Please Remember Africa University in Your Will Issue: 03
Vol: 25
June - July 2020
Africa University Development Office | P O Box 340007 | Nashville, TN 37203 Tel. (615) 340-7438 | Fax. (615) 340-7290 | Email: audevoffice@gbhem.org
AU Plans Online Only Classes for First Semester 2020/2021 Africa University students will take all their classes online this fall. A recent escalation in COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe has led university officials to suspend preparations to resume in-person classes in midAugust, citing an abundance of caution regarding the health and safety of students, faculty and staff. More than 870 new students have been admitted for August enrollment. Fifteen percent of the 2020 freshmen are from outside Zimbabwe. Freshman orientation, initially scheduled to begin face-to-face on campus on August 4th, will now be virtual. "The university is putting in place measures to ensure that the student learning experience is not compromised but rather enhanced through this mode of learning," said Prof. Peter Mageto, who as deputy vice chancellor, oversees academic life at AU.
"All our teaching staff are going through rigorous training to facilitate high impact and engaged teaching and learning as well as student advising online," said Mageto. Students musthave the appropriate hardware as well as reliable high-speed internet for online instruction, discussion, supervision and assessment. Tuition fees for the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year are unchanged at $1,400. However, the university is foregoing collection of technology fees and allowing students to use those funds to improve their access to internet services in their home communities or countries. Students who prepaid accommodation and meal charges can seek refunds.
Phase Two Expansion of Student Union Completed The phase two expansion of the Ndorimana Bonaventure Dining Hall and Student Union building at Africa University is complete. The addition was one of two construction projects funded by a $2 million gift from Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) in Dallas, Texas. Speaking at the formal handover ceremony on July 20th, Vice Chancellor Munashe Furusa thanked the congregation, its senior pastor, Rev. Paul Rasmussen, and HPUMC member and Africa University (Tennessee) Board chair, Mrs. Lisa Tichenor, for their leadership and support. "This (facility) will become the vibrant
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center of campus life. Students of AU, know that this building has been built with love for you, for the promise you hold, and for the Africa that you shall create," Furusa said. "We believe that in order for you to deliver excellence, you must experience it." The new construction improves access to the building for persons with disabilities and expands the space available for entertainment as well as services such as a barbershop, salon, store and gym. A portion of the HPUMC gift was used to build and equip a new residence hall for female students. That building was completed in January 2020 and houses about 130 students.
Members Step Forward with Gifts for Scholarship Pender United Methodist Church in Fairfax, Virginia has been investing annually in direct scholarship support for students at Africa University since 2002. The congregation has invested more than $90,000 and helped nine students to acquire and return to their home countries with crucial professional skills. Each year, the church would use its Easter offering as the primary source of funds for its scholarship at Africa University. This April, with restrictions in place due to the impact of COVID-19, there was no Easter service and therefore, no offering. With the approval of the pastor at the time, Rev. Margaret T. Kutz, congregant and Africa University consultant, Rev. Lloyd Rollins got creative. He and his family made personal contributions towards the $6,000 that was needed and approached other families in the church to do the same. Members like Theresa P. Carpenter, the church’s music director, and her husband James, responded generously. “We look at this gift as an investment,” said Carpenter. “What we have will always go to good regardless of what is going on at a specific moment. I was there at Africa University in 2006 and I saw what was happening, spoke with the students at the time, and know how big a difference scholarships make.” The current beneficiary of the Pender UMC scholarship at Africa University is 23-year-old Betelhem Getenet Birehanu, an orphan and agribusiness major from Ethiopia. She completed the first year of her degree program in June and has remained on campus due to lack of resources for travel and the impact of the pandemic.
