KIU, Main Campus – After a trial demonstration on Tuesday, KIU conducted the first Virtual Senate meeting on March 26 2020 via a remote conferencing service. Once again, the meeting was chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Dr Mouhamad Mpezamihigo. 

Geared at ensuring the continuity of University business, the meeting went on smoothly as the senators forwarded motions and answered prayers as if everyone was in the same room physically.

A few months ago, a virtual gathering such as this one would have been considered unattainable, but voila – look how far we’ve come!

Somehow, in social distancing, we have found social solidarity.

“We appreciate that this is a very challenging time, and in moments like this, we must rely on our collective ingenuity to find solutions and keep moving forward,” said Dr Mpezamihigo. “We achieved a powerful milestone today and I can’t say enough how proud I am of our senators and their commitment to the KIU community in these testing times.”

Several members of the Senate also voiced their satisfaction with the program. 

“Today’s meeting was fantastic,” said Joan Owadde, the Head of Department in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. “We experienced some network challenges at the commencement of the session but this was rectified and adjusted by our technical team.  I advise that we maintain this kind of conferencing even in subsequent Senate sittings. This is the trend the world is adopting globally. Thanks to KIU for this great initiative.”

For his part, Jonans Tusimiire, the Assistant Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academics and Research at the Western Campus, noted that: “The virtual Senate meeting we held today was a great success. Each and every ingredient expected of a Senate meeting was there. 

“This is a clear demonstration of our online capacity to effectively transact core University business while also abiding by directives on closure and social distancing by the President in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Perhaps going forward, we may have to maintain this approach at least for some of the future Senate meetings, even after the University reopens because of the efficiency and the maximum use of resources especially time and funds spent on travel and other physical items.”

Mundu Mustafa, the Associate Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, offered a new perspective on the milestone event: 

"This shows that the University is compliant with the 4IR." 

KIU remains committed to the global goal of fighting the Coronavirus pandemic as we take advantage of disruptive digital technologies.