By Kefa Senoga
Aesthetics is a core design principle. Visually, aesthetics includes factors such as balance, color, movement, pattern, scale, shape and weight. Emotionally, such optics impact attitude that, as in the case of a university, influences work and learning.
Since Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi took over as Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2020, he has had his eyes set on beautification and improvements. In May 2022, Mushengyezi accelerated the vision to improve both individual safety and sense of well being with a beatification campaign focused on the main campus.
Walkways, parking and painting are being realized at the onset with on-site banking facilities, a first-ever food court and more to come.
Eng. David Kivumbi, UCU’s Director of Facilities and Capital projects, has a ringside seat to the activity. As of early August 2022, renovations and additions completed and planned at the Mukono site include:
- Nkoyoyo Hall area has a new look with an added balance of greenery and pavement.
- Adjacent to the Hall, the building where the worship band holds practices has been refurbished along with the nearby toilets.
- The Bishop Tucker building (Principal’s hall) and its executive toilets have been refurbished with paint, updated fixtures and lighting.
- Just below Tucker, renovations are planned on a complex that has housed nursing administration, social work and the Standard newspaper.
- The building housing the offices of the Directorate of Research, Innovations and Partnerships has been refurbished.
- The building that houses the UCU Department of Communication and Public Relations and the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration has had the roof cleaned and building painted, retrofitted, and furnished.
- The former Foundations office block near the library is being converted for use by the Computing and Technology department.
- Bishop Tucker Road (the murram road below the university) up to Ankrah Road has been improved in order to access the other side of the university premises where the new male halls of residence and the School of Business are being located.
- There are plans to work on broken fences and painting to improve the main gate and give a face lift to the eastern side of the campus that includes the Mackay block where the School of Education is located.
- At some point, the offices of the Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellors will be re-located together in a new building below the Ham Mukasa library.
“Landscaping is being carried out in preparation for future developments,” Kivumbi said. “We are going to landscape to prepare space for architectural work to begin for the Senate building which is supposed to house offices of all the senior administrators.”
He noted that as renovations, refurbishments and constructions are taking place at the university, lighting of the university campus is being explored.
“Right now, we are working on improving the dark spots at night, to put lights in the parking yards, compounds, at the archives building and at the Vice Chancellor’s residence,” Kivumbi said. “We are targeting October, when UCU celebrates 25 years, to finish most of these works.”
UCU ‘s vision statement of becoming a Centre of Excellence in the Heart of Africa is added inspiration for aesthetic change.
At the Kampala campus, the University is refurbishing its new premises and is also constructing a new storied building to act as the main classroom block. The ground breaking for the $703,340 (sh2.5bn) Kampala campus block was done early this year. UCU acquired the land for the Kampala campus in June 2021.
“We are about to reach the topmost floor of the new block and we will begin with the roofing,” Kivumbi said of the three-level building with a basement.
Joseph Kiva, a lecturer at the School of Journalism, Media and Communication who was a student at UCU from 2007 to 2010, muses that his peers who left 12 years ago and never returned would be amazed by the new UCU appearance.
“During our time of study at UCU, most roads were murram (clay like) in the campus and most of the infrastructure that has been set up like the Noll building, main library, school of journalism offices, basketball court, volleyball courts were not there,” he said. “In fact, during that time we used the current small gate as the main gate.”
Opolot Cuthbert a third-year law student at the UCU says that one of the key things he has observed from the management and administrations that lead UCU, is that they understand the value of infrastructure in a high learning institution. “These kinds of developments create a conducive environment for studying and other student related activities,” he said.
