THE NEW FACE OF ICT AT CIU

By Lubanga Robert

We must all agree that in the recent past ICT has become the engine for innovative teaching, learning and research at Clarke International University and world over. Today, Clarke International University has become a model institution in adoption and utilization of technology for operational efficiency and innovation.

Since the start of COVID-19 pandemic, the ICT department has swiftly transformed how teaching and learning is delivered at CIU, helping the University to adopt to the rapid technological changes that have seen businesses transform from the traditional face-to-face interactions / communication to today’s Online teaching and learning using web conferencing solutions to conduct meetings/ classes and the use of automated services for efficient communication and decision making.

In the Early 2022, we embarked on a journey we have always dreamed of, having a modern integrated student management Informati on system. Where all university routi ne processes such as online applicati ons processing, admissions, registrati ons, tuiti on payments through diff erent modes, Payroll, real ti me tuiti on updates, automated Exam cards, ID printi ng and Transcripts among other processes is what the new system will have to off er.

This will improve effi ciency of all the university’s business processes and delivery of services to our students, staff and other stakeholders, all done in line with the ICT Department as a key enabler for research.

We are already in the implementati on stage and our target is to have this system rolled out by January, tested and will be ready for use by the beginning of February.

What value will system integration bring to CIU

1. Efficiency gains.

Once you input data in one of the systems, you won’t have to re-enter it into other systems. That data should be shared programmati cally in ways that are more effi cient and less prone to errors from manual data entry.

2. Increased value from systems and solutions. When soluti ons can access more data, those soluti ons can provide more value. Our system will focus on retenti on and it is going to be most eff ecti ve when it is able to see an enti re picture of the student’s involvement in campus life using data that resides in multi ple systems.

3. Greater insights for our students, staff, and faculty.

Once we integrate our soluti ons, our users will access more data, get more complete views of their projects, and work at a higher level. It’s really all about the people who will be using this system and what data they will access. If our systems aren’t integrated, then somebody using our student system might not be able to access complete informati on about, say, a student’s admission for days or weeks. That person can’t do their job as eff ecti vely. Again, we will be driving more value, because our users will have real-ti me access to all the data they need—not just bits and pieces.