developing an ict inter - university faculty reference (iufr) tool for managing work load and research activities in public and private universities of uganda

Description

Like any other sector moonlighting (multiple job holding) is common among academicians in both the public and private universities of Uganda. At University level it is evidenced in part time teaching, research studies; consultancy work, external examination moderation and others operate totally unrelated side businesses to supplement their incomes. Normally these activities may conflict with the institutions’, interests, in terms of commitment, the standards of service delivery , encroaching on organizational resources in form of time, some supplies, as well as information in the performance or preparation for outside activity. According to Bunoti (2014) academicians read less and intellectual life at the university has been reduced to bare–bones classroom activities. Toole and Czarnitzki (2010 cited in Francesco Rentocchini, Liney Manjarrés-Henrìquez, Pablo D'Este, Rosa Grimaldi (2011), highlights the existence of a significant decrease in the research performance of American academic scientists when they start working oncommercialization through the creation of for-profit firms. This may not rule out positive outcomes, such as, role enrichment, employee develop new skills, (Satarupa Banerjee, 2012), among other things. Given the high unemployment rate in Uganda the situation is worse for fulltime part timers, that is lecturer with no full time slot with any university, because in their endeavors to make ends meet, they work with several universities remaining with virtually no time to prepare for their classes, since they are in viscous cycle of either teaching and marking course works, tests, and exams of the many institutions. Despite policies that regulate lecturer participation in outside activities, there is a limit to which they can be enforced, given the poor pay and labour market demands in some academic disciplines. It’s against this background that the team opted to investigate whether developing an (ICT Inter - University Faculty Reference Tool (IUFRT) would enhance policy which regulates academic staff inter- University extra activities. The (IUFRT) can be equated to the Financial Card System (FCS) in the banking sector. This checks and share information on the credit history of borrowers, (Mutebile 2008). In liaison with member universities, the IUFRT will expose faculty member information from various faculties and universities. The team investigated the challenges hindering the relevant policy enforcement. The study was conducted in two universities including Uganda Christian University and Kyambogo University in Uganda. Data and Artifact Requirement were collected by reviewing relevant literature and policy documents. The Design Science methodology was employed to deal with the system design and development.