Proceedings of the Second Proposal and Thesis Writing Workshop for M.A, MSc, MBA, M.Ed. and Ph.D. Students

Abstract

The Second Proposal and Thesis Writing Workshop was held on 26th April 2018 in the Charter Hall at the University of Embu (UoEm). The workshop aimed to equip postgraduate students with the skills required for proposal and thesis writing. It brought together 143 participants comprising senior university management, members of Senate, academic staff and postgraduate students from the Schools of Agriculture, Pure and Applied Sciences, Business and Economics as well as Education and Social Sciences. The workshop covered the chapters of the research proposal and thesis namely; introduction, literature review, materials and methods, data collection and analysis, results and discussion as well as examination of thesis. The workshop was officially opened by Prof Daniel Mugendi Njiru, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Embu. In his opening remarks, the Vice-Chancellor noted that universities were not producing postgraduates fast enough to meet the requirements of the country. He also noted that the Commission for University Education (CUE) had recommended postgraduate examination focuses on publication by the student as well as special and intensive training of postgraduate students on proposal writing. This workshop was therefore part of the effort to improve the quality and number of postgraduate students. The VC recounted with pride that in 2016/2017 four PhD students from UoEm wrote good proposals that were funded by the National Research Fund (NRF). He was hopeful more students would be funded in the 2017/2018 year. The VC emphasized the commitment of the management of UoEm to provide quality postgraduate education. During the workshop, postgraduate students requested for increasing the number of research laboratories in the University, increasing access to other research facilities and additional training on data analysis. In his closing remarks, the DVC (ARE) emphasized that every postgraduate student in UoEm has the right to choose their supervisor. Therefore no one should force a supervisor on a student. The Workshop was facilitated by; Prof Kiplagat Kotut the DVC (ARE), Prof. Nancy Budambula the Director Board of Postgraduate Studies, Dr Romano Mwirichia the Director Research and Extension, Dr Robert Mathenge Lecturer at UoEm and Dr Julius Mugweru Lecturer at UoEm.