Taigu Muchiri and Dan Muchai

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTM) has awarded the Dean, School of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Prof. Njeri Wamae the 2018 Clara Southmayd Ludlow Medal, during an award ceremony held on October 28 in New Orleans, USA.

ASTM is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health.

According to the Society, the Clara Southmayd Ludlow Medal recognizes honorees for their inspirational and pioneering spirit, whose work represents succcess despite obstacles and advances the field of tropical medicine.

Dr.Clara Southmayd Ludlow (1852-1924) was an entomologist with scientific zeal and tenacity who battled the odds of age, gender and skepticism of women in the sciences to advance the understanding of tropical medicine.
Thus, the Award Committee selects an individual who “...represent, through their work in clinical tropical medicine, teaching or scientific research in tropical medicine, the best and the brightest in the field.”

Prof. Wamae is Professor of Parasitology and Dean of the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, a position she has held since December 2017. Prior to that she held the Professorship of Parasitology at the Mount Kenya University School of Medicine. Before then, she was the founding Dean - Directorate of Research and Development at Kenya Methodist University.

Over the course of her illustrious career, Prof. Wamae has become a widely-respected researcher, administrator and teacher.

She has published over sixty peer-reviewed journal essays, supervised numerous postgraduate students and continues with research activities in neglected tropical and zoonotic diseases as well as examining theses/dissertations and supervising graduate students at local and international universities.

Speaking during the award ceremony, Dr. Wamae noted the great honor bestowed upon her as the second recipient of this award which was started in 2017, given her status as a non-physician and an African. She reflected on the legacy of Dr. Ludlow and the underrepresentation of women in the sciences - “I can’t underestimate the importance of giving women a chance. Women are important and are often left behind.”

Outside the academy, Prof. Wamae has set several professional benchmarks; she is the Founding Director, Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control (ESACIPAC); Chief Research Of?cer, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ?rst and only female Director, Centre for Microbiology Research (CMR), KEMRI.

Prof. Wamae also serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) as an advisor on tropical diseases, in the course of which she has attended numerous international meetings in she served as a keynote speaker.

She has also held several senior management positions in various academic institutions, including a visiting Professorship at Nagasaki University, Japan as well as Guest Researcher, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, USA.

Most recently as Chairperson of the Guinea Worm Eradication Certification Committee, Prof. Wamae led a team of eminent researchers and representatives of various non-governmental organizations in conducting a four year campaign to stamp out guinea disease from Kenya.

Prof. Wamae was in July this year conferred with the Nelson Mandela Distinguished Africanist Award by the Board of the Toyin Falola Annual Conference, which noted her notes “...her commitment to research, integrity, productivity, and sincere passion for everything that is good about Africa.

By Taigu Muchiri

Acting Dean Prof. Angelina Kioko outlined the School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ vision for the 2018-2019 academic year during the School’s convocation held on Wednesday, October 31 at the Lecture Theater I.

She highlighted the achievements that the School was able to deliver in the previous academic year, before going on to describe the School’s expansion plans.

In the 2017/2018 academic year, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences graduated 385 undergraduate, 86 graduate and 6 doctoral students. During the same period, the School hired nine full time faculty: two in the Languages and Literature Department; four in the International Relations Department and three in the Psychology Department.

The Dean highlighted the key achievements of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences that are aligned to the University’s strategic goals. The first achievement was to enrich and expand academic programs. The Dean noted that program review and assessment showed that six of the nine programs successfully completed their assessment - an improvement from the last academic year which was estimated to be at 62.5%.

The school has been undertaking review of the Master of Arts in International Relations and the review will be sent to the Commission of University Education by the end of 2018.

The second achievement was to develop new programs. The school has made great strides in this process and have proposed to develop new graduate degree programs in Criminal Justice and Industrial Psychology. To add on to the two new programs, the School has also started laying the foundation to introduce Bachelor of Law degree.

The department is working hard to ensure that the MA in Criminal Justice and that of BA in Sociology proposals are ready for submission to the accrediting bodies by Fall 2018 semester. The Dean mentioned that 13 students have already enrolled for the newly introduced MA in Marriage and Family Therapy.

The third achievement was to contribute towards the overall goal of becoming a reputable research University. During the 2017/2018 academic year, the School published 46 publications. This was a great improvement from last year’s 40 publications.

The Faculty in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences have also been recipients of both internal and external research grants.

In March 2018, Associate Professor of International Relations Dr. Kennedy Mkutu received a four-year research project (2018-2021) from Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Germany. The research project is part of a Collaborative Research Center (CRC) initiated by the Universities of Bonn and Cologne funded by the German research association - DIG - that will run for four years.

On the other hand, two faculty members, Dr. Naom Nyarigoti (Assistant Professor of English and Linguistics) and Dr. Michelle Karume (Assistant Professor of Psychology) were among the awardees of internal grants.

The fourth achievement was ensuring that the School promotes student success by enriching their learning experience. Faculty teaching foreign languages promoted “learning beyond the classroom” interaction, by organizing and facilitating programs that provided students with cultural learning experiences as part of foreign language teaching offered at the School. Such programs entailed cultural activities on campus and the “Windows to the World” field studies program.

Faculty in the International Relations, Psychology and Criminal justice programs were singled out for excelling in providing students with unique out-of-class learning experiences, such as the educational field trips offered that have been integrated in coursework.

Prof. Kioko also announced plans for the School to roll out training in university-wide effective strategies for student mentoring.

The Dean highlighted the key priorities for the 2018/2019 academic year that will center on pursuit of academic, operational and service excellence.

She noted with great pride that the School will continue to offer quality education through its diverse programs. This will be achieved by planning high-level conferences and workshops for doctoral students and new members of faculty.

The School will pursue service excellence by ensuring that effective implementation of the mentoring program to assist students achieve their goals. In conclusion, Prof. Kioko invited her audience to join the School at a ground breaking ceremony for the new building, this Thursday, November 8 at 12pm.

In addition to what your child/student gets you will be glad to know that:

As a potential faculty and staff you:

As a potential service provider:

A large proportion of our current and future programs are regulated by National Regulatory Authorities. As regulators,

• You will be assured of timely payment of our subscription.
• You will find that our university contributes to payment of fees for professional society memberships for our full-time faculty.
• You will know that having most faculty as members of professional societies ensures that they are up to date on industries standards, norms, aspirations, commitments, challenges and problems. Faculty will be able to incorporate these issues in the curriculum and courses.

Fields of study in health sciences are characterized by the need to translate knowledge generated through research to action, either programs, policy or both. As potential donor/funder to the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences:

• You will be provided with evidence of sound accounting and financial system for you money.
• You will audit and paper trails that link donor funded efforts to individual faculty.
• You will access profiles of faculty handling the programs, projects or initiatives you have funded.
• You will be assured that conceptualization, implementation, review and reporting of programs, projects or initiatives you have funded go through a peer review mechanism, including presentation and discussion in colloquia.

The code of conduct and professional oaths taken in the fields of study for health sciences compels us to see other universities and colleges, and schools as potential collaborators and comparators. As a potential academic collaborator/comparator:

• You will participate in the mutually identification and respect of each other’s comparative advantages and build on them for the common good.
• We shall be open for benchmarking visits.
• We shall be ready to make both informal and informal contacts to jointly development research concepts and proposals and sign memoranda of understanding or memoranda of agreement, whichever will be applicable.
• We shall work towards common interests, include exchange of students and faculty.

I wish to thank USIU-A community for giving me the singular opportunity to serve as the Inaugural Dean of the School of Communication, Cinematic and Creative Arts. I promise to abide by the Rules and Regulations guiding the smooth running of this beautiful University. I promise to conduct myself in tangent with the University Mission, Vision, and Core Values, which include “Life-long learning, Integrity, Innovativeness, Social responsibility and Academic freedom.”

To the Potential Students:

In recognition of the fact that without the patronage of the students, the University will not exist, I crave the indulgence of the University Community to direct my address, first to the students in my School. To the first time Freshmen/women, old and transfer students, I salute you all! Permit me to introduce myself as the new Dean of the School.

To the Freshmen/women and potential students in particular, I would like to say welcome to USIU-A! Though your homes may be kilometers away from the campus, you are indeed home-away-from-home. So, relax and feel at home. As students in the School of Communication, Cinematic and Creative Arts, you are warmly welcomed by the communication and creative fraternity. The doctrine of our School is co-operation and collaboration. In the environment where we operate there is no room for sitting on the fence. We are a family – one family. We care about each other and we value inclusivity. The School offers you cutting-edge academic programs with global perspective and local flavor. USIU-A is one of the very few universities in Africa that can boast of student population from more than 70 countries globally. USIU-A is an international university that boasts two accreditations – one from Kenya, and another from the United States of America. Our School has state of the arts teaching facilities including computer laboratories, radio station, news writing rooms, publishing equipment, newspaper and production rooms, TV studio, Film and Animation labs, sound room, editing suites, and sophisticated recording equipment. We expose students to liberal education with strong emphasis in inter/multi-disciplinary courses. Our General Studies courses expose students to other subjects that will add value to the students’ learning experience. We go all the way to assist weak students in the areas of Intensive Writing, Oral Communication and lnformation Literacy. All our courses are mounted on Blackboard (e-learning) for students’ convenience and professional growth. These initiatives are undertaken to help you realize your dreams. Consider USIU-A your destination of choice. I wish you all a successful academic career.

Message to Parents

Dear Parents, though you are not able to remain on campus with your wards, rest be assured that they are in good hands. The faculty and staff of the School of Communication, Cinematic and Creative Arts act always in loco parentis. With the delivery system in our School and acquisition of state of the art equipment, you surely get value for the money you spend on your child. We strive to offer your child courses that are internationally benchmarked and we assist deserving students with a variety of financial assistance. Each child is not only capacitated intellectually, the School also inculcates in the students character and ethical values. The nature of our courses involves practical training; and partnership with industry professionals, Adjuncts and Visiting Professors promote this kind of engagement.

Faculty and Staff

The School, like the University cherishes integrity. As you engage with the students, I urge you to sublimate and transform those who are docile into active human beings; the recalcitrant into conformable. As you opt to work in our School, you are assured of all the necessary support that will assist you in carrying out your duties. We value your services and are resolved to boost your work morale in order for you to deliver maximally.

Service Providers

As a potential service provider, we cherish your contribution to the upliftment of USIU-A, particularly in making sure that you provide quality service in a professional manner and the necessary equipment that our disciplines in the School of Communication, Cinematic and Creative Arts require. We shall provide a conducive environment for you to liaise with the University’s Procurement department in order to experience less fatigue and frustration during the procurement process.

Potential Regulators

Faculty members of our School who subscribe to professional bodies are assured timely remittance of professional fees. We will not compromise our status by allowing licenses to expire. Our operational licenses will be renewed as and when due and the necessary review of programs carried out to maintain accreditation standards.

Potential Funders and Donors

The needs for capital and financial independence define what we do as communicators and creative artists. In the film program, for example, the industry is very capital intensive and relies hugely on donations and funding from benefactors, businessmen, the private sector, government and philanthropists. Whatever donation or funding we receive towards the realization of our practical projects will be publicly acknowledged and put to good use. Proper and transparent accounting will be done and we shall abide by the rules and regulations of the donor establishment.

Academic Collaborators

As a potential academic collaborator, be assured that our operations are guided by regulations. Advisory Boards and other relevant institutions, agencies or corporations regulate our activities. We are always transparent in our dealings with collaborators and other stakeholders. We sincerely believe that our relationship with the industry professionals is mutual. Faculty and students are kept abreast of developments in the industry through partnerships with relevant professionals. We cherish and desire this sort of cooperation because if we go alone, there is the possibility that we might go fast but if we forge partnerships with others during our journey, there is the likelihood that we shall go far. We have indeed forged partnerships and will continue to do so with relevant bodies and persons through Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).