The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Christian Agyare, has organised a three-day innovation and mindset transformation workshop for selected stakeholders drawn from the University's colleges, administrative units, labour unions, student leadership and Executive Committee to drive the implementation of the University's 10-year strategic plan, Plan 2K35.
The workshop, being held at Capital View Hotel in Koforidua, opened on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, under the theme Innovation and Mindset Transformation. The opening programme featured a family campfire session, dubbed "Our Safe Place to Connect," aimed at fostering trust and encouraging open engagement among participants.
Professor Agyare urged participants to remain open-minded, develop home-grown solutions and translate the University's strategic objectives into action.
"We must be guided and then come up with our own solutions, and we should get things done as captured in the strategic plan," he said.
Professor Agyare said achieving the University's transition from excellence to global eminence would require adjustment, realignment and reorientation in how members of the University community approached their work.
He urged participants to embrace new ideas and find innovative ways of meeting institutional expectations while navigating the University's regulatory environment.
"Let's be open. Let's come up with new ideas," Professor Agyare said.
The Registrar, Mr. Benjamin Boampong Owusu, said the workshop was intended to help University leaders understand how best to implement Plan 2K35 and support the transition from excellence to eminence.
He said KNUST's recognition as Ghana's top-ranked university for quality education in 2023 reflected its achievements in excellence and provided a strong foundation for its ambition to attain global eminence.
"The strategic plan and the Vice-Chancellor's vision are one. If you look at his vision and the strategic plan, it works perfectly and it tells us that we are all heading towards the same direction," he said.
Mr. Boampong urged participants to engage actively in the sessions, noting that they would be expected to communicate the strategic plan and lead its implementation within their respective units.
He encouraged participants to remain patient, attentive and fully engaged throughout the workshop so they could return to the University with practical knowledge and ideas to support institutional transformation.
Leadership and mindset transformation
Dr. Herman Yobo Addae, KNUST Alumni Global president Chief Executive Officer of Lead It Africa said the workshop was particularly important following the launch of the University's new 10-year strategic plan, Plan 2K35.
He said the plan, which will guide the University's development through 2035, sets an ambitious goal of transforming KNUST from excellence to global eminence.
"Given the transformational nature of the strategy, it's important that the leaders of the organization are well-versed in what the strategy seeks to achieve," Dr. Addae said.
He said the workshop was designed to familiarise University leaders with the strategic plan, examine the mindset changes needed to achieve its objectives and encourage participants to take ownership of the strategy.
Dr. Addae said participants would also be expected to cascade the plan's ideas and objectives to their respective teams.
"Everybody has a part to play in this transformation that is being planned, and it starts and ends with leadership. That's why we're having this particular workshop, targeting the leadership of the University," he said.
Professor Clifford Amoako from the Department of Planning, who presented an overview of Plan 2K35, said the strategy is structured around eight thematic areas, with governance serving as the foundation for effective implementation.
He said the University was seeking to establish a smart governance system and seamless administrative processes to support implementation of the thematic areas and strengthen institutional performance.
Professor Amoako said the strategic plan had been launched in March and implementation was already underway.
"The plan is in motion and we all need to accept and begin to think of how best to implement it," he said.
He described Plan 2K35 as an ambitious strategy that would require collective commitment and innovation across the University community.
Professor Amoako said the plan seeks to mobilise up to $500 million over the next 10 years and urged participants to identify practical ways they could contribute to achieving that target.
"We want all of us to begin to brainstorm and look at how each of us, in our own small way, will contribute to making sure that this comes into fruition," he said.
Story and Photos: Emmanuel Offei
