Boss

Welcome to St. Mary’s University (SMU) – a pioneer and leading private higher education institution in Ethiopia with commendable achievements in teaching-learning, research and outreach activities.  The driving motto of our institution has always been, “If education goes wrong, nothing can go right.”

 

Our achievements over the last 24 years are the source of pride and motivation for both the institution and the sector at large.  So far, we have managed to graduate more than seventy-five thousand students in the conventional and distance modes.  In our continuous quest for improvement, we are increasingly upgrading our institutional profile, strengthening the quality of our provisions, and the support systems designed to respond to the ever-augmenting student needs.  The Center for Education Improvement and Quality assurance (CEIQA), Academic Development and Resource Unit (ADRU), Career and Internship Unit (CIU) and Testing Center (TC) are but a few of our units entrusted with the task of spearheading our efforts in this direction.

 

Our achievements in research activities are also remarkable, to say the least.  The National Conference on Private Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia, which SMU hosts annually, and with global partners such as the Association of African Universities, the International Network for Higher Education in Africa, Project for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE), was held in 2022 for the twentieth time in a row.  The institution has been holding annual student research forum exclusively devoted to student researchers since 2007 and an annual Multi-disciplinary Seminar since 2009. The University is also actively engaged in training its staff at PhD level both in Ethiopia and abroad. There are currently around 15 staff who are pursuing their studies at this level in different fields of studies, forming a formidable research group that can enhance our institutional contribution in this area.

 

Moreover, the Business Faculty, Center for Law in Sustainable Development, and the Institute of Agriculture and Development Studies regularly publish their journals which have won wide recognition and acceptance both locally and internationally.  The fact that Mizan Law Review and Journal of Business and Administrative Studies are accredited by the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and are listed at African Journals Online (AJOL), the world's largest and preeminent platform of African-published scholarly journals, is a testimony to this. The Teacher- a bulletin published by the Department of Basic Courses is also another bi-annual publication with wider circulation.  Apart from serving as an outlet for our regular publications, the St. Mary’s University Press is engaged in wide-ranging publication schemes which include publication of reference books for higher education institutions, school textbooks, supplementary books and children’s books.

 

SMU’s institutional links with local and foreign institutions are consistently and encouragingly on the rise.  Our membership at various fora such as the International Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (INQAAHE), African Quality Network (AQN), International Council for Distance Education (ICDE), Association of African Universities (AAU), International Association of Universities (IAU) and our partnership with numerous international and local institutions is a clear indication of our internationalization efforts and strong commitment toward sharing and learning from others.

 

We have very close relationship with the surrounding community, NGOs, neighboring schools, business and industry which is in many ways enriching the training we are offering and the contributions we are making to the community.  

 

Our faculty, support staff and students are one large family committed to ensure that St. Mary’s cherishes continuous improvement and keeps its vibrancy, transparency and accountability for which we are well known.  We feel that we are strategically poised to continue to demonstrate our excellence in the years ahead.  It is always a pride to be part of such an institution. We invite you to join us in this challenging but rewarding journey.

 

Wondwosen Tamrat (PhD, Assoc. Prof.)

Founder and President