The University of Cape Coast has graduated 15,505 students who successfully completed their programme of studies requirements to earn various degrees from the institution.
The graduands were from the College of Education Studies, College of Humanities and Legal Studies, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences and the College of Health and Allied Sciences.
Among the graduates included 28-year-old physically challenged, David Osei Pipim, with a CGPA of 3.6, who came out with a First Class in Communication Studies.
Addressing the graduands during the first to sixth sessions of the 56th Congregation, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, who commended the students for their successful completion of their academic programmes, urged them to be outstanding in whatever field they found themselves and become ambassadors for the institution.
He said the University would continue to strive to maintain its standards of excellence in higher education for meaningful societal impact.
He advised the graduands to make a positive impact in their various fields of endeavour.
Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong
Prof. Boampong pointed out that despite the positive strides management had made towards infrastructural development, the University was still grappling with deficit in infrastructural, especially students’ accommodation on campus which had forced most students to rent hostels and apartments around campus.
The situation, according to him, had resulted in high incidence of theft and robbery attacks on students, undermining efforts to ensure the safety of students.
The Vice-Chancellor expressed worry about some failed agreements with certain organisations to put up hostels in the past and expressed the University’s resolve to deal with the accommodation challenge through a collaboration with the UCC branch of the Ghana Universities’ Staff Superannuation Scheme.
He, however, reported that the Science Annex building project that started some fifteen years ago had been completed, awaiting commissioning.
“We are grateful to both past and present GETFund administrators for the continuous support. Without them we would not have come this far. Not only are we getting laboratories to facilitate teaching and learning but will also have a number of office space for our academic staff,” he said.
Prof. Boampong used the occasion to remind the graduands about UCC’s position as the topmost ranked University in Ghana and West Africa and amongst the top 10 ranked universities in Africa.
“UCC still remains the only university in Ghana which has achieved this position in West Africa and Africa,” he continued.
“This achievement demonstrates the reputation of the scholarly research outputs of UCC, particularly over the past decade. By this feat, UCC has also demonstrated its contribution to higher education and the impact of its scholarly outputs in Ghana, Africa and the world,” Prof. Boampong added.
The Vice-Chancellor indicated that “sustaining this feat also behoves each one of us to diligently play their part in fulfilling the University’s core mandate of teaching, research, and community service.
A section of graduands at the ceremony
He appealed to the University community to ensure that the campus was violent-free ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The Vice-Chancellor advised the student body, staff and management to be tolerant of one another, reminding them of the potential dangers which accompanied conflict and war.
Source: Documentation and Information Section