On behalf of the Faculty of Business & Informatics, I would like to welcome all the staff and students (new, continuing and readmitting). I hope that you all enjoyed your holidays with your family and friends.

We welcome the year 2022 with renewed strength and commitment in all our academic pursuits and thank God for bringing us to the Divine Word University, which we all consider as an integral part of our lives as educators (Dr Romulo Lindio).

As we begin the new academic year and with the theme in mind ‘Run to Win Together’, let us remind ourselves that at DWU and the Faculty, “it is in our organisational culture to give of ourselves ... in service for the common good of society. By our commitment to serve, we experience a sense of fulfilment that comes from the spirituality of work” (Prof Cecilia Nembou, former DWU President). The theme reminds us of the figure below – about purpose, vision and mission, and accomplishing them through teamwork and collective effort.

Source: https://www.123rf.com/

This year will be the sixth year of the implementation of the DWU Third Decade Strategic Master Plan (2016 – 2026), which has seven strategic objectives. While we acknowledge our achievements in 2021, we also acknowledge our areas of improvements. We capitalise on our strengths and take advantage of all the opportunities, deal with our weaknesses and address any challenges so that we can serve the University and the Faculty for the common good of our students and staff.

Our Faculty operational plan is designed to contribute towards the implementation of the DWU Third Strategic Master Plan and achievement of the seven strategic objectives. It is designed to accomplish the vision and mission of the Faculty, which are linked to the vision and mission of the University. Achieving all these will require a collective and collaborative effort from all the staff, students, partners and relevant stakeholders.

Some of the planned activities include the provision of scholarly approach to teaching, scholarship of teaching and learning, pastoral care, counselling, academic and career advice sessions, increased use of flipped classroom and IT tools in teaching and learning, program development and reviews to maintain international standards, staff development and research capacity building, improved working relationships with partners, effective management of student and graduate feedback for continuous improvement and optimal use of university assets. These activities will require teamwork and collective effort as we run to win together.

It is important to note that all our activities will be guided by the eight core values of the University. So let us have faith in ourselves and work together to achieve excellence in all our undertakings, and in doing so find fulfilment and satisfaction in our personal lives and professional careers.

Dr. Martin Daniel (PhD)

Dean, Faculty of Business and Informatics