2ND CARTA VICE CHANCELLOR'S MEETING CARTA 2ND VICE CHANCELLORS MEETING REPORT | Page 15

© Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) & University of Nairobi (UoN)
Institutionalizing CARTA
In her presentation, Prof. Fonn indicated that as part of institutionalizing its work, CARTA offered
three grants to three Universities (Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Rwanda and Makerere
University) to specifically institutionalize useful aspects of CARTA at their home universities. This is in
a bid to ensure that there is sustainability to CARTA programs in respective universities. The
institutionalization involves digitization of the CARTA curriculum. To ensure that there is continuity of
CARTA programs in member universities, CARTA requires its partners to make commitments to the
staff supporting the programs. Some of the commitments include allowing staff time to participate at
every level as PhD fellows, Post docs, focal persons, JAS / FAS facilitators, in Board & Partner forums
and in hosting events. Universities are also requested to commit to paying full salaries of staff on PhD
fellowship, reduce the workload of staff on research projects, waiver fees and support
institutionalization processes.
CARTA Challenges
Some of the CARTA challenges highlighted by Prof. Fonn include: PhD registration, administrative
inefficiencies in registration and examination of course work, and supervisor overload & assigning of
inappropriate supervisors to students. Other challenges highlighted are that the environment is not
always academically stimulating; there are slow financial management processes and long university
hierarchy and bureaucracies that delay processes and poor articulation between research centers and
universities.
In conclusion, Prof. Fonn indicated that what African universities now need to ponder on is how they
can best secure the future of their graduates, how they can best support their graduates to become
research leaders and how Vice Chancellors and senior academics can support the institutionalization
of CARTA.
CARTA’s 2 nd Vice Chancellor’s Meeting –Report of meeting proceedings – July 10-11, 2017
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