The Superintended Minister of the West Cape Coast Circuit of Methodist Church, Very Rev. Ebenezer Boateng-Annimful has urged students and staff of the University to pray and support the new Vice-Chancellor to succeed in his term of office.

That, he noted, would ensure the forward march of the University to achieve its vision and mission.

Very Rev. Boateng-Annimful gave the advice at the Vice-Chancellor’s Induction Thanksgiving Service for Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah at the New Examination Centre (NEC), North Campus. The non-denominational service was on theme: " Called to Serve".

The Superintended Minister of the West Cape Coast Circuit of Methodist Church emphasised the need for Christians to love, obey and serve God in all their endeavours. "Our common task as believers is to love, obey and serve God, as we serve humanity and as we serve society," he stressed.

Very Rev. Boateng-Annimful advised Christians to eschew all forms of corruption and disabuse their minds that leadership was about making money and acquiring wealth. Rather, he said, leadership was a call to serve humanity. The Very Reverend Boateng-Annimful advised students to do away with examination malpractice.  In the same vein, he entreated staff of the University not to engage in social vices that would mar the image of the University. He called on Christians to live by the tenets of Christianity and avoid selfishness and greed in their daily lives.

Quoting from John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." In this regard, the Methodist Bishop noted that if Christians had faith in God, God would restore what the devil had taken from them.

For his part, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, expressed profound gratitude to the Chaplaincy Board for organising the programme. Prof. Ampiah, who described himself as Orthodox Pentecostal, called for obedience and discipline among Christians.

"For the next four years, I want total discipline among Christians. I want us to obey the rules of the University". He said, while quoting from 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 to buttress his point.

He announced that during his term as Vice-Chancellor, the University would provide decent places of worship for the various denominations on campus. The Vice-Chancellor, who was accompanied by his wife and two children, implored the congregation to remember him in prayers as he leads the University for the next four years. He assured the congregation that he would put the University under Christ control.

To that end, Prof. Ampiah called for prayers, fasting and everything possible from the congregation in order to "overthrow the Kingdom of darkness and Satan that hovers over the University and bring it down and establish the true hand of God over this University for us to have progress and prosperity".

Intercessory prayers, led by the Hall Master of Kwame Nkrumah Hall, Mr. David Adukpo, were said for the Vice-Chancellor, the University Council, and the University Community.

Present at the event were the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. K.T. Oduro; the Registrar, Mr. John K. Nyan; some Provosts, Deans, lecturers, students and the clergy.

The Chairman of the Federation of Universities Senior Staff Association of Ghana(FUSSAG) Local Chapter of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Mr. Daniel Egyir, has announced plans to introduce monthly health walk for members of the Association to keep them healthy.

He said exercise helps in the reduction of certain medical conditions which mostly affect members due to the nature of their work such as back ache, joint pains, among others.

Mr. Egyir made the announcement when members of FUSSAG- UCC embarked on a 4 km health walk on campus. The walk, which started from the Casely-Hayford Field through some principal streets of the University and ended at the New Cape Coast Stadium, was on the theme " Walk for Health, Health is Wealth".

He urged members to embrace exercise to stay fit and healthy. The Chairman said when members patronise the health walks, they would be healthier and be more productive at work. Participants of the health walk were taken through some aerobics by the instructors of the New Cape Coast Sports Stadium Physiotherapy Centre.

The well-attended event was accompanied by a brass band.

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) has held a day' s seminar on research to underscore the need for graduate students to produce quality research work after the end of their programme.   The seminar, which was organised in collaboration with the College of Humanities and legal Studies, College of Distance Education and the local Graduate Students Association of Ghana(GRASAG-UCC), was on the theme, " ENHANCING CAPACITY FOR POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH."   Opening the seminar, the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Prof. Ernest Laryea Okorley, emphasised the need for graduate researchers to take research seriously. He said the only way  the University could achieve its vision of becoming “worldwide acclaim” was for its students to produce quality research work. He said the School would not relent in its efforts at ensuring that students produce quality dissertation. Prof. Okorley urged the public to visit the School's webpage to see at firsthand the research works produced by the SGS students.   Taking his turn to address participants on the topic" Effective Supervision: Roles, Skills and Knowledge", the Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh, indicated that it was incumbent upon graduate researchers to produce a document that says "I am a master of this discipline". She urged the graduate researchers to plan and manage their research work, deliver the work on time and submit a thesis that was appropriate to the standard and acceptable to the department and the University. According to her, graduate supervision was a joint venture, adding that " it is a collaboration between the supervisor and the student'.   The Provost urged the students to hone their skills in enthusiasm, integrity, self-confidence, self-reflection, self-motivation and focus in order to realise their dreams.   Prof. Edu-Buandoh advised the graduate researchers to embrace knowledge base thesis and urged them to be innovative and creative.   A lecturer at the Department of English, Prof. Lawrence K. Owusu-Ansah, speaking on Academic Writing Skills and Publishing, advised the participants to take concord, tenses, voices, cohesion and coherent seriously when writing their dissertations.   Prof. Owusu- Ansah took the participants through modality and hedging, quotation, paraphrase and referencing in producing quality research work.   He noted that publishing served as evidence of research, promotion of academics, source of information for peers, among others.   He advised the students to study and implement the house style of their institution so as to produce acceptable dissertations, avoid flagship journals in the first few attempts on their own, publish with senior colleagues and avoid predatory journals and self- publication.   Presenting on the topic "Literature Review and Conceptual Framework", the Director of the Directorate of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, Prof. Kofi Awusabo-Asare, said the importance of Literature Review was to justify research, provide a context for the research, highlight flaws in the research and enable the researcher to learn from the previous theory on the study. He noted that Conceptual Framework helps justify and build blocks for work that provides guide for variables in work.   For his part, Head of Department of Education Studies at the College of Distance Education, Prof. Emmanuel K. Gyimah, who  spoke on the topic, " Examining Thesis/Dissertation," stressed the need for the students to be abreast of the features of a good dissertation. According to him, thesis should be original, sound methodology, comprehensive and scholarly, rigorous and self-critical, among others.   Prof. Gyimah schooled the participants on VIVA VOCE, which, he said, was criterial for assessing students in the University. The participants had their burning questions addressed by the resource persons.