A first in many things, including the first iTaukei female to teach at an all-male school and the first iTaukei woman to be appointed professor at a university, Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba is now the first iTaukei to hold the position of vice chancellor at the Fiji National University.
With a career spanning more than 30 years both on the international and regional academic arena, Prof Nabobo-Baba has been acting in the position since February.
Speaking during her traditional welcoming ceremony, which was organised by the school, she made known to students and staff the vision she has for FNU and how she hopes to achieve them.
“One thing that I’m going to be really crazy about is our qualifications as staff,” Prof Nabobo-Baba said.
“I’ve been in this business for 32 years in maybe five or six universities. It’s the staff qualifications that touch the students’ lives, and that’s what gives the university its standing, so we cannot be second-guessing staff. Your impact will touch the students and FNU’s standings.
“Staff members who are not academics, professors, you know how I feel. You are the vineyard which is going to breed FNU.
“I want you to remember also, if you’re an academic, we can’t do our work without the staff.”
Prof Nabobo-Baba urged the school and student leaders to work together, even through their differences.
She said as the national university, the school would need to address social gaps, social issues and socio-economic challenges.
“I see today that we have progressed in the world in many areas, but there are still deep-rooted and increasingly widening social gaps.
“There is the environmental challenge, there is the economic divide of our people, across the world too. There is the disparity that we must address.
“We are the national university, that is a different calling from the regional one.
“It means that you must know everything that’s happening on every island, in every region of the country. We have to address poverty and the lack of access to education.
“This is where I urge all of us, as the new vice chancellor, we have to find better answers for all of us. We will have to urge for greater collaboration for inclusion, for bilateralism and multilateralism.”
Prof Nabobo-Baba replaces former VC Lyn Karstadt, who was stood down by the FNU council earlier this year, along with former pro-vice chancellor Lisa Harrison, following an internal investigation.
