African Rural University (ARU) is Uganda’s newest university and the first all-women rural university in Africa fully accredited by National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) [U1/PL/017]. It was founded by Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT). The University is located 1.5 Km along Kagadi-Hoima Road, Kagadi Town council, Kibaale District in Mid western Uganda East Africa. ARU c
reates a pool of female leaders who are capable of participating in the socio-economic empowerment of the marginalized, and also providing rigorous scientific input into the design and practice of rural development processes by offering an integrated curriculum. Objectives:
Increase the relevance of Higher Education
Enhance indigenous models of development
Empower the rural poor
Promote the development and application of entrepreneurial skills
Meet the growing demand for higher Education
Eliminate urban bias of University Education
Ride the tide of transformative education
Programme offering:
Students have three years of theory and practice and one year of field internship before graduation. Graduates are given opportunities of employment in satellite rural development centres; enjoy learning with professionals from Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Traditional wisdom specialists. Students participate in One hour of Foundation Course (Mon.-Fri.) that gives them the opportunity to reflect on development issues. Philosophy of ARU:
African Rural University has the capacity to consistently create its future and shape its destiny. Like all metanoic institutions, ARU has the following characteristics;
Shared Vision.Aligning ones individual vision of what one cares about in one’s life with that of the institution. Learning to expand the personal capacity to consistently create the results (Vision) of what one most cares about in one’s life, in the institution and the people that one serves. Transforming collective knowledge and collective thinking skills so that groups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than sum of individual member’s talents. In team learning, there is individual role but the concern is on the final results with combined efforts. The six attributes of high performance teams are;
Shared goals
Clear Roles and responsibilities
Effective communication
Efficient Processes
Mutual accountability
Mental Models. Mental Models are mental maps, opinions or assumptions. There is need to test the authenticity of the opinion otherwise assumptions are at times treated as reality. Mental models can affect the delivery of results and working relationships. Reflecting upon, continually clarifying and improving our understanding of the world, the pictures we form of it and how they shape our actions and decisions. (P.Senge, 1994)
Systems Thinking. A way of thinking structurally and a language for describing and understanding the forces and interrelationships that shapes behaviour of systems. An individual is a system. System thinkers go beyond events and patterns of behaviour and work around underlying structure which includes values, virtues, and principles among others. Students, staff and communities therefore are trained to analyze issues beyond the events descriptions of the patterns of behaviour to the underlying factors to and finding creative solutions.
