A delegation from the Volta River Authority Hospital (VRA), Aboadze in the Western Region has called on the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro, as part of their familiarisation tour of the University Health Services.

Receiving the visitors, Prof. Oduro said the University was pleased that the team from VRA selected UCC Health Services to share experience and best practice. He noted that the University would continue to project the UCC Hospital to the outside world as a top-notch health facility that provides excellent health services.  He said the University Management has opened its doors for collaborations that would contribute to the delivery of quality health services at the UCC Hospital.

Aside the health delivery at the hospital, Prof. Oduro also pointed out some academic programmes in the area of health which the University could help build capacity of VRA Hospital staff. He mentioned the School of Medical Sciences as one of the best medical schools in the country that trains professional medical doctors. He also said the School of Nursing and the School of Allied Health produce professionals for the health sector. He further announced that a programme in public health would soon be introduced by the College of Distance Education via distance mode to cater for nurses and other health workers whose duties would not allow them to upgrade themselves as regular students on UCC campus in Cape Coast.

The Director of the University Health Services Dr. Evan Ekanem who was present at the meeting said UCC Hospital was ready share experiences and best practices to enhance health delivery in the country. He expressed excitement that the VRA team chose UCC Hospital out of the numerous health facilities in Central Region and for that matter the entire country.

The leader of the VRA delegation, Madam Vida Naana Kwofie thanked the Prof. Oduro and management of the UCC Health Services for the opportunity to visit and interact with staff at the UCC Hospital.

The delegation toured facilities at the UCC Hospital accompanied by the Dr. Ekanem and Mr. Atta Yeboah-Sarpong, the Hospital Administrator.

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) has held a seminar for Directors of Institutes, Heads of Department, and Co-ordinators of Units in the University to discuss the reviewed academic policies and regulations for graduate studies.

The old academic policies and regulations which expired in 2015 has been reviewed and would become operational in 2016.

Opening the Seminar, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof.  George K. T. Oduro emphasised the three key functions of university namely knowledge generation, knowledge dissemination and teaching. He said the research conducted by faculty should inform policy and also impact on teaching. He was, however, worried that some faculty only conduct research for promotion purpose. He called on faculty to attach importance on research content and supervision saying, globally we need academics who are balanced and can demonstrate the use of different methodologies in conducting research.

Prof. Oduro called on participants to also incorporate the College of Distance Education which recently began postgraduate programmes in the policy. He expressed gratitude to the Dean of SGS and his team for their sterling performance and assured them of management’s continuous support for their work.

The Dean of the School of SGS, Prof. Ernest Laryea Okorley, said the seminar was to solicit the views of the heads on the reviewed academic policies and regulations which would become operational from the 2016/2017 academic year. He said the review was necessitated to reflect some changes in the activities of the SGS. He noted that the reviewed document would be presented to the Academic Board for approval before its implementation.

Prof. Okorley thanked the heads of teaching departments for the mutual working relationship that exist between them and the SGS. He pointed out that the departments and institutes formed the nerve of the Graduate School adding that “the progress of the departments and institutes has a direct reflection in the SGS.” He noted that the focus of the SGS was to produce more Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D) graduates to fill the vacuum in the various departments and institutes adding that “The last congregation witnessed an increase in the number of Ph. D. graduates.

He stressed the crucial role of graduate school, as driver of higher education all over the world. In order to pursue this role vigorously, he said a contract has been signed for the construction of a permanent school complex for the SGS. He added that a sod-cutting would soon be performed for construction work to begin.

The Vice-Dean of SGS and Prof. F. N. A. Odoi, a member of the SGS Board, spoke on the “Major Changes in the Academic Policies and Regulations for Graduate Studies.” The Deputy Registrar, SGS, Mr. Joseph C. Sefenu also made a presentation on the New Admissions Policy for Postgraduate Studies in UCC, Challenges and Way Forward.”

Participants had the opportunity to ask questions and comment on the presentations.

Proposed Programme Title: Master of Education in Teaching in Higher Education Programme (M.Ed-THEd)  Programme Rationale  In the last few decades, training and education of teachers in higher education was largely an in-service activity, voluntary and left to local initiative as was a common practice in many parts of the world.  Most institutions of higher education employed a great number of criteria for the selection and promotion of faculty members. Teaching skill was not universally regarded as a major criterion; and as a result, training for teaching was not a highly developed activity in higher education. But with the recent changes in higher education, planned training and education of academics have become major requirements of institutional and national quality assurance measures. Quality teaching has therefore become an issue of importance as the landscape of higher education has been facing continuous changes. The student body has considerably expanded and diversified both socially and geographically; new students call for new teaching methods. Modern technologies have entered the classroom, thus modifying the nature of the interactions between students and their lecturers. The governments, the students and their families, the employers, the funds providers increasingly demand value for their money and desire more efficiency through teaching. It therefore behooves on Academics in higher education to teach or provide high quality teaching that will make students learn effectively. It is against this background that the Centre for Teaching Support has decided to introduce this programme.   Thus, the overall goal of the programme will be to strengthen the overall institutional capacity in teaching and learning that is needed in order to improve the quality of higher education in Ghana. It will expose teachers/lecturers/tutors working in higher education to practical principles underpinning teaching, learning, assessment and research for teaching in higher education, in order to enable them effectively apply their disciplinary knowledge and skills to meeting the learning needs of their students. The target group of the M.Ed-THEd programme includes the following: i. Academic/teaching staff of public and private universities, tutors in colleges of education, nursing and midwifery training colleges and lecturers in the technical universities. ii. All master and doctoral degree holders who aspire to teach in tertiary institutions but have no formal qualifications in teaching in higher education. Proposed Date of Commencement: The programme is expected to commence in June 2018 (sandwich).

The University of Cape Coast School of Business(UCCSoB) in pursuance of its vision to become the best Business School in Africa has launched a development fund in Accra to propel the school to deliver on its mandate. The fund is managed by a nine-member board of trustees, who are expected to invest in the development of infrastructure, student support, as well as teaching and research activities. Launching the fund, the Chairman of UCC Council, Nana Brew-Butler, said the UCCSoB since its inception has trained students to take advantage of opportunities in all aspects of the economy and most especially in most of the corporate organisations. He noted that with the requisite infrastructure facilities, the UCCSoB would have the capacity to expand its tentacles to train more competent graduates to contribute significantly towards building the nation. He said the fund would lay a solid foundation for the provision of infrastructure projects like buildings, student support services, teaching and research activities. Explaining the purpose of the development fund, the Dean of the UCCSoB, Professor Edward Marfo-Yiadom, said in order to position the school to achieve its vision of becoming the best in Africa in the near term there was the need for massive investment in the activities of the school. He said the school needed to improve its physical infrastructure, improve Information Technology facilities for teaching and learning and also recruit high qualified faculty to handle courses at the school. He announced that the school has planned to introduce a Doctor of Philosophy programme in the next academic year in addition to its existing undergraduate and master’s level. Funds raised, according to him would be invested for a period and a percentage of the investment income, would be used to support various activities of the school. He said sources of the funds would include student and alumni contributions, corporate bodies/organisations, individuals support and the school’s internally generated funds. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Head of Retail Banking at Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Henry Baye called on alumni of the UCCSoB and the business community to donate to the fund. He noted that the school needed the investment to be able to produce graduates who could compete as global citizens in the world. At the end of the event, about GH ¢160, 000 was raised, with assurance from alumni groups and corporate organisations for more support. The event was spiced by melodious tunes from the Tema Youth Choir. In attendance were alumni, faculty and staff of the UCCSoB, Corporate organisations and some members of the University Community.