National Council for Higher Education, (NCHE), a body that oversees the operations of tertiary institutions in Uganda, has praised UCU’s former VC, Prof. Stephen Noll calling him an ‘ally in the promotion of quality education’.

“It is difficult to monitor quality in institutions of higher learning, but as members of National Council for Higher Education, we have always appreciated the work of Prof Stephen Noll. In him, we had a strong ally,” said Prof. Michael Lejeune, Deputy Executive Director, National Council for Higher Education.
“Prof. Noll was committed to promoting high quality education. Because of Noll, UCU is indeed an excellent university and nobody can doubt that,” he added.
Prof. Lejeune made the comments during a thanksgiving dinner organised in honour of Prof. and Peggy Noll on August 21 at Greenhill Academy, Namwongo, Kampala.
The function was attended by hundreds of guests who included government officials, bishops and other church dignitaries, UCU partners and friends from abroad, university staff, students and alumni.
At the same function, the Executive Director of Uganda Partners, Diane Stanton hailed the former VC’s work saying, as partners, they were impressed with Noll’s commitment and strictness in pursuance of quality.
“We are grateful for Prof. Noll’s work at this university. Whenever we came, we were amazed by not just the beauty, but quality of education at UCU. We are grateful for his professionalism, dedication and vision to offer quality education to Ugandans,” she said.
She further commended Noll’s administrative instinct saying that he was a visionary leader and had sharp eyes for opportunities.
“Prof Noll had a clear vision in forming a partnership with us. Over the last ten years, many projects at Uganda Christian University got support from USA, because through Noll, the university had a partnership organization based there,” said Stanton.
Professor Deirdre Carabine, Vice Chairperson of Uganda VC Forum, described Noll as a committed, bold and dependable a leader.
“Prof Noll worked with a lot of enthusiasm especially in dealing with government financial matters and all universities are benefitting from his work. He was a committed member of the forum and we are sad that he is leaving,” he said.
On their part, the Nolls expressed gratefulness to Church of Uganda and all UCU stakeholders, but noted that university’s success story owes much to other actors as well.
“I am grateful to my staff for being united. We didn’t experience any conflicts among the staff, which helped us to avoid problems even after making many potentially contentious policies,” said Noll.
His wife, Peggy said,
“Sometimes people praise my husband for developments at UCU, but I want to emphasize that at UCU, Noll worked with, not just dedicated, but a team of capable and wonderful staff.”