A Professor of Tourism at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Prof. Francis Eric Amuquandoh, has recommended that leisure should be integrated into the development plans of Ghana to improve the quality of life of citizens.

According to him, leisure was one of the essential requirements for excellence, creativity, innovation and invention, and, therefore, urged government to provide the means to enable citizens to participate in it.

In his view, such a plan could serve the entire society in the form of increased productivity, healthy workforce and reduction of crime rate.

Prof. Amuquandoh made these observations while delivering his inaugural lecture on the theme:” Reflections on the Leisure Situation in Ghana”. He mentioned numerous benefits of leisure on health, education, economic, religion, social, and environmental. He, therefore, asked for variety of leisure facilities and the availability of leisure champions and role models to stimulate interest of the young ones. He, therefore, commended UTAG and management for extending the Christmas break periods for teaching staff.

Prof. Amuquandoh used the occasion to remind Ghanaians to recognise leisure as a human right enshrined in the 1992 Constitution, citing Article 24 sub-section 2 to buttress his point. He said through leisure, Ghana could attain Goals 5,10 and 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals. He said leisure at peaceful and quiet places such as the wilderness, sanctuary and water force were associated with spiritual experience growth and development. “To me searching for God/Allah you don’t need to go far. Just go to the wilderness or sanctuaries and you will get answers,” he remarked

Prof. Amuquandoh mentioned the creation of leisure-related ministries, increase in paid holiday entitlement, winning of awards and recognition, and the expansion and diversification of leisure products as some of the achievements in the field of leisure and tourism. He, however, cautioned against the over concentration of leisure facilities in the southern part of Ghana. He mentioned frequent occurrence of accidents at attraction sites; poor maintenance of the existing leisure facilities and the over emphasis on soccer at the expense of other sports as some gaps militating against the functioning of Ghana’s leisure industry.

The Professor of Tourism subsequently recommended a deliberate state policy led by the Northern Development Authority to address the leisure facility deficit in the northern half of Ghana. He suggested to the Spatial Planning Authority and Environmental Protection Agency to pay detailed attention to engineering, design and safety measures incorporated into leisure facilities.

Furthermore, he called on parliament to pass a law to make it mandatory for all attraction sites and commercial events to be covered by insurance. He suggested increment in the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to enable it to pay attention to other sports and embark on regular maintenance.

He lamented how some school officials and teachers use sports related activities as punishment for deviants or wrong doers, adding that all these are disincentive for leisure and sports. He also advised parents and guardians to disabuse their minds from the misconception that inter school competition was for school dropouts.

A team of faculty and Nursing students from Auburn University (AU) in the United States of America, has presented some health items valued at thousands of United States dollars to the Directorate of University Health Services(DUHS).

The items included drugs, bandages, gloves, sanitizers, breathing care kits, surgical scissors, first aid kits and assorted surgical instruments.

The team from AU was in Ghana for the maiden edition of Ghana Education and Health Care Programme which was jointly organised AU and UCC.

Presenting the items on behalf of the team, the Coordinator of Outreach Global, Au, Dr. Elizabeth I. Essamuah-Quansah, said the donation was to support DUHS to deliver quality healthcare to the University community and the general public. She commended the Director of DUHS, Dr. Evans Ekanem, for his generous support and helping to plan and execute 2018 Ghana Education and Health Care Programme that was jointly organised by AU and UCC. Similar items were also presented to the Nkanfoa Community Health Centre.

Receiving the items on behalf of DUHS, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, expressed gratitude to AU for the gesture and gave assurance that the items would be put to good use.

Present were the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro, Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan; Dean School of Nursing, Prof. Alexander N. M. Pappoe and Dean, Centre for International Education, Prof. Rosemond Boohene.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has launched the Industry and Innovation Unit (IIU) of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) at a ceremony on campus

The occasion was also used to inaugurate the maiden Innovation Fair and Engagement with Industry Players.

Prof. Ampiah said the establishment of IIU was very important and would contribute towards conducting research to address the needs of industry.  He said several researches have been done by various departments, faculties and colleges with funding from institutions the University was dealing with.

The Vice-Chancellor however, said “The time has come to do our own research with the hope that industry would come for it and use it. We don’t want to involve industry in our research as collaborators who will just fund the research but more importantly we want them to be part of the research”. He was optimistic that the collaboration between industry and the University would lead to number of projects that would be of benefit to both parties.

Explaining the purpose of the function, the Director of DRIC, Prof. Samuel K. Annim, said technology played an important role in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals hence the need to leverage on research and innovation for economic growth. He said the establishment of Industry and Innovation Unit under DRIC as captured in the 2018-2022 strategic plan of the University emphasised the need to “strengthen research capacity and output to position UCC as the centre of academic excellence”.

 He therefore, noted that the establishment of IIU has led to “organisation of the maiden interaction with industry players on pathways to strengthen their engagement to proffer solutions to local and global challenges; and institution of annual university-wide innovation fair with the intent of displaying innovations undertaken by both industry players and academics”.

Making a presentation on “Industry-Academia Linkages”, Mr. Ebenezer Abuaku, said traditionally, universities had formalized collaboration with industry in the areas of curriculum development, teaching, research and development consultancy. He said as part of a university’s core responsibility, most universities had existing collaboration with industry for students’ placement.

Mr. Abuaku was worried about the mismatch in output from and industry expectations. “The mismatch in terms of the knowledge and skills of graduates and what the employers expect are still prevalent in certain industries,” he explained.  He noted that universities could achieve more if they communicate directly with industrial players to understand the type of support they need. he used the horticultural industry as a case study to buttress how academia could partner industry to bring about innovation in their business.

Delivering a speech at the function, an official of the Western branch of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr. Albert Ababio, said there were several benefits of industry-academia linkages noting that “research and development agendas can be coordinated better to avoid duplications; stimulate additional private research and development investment and harness synergies and complementarities of scientific and technological capabilities”.  He added that such collaboration could also expand the relevance of research carried out in public institutions, foster the commercialization of public research and development outcomes and increase the mobility of labour between public and private sectors

Mr. Ababio noted that the most appropriate approach to promoting university-industry collaboration depended on the country’s technological and institutional endowments and its willingness to consider the promotion of university-industry linkages as part of a broader science, technology, and innovation programme.

There were solidarity messages from the Chairman, Chamber of Commerce, Central Region and Chief Executive Officer of Ainoo Farms in Winneba.

As part of the programme, there was an engagement session for industry players and participants to share their views on how the University could improve on its linkages with industry.

Another segment of the programme was the exhibition of products and services by some organisations at the New Examinations Centre. Some of the exhibitors included GCB Bank, Prudential Bank, Ainoo-Ansah Farms, Databank, Zeal Environmental Technology Enterprise, Central Oil Mills Limited, Simply Nut Foods and Efiefi Enterprise.

Other exhibitors from UCC were; Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Centre for Coastal Management, Centre for International Education and Department of Forensic Sciences.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has launched the Industry and Innovation Unit (IIU) of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) at a ceremony on campus

The occasion was also used to inaugurate the maiden Innovation Fair and Engagement with Industry Players.

Prof. Ampiah said the establishment of IIU was very important and would contribute towards conducting research to address the needs of industry.  He said several researches have been done by various departments, faculties and colleges with funding from institutions the University was dealing with.

The Vice-Chancellor however, said “The time has come to do our own research with the hope that industry would come for it and use it. We don’t want to involve industry in our research as collaborators who will just fund the research but more importantly we want them to be part of the research”. He was optimistic that the collaboration between industry and the University would lead to number of projects that would be of benefit to both parties.

Explaining the purpose of the function, the Director of DRIC, Prof. Samuel K. Annim, said technology played an important role in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals hence the need to leverage on research and innovation for economic growth. He said the establishment of Industry and Innovation Unit under DRIC as captured in the 2018-2022 strategic plan of the University emphasised the need to “strengthen research capacity and output to position UCC as the centre of academic excellence”.

 He therefore, noted that the establishment of IIU has led to “organisation of the maiden interaction with industry players on pathways to strengthen their engagement to proffer solutions to local and global challenges; and institution of annual university-wide innovation fair with the intent of displaying innovations undertaken by both industry players and academics”.

Making a presentation on “Industry-Academia Linkages”, Mr. Ebenezer Abuaku, said traditionally, universities had formalized collaboration with industry in the areas of curriculum development, teaching, research and development consultancy. He said as part of a university’s core responsibility, most universities had existing collaboration with industry for students’ placement.

Mr. Abuaku was worried about the mismatch in output from and industry expectations. “The mismatch in terms of the knowledge and skills of graduates and what the employers expect are still prevalent in certain industries,” he explained.  He noted that universities could achieve more if they communicate directly with industrial players to understand the type of support they need. he used the horticultural industry as a case study to buttress how academia could partner industry to bring about innovation in their business.

Delivering a speech at the function, an official of the Western branch of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr. Albert Ababio, said there were several benefits of industry-academia linkages noting that “research and development agendas can be coordinated better to avoid duplications; stimulate additional private research and development investment and harness synergies and complementarities of scientific and technological capabilities”.  He added that such collaboration could also expand the relevance of research carried out in public institutions, foster the commercialization of public research and development outcomes and increase the mobility of labour between public and private sectors

Mr. Ababio noted that the most appropriate approach to promoting university-industry collaboration depended on the country’s technological and institutional endowments and its willingness to consider the promotion of university-industry linkages as part of a broader science, technology, and innovation programme.

There were solidarity messages from the Chairman, Chamber of Commerce, Central Region and Chief Executive Officer of Ainoo Farms in Winneba.

As part of the programme, there was an engagement session for industry players and participants to share their views on how the University could improve on its linkages with industry.

Another segment of the programme was the exhibition of products and services by some organisations at the New Examinations Centre. Some of the exhibitors included GCB Bank, Prudential Bank, Ainoo-Ansah Farms, Databank, Zeal Environmental Technology Enterprise, Central Oil Mills Limited, Simply Nut Foods and Efiefi Enterprise.

Other exhibitors from UCC were; Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Centre for Coastal Management, Centre for International Education and Department of Forensic Sciences.