BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING

Assignment for the course communicative English II

Composed by
Habtu Gebreslassie
Id. 0500075

Date ,April29,2015

Description of Bahir Dar University

The Ethiopian government is committed in the provision of relevant and
quality education for its people. In achieving this objective a number of
strategies have been set and they are being implemented. Among these
strategies, the establishment of schools and higher educational institutions
has due attention. Accordingly, there are 33 universities in the country. Of
these 33, Bahir Dar University is one of them that contribute for the political,
social, economical and technological development of the country. The focus
of this paper is to create a picture on the minds of the reader about the
university by describing it on its establishment, location, structure,
employees and management, vision and plan, management employees
relationship, the branches, the size of its employees etc
Bahir Dar University is found in Bahir Dar city which is one of the beautiful
and interesting cities of the country. It is established in 1998 by merging the
former pedagogical institution and Bahir Dar Poly technique institute. It is
located around 1.5 km of Papirus hotel. It is also surrounded by a much
known river called Abay in the east and Amhara regional state management
institute in the North. It is also surrounded by large number of business
centers that are giving different services for the employees and students
such as stationery, soft driks coffee and tea.
The university has four campuses that include Main, Zenzelima, Yibab and
Poly. In each campus there are different faculties, schools and colleges.
These campuses are located in the difderent direction of the city. For
example Zenzelima in the way to Gondar, Yibab in Debremarkos to Addis
Ababa road 2.5 km from the center and engineering faculty is located 1.6 km
to north direction. Similarly there are also different programs and
departments on the respective colleges and faculties. For example, in the
faculty of education and behavioral sciences, there are 5 departments that
include educational psychology, teachers education and curriculum studies,
special and inclusive education, adult education and community education,
and educational planning and management.
The university provides different services to its clients. These services are
the teaching learning process, research and community services. It is doing
its best on these three pillars. As its vision is to be premier in research in
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2025 in African Universities it designed research centers in different fields.

Washera, Tana basin, Abay basin, Gis and institute of pedagogies and
education are some of them. In relation to community services the university
has set a policy that states every academic staff to participate in the
provision of community services in each year. This has being done in some of
the departments of the university. As a result of this the community,
particularly Bahir Dar city, is getting services in the agriculture, law,
engineering and educational services. This helped them to improve their life
standards and style.
The university is also known in the creation of different experts in fulfilling
the need of the economy. There are more than 40, 000 students in the
university. In servicing this large number of students it uses different mode
or approaches of teaching such as evening, regular and distance education.
The university is one of the key educational institution in producing teachers,
engineers, medical doctors, agriculture expertise, scientists, experts in sport
sciences, lawyers, managers, accountants, economists etc in firs degree.
These products are putting their contribution in the efforts to make change in
the political, social and economic environments. There are different
programs at graduate levels. Furthermore, there are masters and Ph.d.
programs. People who are interested and fulfill the requirements can join and
buy the services.
The human resource is the key in the provision of quality services to its
clients. There are more than 3000 employees in the university. From this
around 1300 are academic staffs. These staff members have different back
ground in terms of teaching experience and qualification. Recently, the
university is getting very known researchers, professors that can contribute
more in the respective fields of specialization. Furthermore, there is also
large number of supportive staff that advice and help the academic staff in
creating conducive environment. These people have different educational
back ground. Most of them are professional or semi professionals. They are
from different race, ethnic group, regions etc.
The relationship between the management of the university and employees
is not that much encouraging. The management is not in a position to create
conducive environment that inspires the staff to reach the vision it wants to
be. Specifically, the writer of this paper argues that teachers and other staffs
are interested in doing the tasks and responsibilities given to them. There
are people who are not qualified for the management positions they hold.
They focus on the day to day activities/routines than the strategic issues.
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They do not make efforts as expected to fulfill the needs and interests of the
employees. They did not the problem of shelter for teachers who are living
far from the university. Furthermore, many teachers in the university do not
have well equipped offices that help teachers to advice and support their
students. This and other things may bring dissatisfactions among teachers.
On the other hand, the employees are not good at in performing their duties
and responsibilities. They do not respect their bosses and job. They need
frequent supervision that requires telling them what to, when to do and how
to do. Hence, I can conclude that the management and its employees are not
in a manner that works together to achieve the intended vision.
The university provides different services for its students. For example
dormitory, clinic, tutorial for those who need special treatment, food
services, security, water, electricity, library etc. For the provision of these
services different buildings and infrastructures established.
When we
consider the services they are not different from the services of other
universities. The library is not well equipped and furnished with the
necessary educational facilities and equipments. Furthermore the sanitation
and clinic service are not satisfactory. Even though all these tasks are
mandatory for the effectiveness of teaching learning process and the
improvement of students achievement the university has to do a lot for its
success.
There are many things that make Bahir Dar University special. To mention
some of them it is the first university in Ethiopia having a sport academy that
fulfills the international standards. It includes gymnasium, foot ball stadium,
swimming pool and basket ball etc. In addition the university is one of the
leading educational institutions in the teacher education and pedagogies.
The faculty of education and behavioral sciences is the key unit of the
university. It has produced many professional that are contributing in the
development of Ethiopia in the design, implementation and evaluation of
educational policies, programs and projects. There are also political leaders
who are the result of our university. The other point that must be considered
is the distance education program it is implementing. This program has
created educational opportunities for those who could not get access for
different reasons. Therefore, Bahir Dar University is much known in its
pedagogical dimension as medicine is for Gondar University and agriculture
for Haromaya.
Generally, Bahir Dar University is one of the earlier universities in Ethiopia. It
has good reputation in its services. It is doing its best in supporting the
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students in particular and the society in general. But there are also many
problems and challenges that the university is facing and there is a need for
search for solutions to overcome the problems.