Rift Valley University is one of the private Universities established by the Higher Education Proclamation No. 650/2009 with mission to promote excellence in the production, growth and dissemination of scientific knowledge through teaching and research, which have significant contribution to the technology, socio-economic and cultural development of the country.
To discharge its mission, the University has laid down its legislation, which briefly indicates the linkages that should exist between teaching and research units. Therefore, to make them support each other and bring meaningful achievements in teaching-learning process, it deemed necessary to lay down clear and workable policy that can create synergy among teaching and research as well as uniformity among campuses and individuals participating in research and teaching activities. The following points are University’s principles on which this policy is formulated.
A) Policy Premises of Research
- Academic staffs are expected to devote 25% of their time to research. Whereas, staff of research are expected to devote at least 75% of their time to research as provided in the University’s legislation (September, 2014, Chapter Seven, Article 100, Sub-article 100.1)
- Ways and means of the research findings dissemination would be through publication of books, journals, organizing and conducting seminars, symposia and workshops as well as presentation of occasional papers.
- The link age between the research and teaching units of the University needs to be strengthened through active research undertaking and teaching activities.
B) Guiding value
- Pursuit of truth and freedom of expression of thought;
- Institutional reputability based on successful execution of its mission, particularly through execution of research based teaching,
- Justice and fairness;
- A culture of fighting corruption;
- Quality and speedy service delivery;
- Recognition of merit;
C) Objectives
- Prepare knowledgeable, skilled, and attitudinally mature graduates in numbers with demand-driven proportional balance of fields and disciplines so that the country shall become internationally competitive;
- Promote and enhance research focusing on knowledge and technology transfer consistent with the country’s priority needs;
- Ensure that education and research promote freedom of expression based on reason and rational discourse and are free from biases and prejudices,
- Promote and uphold justice, fairness, and rule of law in institutional life.
D) Responsibilities
- Uphold the objectives of higher education and the guiding values of the institution; and ensure that it is an institution of scholars;
- Develop viable programs of study and provide higher education to prepare and supply qualified graduates in knowledge, skills, and attitudes on the basis of the needs of the country;
- Undertake and encourage relevant study and research in national, regional and local priority areas and disseminate the findings as may be appropriate;
- Undertake joint academic and research projects with regional, national and foreign institutions as well as research centers, as may be necessary.
A) General Objectives
The main objective of this policy is to facilitate and promote research activities that are targeted at problem solving and thereby make research and teaching supportive to each other in generating and transfer of information, knowledge, technology and ultimately improve teaching and learning process.
B) Specific Objectives
Specific objectives of this policy includes:-
- To strengthen teaching, training and research activities of the University to play a key role in the development of the country;
- To make sure that research and publication process of all units of the University are uniform;
- To create enabling environment to staff to conduct high quality and need based research;
- To create enabling environment for the transfer of research and publication skills from an experienced to an inexperienced generation of researchers/ upcoming academicians;
- To ensure effective and efficient utilization of budget allocated for research and publication activities;
- To create conducive environment for the expansion and provision of high quality research based graduate programs;
To make research effective and responsive to societal needs or problems
