UDS to continue with programmes for national dev — Prof. Teye
The Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Prof. Gabriel Ayum Teye, has reiterated the university’s commitment to continue to run programmes that are relevant to national development and capable of enhancing the quality of life of the various communities.
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Consequently, he said the university had established a School of Engineering and would start with five programmes next academic year (2016/2017) under the Department of Agriculture Engineering (DAE) and Department of Environment, Water and Waste Engineering (DEWWE).
Matriculation ceremony
Prof. Teye announced this at the 23rd matriculation ceremony of the university held at the Tamale campus on Saturday.
Similar ceremonies were also held simultaneously at the Wa, Navrongo and Nyankpala campuses of the university in the Upper West, Upper East and the Northern regions, respectively.
Prof. Teye said the university received a total of 13,079 undergraduate and 792 graduate applications but was able to admit 4,806 undergraduates and 367 graduates to pursue the various programmes being offered by the institution on the four campuses.
He said out of the 4,806 undergraduates who gained admission, 3,254 were males while 1,552 were females, representing 68 per cent and 32 per cent respectively, while the 367 candidates admitted to the graduate programmes represent a 74 per cent increase over last year's figure of 274.
Academic programmes
He said the university was also working towards the introduction of new academic programmes for the 2016/2017 academic year in Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Public Health and Master of Science (MSc ) Community Disaster Resilience Studies.
He mentioned the rest as MSc Paediatric Nursing, MSc/Master of Philosophy and MPhil/PhD Biomedical Laboratory Science (Chemical Pathology and Bachelor of Science (BSc) Engineering Science
(Mechanical Engineering, Soil & Water Conservation).
The VC stated further that the UDS was collaborating with the Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) in Israel to run a fee-paying MBChB Medical programme in UDS which was the same as what the School of Medicine of the UDS was already running and expressed the hope that the programme would begin in January 2016.
Prof. Teye added that the programme would be a split-site training programme where students would train for the first three years of Pre-clinical studies in UDS, after which they would proceed to Israel for two years of elective clinical training and finally complete the sixth year with a final examination in the School of Medicine in UDS.
Advice to fresh students
Prof. Teye urged the students to shun vices such as stealing, forgery and examination malpractices, adding that there were dire consequences for examination malpractices and any student who would be caught in that act would be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the university.
He added that the university would not countenance the activities of unregistered clubs and associations and occultism and that the management of the university would apply the rules and regulations to deal ruthlessly with any student or group of students who engage in occultism and other antisocial and other activities that contravened the school’s regulations.
In a related development, the immediate past Vice Chancellor of UDS, Prof. Seidu Alhassan, addressed the ceremony at the Wa campus of the university, writes Michael Quaye.
Prof. Alhassan, who stood in for Vice Chancellor, Prof. Gabriel Ayum Teye, said the very strict admission requirements and the capacity of the university ensured that over 60 per cent of applicants did not survive the competitive process.
He acknowledged, for instance, the challenges with both residential accommodation and other school infrastructure, and said the ongoing construction projects across the campuses “are intended to modernise and improve the capacities of our lecture rooms, laboratories and learning facilities to keep pace with the growth that the university is experiencing.”