ADDRESS BY PROF. HARUNA YAKUBU VICE-CHANCELLOR,
UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES, TAMALE
ON THURSDAY AUGUST 26TH 2010.
Honourable Deputy Minister of Education and Ministers of State
Chairmen of University Councils
Vice-Chancellors of Sister Universities
Former Vice-Chancellor of UDS and Sister Universities
Executive Secretary, NCTE
Members of UDS Council
Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Registrar of UDS and Registrars of Sister Universities
Former Registrars of UDS
Members of Convocation
Members of Staff of UDS
Distinguished Chiefs of Traditional Councils
Elders and Religious Leaders
Members of the Press
Distinguished Invited Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen!
INTRODUCTION
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you, Honourable Deputy Minister of Education to this inauguration ceremony. Let me also acknowledge and welcome the Honourable Regional Minister of the Northern Region. Let me also acknowledge and welcome Vice-Chancellors of sister Universities, former Vice Chancellors of UDS and all the dignitaries who are gathered here for this inauguration. It is a pleasure to have you all here.
Today marks an important day in the history of the UDS. It marks the start of a new chapter, a new beginning that will call on all of us to rededicate ourselves to the fulfillment of the vision of this university: “TO BE HOME OF WORLD CLASS PRO-POOR SCHOLARSHIP”. This is the third inaugural ceremony after the successful tenures of Professors Benning and Kaburise. We all owe Professor Kaku Sagary Nokoe a depth of gratitude for successfully serving as Acting Vice-Chancellor from the time Professor Kaburise retired until a couple of months ago. Thank you, Professor Nokoe, for job well done.
I also wish to acknowledge and welcome parents whose children attend UDS, and who are among us today. We need to be fully engaged partners in this endeavor.
Mr. Chairman, while acknowledging the presence of the founding Vice-Chancellor, Prof. R. B. Benning, may I request that we humbly stand up to observe a minute silence in memory of the second Vice Chancellor Professor John B. K. Kaburise who passed on in December 2009.
The year 2010 is very special. Changes were made in the leadership of three public universities within a period of four months – University of Ghana (Legon), KNUST (Kumasi) and UDS (Tamale). I am honoured by the presence here today of my fellow freshman Vice Chancellors: Professor Aryeetey, Legon and Professor Ellis, KNUST, I am also honoured by the presence of the ‘senior’ VC from KNUST, Winneba, and Tarkwa. I am equally honoured by the presence of all the present and past Registrars, Finance Officers of UDS and our sister Universities. I am very grateful to all my colleagues from UCC who have found time to come and celebrate this day with us. They are particularly welcome to UDS.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, permit me to remind you of the vision of the University before I draw you into my vision as the Vice Chancellor. The vision of the University for Development Studies is “To be home of world class pro-poor scholarship”. The university has honoured this promise for many alumni over the years through a pro-poor philosophy that delivered appropriate instructional content through market-driven community-oriented programme, and an innovative admission policy without compromising quality.
Mr. Chairman, it is within this broad context and success story of the vision and achievements that I situate my vision for the University for Development Studies. The core of my vision as the Vice-Chancellor will be“ to provide continuing leadership in the areas already developed and to further develop the University into a practically oriented institution which is internationally recognized for academic excellence and community development”.
Strategies I have formulated to facilitate the realization of this vision include:
a) Graduate Training and Research
b) Academic Programmes
c) Quality of Teaching and Learning Environment
d) Income Generation
e) Enhanced Management and Governance
Graduate Training and Research
Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen, every good University thrives on quality teaching and research. Our graduate programmes are intended to provide a strong research base for the University. With the support of the faculty, the Graduate School will be directed to refocus on an interdisciplinary research agenda. We would promote joint research project with District Assemblies and Private Industries to maximize use of available expertise and also fulfill our mandate as a community-oriented University for development.
There are a number of structural problems that hinder the effectiveness of post-graduate programs. One is the length of time it takes to get a Master’s or PhD degree, principally because of the lack of appropriately qualified teaching and supervisory personnel to guide and mentor graduate students. While we seek to expand post-graduate training, it is also important that we provide incentives for lecturers who participate in the teaching so that we can improve upon the completion rates. To ensure that the University always maintains the best and the brightest on its faculty, experienced professors would be hired and adequately resourced to mentor up-and-coming junior and potential faculty from our own graduate school.
From my experience in other University settings, I have come to realize that there are many potential graduates students who are unable to attend school because of conflicts with work schedule and other family circumstances. I have also observed that because of the unique position of our University and the need for its programmes, we have to open our doors to many more graduate students if we want to make the impact we have marked out in our vision. We will institute flexible graduate sandwich programmes to provide opportunities for graduate students who cannot enroll in fulltime studies.
Academic Programmes
UDS has over the years introduced new programmes to reflect emerging population dynamics, changes in industry and the economy (both national and global). The pressure to increase admissions, programmes and services will continue to rise, even as funding from the government declines.
Currently, Mr. Chairman, we have inadequate classroom space, ill-equipment laboratories, poorly stocked libraries, and internet services that are inadequate unreliable. While any of these shortfalls can undermine the quality of our graduates, their collective presence at UDS clearly signifies the urgency of our need.
Sourcing funding from students can only go so far given the levels of poverty in the country. We need to remind ourselves – all of us – that the future economic growth of this country depends on the quality of the graduates we produce today. Allowing standards to decline because of inadequate resources is not an option.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, to maintain quality, I intend to lead the University to re-examine and align our curriculum to fit the educational reforms proposed for the nation while still holding on to our core belief of providing market-driven, community-oriented programmes at reduced costs.
Quality Assurance will be strengthened and faculties encouraged to institute their own Quality Assurance units that can liaise with the University’s Quality Assurance Board for effective evaluation and assessment of our practice as teachers, mentors, researchers and administrators.
Quality of Teaching and Learning Environment
Distinguished Guests, let me talk about my vision for the teaching and learning environment. As an institution of higher learning, our libraries should be computerized and networked. We should be able to increase our subscription to electronic books, journals, and online databases in order to make the libraries good resource centres for information retrieval and processing.
We also need to add to the number of our lecture rooms on all our campuses. We will work together with stakeholders both in and out of our immediate communities, our alumni and the government to provide additional well-equipped lecture rooms and laboratories. Hostel accommodation for our students is woefully inadequate. We have already started sourcing for strategic investors to join us in a university-private sector partnership and “build your name” schemes to provide accommodation for our students. Even before these partnerships start to materialize, we will encourage one another to maintain existing infrastructure we have.
Mr. Chairman, still on our teaching and learning environment, I believe that the beauty of our University will develop some sense of belonging and pride in our students and alumni. Beautification projects are important for identity developments of students and the commitment of alumni. We should not write that off as trivial because such projects help in creating a good image of an institution of higher learning. We, students, faculty and administrators, will together enhance the aesthetics of our campuses for our own edification and for the image of the University for Development Studies.
Income Generation
Distinguished Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am taking over the headship of a University that has by leaps and bounds such that from an intake of 39 students in September 1993 to 5,400 students in the 2005 academic year, we now have well over 16,000 this academic year. This phenomenal rise in the face of inadequate facilities for teaching and learning itself is a herculean task that needs careful management. The fact that the students are spread over the four functional campuses at Nyankpala, Tamale, Navrongo and Wa is another major challenge as it is generally more expensive to run a multi-campus system than the single campus system. This calls for innovative ways to reduce costs and this is one area I intend to focus attention on, with the support of all staff, faculty and students.
I am sure that many of us here, who know the constraints of financing higher education in our part of the world, will be wondering how e can do all the things I have listed. Mr. Chairman, I acknowledge that, a new kind of academic leadership will be required in this University – one that recognizes the changed environment of higher education and the need to build strong partnerships between industry and the University. Moving through the ranks of academia from lecturer to full professor is no longer enough to prepare even the most talented academics for administration. In today’s environment, Senior Administrators need to be entrepreneurs, able to raise funds not only from government, but from donors, alumni, and ordinary citizens. We need to understand these dynamics and prepare our faculties and departments to be innovative in their search for funds.
Yes, it is an arduous task to source for grants. However, we will not relent in our efforts to expand our funding base. We will audit our income generation efforts with the view to identifying new and sustainable sources of income. We will engage a grants person to source for grants and also help faculties and departments to craft winning proposals.
The faculties would be resourced to solicit for consultancies and to strengthen links with industry and commerce. Demand-driven programmes would be expanded and promoted, and we will work had to control over expenditure through a strengthened internal audit system and efficient use of existing resources.
Enhanced Management and Governance
Finally, Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I acknowledge the responsibilities enshrined in the position of the Vice Chancellor. Most importantly, I appreciate the trust you have in me to continue the good works of my predecessors. Over the years, I have cultivated many important and useful links with people and institution of good repute, both locally and internationally, which I could explore to open new vistas and opportunities for the development of UDS.
As the Vice Chancellor I will lead by example. I will enhance official channels of communication through student-staff, management-staff and management-student consultative meetings. I will promote policies in line with the statutes and the strategic plan of UDS. I will pursue excellence to benefit students and the university. It was Cicero, who said that “the higher our position, the more modestly we should behave.” I will apply that to my personality. I will try and model this admonition in all my interactions with all.
Conclusion
Distinguished Guests, let me say that I will not be able do all these on my own. There is a Chinese proverb that says” Behind an able man, there are always other able men”. I have noticed the truism in this over my lifetime as a university lecturer and as an Administrator. I do not believe this will change in my present position. I look forward to a unified effort from both the administrative and teaching sections of our university. I also anticipate partnership from both our graduate and undergraduate students.
We all know, that in unity is strength, and I believe I speak for all of us when I say together with our alumni and other stakeholders we will harness the full potential of the University for Development Studies to achieve its goals of becoming a well focused and results-oriented institution: a practically-oriented institution which is internationally recognized for academic excellence and community development.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I crave your indulgence to express my sincere gratitude to my Wife, Professor Mansah Prah who is seated right here. I have been fortunate to have her stand by me in my career. I know there have been times she had to put her own career on hold to enable me to realize my dreams. I must say our dreams. Thank you Mansah for being there for me.
I am also grateful to all my siblings for always being there for me. I am equally grateful to all my friends and well wishers for constantly urging me on. I thank you all for your support shown in many ways. I know I can count on same in my new position as the 3rd Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your time.