The University has instituted a centralised fund to support brilliant but needy students to complete their education.
This was announced by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah during the inauguration of an 11-member Students’ Financial Support Committee. The Vice-Chancellor explained that “the creation of a centralised fund will help the University to pool resources from various sources, thereby increasing the number of beneficiaries and curbing situations where academically talented young Ghanaians are denied access to higher education because of their poor background”.
Prof. Ampiah further explained that the sources of funding shall include; annual budgetary allocation by Central Administration; contributions from the Students’ Representative Council (SRC); the Distance Education Students’ Association Ghana (DESAG), the Students’ Emergency Relief Fund; Graduate Students’ Association Ghana; the Office of the Dean of Students; a percentage of Net Profit from sales of UCC souvenirs; corporate organisations; UCC Alumni; and private individuals.
In order to effectively carry out this mandate, the Vice-Chancellor said the University Council has given approval for the establishment of Students’ Support Office (StuFSO) to provide support to brilliant but needy students. He indicated that the Students’ Financial Support Committee will support the office to execute this mandate by reviewing the proposed criteria for accessing bursaries and scholarships in the University and also determine packages for eligible applicants. Other functions of the committee he mentioned include coordinating and monitoring all financial support to students from both internal and external sources. In addition, he stated that the committee would create awareness of available bursaries and scholarship opportunities as well as publishing required information for eligible students to apply. He further noted that the committee would establish essential policies and automated processes to support the award of financial assistance in a timely manner and create a work-study opportunity for students.
The committee which is chaired by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh has the following members, the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof. Eugene K. M. Darteh; Director of Academic Affairs, Mr. Jeff Teye E. Onyame; Director of Finance, Mrs. Elizabeth Obese and Academic Board Representative, Dr. Samuel Acquah.
The rest are the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Mr. Zaki Abdul-Hamid,Graduate Students Association (GRASAG) President, Mr. Albert Awotwi Sagoe, Distance Education Students Association (DESAG), Mr. Daniel Nana Dwuma, UCC Alumni Representative, Mr. Kobina Sam Bentsi-Enchill, Representative of UCC Legal Office, Mr. Kwabena Yeboah-Asuama Jnr and Secretary to the Committee, Mr. Alfred Ghartey.
On behalf of the Committee, Prof. Edu-Buandoh thanked management for the confidence reposed in them to carry out this important duty on behalf of the University. She assured that the committee would discharge their duties devoid of discrimination.