The College of Distance Education will commence a top up in M. Phil and M. Com programmes from October 2017. This will therefore present opportunity to those who have obtained M. Ed and MBA degrees to enroll. Meanwhile, accreditation is also being sought to enable the College introduce M. Phil in IT Education to upgrade the existing M.Ed. IT programme. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, disclosed this during the 5th session of the 49th congregation where a total of 1, 762 graduands who completed various programmes in the 2015/16 academic year through the distance mode were presented with diplomas and degrees. In all, a total of 10, 241 graduands from CoDE would be graduated over the three-day period of the congregation. The Vice-Chancellor noted that distance education opportunities for students were increasing at an exponential rate and has therefore widened access to tertiary education for a large number of qualified applicants who otherwise would not have had the opportunity of acquiring university education. Prof. Ampiah said Distance Education is flexible but does not compromise on quality and for that matter the College has put in place a lot of quality assurance measures in order to make distance learning enjoyable and effective as the regular system. “All the academic modules are currently being reviewed to make them more user friendly, after which they will be digitized and placed online for easy access by all learners,” he added. In order to enhance capacity and competence of facilitators of the College, Prof. Ampiah announced that a series of training programmes have been outlined for course tutors to keep them abreast of new ways of using the modules. According to the Vice-Chancellor, this was aimed at improving their efficiency in the delivery process and also make them more accustomed to modern ways of the increasing needs of a “matured group of students”. Prof. Ampiah said data on all fresh Distance Education students have been integrated into the main University data platform to provide each student a personal portal to enable them access their examination results and other information related to their academic work. He advised the graduands to persevere and pursue their dreams and guard against any form of complacency. “Focus on a goal and make full use of the many opportunities that may come your way”, he advised.

The Western Regional Fire Commander, ACFO Obeng Dankwa Dwamena, has advised students of Valco Hall to contribute positively towards society even in the face of constraints. ACFO Dwamena noted that the important role of alumni of the hall in national development could not be overemphasized. He therefore urged the students to balance their academic work with voluntary community service. The Western Regional Fire Commander gave the advice at a grand durbar to climax the 25th Hall Week celebration. The week-long celebration was on the theme " Transformational Change for National Development: The Role of the Industrialist". Valco Hall, fondly known as the Industrialist, marked the day with a colourful parade by the Hall's Cadet Corps. The Cadet Corps, assisted by the Kwame Nkrumah Hall Regimental Band, march past the dais amidst rapturous applause and cheers from the elated crowd. The Western Regional Fire Commander, ACFO Dwamena, reviewed the parade and took the salute before delivering his speech. ACFO Dwamena commended the Cadet Corps for their sterling performance, hard work, commitment, discipline and dedication to duty. The Fire Commander seized the opportunity to sensitise the public on the need to adhere to fire safety and observe the necessary precautions to mitigate fire outbreaks in the country. He advised the public to have a fire safety routine to help keep them and their families safe. The Hall Master, Mr. Akwasi Opoku Boadu, mentioned re-painting of the hall, procurement of tables and chairs for rooms, construction of office and changing rooms for workers and artisans, as some of the achievements of the Hall. He said plans were afoot to start work on badminton court in front of "A" Block of the Hall. Touching on challenges, Mr. Boadu pointed out high demand for residential accommodation by students who are affiliated to the Hall; furnishing of the hybrid library to enhance academic work; extra security lights and improvement of ventilation in all annexes of the Hall. The Hall President, Mr. Eric Adjei, attributed the successes chalked up by the Hall over the years to the high level of discipline exhibited by its residents. He urged them to take their studies seriously so as to become responsible citizens in the country. The celebration, which saw the inauguration of Valco Hall Alumni Association, was graced by the queen mother of Twifo Hemang, Nana Abena Nyarkowaa II,who chaired the function.

The Centre for Teaching Support in the University of Cape Coast organised a two-day training workshop for academic staff in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management on the theme, “Improving Teaching Methodologies: Approaches and Strategies with Information & Communication Technology (ICT)”. The objective of the two-day workshop was to support lecturers to employ current and emerging instructional technologies effectively to enhance the learning experience of their students and also how to build a blog to support their teaching. It was also to promote interactive learning, discussion and thinking with the use of ICT. The lecturers were taken through courses such as Understanding the Affordances of ICT and Frameworks for ICT Integration, Problem Based Lesson Approach and Teaching Blogs in Tourism and Hospitality Management in Higher Education. The resource persons who facilitated the workshop includes the Director for CTS, Dr. Douglas D. Agyei, Dr. Kofi Ayebi-Arthur and Dr. Awo A. A. Sarpong all form the College of Education Studies, UCC. The Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management led by the Head of Department, Prof. Kwaku A. A. Boakye, expressed their sincere gratitude for the knowledge and skills imparted at the end of the workshop.

The management of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has interacted with students to acquaint themselves with their challenges on campus. Dubbed " Management and Students Consultative Meeting," the forum was also to solicit views from the students to enhance the operations of the University. Student Leaders, from the Students Representative Council (SRC), the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) and the Distance Students Association of Ghana (DESAG), read their constituency reports at the meeting. The Student Leaders' reports highlighted security, water problems, Internet Connection, microphones, old shuttles, summer huts, furniture, amongst other burning issues. Addressing the students, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said management of the University was concerned about the welfare of students on campus. He added that he was committed to finding a lasting solution to the concerns raised by students. "I am committed to finding solutions to students' problems,” the Vice-Chancellor indicated. Touching on Internet connectivity on campus, the Vice-Chancellor announced that the University would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a South Korean company to redistribute the University's bandwidth to enable students and staff to access Internet at any place on campus. He said the company would build a satellite on campus which would use radio to broadcast the internet over the radius of 5 kilometers. On water problems, he said it was important that the University found other sources to generate potable water to students. Prof. Ampiah said that the Kwame Nkrumah Hall Water Treatment Plant could be replicated in all the halls in the University. On security, he said the University would not relent in its efforts to provide adequate security to students on campus. To this end, he indicated that management, in collaboration with the SRC and the Security Section, would erect security tents in the adjoining villages to intensify security. Prof. Ampiah praised the SRC for providing street lights on the "School Bus" road to increase illumination at night to reduce crime, adding that the campus security would patrol the road on foot and in patrol vehicles at night to intensify surveillance, along with mounted barriers to keep students safe. Some of the issues raised by the students included registration of students, ID cards, Electronic Database and other pressing matters.