The Co-operative Credit Union Limited of University of Cape Coast (UCC) has
presented a cheque for sixty thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS 60,000) to support the 60th
anniversary of the University.

Making the donation on behalf of the Union, the Board Chairperson, Mrs CharityAbraham, indicated that the presentation was also part of the Union's Corporate Social
Responsibility to support the anniversary.

She expressed worry at the delay in returns received from the University which was the
seed revenue used in running the Credit Union.

Mrs. Abraham, therefore, called for expedition to ensure monthly deductions of UCC contributors come on time.

She announced that the vision of the Union was to get a GHS150, 000,000 asset-base
by the end of the tenure of the current Board of the Union.

She commended the members of the Union for their continuous immeasurable support
and contributions that had brought the Credit Union that far.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rosemond Boohene, receiving the cheque, thanked the
Union for the support, also noting the harmonious relationship it maintained with staff of
the University.

Prof Boohene encouraged staff to develop the habit of saving and be active members of
the Union to facilitate the growth of its revenue.

Whilst calling on the Union to extend its tentacles to other members of the public, the
Pro Vice-Chancellor called on management and Board of the Union to help improve the
financial health and well-being of members.

Present at the meeting was the Registrar, Mr. Jeff Onyame.

 
In attendance at the meeting were management and Board members of the Credit
Union.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC

The School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast (UCC) has joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year's World Food Day with a Farmers’ Market event.

This year's global theme for the celebration was "Safe Food Today for a Healthy Tomorrow." 

Locally, the School marked the Day on the theme, “Leave no one behind" and it aimed at making food systems more resilient to withstand global volatility and deliver affordable and sustainable diets for all. 

The Day is celebrated widely by many organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Speaking at a Symposium ahead of the opening of the Farmers’ Market event, the honourable Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, urged the public to prioritize food safety, stressing that the sector played a pivotal role in developing policies and regulatory frameworks in establishing and implementing effective food safety systems.

"That notwithstanding", she pointed out, “it was the collective responsibility of every Ghanaian to ensure that food safety was maintained at a standard that would improve the quality of the lives of our people."

Mrs. Assan expressed gratitude to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for supporting the School of Agriculture. She said KOICA had also expressed its readiness to support Districts in the region to produce “Central Rice" in large quantities. 

"When we talk about ‘Central Rice’, it is rice KOICA is supporting our local farmers to produce, well labeled with delicious taste" she added, "Very soon if you want to go into rice production, you need to come to Central Region for your quality rice seed."

The keynote Speaker, a former Member of Parliament for Twifo Atti-Morkwa Constituency, Mr. Abraham Dwuma Odum, called on Ghanaians to patronize local dishes derived from crops grown in Ghana to provide the much needed markets to farmers to ensure food security. 

He said foreign foods and products such as polished imported rice posed a threat to health of consumers.

Mr. Odum, therefore, appealed to people to consume locally produced nutritious foods to avoid diseases associated with foreign processed food products.

He noted that Central Region had the capacity to produce rice for the country.

He said the Planting for Food and Jobs policy was very good; however, its design and execution had had a toll on its implementation.

The Central Regional Director of Agriculture, Dr. Peter Omega, in his remarks, asked policy makers to support policy measures to strengthen national food safety systems and ensure they comply with food safety systems, as well as engage in multi sectoral collaboration at the local, national, regional and global levels.

He said food businesses should comply with international food standards and engage employees, suppliers and other stakeholders to grow and develop a food safety culture.

The Symposium was chaired by the Dean of the School of Agriculture, Prof. Henry De-Graft Acquah.

As part of the event, a Farmers’ Market was held where patrons had the chance to purchase fresh produce.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated the commitment of his
government to expand infrastructure at University of Cape Coast (UCC) to absorb the
teeming Free Senior High School graduates’ access to university education.
“Indeed, I assure you of the commitment of my government to give the University the
required support to expand its infrastructure for the benefit of the numerous senior high
school graduates who now qualify to access university education” he said.
The President was speaking at the grand durbar climaxing the 60th anniversary
celebration of UCC.
He expressed gratitude to UCC for acknowledging the benefits of the Free Senior High
School intervention since its inception in 2017.
In that light, President Akufo-Addo indicated his readiness to fulfil his promise to support
the construction of students’ accommodation facility in the University.

Despite the harsh economic conditions currently facing the country, he observed that
government would not renege on its commitment to provide quality education and equal
opportunities for future generations to access good education.
“Regardless of the difficulties currently confronting our nation, government will continue
to intervene and remain responsible for the provision of free and quality basic and
secondary education for all”, President Akufo-Addo added, insisting: “Education is the
equalizer of opportunities”.
Whilst finding solutions to complex and far reaching problems across borders and
disciplines, the President charged the University to remain “pure and unadulterated in
the provision of quality academic and intellectual discourse”.
He expressed joy at the number of products from UCC occupying enviable positions in
the country, especially in public universities.
President Akufo-Addo, who was justly proud of UCC’s achievement at the 2023 Times
Higher Education (THE) World Universities Rankings (WUR), encouraged stakeholders
to put their shoulders to the wheel to achieve more laurels for UCC.

The President, therefore, urged traditional authorities in Cape Coast to join forces with
government to stop all encroachment on UCC lands.

UCC urged to Champion Agenda “Grow What We Eat”

The Chancellor of UCC, Dr. (Sir) Sam Esson Jonah, has charged the School of
Agriculture of the University to take the lead in providing better yielding crop varieties in
ensuring increase in crop production.
“We are entrusting this school with the responsibility of ensuring that we grow what we
eat and to a large extent eat what we grow. I expect you to establish a faculty that is
capable of forming strong partnerships, bonds and collaborations with institutions and
other relevant local bodies, pertinent to the development of our agricultural sector”, he
said.
The Chancellor underlined the need for the University to be innovative in the training of
students to ensure its products remained relevant to meet the changing global demand.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, for his part, promised to ensure
that the University chalked up many academic successes during his tenure.
To achieve that, he appealed to government to consider giving financial clearance for
the recruitment of staff for the University to reduce the workload of teaching staff.
He attributed the accomplishments of the University to all the stakeholders and founding
fathers of the University.
Early on, President Akufo-Addo commissioned the School of Graduate Studies
Complex, a six-storey Guest House for the Institute of Education, as well as the School
of Medical Sciences Administration Block.

The durbar, held at the New Examination Centre, attracted high profile personalities,
including politicians, academics, traditional authorities amongst others.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) is 60 years, Hurray! To the university community, the general public and academic watchers, this can only be an exciting news. Needless to suggest, this calls for a mixture of reactions. As a university community, we need to pat ourselves on the shoulder for a job well done. While at it, the time also presents an opportunity for self-introspection to take a look at how we got here, where we faulted and to right our wrongs. Most importantly, it also affords us the opportunity to look into the future with a view to strategising to maintain our lead and improve on it.

UCC, as it has come to be known, was established in 1962 as a college in October. This was as a result of a recommendation by an international commission appointed by the Government of Ghana in December, 1960, to advise on the future of university education in the country and the possibility of establishing a third university at Cape Coast.  The College was formally inaugurated on December, 15, 1962 and placed in special relationship with the University of Ghana, whose degrees it awarded.

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The first graduates of the University College of Cape Coast.

With an initial student intake of 155 in a few buildings taken over from a teacher training college, the College expanded so rapidly in size that by 1965 the development of the permanent campus, 1.6 kilometres to the north of the original site, had begun.

Government in the preceding year, passed a legislation, University of Cape Coast Act 1971 (Act 390), which granted full university status to the College with effect from October 1, 1971.  This was later reinforced with the University of Cape Coast Law 1992 (PNDC Law 278).

Where Are We Now?

Sixty years of commitment to its core values of excellence as well as a vision to have a university that is strongly positioned with worldwide acclaim has turned UCC into the University of Competitive Choice in Ghana and beyond. It is an equal opportunity university that is uniquely placed to provide quality education through the provision of comprehensive, liberal and professional programmes that challenge learners to be creative, innovative and morally responsible citizens.

The University extends expertise and facilities to train professionals for the educational enterprise, business and other sectors of the economy. The University of Cape Coast is constantly seeking alternative ways to respond to changing needs of society. It also continues to expand the core of its faculty and administrative staff by offering a conducive environment that motivates them to position the University to respond effectively to the development needs of a changing world.

The University is organised into five (5) colleges and eighteen (18) faculties/schools headed by provosts and deans respectively. The colleges are the College of Education Studies (CES), College of Health & Allied Sciences (CoHAS), College of Distance Education (CoDE), College of Humanities & Legal Studies (CHLS) and College of Agriculture & Natural Sciences (CANS).  Approximately 40 per cent of students are admitted into the Faculty of Education to pursue Bachelor of Education programmes qualifying as professional teachers, and the rest into non-education programmes in the other faculties.

Student Population

The student population of the UCC has increased over the years due to the increasing need for higher education and the introduction of different modes of learning. The University currently runs the regular, sandwich and distance modes of learning. These have helped expand access and brought university education to the doorsteps of potential students. Current student population stands at 79,441. These are made up of 26,527 regular, 19,201 sandwich and 28,519 distance students. The Institute of Education also has 19,201 sandwich students.

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Staff

The specialisations of staff cut across various professions such as medicine, pharmacy, natural and agricultural sciences, education, law, humanities, administration, and business among others. Staff improvement has been vigorously pursued with most faculty members acquiring PhDs. The University has also assisted administrative staff to build their capacities through continuous professional development to be able to deliver on their mandate.

Courses

The University has evolved in many ways; including the courses on offer. From the Arts and Science Education Programmes that the University started with at its inception, it now runs about 97 Undergraduate Programmes and 184 Postgraduate Programmes. These include Medicine, Law, Pharmacy, Forensic Sciences in addition to the traditional programmes. The University also runs a Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience and a UNESCO Category II Centre of Excellence.

Research Influence

In the area of research, UCC has been very active in spearheading new and improved seeds and seedlings for the country’s farmers. They include beans and cassava. Presently, the University is undertaking research into high yielding sugar cane for the Komenda Sugar Factory. No wonder it was ranked as number one in research influence globally, by the renowned Times Higher Education ranking agency for 2022.

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Corporate Social Responsibility

The University is situated in close proximity to about eight communities. The University has always been alive to its responsibility to positively impact on the lives of these communities. In this regard, the University undertakes various projects for the communities, within its budgetary constraints. This in no small measure has contributed to a harmonious relationship that has engendered good academic work.

Areas of support include employment, medical and dental support to the community through its 140-bed hospital.

Records available confirm that over 70 per cent of its out patients are from the communities. The university also has a scholarship scheme that supports brilliant but needy students from the communities. It also supports the communities in the area of sanitation. It has  built an eight-seater  modern toilet facility for the Akotokyir community and is presently in the process of constructing a similar one for the Amamoma community.

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A 66 seater bus  donated by the Minister of Education to facilitate community engagements and academic visitations to basic schools in the Central Region.

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Vice-Chancellor Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong planting a tree with  the captain of the  Ghana Black Stars football team, Andrew Ayew as part of the Green Ghana = Green UCC agenda.

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Eight-seated Toilet constructed for the Akotokyir Community.

Contribution to National Development

The University’s contribution to national development has been extensive and varied. This has been felt in the educational sector where UCC products continue to impact greatly. UCC has always put the expertise of its staff at the disposal of successive governments whenever needed. This has been in the areas of governance, banking, finance, science and several others. In fact, UCC alumni are found almost everywhere contributing towards the development of the nation.

The University maintains a purely green environment not only to provide a conducive  environment  for academic work  but also serve as a blue print to all not to degrade the environment.

To this end, the University has taken a lead role in participating in government’s Green Ghana Afforestation programme. So far, UCC has planted over sixty thousand  trees on campus as well as some of its satellite campuses. The University owned FM radio station runs educative programmes tailor made to educate the university community on issues of governance, health, sanitation, law and security, agriculture and fishing among others.  These programmes are designed to compliment government’s public education efforts.

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H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic being robed as Honorary Doctor by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in 2021. Behind him is projected the building plan of 5, 500 student accommodation facility to be built in his honour.

Challenges

In spite of the achievements outlined above, it has not been all rosy for the University. One critical obstacle confronting UCC is the age-old problem of encroachment. Though government legally acquired a parcel of land for the University’s use, this has come under immense pressure as a result of expansion of the communities. This is threatening the University’s very existence and future expansion. It is on record that over one third of the University’s legally acquired lands have already been lost to encroachers, despite huge resources invested in anti-encroachment drives over the years.

The University has a short fall in student accommodation resulting in the bulk of students living in the communities. This has had a rippling effect on the safety and security of our students. Incidents of robbery and attack on our students have been reported once in a while. This is in spite  of efforts made at building new lecture theatres and hostel facilities.

Moving Forward

Management has set out with a vision to produce entrepreneurial graduates who will fit well into industry or better still establish their own startups and provide employment to others.  To achieve this, a Design Thinking and Innovation Hub (D-Hub) has been established to serve as an incubator to facilitate this dream.

With the advent of Covid-19 the world has come to appreciate the value of digitization and UCC is no exception. A lot of investment is being made in this area to bring the University at paR with its contemporaries in the area of employment of digitization in its teaching and learning. Plans are also far advanced to intensify collaboration with sister institutions in Ghana, Africa and the rest of the world. This will be in addition to the over hundred institutions the University currently collaborate with.

Management is leaving no stone unturned to provide additional accommodation for students on campus as well as other infrastructure to facilitate academic work. Management, staff and students can only look forward to the future with great optimism. One thing which is never compromised by the University is QUALITY, and that is why the UCC will remain, the UNIVERSITY OF CHOICE.

Source: Directorate of Public Affairs