About the Reformed Church University (RCU)
The Reformed Church University (RCU) was formed out of the Charter given to the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) by the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) in 2010. This gave the Church the opportunity to start laying down concrete milestones towards the ultimate opening of the new University in 2012.
The mission of the RCU is to empower students to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users and creators of information.
The RCU vision is to be a relevant world class centre of excellence in inclusive education, research and community service, innovation and industrialization embedded in Christian values. The institution niche area is “special needs education”. This niche bench marks on the background that from the start the Reformed Church of Zimbabwe catered for lepers, the deaf and dumb and the blind. The university is therefore building on this legacy. RCU has gained a national reputation for its inclusivity orientation and is set to be a global leader in this respect. As RCU leverages on its niche area of inclusivity, it has immediate plans to establish a National Institute of Inclusivity, Research and Rehabilitation which apart from teaching and research would be a hub for innovation, production and warehousing of assistive devices across a wide range of disabilities.
RCU mission goes beyond the traditional teaching, research and community service to include socialization of knowledge and targeting teaching and research towards sustainable socio-economic progress based on value addition of local natural resources. This developmental matrix is based on deployment of local resources, human and material to address local development gaps and finding sustainable local solutions. Within this framework, the RCU emphasizes innovations and creativity for producing goods and services of relevance for local and global impact hence drifting from merely regurgitating theoretical bodies of knowledge.
RCU adheres to international best practice as explicitly expressed by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and Technology Development through such documents as the Ministry’s Strategic Plan and The Skills Audit and the Qualifications Framework.
RCU History Timeline
2012
At the beginning of 2012, with the generous support of the Church, the Reformed Church University was able to raise funds to finance the accreditation of the first four degree programmes and the subsequent opening of the Reformed Church University on 12 August 2012.
The programmes that the University offered on its inception are Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Special Needs Education, Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Early Childhood Development, a Bachelor of Theology Honours Degree and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Human Resources, Industrial and Labour Relations Management.
2012
On 8 December 2012, the Reformed Church University successfully hosted the Launch and Installation of Chancellor and Vice Chancellor event. The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Washington T. Mbizvo was the Guest of Honour at the event
2013
In line with the Reformed Church University’s vision of being a relevant world class centre of excellence in special needs education, theology and community service embedded in Christian values, an application for the accreditation of new degree programmes was made to ZIMCHE in February 2013 with the view of widening the options of courses available to people living with and without disabilities. The application was also made with the view of addressing skills requirements much needed in business and industry in the country.
2013
The programmes were:
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Public Administration,
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Marketing,
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Business Management.
2018
In 2018, The Reformed Church University moved from Morgenster Mission to its main campus which is 7km from Masvingo town along Bulawayo-Mashava road. . The university also has a satellite campus at RCU Teaching and Learning Centre stand number 3932 Jabavhu Drive highfield Harare
The university is pleased to announce that by end of 2018, thirteen (13) new programs have been accredited by ZIMCHE and the institution is now offering twenty (20) degree programs from the four which were running. Three of these new programs are post graduate degrees. The following are all the degrees now being offered by the university:
FACULTY OF COMMERCE
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Accounting
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Human Resources, Industrial and Labour Relations Management
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Marketing
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Business Management
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Banking and Finance
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Public Administration
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Mathematics
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Early Childhood Development
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Inclusive Education
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in African Languages(Chishona)
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Information and Communication Technology
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Sports Science
- Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Foundations of English and Literacy Education
Faculty of Arts, Theology, Culture and Heritage Studies
- Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Media and Development Studies
- Bachelor of Theology Honours Degree
2018
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
- Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Social Work
POST GRADUATE DEGREES
- Master of Education Degree in Early Childhood Development
- Master of Education Degree in Inclusive Education
- Master of Education Degree in Business Administration
NB: The University is currently enrolling for the August 2019 semester.