A seven-member delegation from York University in Canada has called on the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong.
The York University team comprised Prof. Amir Asif, Vice-President of Research & Innovation (Leader of delegation); Prof. David Henry Peters, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Prof. John Justin McMurtry, Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. The rest were Prof. Solomon Boakye-Yiadom, Faculty of Engineering; Prof. Godfred Boateng, Director of the Global and Environmental Health Lab and Faculty Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Faculty of Health; Julie Hard, Manager of International Relations - Faculty of Health and Skandha Sunderasen, Associate Director, Global Engagement & Strategic Initiatives, York International.
The visit, a build-on to an earlier one in June 2023, was geared towards the team gaining knowledge about UCC and exploring how York University could facilitate academic cooperation with Ghana in collaboration with the University of Cape Coast.
VC of UCC, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong (r) and Prof. Amir Asif, Vice-President of Research & Innovation, York University-Canada in a handshake
York University has a particular interest in learning about the strong interest in collaborations in health. The health team will be represented by Canada Research Chair Prof. Godfred Boateng who has been a tremendous facilitator on campus for Ghana and UCC.
Welcoming the delegation, the Vice-Chancellor of UCC extended appreciation to the team for its quest to enhance its relations with the University in terms of research as well as faculty and student exchanges.
He indicated that York University had made the right decision by collaborating with UCC since it prides itself as the best university in Ghana and is also its faculty members were grounded in embarking on research.
“Here (UCC) our faculty understand research and are making a good impact", he added.
Prof. Boampong added that the monumental achievements of UCC were underpinned by its research activities coordinated by the Directorate of Research Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC).
He said the University looked forward to partnering with other universities to make significant impact.
Prof. Amir Asif, who led the visiting team, noted that York University was renowned for its unique interdisciplinary teaching and research. In this light, he noted that his outfit looked forward to collaborating with the University of Cape Coast to embark on activities capable of impacting humanity positively.
Present at the brief meeting from UCC were the Registrar, Mr. Jeff Teye E. Onyame; Dean of the Office of International Relations (OIR), Prof. Bert Boadi Kusi; Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, Prof. Sebastian Eliason, Director of DRIC, Prof. David Teye Doku; Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dr. Nancy Ebu Enyan, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Kwabena Sarfo Sarfo-Kantanka among others.
Memorandum of Understanding
Prof. Nyarko Boampong has signed an MoU between School of Nursing (SoN) York University in Toronto and the School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONM) at the University of Cape Coast. The MoU seeks to promote nursing faculty development through Advancing Scholarship and Capacity for Emerging Nursing Doctorates (ASCEND).
Per the terms of the agreement, ASCEND will increase the number of nursing faculty with doctoral education. This will help expand the capacity, quality and scope of nursing education programmes in both Ghana and Canada, thereby enabling advancement of prospective nursing scholars.
Further, the programme will build nursing education and research capacity in Ghana and Canada through a collaborative exchange partnership between participating academic institutions, laying the foundation for increased opportunities for the higher education of nurses in both countries.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC