Banking on partnerships

By KEVIN PAMBA
ONE of the hallmarks of the Madang-headquartered Divine Word University (DWU) is the partnerships it enters into with various entities to make things happen.
DWU – beginning with its predecessors, Divine Word Institute and Divine Word High School – was built by the contributions of partners (initially beginning with Catholic religious and laity) providing manpower and resources.
In fact the notion of partnership is embedded in the DWU vision which is derived from its Charter written in 1979 by members of its two founding Catholic missionary congregations – the Society of the Divine Word and the Holy Spirit Sisters.
As a privately administered university serving the public, partnerships are important for DWU to realize its vision.
The DWU vision partly reads: “Its (DWU’s) primary purpose is to serve national goals. With support, partnership and collaboration from both public and private organizations, DWU commits itself to offer special training programs in response to current and emerging needs of Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific. DWU’s services are offered with a high level of ethics and respect of individual rights.”
So when the opportunity arises, DWU partners with various entities to deliver various programs or implement projects.
One recent partnership arrangement was with the PNG National Fisheries Authority (NFA) in which DWU through its Department of Mathematics and Computing Science offered a short training course to NFA staff. The training was delivered at the Madang campus in mid-January this year.
In this partnership, DWU offered its academics (lecturers and tutors) and facilities while NFA provided the funding for the short course.
Thirteen (13) NFA staff comprising five females and eight males participated in the short course over 10 days. DWU staff delivered the short course on using mathematical functions to model fisheries populations in the waters of Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
The NFA staff members were led by Brian Kumasi, Manager, Tuna Fisheries who initiated the training. Kumasi invited DWU to assist in the training through the University President Professor Cecilia Nembou who is a mathematician by education and holds a PhD in Mathematics is conversant with mathematical modelling.
DWU’s Head of Mathematics and Computing Science and Information Systems, Professor Peter Anderson said in a statement: “The aim of the Short Course was to assist NFA staff to undertake quantitative assessments of key stocks in PNG fisheries that are both accurate and capable of withstanding external review.
This should better position staff to participate in joint regional (e.g. tuna) or bilateral (e.g. Torres Straits fisheries) assessment processes.”
Professor Anderson added: “The short course recognizes that advanced stock assessment is a highly specialized field reliant on advanced mathematical, statistical and programming skills and the availability of high quality data.
“Participants also gained competence in the use of Tuna Management Simulation (TUMAS software) based on assumptions, nature of the data, and relation of the data to vessel monitoring, in order to run scenarios to determine optimal catches under different license regimes.”
“NFA staff have requested assistance to develop their capacity to undertake stock assessments of key stocks fished within PNG waters.”
“Stock assessments would be used to support the optimal management of PNG’s fisheries resources, both to ensure sustainability and generate optimal economic and social returns,” Professor Anderson explained.
He said the 13 NFA staff all had primary degrees in science, with two holding, in addition, Master’s degrees from overseas universities.
Professor Anderson said the short course would continue if requested.
At the end of the 10 days, the NFA staff successfully completed the course and attained Certificates of Completion presented by Professor Nembou.
Speaking on behalf of his NFA colleagues at the presentation, Kumasi thanked DWU and Professor Nembou and Professor Anderson for facilitating the training. He said they appreciated the professionalism of the DWU staff and the hospitality that made their 10-day training worthwhile and successful.
Professor Nembou commended NFA and Kumasi in particular for inviting DWU to provide the training. She also commended Professor Anderson and his staff for the partnership in facilitating the program and bringing it to a successful close.
She said DWU is always keen on partnerships with government agencies like NFA, business houses and non-government entities to carry out such programs.
Professor Nembou said the university realizes the importance of public private partnerships in delivering programs and conducting research and so forth and has opened a directorate of partnership located within the office of the DWU President. The directorate of partnerships is headed by Salome Yegiora.
The partnership with NFA is among several that DWU has had with government agencies in recent years. Other partnership arrangements are with government agencies such as the PNG Customs, Department of Personnel Management, Department of Justice and Attorney General and the Department of Police among others.