‘We’re moving but not yet there’
May 11, 2010
Venasius Baryamureeba, 40, completed his first six-month term as Makerere University vice-chancellor on April 30. He is tipped to act as the university’s chief until the Government amends the Universities and Tertiary Institutions Act.
Venasius Baryamureeba, 40, completed his first six-month term as Makerere University vice-chancellor on April 30. He is tipped to act as the university’s chief until the Government amends the Universities and Tertiary Institutions Act. Francis Kagolo talked to him about the situation the university.
The university has had funding woes for decades. What measures has your team put in place to avert this?
This year, beginning July, we shall not post any deficit; this is the first time the University Council approved a budget without a deficit. We analysed our expenditure and prioritised it according to the anticipated revenue. We are going to ensure that we stick to the budget allocation for each quarter.
Won’t this be undermined by the unnecessary expenditures?
When I came into office, the centre (main administration) was indebted to several travel companies to the tune of over $350,000 (about sh752m) in unpaid tickets. I decided that we were not going to travel against the vote on the internally generated revenue and the Government subvention until we clear the debt. We have been spending over sh60b on staff costs, over sh30b of which goes to the academic staff, meaning we spend more than half of our budget on staff salaries alone, minus allowances. This is likely to reduce because we have reviewed our curriculum, eliminating duplication of courses. We have requested every faculty dean to ensure that every member of the academic staff has a minimum load of 10 contact hours per week. This will reduce on the number of part-time staff. The university also had over 110 accounts in different banks which the Auditor General had queried. We have closed 42 accounts and, so far, have not had any problem as a result.
How will you ensure the university’s revenue increases?
We expect to invest over $300m (about sh600b) in businesses like hotels and provision of parking services in two years. We also expect to raise money from our upcountry campuses in Jinja and Fort Portal.
We plan to set up more.
Isn’t the academic quality compromised in these upcountry campuses?
There are measures to ensure that what is taught is not below the minimum standards. We recruited qualified staff and we provided them with sufficient computers and textbooks. The exams may not be the same but we shall ensure that they are of acceptable standards.
There was a plan to privatise students’ halls of residence and stop feeding government-sponsored students. How did this end?
We are awarding tenders. We want private firms to manage the food component, but not take up ownership of the halls. We plan to implement this in August. We shall give the government–sponsored students sh4,000 per day to buy food in the halls. This will create competition among the service providers. The students will be able to get value for money. But we shall ensure that there is quality control.
The University Council recently scrapped the students’ faculty allowance. Won’t this deter the students from doing internship?
Faculty allowance is the money a student gets to buy equipment for use during field attachment. Some students would spend the money on music systems until the council decided that this money be given to the faculties to buy the equipment for the students. Unfortunately, this was not effectively communicated to the students.
We have to ask ourselves what the students use this money for. If we are to continue giving the students money, they must account for it. If not, the faculties should buy for them the equipment.
Many students’ halls are dilapidated. But your team has not done anything about this.
To renovate a hall like Lumumba, we need about sh10b. We do not have that money. That is why we have revamped the investments directorate to allow private investors to renovate and run the halls for some time and transfer them to the university later. But there are some minor repairs we are going to do in halls like Nsibirwa, to ensure that the toilets and bathrooms are functioning.
In case you are reappointed, what would you focus on?
The next six months will be about complete transformation of the university. We shall focus on having efficient systems.
We need systems that will ensure constant availability of quality teaching staff, for instance by planning in advance replacements of those who retire. Then we shall have to link this one with efficient financial management. We are going to restructure the academic and administrative units to make them more efficient. We want to have a most of our research funded using internally generated funds. We cannot be a research-led university when over 90% of the research budget is funded by donors.
The university has had funding woes for decades. What measures has your team put in place to avert this?
This year, beginning July, we shall not post any deficit; this is the first time the University Council approved a budget without a deficit. We analysed our expenditure and prioritised it according to the anticipated revenue. We are going to ensure that we stick to the budget allocation for each quarter.
Won’t this be undermined by the unnecessary expenditures?
When I came into office, the centre (main administration) was indebted to several travel companies to the tune of over $350,000 (about sh752m) in unpaid tickets. I decided that we were not going to travel against the vote on the internally generated revenue and the Government subvention until we clear the debt. We have been spending over sh60b on staff costs, over sh30b of which goes to the academic staff, meaning we spend more than half of our budget on staff salaries alone, minus allowances. This is likely to reduce because we have reviewed our curriculum, eliminating duplication of courses. We have requested every faculty dean to ensure that every member of the academic staff has a minimum load of 10 contact hours per week. This will reduce on the number of part-time staff. The university also had over 110 accounts in different banks which the Auditor General had queried. We have closed 42 accounts and, so far, have not had any problem as a result.
How will you ensure the university’s revenue increases?
We expect to invest over $300m (about sh600b) in businesses like hotels and provision of parking services in two years. We also expect to raise money from our upcountry campuses in Jinja and Fort Portal.
We plan to set up more.
Isn’t the academic quality compromised in these upcountry campuses?
There are measures to ensure that what is taught is not below the minimum standards. We recruited qualified staff and we provided them with sufficient computers and textbooks. The exams may not be the same but we shall ensure that they are of acceptable standards.
There was a plan to privatise students’ halls of residence and stop feeding government-sponsored students. How did this end?
We are awarding tenders. We want private firms to manage the food component, but not take up ownership of the halls. We plan to implement this in August. We shall give the government–sponsored students sh4,000 per day to buy food in the halls. This will create competition among the service providers. The students will be able to get value for money. But we shall ensure that there is quality control.
The University Council recently scrapped the students’ faculty allowance. Won’t this deter the students from doing internship?
Faculty allowance is the money a student gets to buy equipment for use during field attachment. Some students would spend the money on music systems until the council decided that this money be given to the faculties to buy the equipment for the students. Unfortunately, this was not effectively communicated to the students.
We have to ask ourselves what the students use this money for. If we are to continue giving the students money, they must account for it. If not, the faculties should buy for them the equipment.
Many students’ halls are dilapidated. But your team has not done anything about this.
To renovate a hall like Lumumba, we need about sh10b. We do not have that money. That is why we have revamped the investments directorate to allow private investors to renovate and run the halls for some time and transfer them to the university later. But there are some minor repairs we are going to do in halls like Nsibirwa, to ensure that the toilets and bathrooms are functioning.
In case you are reappointed, what would you focus on?
The next six months will be about complete transformation of the university. We shall focus on having efficient systems.
We need systems that will ensure constant availability of quality teaching staff, for instance by planning in advance replacements of those who retire. Then we shall have to link this one with efficient financial management. We are going to restructure the academic and administrative units to make them more efficient. We want to have a most of our research funded using internally generated funds. We cannot be a research-led university when over 90% of the research budget is funded by donors.