ACU-AUF African Institute of University Governance

At the World Conference on Higher Education at UNESCO in June 2009, the ACU and Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) initiated a joint project to establish the Pan-African Instiute for University Governance (Institut Panafricain pour Gouvernance Universitaire). The Institute aims to support effective governance and management in universities across Africa through the following objectives:

• To facilitate an open dialogue between universities and other stakeholders in African higher education systems on governance issues
• To identify key governance issues, and their relationship with wider policy
• To identify, recognise and disseminate good practice in African university governance
• To establish and develop a professional culture for university governance
• To provide new mechanisms for Africa-wide discussion on university governance issues    

The emphasis will be on sharing experience and good practice, providing guidance and facilitating exchange between African institutions with the aim of supporting the development and improvement of governance structures and processes.

In 2009 there was considerable scoping and development of the concept, including a stakeholders meeting and the formal launch at the UNESCO World Conference of Higher Education, held in July 2009 in Paris. Since then, the initiative has received the commitment of the Government of Cameroon, a member of both the Francophonie and the Commonwealth, to help us establish a physical base for the Institute on the campus of the University of Yaoundé II in Soa.

Learn more about the Pan-African Institute for University Governance on the newly-launched website

Colloquium on Research Governance and Inaugural Ceremony of the Institute for Pan-African University Governance: 15-19 June 2010

The Pan-African Institute for University Governance was officially inaugurated at a launch event and seminar at its headquarters at the Université Yaoundé II on 15 June 2010. The event, which featured a day of presentations and discussions under the theme "Success Stories of University Governance in Africa," was opened by Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister for Higher Education in Cameroon.

Click below to view the presentations and final report:

Improving University Research Governance in West and Central African Universities: Presentation by Godfred Frempong, AAU/IDRC

Research Governance at the University of Yaounde I: Presentation by Prof. Guy Tsala, Office of thge Vice-Rector for Research, ion and Relations with the Business World, University of Yaounde I

Following the official inauguration, a colloquium on Research Governance was held at the University of Buea, under the auspices of the Research and Innovation Management for Africa and the Caribbean (RIMI4AC) Project, of which the ACU is a partner. The project is supported by the European Commission through its ACP Science and Technology programme.

Read the report on the Central African Regional Conference of the RIMI4AC Project at the University of Buea

With a specific focus on the research governance challenges of Central Africa, the Buea colloquium featured a training workshop in areas of research governance, and helped to establish first steps towards a sub-regional organisation in Central Africa focussing on research and innovation management.

For more details on these events, please visit the main Institute web site at http://www.ipagu.org/ 

Workshop on Understanding and Defining Higher Education Governance: 10-11 March 2010

The inaugural workshop of the Pan-African Institute for University Governance was hosted at the University of Yaoundé II, Soa, on 10 and 11 March 2010. This seminal event brought together dozens of Vice-Chancellors and Rectors to discuss initial findings of the ACU-AUF Consultation on University Governance - an online consultation which we ran from January to February 2010. Through this online consultation, we received 60 responses from Vice-Chancellors and Rectors across the ACU and AUF memberships on questions regarding: challenges and success stories in university governance; reform of university governance and ways forwards; and ways in which the new Institute might be able to help strengthen governance systems across the African higher education sector.

The March workshop was an opportunity to discuss the initial findings of the online consultation, to compare and share best practice in university governance between Francophone and Anglophone institutions, and to begin to establish priority areas for the new Cameroon-based Institute to focus its efforts. A full report on the outcomes of the Consultation on University Governance, and the discussions at the Workshop on Understanding and Defining Higher Education Governance, will be published in due course. Please continue to check back here for further details.

For further information on the Pan-African Institute for University Governance, its planned programme of activity, and the ACU-AUF partnership behind the establishment of this new programme, please visit http://www.ipagu.org or contact the Liam Roberts, Programme Officer at the ACU, by emailing l.roberts@acu.ac.uk