Prof Ssali appointed Mak Deputy VC Academic Affairs

KAMPALA: Makerere University has appointed Prof Sarah Ssali the new Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs.

Ssali, a Prof of Gender Studies at the same institution and the second woman to occupy this office, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences, specializing in political science and public administration. She also holds a Master of Arts in Gender Studies and a PhD in International Health Studies.

Prof Ssali has eight years of leadership and management experience, 12 years of representation of membership of the University Council and several other governance bodies, as well as several years as a researcher and team leader.

She has served as a Dean, School of Women and Gender Studies and Director of the African Research University Alliance, Centre of Excellence in Notions of Identity and been a member of the Governing Council of the National Curriculum Development Centre among others.

Speaking to journalists about her new role, Prof Ssali outlined some of her priorities.

“The other thing I have on my horizon is to say how do we come up with knowledge areas of excellence, so that instead of everyone wanting to teach everything as it happens in their course, we have areas of expertise from which we can borrow. That would help make our university more networked and more collaborative”

She has also promised to prioritise things like students’ welfare beyond the classroom because it has an implication on how well they study. “Of course working with the Dean of Students Office, how well are the students living, what is their mental health like and what are the services around mental health. And of course the other thing I’m passionate about is the sports facilities because I think these are very important for anchoring our students”, she said.

Prof Ssali adds that her first 100 days would be around documenting what exists, documenting how networked it is and seeing how well it can be coordinated because that’s the work of a DVC.