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UNESCO&UCC officials

UNESCO Team Pays Courtesy Call on Vice-Chancellor

28 Feb, 2019 By louis Mensah

A team from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor.

The delegation from UNESCO, led by Ms. Anna Coupez of the Education sector from Paris, were in UCC to conduct feasibility studies on the Government of Ghana’s proposal to raise the status of the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (I.E.P.A.) of the University of Cape Coast Ghana to a Category II Centre for Excellence to upscale capacity building and support innovation in the education space of the sub-region under the auspices of UNESCO. This is aimed at contributing to the achievement of SDG4 targets and the Education 2030 Agenda,

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, expressed gratitude to the team for visiting UCC to conduct the study. He assured the team that the University was prepared to embrace the outcome of the assessment. He also noted on the University’s commitment to the exercise.

Prof.   Ampiah also assured the I.E.P.A. of the full support from the University and that the University is committed to the exercise.  He said “anything that we need to really improve ourselves in order to get there, we are prepared to do that with all support given to I.E.P.A. in that respect”.

Present at the meeting were, the Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan; Former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. George K.T. Oduro, Reps from UNESCO, Paris,  Dean for Centre and International Education Director of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, Prof. J. V. Mensah; Director Research Innovation and Consultancy, Prof Samuel Annim and lecturers of I.E.P.A.

Members of the University Community and the general public at the seminar

Lecturers of School of Agriculture Disseminate Research Projects

26 Feb, 2019 By louis Mensah

School of Agriculture Shares Research Work

Some Lecturers of the School of Agriculture have shared research projects they have conducted with their colleagues and the general public.

Speaking at a seminar to share these research projects, the Dean of the School of Agriculture, Prof. Elvis Asare-Bediako, explained that the programme formed part of the school’s mandate of disseminating knowledge generated by faculty to the benefit of society.  “We are supposed to educate - whatever we study and teach our students here. If it does not result in the benefits of the public, then, it means we have failed as a university. This is why we decided to have seminar series to discuss some of the topical issues affecting Agriculture and real situations”.

 

 Youth Unemployment Policy in Ghana

Presenting on “the Paradox of Ghana’s Unemployment Policies; Analysis of Youth Unemployment Policies in Ghana”, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Dr. Moses Kwadwo, indicated that Ghana’s youth unemployment was due to unavailability of long-term national policy. According to him, government actually did not have a comprehensive policy to solve this problem and had only resorted to varied projects which were not properly designed to engage the youth.  He further explained that these ad hoc measures have so far proved unsustainable since “a change in government also results in a change in policy”.

Addressing Youth Unemployment

In order to address this social problem, Dr. Kwadwo suggested that there should be stakeholder consultation and participation on the part of the youth when making policies.  Coming from an agriculture background, Dr. Kwadwo encouraged the youth to resort to Agribusiness rather than subsistence farming.

Discovery of Orange fleshed Sweet Potato Gari

Presenting on “Orange fleshed Sweet Potato Gari and Estimated Contribution to Vitamin A Requirement” an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Prof. Ernest Ekow Abano, highlighted on the high deficiency of ‘Vitamin A’ faced by a lot of Ghanaians and how Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) with gari could help reduce this prevalence.

Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato known locally as “Apomudzin Santom" was discovered by a team of researchers from the Department of Agricultural Engineering, UCC.

Health Benefits of Orange fleshed Sweet Potato Gari

Speaking on the health benefits of OFSP, Prof. Abano noted that “OFSP, carrot and golden rice are in the same category and contain high amount of bitter carotene which the body transforms into ‘Vitamin A’ when we eat it. Vitamin A helps in the management of health conditions such as the reduction of child mortality, reduction of infections and improvement of eye sight”.

Prof. Abano, therefore, recommended that “people should increase the intake of Vitamin A containing foods so that we can decrease this deficiency”.  

The seminar was attended by students, lecturers and the general public.

 

Participants of the seminar listening to the presentations

School of Nursing and Midwifery and University of Witwatersrand Train Health Professionals

26 Feb, 2019 By louis Mensah

The School of Nursing and Midwifery of the University of Cape Coast in collaboration with University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg has organised a workshop for health professionals.

Theme for the Workshop

 The training workshop under the theme; Research and Training for Leadership and Transformation in Public Health was aimed at equipping nurse educators either in academia or in practice who supervise nursing trainee students to have additional skills and new perspectives on how to supervise student on their clinical, research work and for their personal gains.

Objective of the Workshop

Opening the workshop, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dr. (Mrs.) Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah, indicated that workshop was the first to be organised by the School and hoped that the collaborative workshop would become a regular feature in every academic year.  She explained that the workshop would help build capacity of health professionals.

Resource Person

A Coordinator and Research Supervisor for Postgraduate Research in the fields of quality of care and nursing management, Dr. Sue Armstrong, led the resources persons from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg to facilitate the training.  

Participants

Participants were trained on issues such as transformation supervision, peer supervision and setting goals and evaluation. The participants included health practitioners from UCC Hospital, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital and other health service providers in Cape Coast.

The UCC contestants receiving their prize

UCC School of Business Tops Other Universities in Tertiary Business Sense Challenge

24 Feb, 2019 By louis Mensah

The UCC School of Business has won the maiden edition of the Tertiary Business Sense Challenge (TBSC) organised by Graphic Communications Group Limited.

With 50 points, UCC triumphed over Wisconsin International University College which managed to secure 24 points.  The UCC team trampled over all the institutions it contested from the group stages to the grand finale of the challenge.

The University for Development Studies (UDS) which placed third position with 41 points defeated the University of Ghana, which obtained 39 points.

 UCC Team

UCC was represented by Ms. Gillian Asiedu-Danso, Mr Shadrack Duodu Tawiah and Ms Judith Hooper of the School of Business in the quiz competition.  The others were Mr Emmanuel Nwanwa Mensah, Ms Bernice Nkrumah-Boadu and Ms Keith Mesiwotwo Kpende who supported the team with all the research work.

Prize for Winners

For their prize, each of the team members from UCC received a laptop, GH ¢   20, 000 life insurance from GLICO and products from the supporting sponsors. Each member of the team also received scholarships from the Chartered Institute of Management (CIMA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG).

Coaches for UCC Team

The coaches for the UCC team were Dr. Edward Amarteifio and Dr. Otuo Serebour Agyemang- both lecturers at the School of Business. In an interview, the Coach of the team Dr. Amarteifio, said lots of effort and sacrifices went into the preparation towards the contest. According to him, he was not surprised that UCC stood tall among all the Universities that competed in the challenge. He congratulated the students on their victory and also making the School of Business in particular and the University in general proud.  

Institutions for the Competition

In all 14 tertiary institutions contested in the challenge including the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), the University of Ghana, the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Ghana Technology University College (GTUC).

The rest are the University of Education, Winneba, the Central University , the Radford University College, the African University College of Communications (AUCC), the Dominion University College , the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University for Development Studies, the Methodist University College and the Wisconsin University College

Tertiary Business Sense Challenge

TBSC, a quiz contest for tertiary schools initiated by the Graphic Business to help stimulate intellectual competition among students in the various tertiary schools nationwide. The competing schools were quizzed on business-related topics and also questions from the Graphic Business newspaper.

Sponsors

The competition was supported by the Ministry of Business Development. Other supporting sponsors were GLICO. the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the British Council, Fidelity Bank, Accra Brewery Ltd (ABL), BIC and Passion Air.

 

 

The UCC delegation

UCC Delegation Participates in Inaugural Meeting of African Centres of Excellence

24 Feb, 2019 By louis Mensah

A delegation from the University of Cape Coast,  is participating in a 10-day inaugural African Centres of Excellence (ACE) Impact workshop and boot camp in Djibouti to learn, network and share experiences.

ACEs and their partners, the Association of African Universities (AAU), National Councils for Tertiary Education and other stakeholders with support from the World Bank converged on Monday, February 18, 2019 for the workshop and boot camp with a concerted goal of strengthening research, academic and development programmes at national and continental levels.

The UCC delegation led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah include Prof. Denis Worlanyo Aheto, the Director of the Centre; Dr. Precious Mattah, the Deputy Director; Mrs. Elizabeth Obese, the Director of Finance; Mr. Eric Agyenim-Boateng, the Project Accountant; Mr. Nicholas Ampofo, Procurement Officer; and Mr. Joshua Adotey, the Project’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer.

Importance of the Meeting

The meeting was also aimed at nurturing innovation and learning from shared experiences. The ACE participating countries include Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Cote D’ivoire, Togo, Cameroon, Djibouti, Senegal, and Niger. In addition, meetings provided a platform for existing and new centres to obtain guidance on project preparation, exchange information on their respective programmes, and build networks and forge partnerships to ensure the successful implementation of selected projects. It also aimed to create an opportunity for the new ACEs to interact and learn from existing centres.

It would be recalled that in September, 2018, the University of Cape Coast was competitively selected by the World Bank to establish the Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR) on its campus. The selection brings the university into a network of 44 Centres of Excellence (ACEs) in Africa approved by the World Bank to host a Regional Centre of Excellence. 

Benefit of the Centre to UCC

The University of Cape Coast will receive a counterpart funding to the tune of US$ 6.5 million from the World Bank and Government of Ghana to implement the project. The call for proposals was rolled out by the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU) of the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project, with support from the World Bank, under the ACE for Development Impact Project.

The multi-year project (2019-2023) was officially launched at the continental level among the other ACEs by H.E. Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh, the President of the Republic of Djibouti at the 10th Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE) Workshop and Bootcamp on 20th February, 2019 in Djibouti.

ACECoR will support technical capacity development of young African professionals to address issues of coastal degradation within the sub-region, as well as promote the sustainable utilization and management of marine and coastal assets in the partner countries through collaboration with academia, research institutions and industry, locally and will secure international partnerships.

Among others ACECoR will:

  • establish new and relevant post-graduate programs to address the challenges of coastal degradation within the sub-region;
  • provide support for the development and delivery of short courses in the areas mentioned, accredited to relevant international bodies;
  • develop mentoring support systems for faculty for effective administration and management, as well as course delivery;
  • provide incentives for lecturers to teach, guide research and provide in-service training to professionals in delivery of short courses;
  • provide Smart Classrooms with state-of the art facilities including science laboratories with equipment to promote research and deliver the trainings;
  • supply computer hardware and software to deliver the course to the expected standards; and
  • provide placements for selected students and lecturers to attend conferences, workshops to upgrade their skills, with fees paid and living expenses funded by this Project

Academic Programmes to be run by the Centre

In terms of academic programmes, the Centre will admit and train 120 postgraduate students made up of thirty (30) PhD and ninety (90) masters students. The Centre will ensure strong industry linkages, encourage female participation and will facilitate an estimated 40% of total student intake into the program from within the African sub-region. ACECoR will work towards developing and securing local and international accreditation for modular academic programmes in the following areas:

  • PhD/MPhil Marine and Coastal Engineering
  • PhD/MPhil Forestry Engineering
  • PhD/MPhil Marine Meteorology
  • PhD/MPhil Physical Oceanography
  • PhD/MPhil Disaster Risk Management and Migration
  • PhD/MPhil Integrated Coastal Zone Management
  • PhD/MPhil Fisheries Science
  • PhD/MPhil Blue Economy and Social Resilience

The first batch of students are expected to be admitted in August at the beginning of the 2019/2020 academic year.

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