Overview
Established in 1999, Shifa University is one of the oldest
universities in Somaliland. Guided by a knowledgeable and experienced Board of
Trustees (BOT), it has gone through a carefully planned transformation.
It started as an institute of health then became a college of
health. After a decade and a half of training 13 batches of nurses, midwives,
and lab technicians, and pharmacists who successfully finished the national
diploma programmes, it has kept up with the pace of change and shifted to offer
the new nationally approved degree programmes in these fields when they were
introduced in 2014. The change in the academic programme levels ushered a
change in the status of the institution. Hence, it became a full-fledged
university after the National Commission of Higher Education (NCHE) approved
it’s a new rank and registered it as Shifa University (SU).
SU’s previous Strategic Plan (2010-2015) focused on providing
quality health education limited to certain fields whose graduates are usually
in high demand in the local market and the international market. Therefore, we
confined ourselves to train clinical nurses, midwifes, and lab technicians.
Building upon the success we achieved in our previous Strategic Plan, and
embracing our current rank as a university, we set out in our new Strategic
Plan (2015-2020) to expand and introduce new academic programmes and
develop our research activities and output.
In order to deliver this plan, we will lay down six foundations on
which its success will be based. First, being at the heart of all our
activities, we will focus on the success of our student. We will ensure the
development of their learning, personal growth, and professional
advancement.
The second foundation is research. Research is the key for major
advances in education, economics, industry, health, and communication. Apart
from teaching, it is the role of the universities to perform essential research
that will generate expert knowledge and educate students to become innovators
and scientific leaders. SU is, therefore, committed to foster graduate
education and research in order to train a new generation of doctors,
scientists, engineers, and leaders in their respective fields.
The third foundation is international linkages and knowledge
transfer. Since university education in Somaliland has sprouted recently is now
blossoming, SU will link up with more developed and older universities around
the world in order to gain academic expertise and facilitate knowledge transfer
to its students.
The fourth foundation is university culture. Universities are
social organizations with distinctive cultures. Each university is a living
organism that evolves in a campus. SU recognizes this principle and is
committed to keep alive its people-oriented cultural values which springs out
from its history and tradition.
The fifth foundation is organizational systems. Systems have a
tendency to expand from being initially simple to becoming complex as they
grow. This happens naturally unless the tendency towards complexity is kept in
reign. SU will build and maintain a simple, modern, adaptable, and easily
accessible organizational system that uses both formal bureaucracy and informal
campus networking to achieve its goals. The sixth foundation is the alumni. The
benefits of alumni associations are numerous.
Alumni members can get benefits from the university. Likewise, the
alumni can provide benefits to the university. Therefore, SU will connect with
its alma mater through its alumni association and ensure to tap and develop the
mutual benefits that can be accrued from such a connection.
SU is indeed a strong and reputable university, which intends to
sustain and enhance its quality and distinction. The focus provided by our new
strategic plan will help us to maintain our quality and distinction while
setting up priorities to expand and deliver selective programmes relevant to
the job market and the national development of the country.
The level engagement and enthusiasm shown by our staff and
students this plan gives the confidence that we will achieve our goals.
