The Research and Graduate Studies Coordination Office of the College of Social Sciences and Law (CSSL) is one of the four coordination offices in the college. Its key task areas entail coordination of staff and student researches, graduate programs, publications and creating pertinent partnerships on research, academics, seminars and trainings. In the last two fiscal years 91 staff projects and over 150 student researches have been financed. This fiscal year, close to 80 staff research projects were submitted for fund from the treasury from which only 45 of them were approved for funding. Cluster thematic approach was followed to endorse staff and student research for financial support by the University. To ensure quality of research findings terminal reports are being evaluated through strategies like validation workshop and annual research conferences of the university.
Over the last couple of months, the office has created two links with relevant institutions in the country and abroad. In this case the Center of African Studies (CAS) has been established as a joint bilateral venture between Jimma University’s (JU) College of Social Sciences and Law and the University of West Bohemia (UWB), Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Czech Republic. Stemming from the MoU signed between the two partner universities and respective colleges in January 2013, more than a year back, staffs from the UWB have deployed dozens of books to Jimma University as part of the implementation process to furnish the upcoming CAS library at JU. Staff and student exchange is underway wherein two MA students would visit JU by November 2014 to attend courses on Political Theory. Three staffs and two PhD students will come IN September 2014 to attend an international conference being organized at JU. One staff from JU will attend the 1st Central European African Studies Conference to be held in May 2014 at UWB which would bridge further collaboration efforts between the two partner institutions. Another area of link is between JU CSSL and the Ethiopian Society of Sociologists, Social Workers and Anthropologists (ESSWA). Partnership in this arena involves engaging in long term and short term projects, organizing trainings and conferences and consultancy services.
Graduate programs being coordinated under this office are:
- MA in TEFL (english)
- MA in History
- MA in Engish Literature
- Master Of Arts Degree In Oromo Language And Literature (Teaching)
- MA in Amharic Language & Literature (Teaching)
- MA in Applied Linguistics and Development Communications
- MA in Applied Linguistics in Ethiopian Languages & Cultural Studies
- MA in Broadcast Journalism
- MA in Development Anthropology and Indigenous Knowledge
- MA in Ethiopian Literature & Folklore
- MA in Intercultural Communications and Public Diplomacy
- MA in Land Resource Analysis & Management
- MA in Oromo Folklore & Cultural Studies
- MA in Print and Online Journalism
- MA in Public Relations and Corporate Communications
- MA in Social Anthropology
- MA in Socio-cultural Linguistics
- MA in Sociology & Family studies
- MA in Sociology (Specialization in Social policy)
- MA in Social Work
- MA in Urban and Regional Development Planning
- MSc in Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing (GIS)
- PhD in History
- PhD in Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL)