A statement from the University explains that the Vice-Chancellor Rev. Can. Dr. John Senyonyi said the University Council pronounced itself on the Faculty on 6th July, 2018, and congratulated the members of the Faculty on their hard work.
A new Department of Communication has also been established, to be headed by Dr. Angella Napakol, the statement revealed.
Dr. Emilly Comfort Maractho will take over the Mass Communication Department, now re-named the Journalism and Media Studies Department, from Prof. Monica B. Chibita, who becomes first Dean of the Faculty.
“The current Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication will be called the Bachelor of Journalism and Media Studies. The Master of Journalism and Media Studies programme will be revised, and a new Masters in Communication is due to be submitted to the National Council for Higher Education for approval. The MA in Communication is expected to be offered starting 2019,”
While addressing a local news daily, Dr. Chibita attributed the elevation to the partnership they had with the Norwegian Government under the NORHED programme.
“A grant from the Norwegian Government under the Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED) enabled the Department to train five people at PhD level at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The support also helped establish the MA in Journalism and Media Studies and provide expatriate staff for five years. It also supported six MA scholarships, books, equipment and a post-doctoral fellowship, among other things,” the University statement read.
The Department now has six PhD holders, several MA holders and a studio technician to support its programmes; a state-of-the-art multimedia laboratory, three training studios and library resources at the UCU Main Campus in Mukono. Starting August, the new Faculty plans to avail its modular Masters’ programmes at UCU’s Kampala Campus on Lubiri Ring Road and to offer short courses to cater for practitioners.
The new faculty joins UCU’s faculties of Law, Education and Arts, Business and Administration, UCU School of Medicine, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology and School of Research and Post Graduate Studies.
