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AAU NEWS: Issue 78

Secretary General's Message
Dear Colleagues

As the world battles the Coronavirus pandemic which has created major disruption to every aspect of our society, including higher education, the AAU has taken a number of steps towards helping our members and the general African Higher Education to manage the impact posed to HE by the COVID-19 Pandemic. In addition, myself and all the staff of the AAU Secretariat have been working from home since 24th March 2020 as a precautionary measure to protect our staff.

Firstly, I am pleased to announce that we will be hosting 4 key webinars for academic staff in Africa on key topics related to Emergency Remote Teaching in partnership with OER Africa (from 28 April to 8th May 2020). Topics to be covered include: teaching effectively during campus closures, what to teach during closures, how to know if learning is happening and how to communicate effectively. Please ensure you register from this link

I am also happy to note the good work that is being done by the Africa Centers of Excellence for Development Impact as their contribution towards thwarting the coronavirus pandemic. You can read more about these efforts from this link.

On the 22nd April 2020 our AAU North Africa Regional Office hosted an online workshop in Arabic on “Google Suite Tools for remote teaching: a response to COVID 19 disruptions".

I had already announced that we have partnered eLearnAfrica and Wiley Education Services to quickly support African Universities migrate their teaching and learning activities to online platforms. The details can be found from here - I encourage our community to take advantage of this partnership and benefit from it. 

The AAU has also organised two webinars, one targeted at creating the platform for African Vice Chancellors to share lessons concerning how they are handling the disruptions on learning caused by the Coronavirus. This was dubbed 'Vice Chancellors Dialouge: Keeping African Universities Learning Doors Open' and hosted on April 14, 2020. The recorded version is made available here for those who missed it. The recorded version of the first webinar, organised on the theme - "Effective Integration of Online Education in African Universities" is also available here

We have further created a resource page with relevant information, including resources to help our members still stay in touch with their students and key stakeholders.  Please access this link - https://www.aau.org/covid-19/

Additionally, the AAU and the Regional Research and Education Networks recently issued a statement concerning the need to develop strong campus networks infrastructure to facilitate high speed communications and all types of digital learning services. A strong campus network is important for effectively implementing eLearning and providing other administrative support to students and faculty. Please read this statement from here.

We have also made a special appeal to African Governments to support African Higher Education Institutions and to use this COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to strengthen our educational institutions by making them much more resilient to unforeseen crises. This can be accessed from here.

Finally, I wish to remind you that the  AAU TV is still broadcasting via satellite - I encourage you all to find the AAU TV Channel and enjoy the programs that we develop for your benefit. This NOTE details the instructions of how to access the AAU TV Channel from your television sets.

I welcome you to read the updates and news items that we have compiled for your information and benefit. Let us all stay safe and follow the instructions detailed by the Health Authorities in our various countries. I also invite you to join the various planned webinars and other programmes that the AAU will be rolling out within this period and beyond.   

Yours in the Service of Higher Education in Africa
Professor Etienne Ehouan Ehile

 

  • The AAU, eLearnAfrica and WILEY Education Services partner to support AAU Member Universities expedite their migration to online education READ MORE
     
  • Association of African Universities organizes webinar on "Effective Integration of Online Education in African Universities" as part of its contribution towards ensuring continuous teaching and learning in African HEIs. Click to listen to the recorded version
     
  • The Association of African Universities has created a COVID-19 Resource Page to help higher education institutions plan for possible campus disruption by COVID-19. This Resource Page is continuously being improved
     
  • Ghana: University of Ghana Scientists Sequence Genomes of Novel Coronavirus READ MORE
     
  • Kenya: Kenyatta University unveils ventilators made by students READ MORE
     
  • Kenya: Mount Kenya University responds to Coronavirus through community engagement READ MORE
     
  • South Africa:  Universities mull scenarios in bid to complete academic year READ MORE
     
  • Zimbabwe: MSU Joins the War Against COVID-19 through the Production of Hand Sanitiser and PPEs READ MORE
     
  • Government of South Africa establishes  a Task Team to address effects of COVID-19 on Higher Education Read More 
     
  • General: COVID-19: What consequences for higher education? READ MORE
     
  • General: Recommendations for achieving a virtual future – together READ MORE
     
  • General: OER Africa reiterate its support for African educators and students to harness the power of open content- READ their COVID-19 Statement Here
     
  • UNESCO Institute for life long learning shares distance learning solutions with stakeholders READ MORE
     
  • General: The World Food Prize has posted a recording of their recent webinar on the nominations process for the next World Food Prize laureate.  The nomination deadline is May 1, 2020 READ MORE

News From the African Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACEs)
 

  •  Download the second issue of the ACE Impact News (Issue  2)

 

Featured Videos from AAU Television

  • News: Update on Various Responses to COVID-19 in Africa WATCH VIDEO
  • News Update: Universities at the Forefront of COVID-19 Fight WATCH VIDEO
  • Events: Coverage of the Blockchain Technology's kick-off-event by Accra Technical University (ATU) and The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), in Ghana WATCH VIDEO
  • AAU Talks – The Invasion of Blockchain Technology into Africa WATCH VIDEO 
  • African Students' Voices - Modernizing Agriculture to Attract the Youth of Africa WATCH VIDEO
  • African Students' Voices - Projecting Africa’s Young Inventors & Re-inventors WATCH VIDEO
  • AAU Talks: Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation WATCH VIDEO
  • AAU Talks: Building a Quality Culture in an Organisation WATCH VIDEO
  • The CGC Show - Web Development as a Career Path WATCH VIDEO
  • Agenda 2.0.6.3 -The Role of Women and Youth in AfCFTA WATCH VIDEO
  • AAU TV Promo: Move and Keep Fit Competition WATCH VIDEO
  • AgroLink - How Lucrative is the Rabbit Industry? WATCH VIDEO
  • AAU Talks – The Role of Development Engineering in Africa WATCH VIDEO
  • New: Call  for applications- 42 PhD research grants, post-doctoral fellowships and Academic Staff Mobility fellowships READ MORE
  • New: Call for participants - Blackboard Academy's Digital Teaching and Learning Series|READ MORE
  • New:Call for nominations - TWAS Awards for Women Scientists\Deadline -April 30, 2020 READ MORE -TWAS-Abdool Karim AwardTWAS-Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi Award
  • Call for proposals for NORHED II 2021-2026 (funding opportunity for capacity development in higher education and research)| Deadline -June 5, 2020| READ MORE
  • New: IBM is requesting developers, data scientists, designers, business analysts, subject matter experts and more to build solutions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and climate change| READ MORE
  • New: The Rotary Foundation is now accepting applications for a fully-funded 2021 Rotary Peace Fellowship| Deadline -May 31, 2020 | READ MORE
  • New:The Engineering for Change 2020 Research Fellowship for students and early-career professionals passionate about social innovation. Deadline: ongoing| Click to Apply
  • New:The World Food Prize calls for applications to recognize innovations within the full scope of the food system. Deadline: 1 May, 2020| Click to Apply 
  • New:The UN's Global Climate Action Award calls for applications to highlight scalable and replicable innovations tackling climate change. Deadline: 30 April, 2020Click to Apply
  • New: Call for Applications: UNESCO-Merck Africa Research Summit (MARS) invites abstracts from final year African PhD students and young investigators involved in research related to cancer in Women and Vaccines Development | Deadline - August 30, 2020| READ MORE
  • New: Call for Nominations: UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education 2020| Deadline -May 26, 2020 READ MORE

       AAU EVENTS

  • Emergency Remote Teaching Webinars from 28 April to 8 May 2020. Held in partnership with OER Africa. Register Here:  https://t.co/yeBOElTqh9?amp=1 
  • The HAQAA2 (Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation) Webinar Series. TOPIC: African Quality Rating Mechanism: Rationale, Benefits & The Way Forward For African Universities. Register Here: https://www.aau.org/webinars/aauregis.php?webinar_id=22
  • General Notice:  The AAU has postponed its face to face capacity building initiatives that were scheduled for the month of March and April 2020 in various African countries. We are putting measures in place to continue these programs using online delivery methods.
  • Postponed Until Further Notice:Second Annual Meeting of Registrars & Higher Education Professionals in Africa -(Original Date12-15 May, 2020 |  Island of Mauritius READ MORE
  • 1st Workshop on Procurement and Contract Management for Higher Education Institutions|  Seychelles Island and Botswana READ MORE

       EVENTS BY STAKEHOLDERS
  • New: Botho University International Research Conference (BUIRC): Research and Innovation for Sustainable Development in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Botho University, Gaborone, Botswana. November 25 – 26, 2020 READ MORE
  • New:10th All Africa University Games, 2020, August 2020 READ MORE
  • International Open Repositories Conference 2020 , South Africa (Conference Postponed)| READ MORE

SCHOLARSHIPS & FELLOWSHIPS

  • New: Applications are now being accepted for the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP)| Deadline-June 30, 2020 READ MORE
  • New: Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) Senior Researcher African Scholar Program 2020/2021 for Africa Based Researchers (Fully Funded) Deadline: April 26, 2020 READ MORE
  • Deadline Extended: OWSD PhD Fellowships 2020/2021 for Women Scientists from Science and Technology Lagging Countries| Deadline - May 31, 2020 (extended from March 31,2020) READ MORE
  • New: Africa Union/EDCTP Fellowship 2020 for outbreak and epidemic response in sub-Saharan Africa | Deadline – July 30, 2020 READ MORE
  • New: TWAS-DFG Cooperation Visits to Germany Program 2020 for Researchers from sub-Saharan Africa Deadline - May 18, 2020 READ MORE
  • New:The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand is seeking applications for MA and PhD scholarships offered by DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)| Deadline -May 5, 2020 READ MORE 
  • New: Makerere University MasterCard Scholarships 2020/2021 for African Students| Deadline -May 15, 2020 READ MORE
  • New:University of Edinburgh –University of Leiden Joint Funded PhD Studentships 2020, in African Studies| Deadline - May 1, 2020 READ MORE 
  • New: Call  for applications- 42 PhD research grants, post-doctoral fellowships and Academic Staff Mobility fellowships READ MORE
  • Carnegie Mellon University Australia Scholarships for International Students READ MORE
  • New: Edith Cowan University in collaboration  with the Spinal Cord Injuries, Australia,  is offering scholarships in the field of exercise medicine and neurological disorders - Deadline:30/6/2020 READ MORE
  • Deadline Extended: Commonwealth Distance-Learning Scholarships 2020/2021 for Developing Countries| Deadline -4th May 2020 (Extended from 13th April 2020) READ MORE
  • OECD Internship Programme 2020 for young motivated students- Paris, France | Deadline- open | READ MORE
  • University of Eastern Finland Scholarships 2020/2021 for International Students READ MORE

AAU SURVEYS

  • New: The COVID19 preparedness survey of AAU Members (80 out of 400 members have completed it). If you have not completed it please do so urgently from this link: https://www.research.net/r/COVID19AAU  This information will help us as we plan interventions and as we reach out to various development partners
     
  •  Invitation to take part in the African Jobs Board Survey READ MORE . The Heads of Recruitment  of institutions are invited to fill this survey.  Successful submission of survey attracts a $3000 credit on the African Jobs Board Platform after its Launch.  The African Jobs Board project seeks to develop a standalone Jobs Board which will serve as a hub for academic and non-academic jobs at Universities and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Africa.
     
  • This is a survey on stakeholder viewership of the AAU's Televeision Station- AAU TV. We encourage you to  take few minutes to respond.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AAUTVSurvey

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES TO HELP HEIs RESPOND TO COVID-19 

FEATURED PUBLICATION 

  • Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA) Impact Report 2016 – 2019. (ESSA, 2020) -DOWNLOAD 






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