A group photo after the meeting
Senior Management Officers of Lancaster University have visited the University of Ghana to discuss strengthening ties on a variety of projects, including academic research between both institutions of higher learning.
In receiving the delegation on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Provost of the College of Education UG, Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, remarked that UG is looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with Lancaster University.
Mrs. Emelia Agyei-Mensah, Registrar UG, gave the guests an overview of the University of Ghana, stating that the University currently has nearly 70,000 students, three campuses in Accra, and is seeking accreditation for two more campuses in Kumasi and Takoradi.
Mrs. Emelia Agyei-Mensah, Registrar
She pointed out that the University has been organised through the college system since 2014, with Provosts acting as academic heads of the colleges on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor and College Secretaries acting as the administrative heads of the colleges on behalf of the Registrar.
The collegiate system, she continued, was created to free up those who are at the helm of affairs at the university from some of the day-to-day management of university issues, allowing them to focus on more strategically important areas of the university in order to promote the growth of the university.
Contributing to the discussion on the collegiate system at UG, Prof. Codjoe noted that, “On the issue of the autonomy of the colleges, I will say that is existent to a large extent because we run our own budgets although there are still some elements that are kept at the Centre”.
Provost of the College of Education UG, Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe
He added “we used to have 46 teacher training colleges in the country. All of them have been converted into Colleges of Education and eventually they will receive their charters to become independent universities.”
He stated that the University of Ghana mentors six of them as the public universities are responsible for the mentorship of the Colleges of Education.
Prof. Wendy Robinson, Lancaster University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and stated that the purpose of their visit was to deepen the cooperation between Lancaster University and the University of Ghana.
(Right) Prof. Wendy Robinson, Lancaster University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education
Prof. Robinson revealed that her University and the University of Ghana share interests in multidisciplinary research. She, therefore, expressed the hope that the shared interest will foster a successful alliance between the two universities.
Mrs. Barbara Blankson, Senior Assistant Registrar, International Programmes Office, also updated the team on the operations of her office. She stated that the office assists international students with admission, academics, immigration, accommodation, and other services to help them succeed academically at the University of Ghana.
She added that the International Programmes Office was in charge of establishing and maintaining links between the University of Ghana and other abroad-based colleges, organisations, and institutions.
Dr. Cynthia Forson, Deputy Provost of Lancaster University in Ghana, stated that Lancaster University is looking forward to bringing together an African network of research universities to collaborate on multi-disciplinary research projects with focus areas such as post-climate change and food security.
She added that plans to raise funds for research for the network are already in the works, with a wide collaboration from a number of African countries being established to fund the network's research works.
Also present at the meeting were Dr. Mrs. Elizier T. Ameyaw-Buronyah, Director, Public Affairs and Stephen Bulman, Head of Quality Standards and Conduct, Lancaster University.
