If there is anything about the University of Botswana that excites the new Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, it is not only its ability to execute its core mandate with much aplomb, but also its potential to become a money spinner.
Professor Norris observed that for the University to aggressively market its products and services, it should come up with business initiatives that could attract different stakeholders through income generating partnerships.
Professor Norris made the observations during a familiarisation tour of UB facilities on December 14, 2017 which was part of his orientation programme that kicked off on December 4, 2017 with a meeting with the executive management team followed by other structures of the University.
He said the world class infrastructure that UB boasted of could be employed to generate funds for the University, particularly that universities around the world were struggling to get government funding. He noted that for UB the picture was not as gloomy as one would have imagined because what remained was to refocus the University to have an entrepreneurial component to its mandate.
Professor Norris was responding to the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Professor Benjamin Bolaane who said the challenges his faculty was facing were staff retention and inadequate laboratory equipment, among others.
In response, Professor Norris, though acknowledging the challenges, commended the faculty for a job well done in publishing 1.5 articles per capita which he said was a no mean feat given that in most universities the rate stood at less than 1.0.
The Vice Chancellor challenged the staff to be innovative and think beyond just publishing because the Faculty of Engineering and Technology had the potential to become the epicentre of innovation and income generation for UB.
Professor Norris also visited the state-of-the-art Sir Ketumile Masire University Hospital where he was briefed on the different services it will offer and plans to make it a premier institution that would be people centred in terms of critical clinical care. He was also told about the challenges facing the Faculty of Medicine which included, among others, the inability to retain qualified staff.