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The University of Ghana, Legon, has held a congregation for graduates of the School of Law, Medical School and the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences.
In all, 310 students were awarded certificates following the successful completion of their respective courses during the 2022/2023 academic year at the Great Hall of the university last Saturday.
Abigail Nakuor Wowolo, a First Class student, with a final grade point average of 3.72, was adjudged the Valedictorian.
Ms Wowolo emerged the Overall Best Student in Literature, Christian Religious Studies and Government in her first year; Best English and General Arts Student in her second year; Best Student in Literature in the third year, and the Best Student with 4Hs - hardworking, honest, humble and helpful.
Among the graduates included 28-year-old visually impaired, George Amoah, who came out with a Second Class Upper in Law.
Three other visually impaired and physically challenged students also graduated in Law studies.
The Vice-Chancellor of the UG, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, said the university was developing a new five-year strategic plan to propel it to become more responsive to emerging global trends in science, technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The plan, when completed, will run from 2024 to 2029, after the current 10-year strategic plan of the university ends in July, 2024.
She said a committee co-chaired by the Directors of the West African Centre for Crop Improvement and the Centre for Social Policy Studies, Prof. Eric Danquah and Prof. Nana Akua Anyidoho respectively, were currently conducting stakeholder consultations after which a draft of the plan would be submitted in October, 2023.
“Our expectation is that the plan will propel us towards a more engaged university, while taking into account the emerging trends in science, technology, innovations, machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as responding to fast-paced social and economic transformations currently going on across the globe,” the V-C added.
She said her personal vision was to create a culture that promoted research, teaching and learning; administrative processes and extension of activities driven by technology anchored in humanism.
Prof. Amfo said in line with the university's strategic objective to develop technology-driven and robust processes in various aspects of academic work, the Department of Computer Science of the university computing systems, in collaboration with the Academic Affairs Directorate, had introduced an Information Technology(IT) solution known as DiGradSys.
She said the system had significantly cut down on the length of time it took to determine students' results for graduation.
The Vice-Chancellor further said that the University Council had approved the restoration of the Accra City Campus to a semi-autonomous unit of the university.
Approval had also been granted for the establishment of the Takoradi and Kumasi City campuses of the university by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, adding that accreditation processes were almost complete for the campuses to start admitting students next academic year.
On infrastructure, Prof. Amfo mentioned major constraints on the university to include inadequate lecture halls, staff and faculty offices, as well as halls of residence for students.
To help address the challenges, she said the university was expanding academic and residential infrastructure, including the completion of a 1,200-bed student hostel for use next academic year.
A Member of the University Council, Doris Kisiwa Ansah, who represented the Chancellor, Mary Chinery-Hesse, commended authorities of the university for introducing a digitalisation initiative while encouraging corporate bodies and individuals to contribute to the successful implementation of the programme.
The programmes are — One student classroom modernisation; One student one laptop (1S1L) and Hot-spot comfort zones.
