Interview time!

'Tis the time of the year for prospective students to get all gussied up, grab their original documents (transcripts, birth/baptism/marriage certificates), and come to Mukono to be interviewed.  The dean had told me to clear my calendar for 14 March, and so when someone came to my office yesterday for the interviews, I told him they were the next day.  He asked if I was sure.  While that's a typical African response (one that I've adopted; it's a rather handy way to point out that you think someone is wrong), I thought it was funny that he thought *I* was wrong about the date.

When I submitted my application to UCU in January 2009, clearly, they weren't going to ask me to come back for interviews.  So the dean interviewed me in her office.  We had tea, and that's about it.  I was prepared for a full-on interrogation, and we had a pleasant chat over tea.  She did laugh when she saw that I had written "North Kigezi" for my diocese, but since we were canonically resident there at the time, it was true.  I asked her what was funny about an application that was largely biographical data, and she just said, "it must be difficult for you."

All that is to set the stage for the fact that I had no idea how to conduct an interview.  I'm guessing that there were about 100 applications, and we were divided into four groups of three lecturers.  We were given scoring sheets, in which we rated students on things like ministry skills and overall impression.  Our scores were then averaged for a final score for the team.

We quickly settled into a rhythm of asking the applicants for their testimony and the ministries they are involved in, and then any other questions we wanted to flow from there.  It was fairly fascinating; we could be as easy or as tough and probing as we wished.  My group was fairly easy, with two exceptions.  I think we saw about 28 people - my introvert was fairly well done.

One thing I noticed was that quite a few of the applicants had rather low scores on their national exam (which must be taken in order to graduate from secondary school).  One gentleman who had come to UCU for either a diploma (which is akin to our associate's degree) or a bachelors and is now coming for either a bachelors or masters (see 28 people above) did quite well at UCU, which I wouldn't have expected given his national exam scores.  When I asked Professor Byaruhanga about it, he explained that the national exams are rather unfair to those who live upcountry, as the education there is generally inferior to the one received in or near Kampala.  Once they get here, and receive proper training, they (can) thrive.

I believe that we were interviewing for intake for the school, but also for the scholarship program:  there is a wonderful program with Uganda Partners (I believe) that pays tuition for theology students, and the diocese pays for room and board.  It's a fabulous program, as the majority of these students wouldn't be able to pay tuition on their own.

So really, no pressure involved with today's work.  We're just selecting the next crop of leaders for the Church of Uganda.  Just another Thursday.