Nurturing the Research and Teaching Nexus in Rift Valley University College (RVUC)

Abstract

It is generally assumed that research engagement in Private Higher Education Institutions is very less compared to staff participation in fruitful research in public universities in Ethiopia. Is there any special problem which has tragically gripped the involvement of teachers in research in Private Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia? What shall be done to nurture the symbiosis between research and teaching in Private Higher Education Institutions like RVUC in Ethiopia? Why does a private University College of great name in Ethiopia (which has nearly 16,000 students and contributed immensely to the economic and cultural development in Ethiopia) contribute very less to development through research? This research, therefore, attempts to nurture the symbiosis between research and teaching at Rift Valley University College with the intention of describing the extent of the problems which affected staff involvement in research. The objective of the research is to seek solutions which can bolster the nexus between research and teaching. It is argued that the extent of the problems should be described and articulated first to prioritize solutions and implement research strategy of the university college. With this dual intention, out of the total academic population of 300 at RVUC (as in June 2008 EC), 150 of the teachers were considered using systematic sampling procedure for questionnaire administration and 20 senior instructors using purposive sampling for the focus group discussion. Selection criterion included: involvement in research work, research skill and publication experience, advising student’s project, qualification structure, seniority and alienation from research. To increase the validity of the research results, data from document review, interview and focus group discussions were employed and triangulated. The survey result shows that although 92 % of the staffs agree that 25 % of every teacher's time should be allocated to research and publication works, 75 % of the staffs are not directly involved in research. And, teachers have multitude of reasons for this. Critical problems identified include: 1) lack of research infrastructure such as office, Internet, PC, cars, labs, journals and latest books, (2) Chronic shortage of research budget, (3) high teaching load of unlimited number of courses, (4) limited links, (5) absence of experienced researchers, (6) absence of refereed research journals, (7) no promotion (reward system) for researchers, (8) research is not an agenda at all levels, (9) lack of research capacity and (10) absence of research strategy. The survey also shows that 40 % of the staffs have attempted to implement their own research or others research results in their teaching: “They teach what they research and research what they teach!” It is also relevant and wise to investigate the existence of research interest in a Private Higher Education Institution like RVUC to bolster the symbiosis between research and teaching. The survey also assessed staff’s interest to engage in research, attend conferences and carryout research training and publication works. As a result, it is strongly recommended that the implementation of a flexible research strategy, reduction of teaching load, allocation of sufficient research budget, establishment of action research culture, improving research infrastructure, publication of refereed journal and creation of entrepreneurial research culture increases staff engagement in research, which are the bases for the symbiosis.