‘‘My priority is to establish good governance and its compliance by all and systemize functioning in a structured manner thus creating conducive work environment. It will enable us to enhance education quality and upgrade service delivery,’’ Dr Damtew Darza declared in his maiden interview as University President; following is the full text. When asked whether he expected it, he replied, ‘‘I am very happy to be the President of the university and I am indebted towards government and AMU community for reposing their faith in me. But, I never wished to be one, because I always wanted to be a teacher and researcher.’’
On striking a balance between towering administrative tasks and desires of a teacher, he said, ‘‘Being President, I may not have time for research and miss teaching but by structuring the system, streamlining functioning and making rules, procedures and objective will help us to establish good governance to serve our clientele -  society and students in a better way.
On fine-tuning the strategy applied to four pillars – teaching-learning, research, community service and good governance, he said, I am not satisfied with the existing status. There are lots of gaps, specially related to the good governance on which government is giving more attention.
So, to remove bottlenecks, we will evaluate, assess and revise existing rules, regulations and system to make them objectively concrete to keep the flow of service unhindered. And to strengthen teaching-learning process, we will have the benchmark as to what level teachers should perform. Similarly, research and community service directorates are also striving hard to make a lee way.
On quality in education, he said, ‘‘Ethiopian government is keen as quality has been made the prime agenda in GTP-II. At university, we have to be guided by well-designed curriculum based on national needs and procedurally correct. There is a need to look into the emerging needs and requirements of the industries as well.’’
Elaborating further, he adds, apart from quality, upgrading teaching staff profile in next five years, is the sole aim of university and government. It will be done by achieving 0:70:30 ratio that makes imperative for any university to have 70% second degree and 30% PhD holders.
We need to seriously work to have sufficient laboratories, libraries, class-rooms and other facilities. Establishment of University-Industry and Technology Transfer Directorate, internship centres and on-going globalization is another step that will help to enhance academic standard, he added.
On rising bar of expectations, he avers, we have loopholes that will be plugged; especially during GTP-I, attention was on expansion, but GTP-II focuses on quality. So, with concerted efforts and a team spirit we would be able to satisfy the rising expectations of the people.
Clearing the mist surrounding research and community service status, he said, these two important components are now on the right track and things are improving. He further assures, hereafter, more prominence will be given to action research by forming a committee that will take care of it.
To see that good governance gets completely seeped into the system and make service delivery satisfactory and full compliance of rules and regulations by university community is his utmost priorities.
On psychology, his domain, that seems to have made his inner persona cool and exterior gentle, he said, at times I analyze things critically but sometimes patiently looking at the causes becomes important. My primary task is to shape the behaviour of people in way that brings them closer to the goal and mission of the university. Ultimately, I believe in a teamwork that helps us to set aside differences and work in a cohesive manner for the common cause, he sums up.

(By Corporate Communication Directorate: Philips Joseph)