I hope you have had a breaths taking moment during your summer vacation. It is now time to join the community of learners at Wollega University (WU), at the three campuses as of 3rd of October 2011. This year, the University is beginning a new chapter in its five years of growth and development. In addition to the existing ones, new undergraduate and postgraduate programs shall be launched in selected disciplines, of which Sugar Technology and Medicine are among worth mentioning.

We hope we will finalize the on going expansion and infrastructure development, and committed more than ever to create a better learning environment for our staff and students. More academic staff returned from their study leave with better qualifications, although some also left for further studies. We have more laboratories, workshops, libraries and learning resources than the previous academic year. This academic year is coming with added opportunities for our first year students as we have diversified our programs.

Wollega University with its mission of serving the educational needs of students in this country, and the skilled human resource need of our economy, will keep on growing in size, and work to establish credibility and reputation in the country. Being a public University, taking its place as center of excellence in western Ethiopia, WU is envisioning becoming among the best in East Africa. For that matter, we do it in a distinctively scholarly way: by working with strategic partners, taking risks and moving boldly and quickly to address the needs of our students and community.

Wollega University will keep on drawing from the past and designing the future, but living and breathing in the present. We try our best to make sure that our students become connected to the world they inhabit: a world of ideas, of challenges, of possibilities, of relationships. Our commitment to our students will remain unrelenting. Over the past five years we have been investing record amounts in enhancing the quality of education, through student centered active learning and continuous assessment. We will give our students an enabling environment to invest in the quality of their education.

This year we will be more connected to the surrounding community and work hand in hand in addressing local problems to contribute to realization of our Growth and Transformation Plan and thus the millennium development goals. The University will continue supporting micro and medium enterprise development, creating forum for sensitization, and training workshops of vital local relevance and benefit to the local community.

Come and join us and let's make a difference!

Fekadu Beyene(Professor)