A freshly-created hub to support and motivate students to become successful job creators and entrepreneurs has been launched at the University of Cape Coast, UCC.

Design Thinking and Innovation Hub, abbreviated as D-Hub, an initiative under the Office of the Vice Chancellor, seeks to develop change agents in its community, stimulate the establishment and growth of start-up firms and other businesses.

The initiative is also aimed at helping to solve societal problems through design thinking, technology transfer, diffusion of innovation and continuous improvement.

Speaking at the launch, Chancellor of the University, Sir (Dr.) Sam Esson Jonah, indicated that the establishment of the D-Hub would deepen academia and industry collaboration to groom students into skilled business men and women “with the right focus and business ethics to make them succeed in their endeavors.”

He said Ghana stood to benefit immensely when students were prepared with the right attitude to work and an entrepreneurial mindset, stressing the aforesaid would enable them excel in their various fields of endeavour.

The Chancellor, who was the keynoter at the launch, lauded the determination of University Management and faculty to think outside the box to introduce initiatives that would not allow graduates join the bandwagon of job seekers.

He emphasized that the design thinking attitude was the cornerstone to train students who were being prepared for jobs that had not been yet created.

Presently, he noted, universities all over the world were working assiduously to produce useful global citizens to practically inculcate the 21st century skills into them. He was however quick to add that ‘most of these students and institutions were helping young students to put their design thinking tools into practice in the real world by making them spend time with business owners and project managers  to help optimise their services to clients’

The Chancellor underlined that the D-Hub could be a conduit through which creative and enthusiastic students from the senior high level, UCC, as well as lecturers who had come out with research findings of industrial value, could be incubated and groomed to develop business principles that could solve problems in all sectors of the economy.

He encouraged young entrepreneurs not to give up when they encountered difficulties or failures in their careers. He indicated that failure was part of the journey to a successful career.  He added that the D-Hub would unearth and discover talents in multidisciplinary spheres on the University campus.

Sir (Dr) Sam Jonah announced that D-Hub had five steps, namely ‘empathy, defining the problem, ideating solutions, prototyping a solution and testing a solution’. These, he observed, would ‘serve as avenue for many new ideas to be born in the midst of competition of students, staff and community’.

He opined that technological innovations churned out from the Hub would increase accessibility and national development along with government flagship programmes.

The Chancellor envisaged a collaboration between the Hub, business community and government in the areas of technological development where incubates could develop new technological innovations to augment scientific discoveries.

He urged management to sustain the D-Hub to become a model worthy of emulation across other public and private campuses within and outside Ghana.

Chairing the event, the Chairman of the University Council, Prof. Obeng Mireku, threw the unflinching support of Council behind the vision of the Vice-Chancellor to make UCC an ‘Entrepreneurial University’.

He was of the belief that the creation of D-Hub would contribute to the national agenda of creating entrepreneurial minded students who would be job creators and not job seekers.

Prof Obeng Mireku reminded beneficiaries of the Hub to handle with utmost care the logistics and facilities of the Hub to prolong their lifespan.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC

UCC, URI sign MoU to establish cooperative relations

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) and University of Rhode Island (URI) in the United States of America have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish cooperative relations between the two institutions. The collaboration will particularly focus on developing academic and cultural interchanges in education and research.

Subject to mutual consent, the area of cooperation includes any programme offered at either of the two institutions where it is believed the cooperation is feasible and desirable and will contribute to fostering and developing a mutually beneficial relationship.  

Subject to mutual agreement and availability of funding, exchange of faculty members of both universities, exchange of students on the baccalaureate and/or graduate level as well as joint research activities would be carried out. Also, participation in seminars and academic meetings, exchange of academic materials and other information, academic and other staff development programmes as well as special short-term academic programmes (training and workshops) will be considered under the agreement.

Professor Marc Parlange, President of URI who signed on behalf of the University expressed appreciation to UCC for their dedication, good working relationship and commitment to ensure this MoU benefits both parties.

 The Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, was grateful to URI for reposing trust in the University. He was of the conviction that the MoU will help shape research, boost capability and capacity, and encourage cultural diversity among students, faculty, and staff of both institutions.  

Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, who is on a working visit to some strategic partners of UCC in the USA, has so far visited four Universities including Bucknell University, Salisbury University, University of Buffalo, and University of Rhode Island. He is scheduled to meet another group of UCC alumni in the USA on Saturday, 2nd April, 2022 at Newark.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC

The Management of University of Cape Coast has announced the University will foot the medical bills of one of its students who, in 2021, was diagnosed to be suffering a recurrent right chest wall soft tissue sarcoma.

The Provost of the College of Health and Allied Sciences, Prof. Martin Ekor, made this known when the Department of Physician Assistant Studies donated GHS 7,325 to the student, Master Isaac Armah, a level 200 student of the Department.

Aged 22, Isaac is to undergo six bouts of chemotherapy treatment at the Sweden Medical Center in Accra at a cost of GHS 68,040. Afterwards, he will undergo surgery at the same facility at the cost of $4,000.

As of press time, Master Awuah had undergone three (3) chemotherapy treatments between February and March this year, through the benevolence of public-spirited individuals and associations, including the UCC Students' Representative Council (SRC), which donated GHS10, 000.

Prof. Ekor indicated that the kind gesture was aimed at ensuring the speedy recovery of Master Armah to enable him pursue his academics.

For her part, the mother of Master Armah, Mrs. Agnes Yankey, expressed gratitude to the University for its timely support.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC

The Faculty of Law, University of Cape Coast has held its ninth (9th) Roll Call ceremony which saw one hundred and fourteen students (114) being inducted.

The event was also to recognize and appreciate students who performed creditably in their academic work.

A Supervising High Court judge in the Western Region, HL Justice Sedina Agbemava, administered the oath to the fresh students.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rosemond Boohene, who chaired the event, advised the students to plan their activities and stay conscious of time while pursuing their academics on campus.

Prof. Boohene also encouraged them to exude the core values of the Faculty – integrity, diligence and service. She urged them to take cognizance of the ever evolving nature of the world and embrace entrepreneurship.

Keynoter at the ceremony, Mr. Anthony Forson Jnr, the immediate past president of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), urged the students to find mentors to guide them in their chosen profession. He noted that solely focusing on academic brilliance could not guarantee their being called to the bar.

"Therefore", he added, "right from your students’ days, you must associate with a lawyer."

Mr. Anthony Forson Jnr, who completed UCC in 1989, advised the students to discard the notion that the practice of law was synonymous with riches.

 "If you are in this profession purely for monetary gains, I can assure you that you are lost" he noted.

He counseled them to jealously guard the nobility and dignity of the profession, which was bequeathed to the current crop of practitioners and hand over to succeeding generations ‘in our pristine condition as our fathers left it.’

He mentioned mutual respect, judicial comportment, honesty and integrity as the key ingredients of the profession. He tasked them to be creative, innovative, life-long learners and develop personal and social skills.

The Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Obeng Mireku, in his message mentioned that the study of law required the absolute attention of students. He said it was normal for a section of the public to brand them as bookworms, saying such comments should rather motivate them to higher heights.

for more photos of the event, kindly click:

Source:  Documentation and Information Section-UCC