Quality Assurance/Innovative Teaching Skills/Research Methods	2019
10	University of Dodoma	Tanzania	Quality Assurance/Innovative Teaching Skills/Research Methods	2020
11	University for Development Studies (UDS)	Ghana	Quality Assurance/Innovative Teaching Skills/Research Methods	2020

 

 

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

The Association of African Universities is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization created by African Universities to promote cooperation among them on the one hand, and between them and the international academic community on the other. Created in 1967, the AAU is the voice of higher education in Africa. AAU aims to improve the quality of African higher education, and to strengthen its contribution to Africa’s development by supporting the core functions of higher education institutions and facilitating critical reflection and consensus building on issues affecting higher education.

It is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, has a membership of more than 400 HEIs and has three regional offices – North Africa Regional Office (NARO) in Cairo, Egypt; East Africa Regional Office (EARO) in Khartoum, Sudan; and North America Office (NAMO) in Washington DC, USA. The Association is the technical implementing arm of the African Union in higher education – with coverage and mandate across the language divide of Africa. We have influence in the francophone, anglophone, lusophone and arabophone regions.

The AAU is the coordinating agency of the Higher Education Cluster of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) of the African Union Commission (AUC). Through our guidance, our member universities are responsible for implementing the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024) of the AUC. (Website – https://www.aau.org/ blog – blog.aau.org |Facebook – Association of African Universities| Twitter  -@aau_67)

 

Vision

To be the leading advocate for higher education in Africa, with the capacity to provide support for its member institutions in meeting national, continental and global needs.

Mission

To enhance the quality and relevance of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to Africa’s development.

Core Values

• Transparency and Accountability
• Equity and Inclusiveness
• Excellence and Professionalism
• Responsiveness
• Sustainability
• Teamwork and Collegiality

Objectives of the Association  

1. To promote interchange, contact and cooperation among universities and other institutions of higher education in Africa;
2. To collect, classify and disseminate information on higher education and research, particularly in Africa;
3. To promote cooperation among African higher education institutions in curriculum development, post graduate training, research, quality assurance, recognition of qualifications, the determination of equivalence of degrees, and other matters of special policy or practical interest to African higher education;
4. To encourage and empower members of the Association to address developmental challenges and become an effective voice in national, regional and global institutions;
5. To study and make known the educational and related needs of African universities and other institutions of higher education and, as far as practicable, co-ordinate the means whereby those needs may be met;
6. To contribute to the improvement of leadership, institutional management and the policy environment of African higher education;
7. To organise, encourage and support public fora for information dissemination and exchange and policy dialogue on issues of higher education;
8. To promote gender and social equity in policies on higher education and in the delivery of higher education services; and
9. To promote linkages with the international higher education community.