Finstock Evarsity College & JKUAT Partnership

Coordination Committee activities from the July to August 2026

Finstock Evarsity College and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) are building one of the most ambitious research and publishing collaborations in the region. On 20th July 2026, the Joint Committee overseeing this partnership met at Finstock Evarsity College premises to review progress and agree on the next phase of implementation.

The meeting was co-chaired by CPA John Kimani from Finstock Evarsity and Dr. Roselyne Mang’ira from JKUAT who were accompanied by other officials from both institutions.

What Is the Finstock–JKUAT Partnership About?

The collaboration pairs JKUAT’s public research mandate with the infrastructure of the Finstock Consortium  including Finstock Evarsity, a TVETA- and NITA-accredited online college serving over 100,000 students and IPR Journals & Books, the publishing arm managing 46 flagship journals indexed on Dimensions and discoverable via Google Scholar, Scilit and EBSCOhost.

The goal of the collaboration is to close specific gaps at JKUAT which are: Slow and costly international journal publication, unremunerated peer reviewers, a library digitization backlog, and limited hands-on training in research methods tools and data analysis.

What was agreed at the July 2026 meeting?

The committee reached agreement on several fronts:

• A stronger editorial partnership
• Due diligence on IPR Journals.
• A digitization funding proposal.
• A shift from MOU to Collaborative Agreement.

Finstock Evarsity and JKUAT Joint Coordination Committee meeting, 24^th August 2026

What Training Programmes Are Coming Up?

Free staff short courses — August 2026. Taking advantage of the academic recess, Finstock will run complimentary short courses of up to two days each, starting with library staff and committee members. Priority topics include Academic Publishing, SPSS and Artificial Intelligence.

Graduate student training — September 2026. A four-day programme will target students at two stages: those finishing coursework and those beginning research. The training focuses on research methodology and publishing and will be introduced during graduate orientation early September. A new tracking database will also flag students who have stalled in their research so they can get targeted support.

What’s the Long-Term Vision?

The partnership revolves around four capability areas for JKUAT:

• Digital capacity — library digitization, LMS deployment, Smart Boards
• Research capacity — practical research tools, AI, data analysis
• Publishing capacity — supporting JAGST’s move toward a Diamond Open Access model with 12 regular annual issues
• Grant proposals — Developing grant proposals for funding capacity building and digitization through Finstock foundation

What’s on the Agenda for the 24th August 2026 Coordination Meeting?

Momentum from July carried straight into August. On 24th August 2026, the Finstock–JKUAT Joint Coordination Committee convened again, with an agenda built directly around the action points from the previous meeting — a sign that both institutions are tracking commitments closely rather than letting them stall.

After opening remarks and a review of the previous minutes, the committee turned to eleven agenda items which are:

1. Sharing of the IPR Journals list with the JKUAT team
2. A joint meeting between the JKUAT and IPR Journals editorial teams
3. Due diligence on IPR Journals by the relevant University personnel
4. IPR Journals indicating reviewer qualifications through published CVs
5. Progress on listing IPR Journals in the university Library
6. Free courses training for August
7. Postgraduate training plans for September
8. A database for graduate students who have dropped out of or are commencing research
9. Current progress on the Collective Agreement document
10. Digitization strategy
11. Funding strategy and grant proposals

Finstock Evarsity and JKUAT Joint Coordination Committee meeting, 24^th August 2026

The agenda shows a partnership moving from planning into execution — each item aligning with specific corresponding commitments made the previous month.

The meetings provide a clear demonstration of what a consistent, transparent and accountable partnership looks like in practice.

Follow Finstock Evarsity’s Events page for the outcomes of the 24th August meeting and updates on the August training schedule and September graduate programme. To learn more about Finstock’s publishing arm visit IPR Journals & Books or explore Finstock Evarsity’s programs for training and digital capacity-building opportunities.