NUI Blog - Northrise University Initiative

by Chibozu

8th September, 2009 will always be a memorable day for the students at Northrise University. It was only a day after Northrise University of Ndola, Zambia, had entered into a partnership agreement with Dordt College of Iowa state in America. Accompanied by Mr. Randy Kroll who is the chairman of the Dordt College board, the president of Dordt College, Dr. Carl E. Zylstra, took time to have an interactive meeting with the students.

He shared with the Northrise students exactly what it meant to partner with Northrise. He said he was excited and happy to be part of a partnership that has been guided by God Himself. He also said that the students should be encouraged and always remember that God himself will see them and Northrise through.

Dr. Zylstra also made mention that the partnership with Northrise University is the first partnership made in Africa. And besides Africa, the college is also partnered with some institutes from Korea, Australia and Mexico. As one of the Northrise students who sat in that interactive and educational meeting, I was happy to learn that Dordt College and Northrise have a common area of understanding: Both are Christian institutions and offer quality education.

The partnership programme also includes an exchange programme where students and faculty from Dordt can come to Northrise to study and teach in a semester and vice versa. Through the meeting I also got to learn of a few challenges that students at Dordt face when they study from other partnering institutes. One of these is learning in a foreign language. However, I realised that challenges are always with us and should not be viewed as obstacles but rather as stepping stones to a valuable destination. Partnering with Dordt will be an experience worthwhile because education is a life time experience.

Northrise University and United States (US) based Dordt University College yesterday signed partnership agreement at the university’s main campus in Ndola.

Northrise University president, Dr. Moffat Zimba said that the partnership agreement was aimed at enhancing the educational experience for both students and professors at the two universities.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Dr Zimba said the deal between his university and the Dordt University College based in the US state of Iowa marked a significant milestone in the road map of Northrise, which is Zambia’s first private university.

“The two universities have agreed to establish a cooperative venture that will provide their respective students and faculty members with the opportunity to meet and learn from each other,” Dr Zimba said.

He said Northrise University signed the agreement with Dordt College because it believed that it represented the best opportunity for building a strong university and a relationship with Dordt College which has been preparing leaders since 1937.

Officiating during the ceremony, deputy Ndola Mayor, John Chanda said the partnership agreement would give Northrise a chance to provide world class education at an affordable cost.

“As the local authority, we are happy with the new deal between the two universities which will culminate in Ndola hosting an ultra modern medical center for the provision of care and support,” Mr Chanda said.

Dordt University College president, Carl Zylstra said he was confident that Northrise would end up being one of Zambia’s top university after partnering with his university under a deal aimed at advancing the spirit of teaching and Christianity

Dr Zylstra said Dordt University started with 35 students 54 years ago in a country which had over 3,000 universities and now it was among US’s top 100 universities as far as offering quality services was concerned.

“Using the same humble beginnings we are witnessing at Northrise University today, Dordt now have over 1,400 full time students and had over the years produced over 14,000 graduates,” he said.

Dordt University College board chairperson, Randy Kroll said the vision of Northrise University was now coming to reality.

He said the partnership would help realize the university’s mission to seek to educate and empower those who wanted to take up leadership challenges and change the world for a better future.

Article from Times of Zambia Newspaper

Date published: September 8th 2009