he University of Nairobi Council launched its strategic Plan of governance 2019-2024.

“In a first of its kind for a Public University in line with the Universities Act 2012, the strategic plan will be the true north, the reference point for the University radar. ” remarked the Chancellor, Dr. Vijoo Rattansi.

While giving the highlights of the Strategic Plan, the Chair of Council, Prof. Julia Ojiambo noted that the Plan focuses on five main areas; teaching and learning, research enterprise and innovation, financial and institutional sustainability, overall institutional development and branding and Operation efficiency and effectiveness.

A review of the latest external assessment and a situation analysis of the University’s operating environment, as documented in the UoN Visitation Panel Report 2018, brings a number of challenges to the fore. The main aspects with notable challenges include leadership, corporate governance and administration, relations between UoN with other Government of Kenya agencies, education and research, teaching and learning environment, human resource management, budgeting and, revenue generation practices & procurement processes.

This Strategic Plan is therefore intended to help address the university’s present and future challenges by adopting a futuristic strategy. By focusing on, the mobilization of all necessary resources, both financial and human, the Council aims at enhancing UoN’s institutional capability to guarantee long term operational sustainability,  innovation and transformation.

On her part, Prof. Margaret Kobia, CS Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs applauded the University of Nairobi for taking leadership in seeking an audit through the Chancellor, “The Chancellor requested for a visitation panel that I had the pleasure to Chair in 2018. That was the University’s way of seeking feedback for its systems of operations. As we are all aware, feedback is breakfast for Champions.  The visitation panel consisted of diverse individuals who brought different perspectives on the table. “

She noted that universities are facing challenges such as the ever changing technology; methods of teaching and labor market. However she urged the universities  to stay relevant to our society and provide solutions that are facing Kenya and the world by nurturing curiosity through research and innovation.

Prof. Kobia concluded by pledging the government’s support to the implementation of the strategic plan 2019-2024.

Prof Stephen Gitahi Kiama has been appointed as the 8th University of Nairobi (UoN) Vice-Chancellor (VC).

In a letter signed by the Chair of a Council, Prof. Julia Ojiambo, the newly appointed VC will serve a five-year term, effective January 5, 2020.

He takes over the realms from Prof. Isaac Mbeche who has been serving as Vice-Chancellor on an acting capacity since July 2019, when Prof. Peter Mbithi was sent on compulsory leave.

Prof. Kiama was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Human Resource and Administration and the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor in-charge of Finance, Planning and Development.

Previously he served as the Principal, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences from 2016 to 2019, Director of Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies from 2010 to 2016, Chairman of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology from 2005 to 2010, Acting dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2014 and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine from 2003 to 2010. He played a key role in conceptualizing and actualizing the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies during his tenure as the Director, Associate Dean and Chairman of the Department.

Prof. Kiama holds an earned doctorate degree in Structural Biology from University of Bern in Switzerland. He is an accomplished scholar with proven track record in formulating and managing academic programs and on research and publication. He has over 16 years’ experience in management and leadership positions at the University of Nairobi. He is the founder Director of Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies

Prof Kiama was employed by the University of Nairobi upon graduation in 1990 as an assistant Lecturer in the Department of Veterinary Anatomy.  Since then he has risen through the ranks to positions of Lecturer (1995), Senior Lecturer (2002), Associate Professor (2012) and Professor (2016).

He has been actively engaged in various societal leadership roles.

In order to hone his strategic and transformative leadership skills, Prof. Kiama has successfully completed various programmes on strategic leadership and development.

Kiama is an accomplished scholar with a track record in formulating and managing academic programs and supervising and mentoring Postgraduate students. His academic and research career has been exemplary as demonstrated by several publications in peer review journals. To date he has co-authored over 149 journal and conference publications.

The Office of Career Services Congratulates Prof. Kiama on his new appointment.

The University of Nairobi through the Office of Career Services held its annual Career Fair at the UoN Great Court, Main Campus from 5-6 December, 2019 from 8.00am to 5.00 pm each day. The theme for the event was ‘Skilling Graduates for the Job Market’. The structure of the career fair included exhibitions by career partners, career talks, one-on-one career guidance and career mentorship.

The Career Fair was well attended by 32 Kenyan companies and 16 Chinese companies. The event was officially opened by the Minister Counselor, Chinese Embassy Mr. Zhao Xiyuan who congratulated all the UoN graduands for their hard work. Mr. Zhao pointed out that over 360 Kenyans are recruited by Chinese companies locally and there are over 400 Chinese companies in Kenya. The Minister Counselor indicated the strong commitment being given by the Chinese companies on localization of enterprises which are keen on offering high quality employment opportunities for graduates.

The General Manager-Operations at FCm Travel Ms. Christine Nderimo reminded the students present at the opening session that they could be the brightest and have first class honours in their degrees, but without the right attitude, miss out on opportunities in the job market. Being humble and maintaining the right attitude is what will help one to climb their career path she reiterated.

Mr. Ajeet Ghatwal, the Head of Human Resources & Administration East Africa at Redington Kenya Limited got the opportunity to give remarks on behalf of all the partners who participated in the career fair. He appreciated the University for hosting the event and indicated that his company was in search of top students from UoN to recruit or hire for job and internship opportunities.

Faith Thumbi, a 4^th Year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Psychology thanked the partners for gracing the event on behalf of all the students’ fraternity. She indicated that unemployment is a big problem in Kenya but with the right attitude and proper grooming for entry into the job market, it is possible to sail through and get opportunities.

The Director, Career Services, Mr. Johnson Kinyua welcomed all the partners present at the Career Fair opening session and appreciated their participation at the event. Students were encouraged to tour all the partners’ stands with their CVs and enquire more about the opportunities the partners were offering.

Career Talk sessions were held as side events during the career fair. Students received talks on Preparing a future-ready workforce, How to plan for your career growth, Bridging the gap between the classroom and industry, Transitioning from a student to a professional, Skills for building brands in the 21^st century, Cyber Security, Cloud, Data Centre Virtualization and Data Analytics.

The 2019 UoN Career Fair partners offered over 30 job and internship opportunities for UoN students. The Office of Career Services will continue to explore more opportunities with its wide array of stakeholders and partners to secure more opportunities for students.

The University of Nairobi community comprising of staff and students marked the World AIDS Day on November 29, 2019 with the theme: Communities make the difference.

Speaking during the event, Dr. Vijoo Rattansi, University of Nairobi Chancellor, observed that the University of Nairobi has been leading in conducting HIV – AIDs research through the College of Health Sciences. She observed that HIV-AIDs is the most destructive epidemic that has claimed so many lives in the past. “Evidence suggests that HIV-AIDs prevalence is not increasing, but is stable. Stigma is on the downward trend and many people are seeking treatment. Let us not lose focus, we need zero infections,” she said. The Chancellor, confirmed her commitment to help the University of Nairobi increase her commitment towards response to HIV-AIDs through research.

Prof. Isaac Mbeche, the University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor, noted that the University is better positioned to work with professionals across the globe in the research to help those affected by HIV-AIDS. “This disease knows no boundaries, everyone is touched by HIV-AIDS. We share the responsibility as a community and hence the theme: community makes the difference,” he said. The community play a critical role in planning, implementation and service delivery of HIV-AIDS related activities. He pointed out the good work being done by Kenya AIDs Vaccine Initiative(KAVI) in doing HIV-AIDS research.  The Vice Chancellor, also pointed out that the University Health Services, UHS, is keen in helping staff and students who are affected or infected by the HIV-AIDS. University of Nairobi offers HIV – AIDS counselling and testing services, male circumcision, pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis among a varied of services.

During the event, staff and students got a chance to visit various exhibition stands that were doing free eye checkups,dental checkups, prostate cancer screening, HIV- AIDs testing among others.

The event was sponsored by Haco Industries, Capital FM and organized by University Health Services headed by Dr. Doreen Asimba, Ag. Chief Medical Officer. The event was graced by Council Chair. Prof. Julia Ojiambo.

The Office of Career Services is partnering with Workmate Virtual Jobs Finder (an online job portal that matches graduates’ jobs with the right jobs that match their skills) in building the skills of students, training students on how to link to available job opportunities through their online portal and training 50 student brand ambassadors to be diplomats for the Office of Career Services activities.

The Career Office on Thursday November 28, 2019 hosted an on-boarding session for 50 Student Career Brand Ambassadors at the UoN Towers, 4^th Floor, Room 401.

The aim of this on-boarding session was to develop the skills of students and train them to become potential employers. The John Mwangi, the Workmate Manager pointed out that where the world is heading, one will need to do more than one job to sustain themselves.

With the rising number of unemployed graduates, there is now need for students to learn new skills to enable them take up more virtual jobs. Kenya has a big percentage of an elite youth market with the right skills and training but with nowhere to go. One may wonder where are the jobs?

Workmate is offering a Skills Transfer Programme to Student Brand Ambassadors to build their skills for virtual jobs. The company will offer the selected students online badges for each training session. The students will also receive certificates and banded T-shirts.

The Office of Career Services was represented by Johnson Kinyua, Director and Naomi Nyaboga, Career Information Officer who emphasised to students on the need embrace virtual/online work because the future is in online work.

The Career Office is proud to partner with Workmate in building the skills of students to prepare them for the job market.

With the serious challenge of unemployment and underemployment in Kenya and the youth being the most affected and many of them in despair, there is a dire need to repackage the students to enable them fit in the evolving job market.

It has been proven that when the Industry, Government and Universities work together, a country will always develop faster. Kenya now requires the production of competent manpower to deliver its development agenda both for the vision 2030 and the Big 4 agenda. The University is open to the private sector and the Government to forge grounded partnerships aimed at developing Kenya and producing employable market ready graduates.

It’s against this background that the University of Nairobi through the Office of Career Services has established the “UoN Skills Centre” to offer different kinds of trainings to build on technical, leadership, entrepreneurship, soft and life skills of its students in partnership with industry partners.  The aim is to skill students with the required skills for the job market, empower them, build on their innovativeness and encourage them to become entrepreneurs.  The Career Office also holds Career Fairs across its campuses to link students to industry partners for them to secure internship or job opportunities. The Industry partners also hold career talks for the students to mentor and brand them for employment.

INTRODUCTION

The University of Nairobi Office of Career Services will hold a Career Fair at the UoN Main Campus from 5-6 December, 2019 from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm each day. The theme for the event is ‘Skilling Graduates for the Job Market’.

The UoN Office of Career Services (OCS) is a new establishment obligated to develop essential competencies among graduates to make them employable. The vision of the Career Office is to produce holistic graduates who are prepared for entry into the workforce and ready to take up entrepreneurial activities.

This is achieved through development of graduates’ skills, competencies and attitudes to enhance their employability and entrepreneurship capacity. The goal is to produce skilled, empowered, competitive, employable, enterprising and innovative graduates ready for the job and entrepreneurship market.

With the serious challenge of unemployment and underemployment in Kenya and the youth being the most affected and many of them in despair, there is a dire need to repackage the students to enable them fit in the evolving job market. The Career Office is striving to achieve this in partnership with Industry Partners to empower students with information on current workplace demands in the form of knowledge and skills and presentation and branding aspects of a prospective job seeker or entrepreneur.

OBJECTIVES

1. To provide a platform for industry partners to link up with UoN students for recruitment in their Graduate Trainee Programs, internship programs or for job opportunities in their companies;
2. To facilitate career talks for students to brand them for employment;
3. To provide and facilitate a networking opportunity for industry partners and students;
4. To share information with students on opportunities available in the job market;
5. To expose students to the world of ‘online/virtual work’.

OUTPUTS

1. Partnership and Linkages established between the Career Office and Industry partners;
2. Well-groomed students ready for entry into the job market;
3. Students working online and earning an income.

 CAREER FAIR ACTIVITIES

1. Exhibitions
2. Career Talks
3. One-on-one Career Guidance
4. Career Mentorship

Welcome to the UoN Career Fair on Dec 5-6,2019 at the Great Court, Main Campus. Career Talk Sessions include but are not limited to the following:

1. Cyber Security
2. Data Analytics
3. Planning for Career Growth
4. Future-ready Workforce
5. Competitive Graduates in the Job Market

Come with your CV!

Are you a lover of Film and Theatre? Do not miss this out. THE ILLEGITIMATE TWIN’ – A New Kenyan Musical @ the University of Nairobi’s Chandaria Centre for Performing Arts (UoN Towers)

Thur 28th Nov – 7pm

Fri 29th Nov – 7pm

Sat 20th Nov – 3pm and 7pm

Sun 1st Dec – 5pm