Accra, Ghana and Washington, DC July 13, 2022 – The Association of African Universities (AAU), Africa’s apex higher education organization established in November 1967, has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), established in 1893 and the only professional society inclusive of all branches of engineering and computing, dedicated to promoting engineering and engineering technology education in the United States of America.

Respective executives of the two organizations appended their signatures to the agreement on 7th July 2022. This MoU formalizes ASEE as the AAU’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Office in North America. The AAU STEM Office, hosted by ASEE will serve as one of AAU’s nodal offices in the United States of America.

The Agreement facilitates the two organizations building synergies and amplifying the contribution of the higher education sectors in both Africa and North America to socio-economic development. In pursuit of this agenda, AAU and ASEE will work together in the next five years on academic mobility, commissioned joint research, staff and institutional capacity building, resource mobilization, and infrastructural development. The two institutions will undertake various research projects and disseminate educational information and scientific research findings through workshops, conferences, seminars, multimedia channels and other dissemination avenues on mutually agreed terms. The partners have also agreed to work together to develop mutually acceptable proposals for the benefit of their stakeholders on both continents.

As part of the Agreement, ASEE will provide fully furnished office space, from where the coordination of the AAU’s STEM related activities and engagements in North America will be carried out for the mutual benefit of AAU members in Africa and universities in America.

According to the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities, Prof. Olusola Oyewole who appended his signature on the MOU on behalf of his organization, “this collaboration between the AAU and ASEE is envisaged to have wider and far-reaching impact for faculty, students, networks and broadly higher education institutions in both Africa and North America. The AAU remains committed to forging strategic partnerships, such as this current partnership with ASEE, to attain its target of strengthening African higher education institutions”.

Equally expressing his excitement about the agreement, Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry, Executive Director of ASEE noted that the signing of the agreement marks a great day in which the mutual interests of the two organizations have aligned to create an opportunity to advance collaboration and interactions for the mutual benefit of North American and African faculty, students, and staff in STEM disciplines.

About the Partnering Organizations

1. The Association of African Universities (AAU)

The Association of African Universities (AAU) is the apex higher education organization in Africa and represents the voice of Africa’s higher education on regional and international bodies. Established in Rabat (Morocco) in 1967, the AAU currently has a membership of over 400 institutions of higher learning across all the linguistic and geographic divides of Africa. Its headquarters is in Accra, Ghana and it currently has two regional offices – East Africa Regional Office ( hosted by the University of Khartoum in Sudan)  and the North Africa Regional Office (hosted by the Al Azhar University in Egypt), as well as a Country Office in Abuja, Nigeria.

The AAU supports African universities to deliver quality higher education and, as its niche, creates a platform for networking among its members. The Association enjoys a unique capacity for convening most of the higher education community in Africa to reflect and consult on key issues affecting education on the continent. The thrust of its base is the nimble deploying of advocacy, commissioning of studies, and acting and becoming the clearing house and intelligence arm for these higher education institutions on the continent.

The AAU operates in four languages namely, English, French, Arabic and Portuguese. It endeavours to raise the quality of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to Africa’s development by fostering collaboration among its member institutions; providing support to their core functions of teaching, learning, research, and community engagement; and facilitating critical reflection on, and consensus-building around, issues affecting higher education and the development of Africa.

https://aau.org/

 2. The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

Founded in 1893, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is a global society of more than 10,000 individual and more than 460 institutional and corporate members. Its vision is excellent and broadly accessible education empowering students and engineering professionals to create a better world. ASEE works toward achieving that vision by advancing research, innovation, excellence, and access at all levels of education for the engineering profession.

ASEE engages with engineering faculty, business leaders, college and high school students, parents, and teachers to enhance the engineering workforce of America and is the only professional society addressing opportunities and challenges spanning all engineering disciplines and in collaboration with other disciplines, working across the breadth of academic education including teaching, research, and public service.

https://www.asee.org/

Media Contacts:

Association of African Universities

Mrs. Felicia Nkrumah Kuagbedzi

Senior Communications & Publications Officer

fnkrumah@aau.org

American Society for Engineering Education

Rafael Gerena

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer

r.gerena@asee.orgc