• Daystar University
• 10 Nov, 2023

By Jean Murungi

In February 2023, Daystar University hosted an academic colloquium themed ‘Distilling content from faculty publications.’ The colloquium was convened by the office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor -Academic, Research and Student Affairs (DVC-ARSA) represented by Prof. Samuel Muriithi, and hosted by the Vice-chancellor, Prof. Laban P. Ayiro.

While delivering his keynote address during the colloquium, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission for University Education (CUE), Prof. Mike Kuria advised Kenyan Prof. Mike Kuria CEO, Commission for University Education academic institutions to stop being ivory towers and guide students to communicate their ideas in simple language. In his comment on the future students, Prof. Kuria urged Daystar University to create an engaging culture that prepares students for “the future job that does not exist today.”

The future job, he explained, will include greater automation, increased flexibility with more people working remotely out- of-office, and with increased collaboration. He pointed out that some of the skills to be required of the future student will include: capacity to leverage on human skills-creativity, communication, collaboration and empathy, and mastery of technology relevant to one’s area of study.

Prof. Kuria also urged universities to be careful not to produce people of “nuts and bolts” only - handy men for the world market- but rather produce professionals who can fix the bolts, while at the same time be able to strategize.

“It is not enough for you to become an engineer, you need skills from other disciplines as well,” he advised as he lauded Daystar’s Liberal Arts tradition that produces well rounded students.

Expounding on research, the Vice- Chancellor of Daystar University, Prof. Laban P. Ayiro said that a researcher must understand the nature of the knowledge he or she is dealing with. “If you want to be a strong researcher, you must be grounded in the underpinnings of the area of your research,” he offered.