Makerere launches digital system to keep university records

Makerere University has launched a digital transformation system for keeping all Academic Records and Processes since its inception in 1922.

The Digitalization of the Academic Records and Processes (DARP), a three year project that was flagged off in 2020 in three phases, aimed at digital archiving of university records such as students’ academic documents, examination results, other documents like senate minutes, among others.

The DARP Principal Investigator, Mrs Patience Mushengyezi, said the system has not only helped in tracking and retrieving files, but also provided a digital platform to certify students’ certificates and transcripts electronically.

“Someone can send us a request by email and they will get their documents certified and verified without them coming physically,” Ms Mushengyezi said during the launch of DARP project on April 19 at Makerere University Freedom Square.

“The system also makes reports. For instance, we can know the number of students by categories that have graduated since the university started. We can tell how many doctors have gone through the gates of Macquarie, how many engineers. We can also tell how many students per year, the highest number of students admitted by program, school and college, how many students have not yet completed their studies, the policies passed by the Senate per year. Overall, that project has created efficiency in the academic registrar's department,” she added.

The project principal investigator also pointed out that the university encountered several challenges with the traditional manual system such as the 2020 fire outbreak that gutted the university main building and a lot of the university records turned into ash.

 “The university also faced challenges with inadequate storage space, inexistence of a policy on records management, lack of a system to streamline records management, and these challenges tainted the image of Makerere University as being unresponsive to the needs of its students and alumni,” she added.

In the same way, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, said Makerere is now one of the most digitally managed universities in Africa and the system aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness in academic records and processes.

“With the digitalization of students' academic records, the university is now in a better position to provide required information and data on time. Our ultimate goal is that students should be able to download their transcripts and we are working in that direction. So students don't need to come here to line up or they can actually download and we are working on that,” Prof Nawangwe said.

He added: “During the 74th graduation ceremony, I am pleased to inform you that we succeeded in issuing academic transcripts before the graduation date because of the DARP project which we are launching today.”

Prof Nawangwe applauded the government of Uganda for its tremendous contribution towards their goal to digitize university records. He said out of the Shs30 billion for the Research and Innovation Fund (Mak-RIF), the university earmarked some of the funds for the DARP project,  with additional funds from MasterCard foundation.

The Minister of Education and Sport,  Mrs Janet Kataaha Museveni commended the University for initiating the DARP project which she said will streamline the processes of managing and accessing academic records in a timely manner.

“The issue of security cannot be overstated and in this era. Data breaches and identity theft are prevalent concerns. Therefore, a system that safeguards academic records is of utmost importance,” Mrs Museveni said in her speech read by the State Minister for Higher Education," Dr John Chrysestom Muyingo.

 “The system eliminates the frustration of delays in processing academic records caused by bureaucratic inefficiencies and the outdated paper-based systems. With this digitalized system, students will be receiving their academic records in a timely manner, enabling them to take the necessary steps in their academic professional careers without unnecessary delays,” she added.

The university also established 27 shelves which will keep all the hard copies of scanned academic documents specifically for reasons such as court cases where they would need hard copies. “You cannot access that room because of the biometric system and when you enter, you will not know that this is the file of this year and of this program,”Ms Mushengyezi added.