THE CHANGE WE WANT

By Lau Lawi

Many are the times we have complained and cried for change in this institution. We always forward cries and problems to the administration. We have never thought of solutions beyond the change in personnel. We see some people as the quarantine from the changes we want.

The change that this institution needs is in the dynamism of thinking in handling student issues. Student issues like accommodation are complicated in a way that they must be considered with the same importance as academics. They are inseparable from each other. They contribute to most of our problems in that if solved, we will get rid of our perennial complaints.

We have witnessed a change in personnel in the top management in the offices of the DVCs. The acting DVC in charge of student affairs is Prof. Nathan O. Ogechi. To my understanding, he is a literary scholar who understands student affairs in and out, having been a student, Head of Kiswahili Department and Dean of School of Arts and Social Sciences in this institution.

Prof. Ogechi is fresh blood injected into the student affairs. He is in sync with student problems and constraints. He is a man with the ability to interact and consult with student representatives and understand our problems. As a student here, he was a resident of hostel D.

Prof. Ann Nangulu the acting DVC in charge of Academics, Research and Extension is the director of quality assurance in this institution. She is the former Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences; a school plagued by bouncing lectures and missing marks in the near past. Madam Prof. is in a position to understand most of our problems in the academic sector especially the academic calendar.

Communication between students and the administration should be enhanced to create a constant flow of timely information between the two stakeholders. The communication channel should be two way in the vertical orientation. Feedback should be sought in every issue. The mode of communication should also be the most convenient to the two stakeholders. I don’t think sticking a memo at the Students Centre when the subjects of the memo are at home is best. An example of this is what happened with the HELB issue.

Consultation between the students and administrators should be enhanced at all levels. Be it the accommodation and hostels sector or the academics sector. This will help eliminate redundancy and replication of problems. There should also be reports from every department after every academic year. These reports will shed light on achievements and challenges in every department.
This is just my opinion on creating the change we want in this institution. We should work together and condemn less in order to achieve the best for this institution.

The writer is the chairperson of The 3rd Eye.