Botswana Open University Office of Research and Innovation Management Blog

 By Changu Batisani

I work in the Office of Research and Innovation Management (ORIM) at the Botswana Open University. The university is a result of a transition from Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning (BOCODOL) in 2017.  This makes it a relatively new university gearing up for research uptake, given its new status. It currently offers 19 tertiary programmes at the level of certificate (6), diploma (3), degree (6), post-graduate certificate (1) and masters (3). BOU has four academic Schools and five regional campuses in Gaborone, Francistown, Kang, Maun and Palapye.   

The Office of Research and Innovation Management evolved from the Centre for Research and Innovation which was established in 2017. Since its establishment, the Office has had 2 staff members; the Director and the Research Coordinator and is in the process of recruiting more personnel for the different research management functions. Our mandate is:

To develop university research management frameworks and tools, structures, systems and guidelines for the advancement of the university mission.

To execute this mandate, while being accommodative of the changeover of the university from being a College to a university, we have adopted a research development approach that inculcates and motivates a culture of research. The Office of Research and Innovation Management therefore conceptualised research development for improved research culture to be underpinned by approaches shown in the Figure 1.

Figure 1: Research development approach

 

Structural and procedural research development

Our office develops, and manages the implementation of research policies, the university research strategy, for the attainment of the university research goals.  To operationalise policies and strategies, the Office ensures that policy guidelines and tools are in place for the day-to-day implementation of the university research activities.

Structurally, the office is in charge of supporting all the research committees. For example, the Office is secretariat to the University Research Committee (URIC) and the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC). It is also gives technical advice on procedures, research management standards and processes to the committees.

There is also a structure (Conference Fund Committee ) in place that implements the research dissemination aspect of research development. It is charged with the mandate of ensuring that staff members are supported financially to disseminate their research outputs at both national and international conferences.

Research capacity development

To motivate the uptake of research and enhance research capacity within BOU, researcher development is key. Our Office runs workshops for committees and staff based on training needs as identified by the URIC, UREC our office and staff.

Desirable research behaviour reinforcement

For an institution that was predominantly a teaching one, given its former College status, rewarding desirable research behaviours is integral in developing a research culture.  We are still looking at developing different rewarding strategies and/or frameworks in order to strengthen desirable research behaviour among the members of the university research community. 

Research dissemination support services

This area involves supporting academic staff in disseminating their research outputs.  The ORIM supports academic staff to disseminate their research within the university community, nationally and internationally. This is done through the Conference Fund Committee and thus supporting the funding of national and international conference attendance by staff.

My role as Research Coordinator

As Research Coordinator, I interpret and implement the university policies and procedures through offering support to various research committees across the institution. I work closely with these committees and monitor their activities in order to inform policy and strategy development, as well as inform the improvement of quality research management service delivery.  I also contribute to policy development and support research and researcher development initiatives across the University.

Feel free to contact the Office using the contact details provided below:

Email: cbatisani@staff.bou.ac.bw , Tel. +267 3646015, Cell: +267 71825503