CHAPTER 11 Makerere University as a Flagship Institution: Sustaining the Quest for Relevance Ronald Bisaso INTRODUCTION Makerere University is an interesting case of a traditional university in sub- Saharan Africa. Such universities were established as both national and regional symbols with the main objective of human resource capacity development. Makerere University transformed from a colonial university to a nationalist university, and is, at present, a neoliberal university (Eisemon, 1994; Mamdani, 2008; Musisi, 2003; Obong, 2004). At each stage of transformation of Makerere University as a flagship institution, emphasis on capacity building for human resources, research productivity to contribute to socioeconomic development, and policy development has been evident. This chapter explores those dimensions, as well as such internal processes and dynamics as student enrolment, financing, leader- ship and governance, and the state of the university’s infrastructure. Overall, this chapter studies the contribution of Makerere University to R. Bisaso (*) East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda e-mail:
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[email protected] © The Author(s) 2017 425 D. Teferra (ed.), Flagship Universities in Africa, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-49403-6_11 426 R. BISASO the knowledge economy through undergraduate and graduate training, research, and policy formulation. The major sources were a review of literature on the university as it relates to the phenomena studied; analysis and interpretation of docu- ments (including reports, strategic plans, and university fact books); dis- cussions with the academic and administrative staff; and finally, seminars to present and discuss the findings with the goal of enhancing the study’s validity and reliability.