UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
                                                               
                                                        'Knowledge for Service'

THE UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES - The Pro-Poor Community-based University

LOCATION

Its unique quality is the fact that it was borne out of Ghana’s renewed commitment to higher education in ensuring that universities play a more active and meaningful role in addressing problems of the rural areas in particular.

Campuses of the UDS are spread out across two-thirds the landmass of Ghana, which are the four regions in the north of the country, and which are also the most deprived.

The current locations of the campuses are Tamale and Nyankpala in the Northern Region, Navrongo in the Upper East Region, and Wa in the Upper West Region.

VISION:

To be the home of world-class pro-poor scholarship. This reflects in the UDS motto: ‘Knowledge for Service’.

MISSION:

UDS seeks to attain its vision by:

• Promoting equitable and socio-economic transformation of communities through practically-oriented, community-based, problem-solving, gender-sensitive and interactive research, teaching, learning and outreach programmes.
• Providing higher education to persons suitably qualified for, and capable of benefiting from it.
• Positioning itself as a national asset in the facilitation of life-long learning.
• Developing its Information and Communication Technology infrastructure as the driving force for the education of more people more rapidly, and the improvement of efficiency and academic quality in order to advance community and national development.

FACULTIES/SCHOOL/CENTRE

Research and academic programmes are pursued under the following Faculties, School and Centre:

• The Faculty of Agriculture - Nyankpala
• The Faculty of Integrated Development Studies - Wa
• The Faculty of Applied Sciences – Navrongo
• School of Medicine and Health Sciences – Tamale.
• Post-Graduate Centre and Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Research – Navrongo

FRENCH LANGUAGE CENTRE

At the Navrongo Campus, the UDS has a French language centre which runs French language courses for interested students.

GENDER PROGRAMMES UNIT

The University also has a gender programmes unit. Its duty is to lead the process of implementing the university’s strategic goal of mainstreaming gender in university policies and programmes as well as community relations. It is located at the Navrongo campus.

STUDENT ENROLMENT

From modest beginning in September 1993 with Forty (40) students, the UDS student population rose steadily to 707 in the 2000/2001 academic year; then it grew to 2,845 in the 2003/2004 academic year.

With conscious efforts to grow exponentially, the student enrolment in 2005/2006 academic year stood at 5,249 and 6630 in the 2006/2007 academic year.

The student population for the 2007/2008 academic year stands at 7973.

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

Through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the Central Government assists the University to provide residential accommodation for students by building hostels on the campuses.

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has also built one hostel each at the Nyankpala and Navrongo campuses.

Private Estate Developers and Landlords also provide rental accommodation to students, especially at the Wa campus.

LIBRARY

The University has libraries on all its campuses. To improve upon the quality of research, teaching and learning, the GETFund is constructing one ultra-modern library on the Nyankpala campus and one on the Tamale campus.

UDS runs innovative programmes that are aimed at empowering students to participate effectively in the on going developments in the communities in which they may find themselves.

These include BSc. Agriculture Technology, BA, Integrated Development Studies, Diploma, Integrated Community Development, BSc. Community Nutrition, BSc in Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) BSc. Human Biology which finally leads to MBChB and BSc. Applied Sciences.

In addition to the above, the University runs a flagship programme, which cuts across all Faculties, and which is at the core of its existence. It is a blend of the academic and community-based field practical work, a community-technical interface called the Third Trimester Field Practical Programme (TTFPP). It spans a trimester in each academic year for three years, and ensures that students work closely with communities to formulate specific interventions to address specific challenges.

POST-GRADUATE PROGRAMME

The University runs a four-year sandwich Post-graduate programme which leads to the award of an MPhil in Development Studies. The course centre is the Navrongo campus. It requires students to be in residence for three months in a year while the remaining nine are dedicated to follow-up, on the-job training.