The Office of the Dean of Students (DoS) has held a round-table experience sharing session at the DoS Conference room on Thursday, 20th May, 2021 for six (6) newly appointed Senior Tutors for non-residential students in the immediate surroundings of the University. The aim was to give orientation to the new appointees to help in speeding up the task assigned to them by the University to ensure the welfare and safety of non-residential students.
The hostels in the immediate surrounding of the University have been grouped into six clusters with a Senior Tutor assigned to each cluster. The clusters and its assigned tutors are Ayeduase North (Dr. James Osei Mensah as Chairman of the team), Ayeduase South (Dr. Kingsley Amponsah), Ayeduase New Site/Boadi/Emena (Dr. Martin Owusu Ansah), Ayigya-Kentinkrono-Gaza (Dr. Yaw Akoto Omari-Sasu), Bomso/Ahinsan Dr. Emmanuel Kwesi Arthur, Kotei-Gyinyase (Dr. Titus Ebenezer Kwofie as Secretary to the team).
The senior tutors are expected to map out all locations of hostels in their assigned areas in order to provide adequate and reliable data of students in their care and serve as liaison officers between private hostels managers and the office of the DoS. The senior tutors are charged to work in close collaboration with the non-residential members of the SRC Parliament in their area with the aim of protecting the welfare and safety of KNUST students, and submit periodic reports to the DoS.
The Dean of Students, Professor Wilson Agyei Agyare in his address mentioned that the University has a great responsibility of ensuring the welfare and safety of students throughout their period of study in KNUST, hence, the need for management to extend the tutoring services to students who reside in hostels outside campus. ‘This is an enormous task because over 80% of our students reside outside campus in the various private hostels and homes, thus, they will not be able to succeed without our cooperation and support’, he said.
Professor Agyare also added that the office of the DoS will support the newly appointed senior tutors with the needed facilities and resources to ensure that their work is successfully executed.
Representing the KNUST District Police Commander, Chief Inspector Eric Dela Aglah, KNUST District Police CID, urged the senior tutors to frequently interact with other hall tutors and hostels managers to encourage students in their area to promptly report suspicious characters to the security.
The Hall Master for Republic Hall, Dr Ampong Francis Kofi also shared his experience on the common behaviours to expect from students in the hostels. He advised the new appointees to form groups of dedicated students in their respective clusters to assist in their work during their absence.
Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe, the University Relations Officer, KNUST, appealed to the senior tutors to swiftly draw the attention of the DoS on issues for prompt actions before they escalate into crisis. Again, he advised the new appointees not to be quick to grant media interviews on management related matters but rather refer all such media inquiries to the University Relations Office.
Other facilitators also shared their experiences regarding procedures in handling disciplinary issues, identifying students in stress, dealing with sensitive students, among others.