Fifty-Eight first year students have been inducted into the Faculty of Law of the University of Cape Coast during the 4th Roll Call Ceremony.

The students have been formally accepted as junior members of the Faculty to pursue a three-year law programme.

The Founding Dean of the Faculty, Prof. P. E. Bondzi-Simpson in his remarks at the ceremony said the nascent faculty has made remarkable landmarks and thus faced a huge challenge in maintaining the successes chalked. He said the faculty was doing its best to make the student holistic in acquisition of knowledge of the law. He therefore, appealed to management of the University to help the faculty in its quest to expand facilities.  by heeding to its request for a land to put up a building.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, said amidst the numerous challenges, the faculty has produced high quality law graduates. He was happy that 25 out of the total of 44 students from the Faculty who participated in the nationwide Ghana School of Law entrance examination passed. “So Freshers there should be no doubt in your minds that you have chosen the right University to pursue your law programme,” he advised.

Prof. Ampiah encouraged the students to be focused by developing a positive attitude towards their studies and life in general. “Planning will help you choose the best action considering your resources available”. He entreated them to do a lot of teamwork in order to share ideas and learn from each other in their academic and professional development.

Delivering the keynote address, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Torkornoo urged the students to make the Law, a life partner. “I suggest that you begin to appreciate that the law has become your Life partner. You probably have found out that apart from taking over your time and mind, the law has started taking over your identity”. 

Justice Torkornoo reminded the students that the legal profession required mastery of expression, “No matter who you give your professional services to, this is a profession that demands that you understand issues and articulate the various contexts of any of your discussion or document”.

Her Ladyship Justice Torkornoo told the students that justice was always according to the law and nothing else saying, “Law is not morality, it is not common sense, it is not logic. Law is always and always, a set of rules. Justice is always according to law”. She therefore, advised the students continue to ask themselves the question “What does the law say? They should also think law no matter the question and should also pay attention to rules on procedure and process, intimating that the rules, run the strands of legal philosophy that underpin why any law is structured the way it is”.

Justice Torkornoo urged the new students to search the various areas of the legal profession to see where they could perform better or thrive in.

She said, “Integrity is not only about speaking the truth externally. It is also about living the truth of who you are. If you are not speaking the truth to yourself, you are not likely to speak the truth to anyone”.

Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah has been inducted into office as the Vice-Chancellor of the University for a four-year term.

The Chancellor of the University, Sir, Dr. Sam Esson Jonah performed the induction ceremony. The new Vice- Chancellor, has over 29 years’ experience as a science teacher and until his appointment was the Provost of College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast.

Addressing the gathering, the Chancellor thanked the immediate past Vice-Chancellor for his exemplary leadership and vision that has taken the University to a different pedestal. Turning his attention to the new Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Jonah said given the fact he had occupied every position in the University prior to his elevation, he was optimistic that Prof. Ampiah would move the institution to another level during his four-year tenure.

Dr. Jonah described him as “A man of great character and an excellent choice who will serve the University well”. Continuing, the Chancellor said, “This is a defining moment of your career. We believe in you and know with you as our captain our boat will sail smoothly and successfully”.

Acknowledging the fact that success could not be achieved single handedly, Dr. Jonah reminded the Vice-Chancellor to work with all his managers so that in the end his vision could be realised collectively. “Your success will depend on how you work and cooperate with every member of management, they remain very instrumental in your administration”.

The Chancellor called for a renewed commitment from both students and staff since the Vice-Chancellor was taking over in a challenging time where funding for tertiary education has become very difficult. He advised him to be fair and firm and remember that he was “here to serve as a catalyst of change”.

The immediate past Vice–Chancellor, Prof. D. D. Kuupole in an address thanked all who worked and contributed in diverse ways to make his tenure a success.

Outlining his vision for the next four years, Prof. Ampiah said his it was inspired by his strong commitment to the strategic vision of the University, which sought to become a higher education institution with worldwide acclaim. “In other words my vision is to provide leadership that will improve the national and international visibility of the University by focusing on innovation in the delivery of teaching and research, management of the university to secure a wider impact on society”. He said his leadership would focus on creating, finding and exploiting opportunities for new ways of doing things that would result in better products and services.

To achieve his vision on innovation and impact, Prof. Ampiah indicated that he would give particular attention to promoting digital culture in the University by progressively making computers available and accessible to both lecturers and students for academic work. A progressive programme in adapting Information, Communication Technology (ICT) to teaching and learning with the view of promoting a hybrid of online and face–to-face courses.

In order to improve research activities, the Vice-Chancellor said he would increase research output to one article per year and make this count towards building up of points towards sponsorship to conferences, workshops and seminars. According to the Vice-Chancellor, funds would be provided for research and promote and atmosphere of intellectual productivity. He said a research excellence fund would be set up so that colleges could compete and engage in research that has the potential to impact the Ghanaian society.

To this end, Industry from now on would not just be seen as funders of research; rather, they would participate as collaborators of research. The strategy is to look out for problems in industry, which needs researching into and collaborate with the industry concerned to find solutions to them.

Prof. Ampiah said there would be efforts to enhance the visibility of the Centre for International Education, by supporting them to publicise international conferences to be hosted by UCC.

“We will support the Centre to improve on how to market the university as a destination of choice when it comes to study abroad”.

As part of his vision, the Institute of Education would be restructured to perform its core mandate by creating a collaborative link with international research agencies as well as development partners that provide funding for research, engage with these agencies to project its image as the leading teacher education research centre in sub-Saharan Africa.

At the institutional level, Prof. Ampiah said he would include his vision as an addendum to the institution’s strategic plan so as to convey the clear message of its importance and to enable resources to be assigned them.

The Vice-Chancellor, Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has underscored the need for departments, faculties, schools and colleges to share resources together in the University.

He bemoaned the fact that some colleges do not give their facility with others  in the University for academic activities, adding that "we need to start breaking this barrier because it will not help us."

The Vice-Chancellor said that if a department, faculty, school or college had a facility within the University, it was because the University had allowed that facility to be built in the University, hence " others can come and share in that responsibility of enjoying that facility."

Prof Ampiah made the remarks when he received a delegation from the College of Education led by its Provost, Prof. Eric Magnus Wilmot, at his office. The Vice-Chancellor indicated that he was aware of the challenges the College of Education was facing and would do his best to address it during his term of office. Prof. Ampiah stressed that his doors were open to all the colleges and would ensure a level playing field for all the colleges in the University.

For his part, the Provost of the College of Education, Prof. Eric Magnus Wilmont, extended thanks to the Vice-Chancellor for the warm hospitality accorded him and his accompanying entourage, which included Deans and Vice-Deans of the College. He assured Prof. Ampiah of the College's unalloyed support for him during his 4-year mandate.

The Provost seized the opportunity to brief the Vice-Chancellor on burning issues in the College. He assured the Vice-Chancellor that research would be the cornerstone of the College.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has paid separate visits to the Chancellor, Sir Dr. Sam Jonah and the Chairman of Council, Nana Sam Brew-Butler at their offices in Accra.

Explaining the purpose of the visit, Prof. Ampiah noted that as the newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor, it was in the right direction to introduce himself to the two highest office holders of the University. He noted that upon assumption of office on October 1, 2016, he had interacted with all category of staff in the University to share his vision with them.

Prof. Ampiah reiterated his commitment to strengthen and improve on the structures in the University.  He called for the support of the Chancellor and Chairman of Council to build on the enviable achievements of the University.

Responding, Nana Brew-Butler congratulated him on his appointment and pledged to work with him to advance the cause of the University. He however, reminded him of the arduous task ahead saying “we expect you to be innovative, unifier, result oriented and a team player to develop the University as the destination of quality tertiary education in Africa and beyond.” He reminded the new Vice-Chancellor of the contributions of his predecessors and urged him to leave a lasting legacy during his term of office.

On his part, Sir. (Dr.) Jonah entreated the new Vice-Chancellor to be innovative in the midst of difficulty. He said the country’s economy was not in the best of shape and has affected every sector, including education adding that “you will have to be creative to ensure that the University raises enough funds to support its activities.” He asked him to reach out to his colleagues who also contested the Vice-Chancellorship position so that together they would also contribute meaningfully towards the development of the University.

The Chancellor wished Prof. Ampiah well in his new position and assured him of a fruitful working relationship during his four-year term. He told him to learn to contain everybody in the system so that collectively they could build on the successes of the University.

The Vice-Chancellor was accompanied by the Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan; Director of Finance, Mrs. Elizabeth Obese; Ag. Director of Public Affairs, Major Kofi Baah-Bentum and the Ag. Director, Directorate of Physical Development & Estate Management.