Think through varsity reforms lest they fail
The University of Nairobi was widely lauded when it announced drastic changes to reform the institution in July.
Among other changes, it disbanded its colleges and cut faculties from 35 to 11 and abolished the positions of four deputy vice-chancellors to two alternate VCs. The objective was to cut costs and align its structures to become a lean, agile and dynamic academic institution.
However, the reforms have run aground. Most operations at the university have been paralysed due to lack of clarity of purpose. The new structures are dysfunctional. Worse, disbanding well-established departments has created huge gaps in the system. It seems the changes were not well-thought out.
Against this backdrop, the University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Nairobi University Chapter has asked the government to intervene and specifically appoint a new council to restore sanity at the premier institution.
This follows the expiry of the term of the council headed by Dr Julia Ojiambo, which presided over the changes and which, Uasu claims, failed to give direction to the university and, hence, should step down.
We have argued several times before for reforms in public universities. Most of them are stuck in a time warp; their structures and systems were conceived in a different era but have been overtaken by events.
Paradoxically, however, the changes come at a time when funding for higher education has declined drastically. This means that the reforms being undertaken have to take cognisance of the financial challenges of the institution of higher learning.
The unfolding scenario at the University of Nairobi is an unfortunate lesson on how not to undertake reforms. This is the reason why the government should intervene to save the university from a crisis by appointing a new professional council to help the institution rethink its strategies and find the best way to progress into the future. University reforms are inevitable but must be properly crafted for them to bear fruit.
