Attaining world-class status: University of Ghana outlines road map

The University of Ghana has outlined six key strategic objectives to help the institution attain the status of a 21st century world-class, research-intensive university.

They include the reinvigoration of impactful research in (applied) sciences and humanities and the development of technology-driven robust processes in research management, teaching and learning.

It will also apply technology to all other institutional processes to help drive the university’s strategic priorities and lead a vibrant and responsive governance and management system which empowers the colleges and directorates and promotes efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and a sense of responsibility.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, who made this known at the second batch congregation of the university’s postgraduate students in Accra last Saturday, said the move formed part of her vision to create a culture that promoted research, teaching and learning, administrative processes and extension activities driven by technology and anchored on humanism.

The university has, since last Monday, graduated nearly 10,000 students, both undergraduates and graduates, who completed their programmes of study in the 2020/2021 academic year.

Revenue

As part of the strategies, the vice-chancellor said the university was strengthening its traditional revenue streams and expanding alternative income sources to meet debt obligations and institutional needs.

To achieve that, she said, it was putting in place mechanisms for the prudent management of resources to guarantee value for money and safeguard sound decision-making in all transactions to avoid failures and debts.

Visibility

Prof. Amfo said the university had also put measures in place to increase its visibility and ensure a strong web presence through aggressive propagation of its achievements and outputs via appropriate (social) media/web outlets.

Again, she said, the university would create a sense of ownership and commitment among students, faculty, staff and alumni to promote creativity and innovation.

Achievements

Speaking on its achievements, the vice-chancellor said the university won eight awards at the seventh Ghana Universities Debate Championship held at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani.

She added that in order to facilitate teaching and learning, the university was working to introduce the "one student, one laptop" initiative, adding: "A committee has been established to work towards support for the acquisition of the laptops and we look forward to receiving the committee’s recommendations.”

She implored the graduates to use the knowledge acquired for the benefit of humanity and also uplift the image of the university.

Experiences

The valedictorian, Ms Isabella Selorm Cudjoe, who is a corporate banker, urged her fellow graduates to apply the knowledge acquired to help impact their respective fields of work for the ultimate transformation of Ghana’s development.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Credence Micro Credit, Mrs Adeline Quarshie, commended the university for the academic opportunities it provided for students.