The Vice-Chancellor feted members of faculty and students from Ramapo University of New Jersey, United States and their counterparts in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) at a dinner at the Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge.
The dinner which brought together some members of management, faculty, staff and students is part of the vice-chancellor’s vision of strengthening institutional linkages between the two institutions.
In his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso welcomed the Ramapo University group again to the university and pledged the University’s support for the partnership between the two institutions. He disclosed he decided to host them in his residence as they are currently part of KNUST and have to feel at home. He was also grateful for the warm reception and hospitality accorded KNUST students Ramapo College when they visited Ramapo.
President of the Students' Representative Council of KNUST, Mr. David Dannah, noted that the collaboration between the two institutions has afforded them opportunity to learn from each other, in the areas of education, culture and the host country. Mr. Dannah indicated that about eleven students have recently visited Ramapo College from KNUST.
In an exclusive interview, Dr. Kofi Owusu Daaku, Former Dean of Students, said the collaboration had been in existence for over a decade in the area of staff and student exchange and has seen over sixty students and faculty visiting from Ramapo College this year. He said by the end of this year, about twenty students in total would also have been hosted by the Ramapo College.
Giving the background to the partnership, he said it started in a very small way with a Ghanaian Faculty, an Associate Provost for Academic Exchange at Ramapo College. Professor Kwasi Aggrey, an alumnus who initiated the partnership as a way of giving back to the University.
Following a Memorandum of Understanding, Professor Aboagye Menyeh and the late Professor Yeboah Djan went to affirm the exchange. Since then, he, Dr. Owusu Daaku became the first exchange scholar and he and others have benefitted from the exchange.
This year, in addition to students, staff from the International Programmes Office have visited Ramapo College and the Registrar would also visit in the course of the year. Dr. Owusu Daaku believes such exchanges are important to any global university and is mutually beneficial to faculty and staff of partner institutions.
As part of integrating students from Ramapo into the Ghanaian system, KNUST grouped the visitors into teams together with their Ghanaian counterparts to undertake community projects. One of such groups partnered a KNUST student based non-governmental organization, Nectar of Hope, to renovate primary schools in Feyiase and Ejisu Krapa in addition to donating stationery and clothes.
In a related development, Ms. Carlie Fling presented five hundred and a sixty dollars ($560) to the Foundation at the dinner. The donation was meant for a wheel chair for a physically challenged boy in one of the beneficiary communities.
