Instructor Duncan Smith, one of our first lecturers in the School Of Nursing

In subsequent years, the university expanded. In December 2010: we launched the Institute of Allied Health Sciences, graduated the pioneer classes of 84 students; and installed a second Vice Chancellor: Dr Nick Wooding. By 2015: CIU had grown further: We purchased land for a future purpose-built campus—also a requirement for the Charter; We appointed the first Ugandan VC; Launched our innovation hub; submitted the first charter application; and grew our student numbers to 840. To grow the university further, the University Council in collaboration with the Founders, approved the rebranding of the university to allow for the diversification of programs on offer. These efforts resulted in a series of activities for CIU:

• The university was rebranded from IHSU to CIU

• We opened the School of Business and Applied Technology.

• Through the innovation hub under the leadership of Mr. Michael Niyitegeka, we secured NORAD Funding.

• We applied and received a Carnegie Fellow funded by Carnegie Funding,

• We entered a strategic collaborative Health Professionals Education Consortia with key universities (Makerere, Busitema, Kabale, ACHEST, Mulago School of Nursing, Yale, and Johns Hopkins): A program funded by the NIH through Makerere College of Health Sciences.

• We were the first to launch the first accredited Higher Education Certificate (HEC) program in the country.

• More importantly, we launched a new strategic plan focusing on 6 strategic areas:

1. Develop our People, Infrastructure, Systems, Programs, and Culture (Values)

2. Grow our Resources, Strategic Partnerships, and Diversify programs

3. Advance Research and Scholarship and enhance Innovative Practices at CIU.

4. Sustain our Vision, Financial health, and Quality!

5. Increase leadership Capacity; Lead Change; and take CIU to the world.

6. Create a multiplier effect through graduate leaders who will remain vital in the communities and shape the future of our country and beyond.

In October 2019: Under the capable leadership of the Founder, we broke ground to start construction of our permanent home; Opened a Cisco Academy; became an International Certificate of Digital Literacy Certificate (ICDL) Training Center; and Launched Refactory Uganda.

The year of the Covid-19 pandemic (2020) was without a doubt the most challenging season in the life of the university. But we never stopped being curious. We collectively moved forward with a renewed purpose—something akin to alchemy: the process of taking something ordinary and turning it into