Prof. Bonsu is new GIMPA Rector
The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has inducted Professor Samuel Kwadwo Bonsu as the new Rector of the institute.
Prof. Bonsu has been with GIMPA for over a decade, and until his confirmation as Rector was the Director of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance.
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He took over the mantle from Prof. Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson and will be in office for four years.
Investiture
At an investiture at the Green Hill College at Legon in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the GIMPA Council, Mr. Kofi Darko Asante, led the new rector to swear the oaths of office and secrecy, after which he signed the instrument of office.
Prof. Bonsu was also presented with a medal and the instrument of office, as well as a mace, which is the symbol of authority.
The ceremony attracted people from Prof. Bonsu’s alma mater, academia and his family, including his wife, Mrs. Sarah Irene Bonsu, and his children.
Also at GIMPA to grace the occasion was the Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who said Prof. Bonsu was his personal friend and school mate at the Simon Frazer University (SFU) in Canada.
Dr. Bawumia recounted the cordial relationship between them during their schooldays in Vancouver, Canada, and wished the new rector well during his tenure.
He asked Prof. Bonsu not to hesitate to call on him whenever there was the need to discuss issues concerning the institute.
Address
In his induction address, Prof. Bonsu proposed a new Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) that would support quality teaching and build educational leadership capacity in direct support of student learning.
The centre, when completed, he said, would be expected to move GIMPA into the 21st century, with emphasis on ICT in teaching and learning.
“The new CTL shall facilitate partnerships with industry and the public and the private sectors and help shift from the traditional pulpit-style lecture to case-based instruction,” he added.
Prof. Bonsu said the gap in GIMPA classrooms between theory and practice of management had widened far enough to affect GIMPA’s ability to attract clients from industry and the government, pointing out that there was the need to bridge that gap.
Vision
Touching on his vision as rector, Prof. Bonsu said his vision was based on the pursuit of both academic and professional excellence.
“At the end of my tenure as rector, I envision a globally oriented GIMPA that prides itself on unique contributions to national development through enhanced quality of service delivery.
“Some of the propositions I have outlined here may seem radical. I note again that I believe GIMPA was born to be different and radical; that is what makes for innovation and it is in our DNA,” he stressed, adding: “We should do what is natural to us, rather than seek to copy what others have done.”
Prof. Bonsu said GIMPA, as an institution, was an innovator and, therefore, it could not copy.
To that end, he said: “While we can and will learn from our sister institutions in Ghana, we are here to chart our own path.”
“Imagine GIMPA as the university which is a lamp on a hill — indeed, Greenhill — a beacon of hope for our nation, showing the way for other universities in our land and beyond. It is my vision to entrench GIMPA’s quality reputation across Africa and extend the global impact of the brand,” he indicated, and said GIMPA would develop data collection strategies to help it make decisions on the basis of sound and relevant data.
He said all units of the school would be charged to gather all relevant data in the course of their work through quality liaison officers to feed decision-making.
On research, teaching and learning, which he described as the core business of GIMPA as a university, the new rector said: “Our strategic plan identifies us as a research intensive university and so the central administration will put its full weight behind it.”
“We plan to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for making GIMPA a major hub of research in Africa. This will include a re-consideration of the erstwhile ‘foreign-based’ faculty programme and reshaping it as a mentorship programme to enhance the GIMPA brand.
We will seek to appoint ‘Research Fellows’ who will focus on funded research,” Prof. Bonsu added.
He also promised to work with the university council to build its new modern library as soon as possible to be equipped with the comforts of contemporary digital libraries.
Profile
Born to Mr. Kwadwo Bonsu of Antoa and Ms. Agnes Barwuah of Parkoso, Prof. Bonsu started school at the St Anne’s Anglican (ECM) School, Ashanti New Town, before moving to Cambridge International School, both in Kumasi.
He attended Prempeh College and later enrolled at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), after which he left for Canada to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Prince Edward Island and an MBA at the SFU.
Prior to his election and confirmation as the Rector of GIMPA, he was the Director of Academic Planning & Quality Assurance.
He was also a tenured professor and Director of the PhD Marketing programme at the institute when he joined GIMPA.
Prof. Bonsu and his wife Mrs. Bonsu have four children and two grandchildren.