Czuba: Think and act differently

STAFF of Divine Word University have been challenged to think and act differently in their academic profession.
University president Fr Jan Czuba told staff at the Sir Peter Barter auditorium on Tuesday that was the challenge in changing the landscape of higher education.
Czuba highlighted the new approaches to teaching, learning and researching with the help of advanced information technology and called on staff to keep up with global standards.
“Being the only university in the country to voluntarily allow for external academic audit, the university has made its stance in the international arena,” he said.
“We have the necessary competences, experience and skills as a community to successfully respond to the challenges in PNG and the world, and to engage
and participate in the
higher education development taking place in PNG and the South Pacific. 
“We do not want to be mere observers but we want to be active participants and contribute to the social and economic development of PNG and the body of knowledge,” Czuba said.
“Although there are challenges from political, social and economical landscape in the country, we can take advantage of the situation and do well by looking at things positively.”
Academic staff at the university resumed duties on Monday and are going through a week-long induction.
The induction would involve discussing the recommendations of an external audit and designing strategic plans and workable solutions to address the recommendations.
The external academic audit was conducted last year.
While doing that, university staff have been encouraged to stay focused on their vision and to live, work and dream together as a positive vibrant team and to believe in the “power of positive vision” which is the theme for this year.
Czuba said: “We are a great team, having a positive vision about our future. We know where we want to go and how. We know our objectives and we want to invent our future to be national, to be open, to offer quality of research, teaching, learning and community engagement and to be a Christian university.
“All divisions, departments and faculties must rethink how we can best serve those objectives.”
At the end, each faculty and department would prepare a report describing the plans for implementing the audit report recommendations.
University vice-president Associate Prof Cecilia Nembou would respond to the
reports.