The School of Nursing and Midwifery has organised a dinner for both faculty members and students from the Kirkhof College of Nursing, Grand Valley State University (GVSU), USA. The visiting students and faculty were in Ghana for an outreach programme to familiarise themselves with the Ghanaian healthcare systems. The collaboration between the Department of Nursing and Midwifery and the GVSU Public Health Nursing which started in 2013 is aimed at establishing and improving partnership with both local and international collaborators in the area of Public Health. Speaking at the dinner, the Head of the delegation of GVSU, Prof. Sylvia Mapepe, commended Ghana for the quality of healthcare system and its impact on public health. She thanked management, staff and students, particularly School of Nursing and Midwifery, for the cordial and warm hospitality accorded the delegation. Prof. Mapepe noted that the partnership between GVSU and UCC was a life-time programme, adding, "My desire for seeking partnership with UCC to gain international knowledge, skills and information about caring for Global citizens for my students has been fruitful ". For his part, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Prof. Alex Pappoe, expressed gratitude to the delegation for the visit. Prof. Pappoe urged both faculty and students of GVSU to use the knowledge acquired through their studies in Ghana to benefit society. Sharing her experience of the outreach programme, a Doctor of Nursing Practice, Laura Hall, lauded Ghanaian nurses in the various community healthcare centers for their professionalism and care for their patients. A Master of Science in Nursing student, Danielle Hartig, also observed that nurses in Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Zones were very open and courteous to their patients. Also sharing her observation, a Traditional Nursing student, Kaylee Case, indicated that she was overwhelmed by the support of local authorities in the communities for helping to promote the health needs of people in their area. The School of Nursing and Midwifery presented souvenirs to their visitors, who also reciprocated the kind gesture by donating assorted books and GVSU branded souvenirs to the School.

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Auburn University, USA, have held a day's colloquium to solicit views on how the two universities can embark on outreach programmes to assist communities they found themselves. The colloquium created the platform for the two institutions to learn from each other about issues and challenges associated with outreach programmes and to help improve on the quality of outreach services rendered to their respective countries. The Vice-President for University Outreach and Associate Provost, Auburn University, Dr. Royrickers Cook, who spoke on Maximizing University Industry Relation: The AU Experience ", said that his job at AU is to facilitate the connection of AU to the world. Dr. Cook said that AU had a special unit that focuses on outreach in industrial relations in communities in Alabama, where the University is situated. The Provost said with Outreach, AU is concerned with every single aspect of the University.As a result, he observed that faculty members working with the College of Education have been doing extensive research on industrial techniques that would improve teachers' ability to teach well in the classroom. He noted that the School of Nursing in AU trains nurses to work across the States to provide quality healthcare for the citizenry. Dr. Cook said that AU also provides training for Alabama state revenue collectors on how to collect taxes. Also, he pointed out that AU trains city managers to better manage their cities well, among other outreach programmes done by the University in Alabama, in particular, and USA, in general. Taking his turn on the topic" Outreach Initiatives and Opportunities in UCC," the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said that UCC has been embarking on outreach programmes to generate income to sustain the University. He noted that, as a result, UCC goes outside its purview to reach out to the communities and generate income from them to sustain the activities of the University. Touching on Research, Prof. Ampiah said UCC had involved in outreach through the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) by providing consultancy for ministries, departments and agencies to generate income for the University. He mentioned that UCC also has broadcasting station that runs the University’s programmes and also runs adverts for individuals and companies within Cape Coast as part of income generation drive. The Vice-Chancellor mentioned that the Kindergarten, Primary School, Junior High School and the University Hospital provide services to staff of the University and the general public which also serve as a source of revenue for the institution. He said that UCC had established University Enterprises Limited to generate income for the University. Prof. Ampiah further mentioned the Water Production Unit where water is produced and sold and added that the University had partnered Ghana Oil (GOIL) to put up a fuel station to serve the citizenry in and outside the community as part of “monetary outreach". He said University was mentoring other university colleges to build their capacities.The Vice-Chancellor said the Institute of Education mentors 46 Colleges of Education in terms of certification, curriculum and their assessment to generate income. Prof. Ampiah also said that UCC was reaching out to the populace through its Sandwich and Distance Education programmes. " We are reaching out to many people who don't want to leave their work places or who cannot afford to leave their work places but still want to study. We use this to reach out to these people and also generate income for our University", the Vice-Chancellor said. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K.T Oduro, moderated the event, which was held at the Institute of Education Conference Room.

The Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey has stated that government does not have money to embark on infrastructure development and will therefore invite private sector to help. This he said, must however be backed by a robust law to manage such investment by the private sector. The minister was speaking at the 4th Jurists’ Confab organised by the Faculty of Law of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies of the University. The theme for Confab was Law, Governance and Development and was chaired by the Supervising High Court Justice, Western Region, his Lordship Justice Edward Amoako Asante. Mr. Joe Ghartey said his ministry was allocated 470m Ghana cedis in this year’s budget adding “This cannot scratch the surface, so the private sector must come in”. Mr. Ghartey mentioned that the private sector cannot come into chaos that is why he was advocating for a general investor law to protect investors, “We have to know that a law in Public Private Partnership (PPP) either in mining, petroleum or oil sector is compulsory”. The minister called for a regulator in the rail sector for example since “the operator could not act as the referee and player”. He said only 13% of the current rail network was operational, the rest have all collapsed and would require huge capital injection to revamp it hence the call for private capital and participation. Another speaker at the confab, the Dean of Law Faculty, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr. Lydia Apori Nkansah, who spoke on the topic Democratic Transitions in the Fourth Republic, commended the country for ensuring successful transitions since the coming into force of the 4th republican constitution. “Ghana has passed the litmus test having had a number of transfer of power from one government to the other albeit with some challenges regarding the process”, she said. The Dean said government comes with “hordes of people and leave with hordes of people” since incoming governments dismiss public servants who are agents of the constitution. “Emerging governments come with proceed on leave mantra, this is a dilemma whether other public officers are to go as well”. She asked. Dr. Apori Nkansah said dissolution of boards during transitions was arbitrary and incoming governments must adhere to the law and called for a way out to be found to this practice. Thankfully, she said, the transition law has not left us in doubt since it stipulates who should stay or leave. For instance, the law says ministers and their deputies, special aides and non-career ambassadors must leave upon the exit of the government. She called for a definite policy to guide last-minute appointments made by an existing government, since such appointments though might not be illegal but morally problematic. The Founding Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Philip Bondzi-Simpson said the annual confab is held to provide a learning -out of routine opportunity to teachers, lawyers, judges and law students to listen to authorities as they discuss topics of concern in the legal practice. The dean said the faculty was in the business of legal education and part of their duty is to undertake legal research, interact with legal fraternity and create the opportunity for people in the legal system to discuss the law and the gaps in them in Ghana. He announced that the faculty would soon provide a window of opportunity to Senior High Senior graduates to pursue law since the current admission is for post first- degree holders.

Daniel François Díaz, the Director & International Student Advisor of the Study Abroad Office at Guilford College, paid a visit to the UCC from 16th to 17th March, 2017.  Guilford College, North Carolina, USA, and UCC has had a long history of exchanges which has made such a partnership a very successful one. Among the many reasons for this visit included;

1. To get acquainted and become familiar with all involved in the Guilford-UCC Programme. 2. To discuss the decline in the number of students coming to UCC from Guilford College.

On the 16th of March, 2017, Daniel was received by the Dean of the Centre for International Education, Prof. Rosemond Boohene, and the Jnr. Assistant Registrar, Mr. Alfred Ghartey, at the Centre. The Dean mentioned, among other things, the need to find ways to arrest the decline of students coming to UCC from Guilford College. Several ideas came up in the discussion to help in this regard, including reaching out to parents of Guilford students to assure them Ghana and UCC is a safe environment for American students.

After the meeting, Daniel was given a campus tour around campus. He also observed a lecture in a course taught by Dr. Alex Wilson in African Studies. 

The next day, he was involved in a series of meetings with the Dean and Heads of Departments from the Faculty of Arts, the Local Co-ordinator of the Guilford Programme (Dr. Gladys Akyea), Ebenezer Domey, and Samira Munkaila (Exchange Alumni). The discussions highlighted the afore-mentioned decline in participation of Guilford students in the exchange programme and ways to change this trend. 

Daniel also met the mothers who host Guilford students in their homes when they come to UCC. Auntie Jane, one of the mothers, graciously hosted Daniel in her home for lunch. 

For pictures of the various activities Daniel participated in, kindly visit https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1746911532289798.1073741833.100009129049745&type=3