Central University Sets the Stage for Achieving Quality Academic Excellence.

 

The Central University, at 1 Silicon Hills Mile 91, has set the stage for achieving quality academic excellence, by organizing a three-day staff retreat at the University's Garden Hall.

The retreat was an effective yet daring way to address difficult issues that arose during the last academic year. Whether the issues dealt with developing a hiring plan, restructuring curricula, or coping with budget cutbacks, the retreat was to flesh out ideas, resolve conflicts, build consensus, develop solutions, and foster collegiality. Such engagements are expected to give energy to specific goals, which can shorten the problem-solving process of the university.

Central University, is a privately owned university that was established by a Sierra Leonean businessman and entrepreneur, Muckson Sesay, to provide advanced technological learning systems in Sierra Leone, Africa, and the world at large.

Explaining the purpose of the retreat, Professor Bob Karankay Conteh, Vice Chancellor of the Central University, revealed that the retreat is a threshold of history and was organized for the first time by the university. He maintained that the retreat, among other things, was organized for four main reasons: one of the reasons he cited was to reflect on the current status of the university and where it is heading, and the second reason he cited was to plan for the present and for the future. Professor Conteh also mentioned fairness as one of the core reasons for organizing the retreat.

“The university administration should be frank in discussing issues relating to administration, finance, teaching, and any other activity relating to the operations of the university,” Professor Conteh said.

Getting to know the institution was the final point cited for organizing the retreat. Professor Conteh pointed out that not everyone present at the occasion was familiar with the transition process the university underwent from college to university, and that it was an opportunity for them to understand how the transition process went.

Speaking about his vision and mission, Muckson Sesay, Chancellor, and founder of the Central University cited that his vision and mission started the day he left the shores of Sierra Leone to study abroad. During those days of his studies, Muckson said he underscored the impact of technology on the growth and development of the world. He recalled a particular point in time when he was called upon by the HR manager of the company he had worked for abroad to explain his long-term vision. In response, he said his long-term vision was to earn some money and implement all that he had seen in Canada in Sierra Leone. He added that the establishment of the Isaac Muckson Innovative Technology Training Centre in Mile 91, formed the bedrock of the actualization of his vision.

Chancellor Sesay, further noted that his vision for the Central University is to compete not only in Sierra Leone but in Africa and the world at large...with technology, he said, at the center of it all.

“In order to actualize this vision, I call on every sector of the university administration to recalibrate their efforts in the services they offer to the university. I want CU-SL to be a practical university of choice," Chancellor Sesay emphasized.

Maligie Sesay, the Registrar of the university also succinctly spoke on the steady progress made in the admission of students at the university. He intimated that the university is moving in the right trajectory to building the human capital of Sierra Leone. He said the university presently has five hundred and sixty-one students in its enrolment (561) for the 2022/2023 academic year.

Central University, is notably known for having well-established sophisticated Television and Radio stations run by its students for practical purposes, and its Hybrid learning system.

Delivering his closing message, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Bob Karankay Conteh, emphasized that each University has its culture and values that have to be adhered to in order to build a strong academic Institution.

“When we were given university status, our model was to give quality education to young minds and this is what is currently needed in the modern world. We shall do all that it takes to ensure that the University is taken to another level as one of the best Institutions of higher learning in the country,” said prof. Conteh.

One thing that came out strong during the three days retreat was the zest and determination shown by the various heads of departments and presenters by presenting ambitious proposals that were geared toward transforming their respective departments into faculties. The fun-filled presentations to have a fair share of the university’s resources made the entire retreat memorable. And the event is expected to continue in the subsequent academic years.