The Students' Financial Support Office (StuFSO) of University of Cape Coast (UCC), has organised an awardees' symposium for brilliant but needy students who are on the University’s Scholarship.
The event was aimed at building the capacity of the students to gain applicable knowledge and the soft skills necessary to develop the right mindset for excelling in the world of work.
The Dean of Students’ Affairs-UCC, Prof. Eugene Marfo Darteh, speaking on the topic, "Achieving Academic Success on a low budget," advised students to commit themselves to their studies in order to achieve academic excellence.
To achieve that, he told the students to surround themselves with levelheaded friends who were equally studious.
He stressed the need for the awardees to be disciplined in whatever they did since that was the cardinal tool for realizing their goals in life.
Prof. Darteh, whilst entreating them to prudently manage their time in school in order to achieve their goals in life, also encouraged the students to be clear on their goals, be themselves and not relent until they had achieved their goals.
The Dean of Students expressed grave concern about the spate of suicide among students at the tertiary level.
He, therefore, advised students to share their problems with professional counselors and never resort to suicide as the last resort.
Using himself as an example, Prof. Darteh told the students that he had failed many times in his academic career and advised them to see failure as a step to spur on their lives.
The Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprise (CESED-UCC), Dr. Edward Nii Amarh Amarteifio, who treated the topic,"Entrepreneurship," urged the students to follow their dreams and capitalize on various entrepreneurial opportunities in contributing their quota to the economic development of the country.
He told the students that the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, informed the 2021 graduating class of the University of Professional Studies-Accra (UPSA) that government’s payroll was full, making it unsustainable to keep adding to employment figures in the public sector, hence the need for them to create their own jobs.
Against that backdrop, Dr. Amarteifio advised the students to take advantage of CESED and the Design Thinking and Innovation Hub at the University to acquire the needed entrepreneurship skillset.
On the same platform, the Director of the Directorate of Academic Affairs, Gideon Enoch Abbeyquaye (Esq), challenged students to use the social media space responsibly in order to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world.
Addressing the students on the topic, "Social Media Branding," he said social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, were effective ways to brand themselves.
He noted that most organisations monitored the social media and online platforms of prospective employees before offering them jobs.
The Director explained that for businesses to be successful in today’s digital environment, there was the need for online presence in order to create awareness and attract a larger market.
Mr. Abbeyquaye, however, advised them to be mindful of their engagements on social media as they prepare to get into the corporate world.
A Senior Assistant Registrar at the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Alfred Ghartey, who made a presentation on the topic, "Relevance of Personal Grooming," entreated the students to practice and maintain personal hygiene habits for healthy living.
- Mr. Alfred Ghartey - Senior Assistant Registrar at the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor
He took the students through the basic rules of personal grooming and added that it was essential for them to practise personal hygienic habits.
The Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rosemond Boohene, in a short speech read on her behalf, implored the students to justify the huge investment being made in them by UCC to develop their career and skills potentials for their own good and that of the nation.
- Facilitators and dignitaries after the event