UCM - Information Technology
The Faculty of Tourism Management and Information Technology is located at the beautiful resort of Pemba in northern Mozambique. The campus is about one kilometer from the beach.
UCM - Information Technology is a modern 4-year university program. A first class of nineteen students began in August 2003. English and Portuguese are the languages for instruction. The academic program utilizes a student-centered Problem-Based learning (PBL) approach, encouraging life-long learning skills necessary in this rapidly changing field. Students start out with very practical hands-on computer hardware and software training. Certification is a natural part of the program. Students gain confidence from this approach. In later years they see the more traditiional and theoretical IT topics.
The Pemba campus has a general purpose computer lab (20+ PCs) and a Local Area Network (LAN) connecting all computers. Special purpose computer labs are used by IT students. Currently under development (should be ready by February 2004) are a Business Computing Resource Centre (BCRC), containing a variety of networking, point of sale, and other equipment, a Computer-Based Training (CBT) lab with 30 PCs, and a full-time connection to the Internet.
UCM-IT has seen a rapid startup and continuing development. The professors are international and well-qualified. Partnerships are being formed with European and American universities and foundations. UCM-IT is planning for a number of important projects on distance education, electronic library, and outreach to the community. UCM-IT has benefited from generous national and international support from the Catholic Church, MOZAL (Mozambique Aluminum, 3 student scholarships for women in IT), Maastricht University (assistance with PBL), Austrian Development Cooperation, World Bank, US Agency for International Development (USAID), and a number of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) from Europe.
