08 October 2020: Deans and Directors of JU’s Colleges and Institutes presented their report on the final preparation for the crash program (i.e., to finish the suspended semesters in two months) to the Jimma University Executive Management Members.
In their presentation, the Deans/Directors highlighted the procedures employed in preparing their plan and the major decision and action taken/planned to complete the second-semester courses in two months without compromising each course’s core competence as per the curriculum. Likewise, unresolved issues and challenges were also enumerated for input and experience sharing by other attendees of the meeting.
Issues related to courses with practical training in each College, CBTP, TTP, Internship, and Student Research Project have been presented extensively in line with the guideline produced by a task force constituted earlier on the same issue. All Deans and Directors itemized different strategies in the areas of continuous assessment, class schedules, and course delivery modalities to accommodate the students having in mind the challenging situation of COVID-19. Also, each course’s statues regarding learning materials uploaded on the MOSHE website and the University e-learning moodle were presented to the University management along with the level of student engagement with such materials and the challenges faced by students and instructors.
In his remark, the vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Adula Bekele, appreciated the colleges and Institutes’ efforts in preparing a very comprehensive report but cautioned that consistency must be applied across colleges and faculties in their proposed strategies. He stressed that communication is essential to bring both the instructors and students on board to finish the semesters as per the schedule with all offices ready to support the students both academically and psychologically. He added that the taskforce establish to provide psychosocial support is working hard and they will also share their plan in near future.
In his final remark, JU’s President Dr. Jemal Abafita noted that we must be ready to finish the semester courses without compromising each course’s core competency as laid out in the curriculum. He argued that all offices’ involvement and cooperation is paramount to achieving reasonable success. He further noted that the preparations presented by all deans and directors on the academic front will be aligned with all other ongoing physical preparation in the campus as per the COVID-19 guideline and protocol issued by MOSHE.
The President concluded by thanking participants and office of Vice President for Academic Affairs for the preparation done so far and coordination of the day’s presentation. The president also promised to engage with all Jimma University academic staff in the coming days as part of the preparation to get everyone on board.
