The Computer Sciences Unit (CSU)

Brief History

The first computer experience within Ahfad Institution was in 1985, when a training network was donated by the French government. After that some computers were donated to Ahfad by various organizations, IBM, WHO and UNDP. They were used mainly for word processing and training students.

This early start, relative to the Sudan, gave Ahfad University some experience with computers and their use. The University realized that soon computer experience will be important for its graduates and give them a better chance to find work if they have computer skills.

University staff studying abroad found it difficult to match research requirements without computer skills and often had to undergo training programs. Many administrative duties within the University were done manually resulting in errors and data losses. Data were kept in paper files and each staff member had his own way of recording information. Exchange and retrieval of older information took very long time.

The Computer Sciences Unit (CSU) was approved by the Academic Board in December, 1994. Its main objectives could be summarized as follows:

To train both staff and students on various computer applications.
To create, operate and develop the University databases.
To promote, develop and maintain computer ability of the University both insSoftware and hardware.
To help in the university prints.

Activities and Services

The CSU provides services for all the University schools and units on various aspects of computer application. These range form the initial installing of a new computer, helping in the presentations and other computer assisted activities. In fact CSU ervices some times extends to other educational and non educational institutions outside the University.

Training of Staff and Students of the University

Staff Training

Most if not all of the University staff members, have been trained at the CSU, Regular training programs are held each year to update trained staff and initiate newly appointed ones. The training program is divided into three stages, the first stage takes about 20 hours, second stage 15 hours and the third stage takes 6 hours.

The training program includes the following stages and topics:

Stage One

Introduction to the computer;

Word processing software; and

Spreadsheets.

Stage Two

Statistical software packages (SPSS and others); and

Internet techniques.

Stage Three

Scanning techniques;

Presentation software (PowerPoint and others); and

Computer-aided education.

Student Training

The student training program has begun in the year 1996 for the third year of the School of Organizational Management. In 1997 the CSU started to offer courses to the Ahfad primary School. The School of Health Sciences was included in the training program in the year 1998. And currently all the university students have the chance for training according to the time table set by the Staff and Student Training Lab (SSTL) tutor and the head of the unit.

The SSTL trains more than 500 students from various schools of the University and students from Ahfad primary school (APS) annually. Both undergraduate and postgraduate students are included in the training programs

The training program includes the following topics:

Introduction to computers
Using Windows;
Word processing software;
Spreadsheets; and
Internet techniques.

In addition, the CSU provides computer instruction to its staff members on different computer techniques in cooperation with other institutions, local and international.

University Databases

The University databases now include:

The Academic Database
The Financial Database
The Library Ddatabase
The Digital Images Database;
The Slides Database.

The Academic Database: This database includes all information concerning academic results of the university students. It is centralized in the main server and accessed by staff members from all schools.

The Financial Database: This database includes financial information concerning students, staff and university bodies.

The Library Database: This database currently includes information about all the books in English held by the AlHafeed Library

The Digital Images Database: This database was established in the academic year 1998/99. It includes scanned photos and documents from various sources. These digital photos are used for presentations as well as made available to the use of staff and students in the university intranet.

The Slides Database: This project was launched during the academic year 1999/2000. There are now more than 200 slides in the database and processing is still going on.

Promotion of Computer Capacity of the University

The CSU is responsible for:

Developing the CSU infrastructure
Maintenance of the university hardware and software. This part concerns response of the CSU workshop to various complaints, troubleshooting for photocopiers and consumables, computers and their accessories, spare parts and telephone repairs.
Providing technical support for university academic and administrative staff; in this respect the CSU, is continuously advising university bodies, staff and students about their computer problems. These include network problems, software problems and hardware problems.
Operating the telecommunication system; the CSU has the obligation to maintain all telecommunication problems including installing new lines and repairing old ones. This was not originally part of the CSU main objectives. It came into the CSU responsibility because the CSU was the initiator and the supervisor for the installation and operation of the telecommunication network system. The CSU also uses the telecommunication network to expand its computer network.

Work Groups

The CSU has five (5) full-time staff members divided into four (4) committees or work groups. These are:

Network and Systems Committee: This committee is responsible for assembling, following up and maintenance of the network.
Integrated Systems Committee: This committee is responsible for all the university databases, financial, academic, library.
Maintenance and Supply Committee: It works for the maintenance of the programs and systems and the supply of all the needed spare parts for all the University.
Training and Information Committee: Training of staff and students to use Internet and CDs effectively.

Facilities

The CSU has four offices and three labs. These consist of:

The CSU head office which also includes the main servers;
The CSU workshop;
The CSU store; and
The telephone switchboard office.

The three labs consist of the following:

The staff and students training lab (16 workstations) located at the building of the School of Organizational Management;
The Information Centre (15 workstations) located in the basement of AlHafeed Library; and
The Computer Skills Training Lab (12 Workstation) Located at the building of School of Medicine.

Plans for Development

Plans include developing the capacity for:

Additional training of the staff and students of the University;
Introducing academic staff to available software and hardware;
Acquiring and introducing existing teaching software in various academic fields related to AUW;
Encouraging academic staff to develop, in cooperation with the CSU, computer based course contents that can be available to student through university intranet;
Training in the library system;
Develop training programs for schools; and
Introducing the students to available computer based courses in the university.

Faculty

Maha Awadalla Mahgoub, B.Sc., (Honours) Sudan University. Head the Computer Sciences Unit.
Ahmed Gaffar Shakak, B.Sc., University of Khartoum. Higher Diploma in Computer Engineering and Networking, Network and Systems Committee
Moaz Mohmed Abd Elgadir, Diploma in Businss Administration Training and Information Committee.
Aiman Mohammed Badri, (on study leave).
Mohammed Salah Mahgoub, B.Sc. Bayan College for Science and Technology (2003). Joined AUW in 2003.
Husam Daffalla Ahmed, B.Sc. Sudan University (2003). Joined AUW in 2003.