The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson, accompanied by the Registrar, Mr. Andrews Kwasi Boateng, and a delegation from the KNUST Affiliations Office, embarked on a working visit to institutions affiliated with KNUST in the Greater Accra Region.
The week-long official visit forms part of KNUST's effort as a Mentoring Institution to receive feedback and as well provide the required support and guidance to the affiliate institutions. The institutions visited include; Fountainhead Christian College, Data Link Institute of Business and Technology, Narh-Bita College, Heritage Christian College, Wisconsin International University College, Institute of Local Government Studies, Accra Business School, Radford University College, Regent University College of Science and Technology, Accra Institute of Technology, KAAF University College, and Entrance University College of Health Sciences.
In her address, Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson highlighted that the primary objective of the visit was to express the University's heartfelt gratitude to the affiliate institutions for their commitment to the partnership with KNUST over the years. She commended the institutions for their laudable efforts in delivering quality education, thereby contributing significantly to the development of skilled workforce crucial for the nation's progress and the world at large. The Vice-Chancellor communicated the recent recognition of KNUST as the best University in the world for the provision of quality education (SDG 4) by the 2023 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. She attributed the success to a collective effort and encouraged the institutions to continue to uphold the standards in the discharge of their mandate as an institution of higher learning. She added that the visit aimed to assess their progress and also engage them on some of their challenges.
The Vice-Chancellor and her delegation were warmly received by the Management of the respective affiliate institutions. They commended the initiative and deemed it historic.
The various institutions conveyed their challenges to include; student enrolment, staffing, and opportunities for faculty development, high staff attrition rate, and quality assurance and institutional visibility, among others. Responding to the feedback received, the Vice-Chancellor reaffirmed that KNUST, as a mentor Institution, will continue to provide the needed support to address their challenges. She urged the Management of the various affiliate institutions to work closely with KNUST Representatives on their respective Councils and Academic Boards and the KNUST Affiliations Office.
The Registrar, Mr. Andrews Kwasi Boateng, also echoed these sentiments, detailing the measures KNUST would take to assist the institutions in boosting student enrolment and faculty capacity building. He further encouraged them to tap into the expertise of the representatives appointed by KNUST to serve on their Boards to alleviate some of their challenges.
Mrs. Oluwakemi A. Titiloye, the Senior Assistant Registrar at the Affiliations Office, discussed the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) requirements for all private universities in Ghana to attain Presidential Charter by August 2024. She assured them of the University's support and her outfit's readiness to render any form of assistance that may be required in their application processes.
Furthermore, the Junior Assistant Registrar at the Affiliations Office, Mr. Gibridu Oppong, stressed the need for the institutions to improve their visibility using various communication channels, including websites, social media, traditional media advertisements, and leverage on the KNUST brand.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson, on behalf of Management, assured them of KNUST's continuous support in providing effective Mentorship. 'We pledge our continued support to ensure they attain the status of a fully fledge university,' she emphasised.
The Vice-Chancellor and her team also toured the state-of-the-art facilities available in the various institutions.
In a related development, the Vice-Chancellor Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson, as part of her vision to engage and strengthen relationships with stakeholders, KNUST alumni and captains of industries, paid courtesy calls on CEOs of Industries in Tema and interacted with the members of the Tema and the Accra Ministries KNUST Alumni Chapters. The purpose of these visits was to foster collaborations, establish partnerships, and reinforce the University's commitment to bridging academia-industry gaps.
As part of the Alumni interactions, the Vice-Chancellor engaged with the Mayor of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Honourable Yohane Amarh Ashitey, as well as notable figures including Mr. Samuel Asante, the General Manager of Tema Development Corporation (TDC); Ing Kwabena Asamoah, the General Manager of Tema Port; Mr. Titus-Glover, the Managing Director of Valco; Ing Frank Otchere, the Acting Chief Executive and Director of Systems Operations at GRIDCo; and Ms. Genevieve Pawar, Product Research and Development Manager at the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC).
Professor (Mrs.) Dickson further seized the opportunity to convey the University's vision to address students’ accommodation challenges on campus by raising Two Hundred Million Ghana Cedis (GHȻ200,000,000) to construct a Two Thousand (2000) bed capacity hall of residence. She added that the initiative, known as the 'KNUST Day of Giving,' is a global online fundraising event scheduled for October 6, 2023, for alumni, friends, staff, students, parents, philanthropists, and industry partners to show appreciation to KNUST.
She encouraged industry partners and alumni to support the initiative, while also receiving valuable feedback on enhancing collaboration between academia and industry.
