CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY MOVES TO PERMANENT SITE (PAGE 5)

By Akwasi Ampratwum
-Mensah, Fiapre

THE Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG), at Fiapre, which was established in March 2003 at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Sunyani as a temporary campus, has now moved to its permanent site which covers a total land area of 6.1 square miles at Fiapre, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Land
The Fiapre Traditional Council provided the land free of charge for the development of the university college which was the brainchild of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) in 1998.
At the new site, a cluster of four completed structures namely, a resource centre, which houses the university’s library, computer laboratories and two large lecture theatres with a seating capacity of 700 for one and 500 for the other as well as a classroom block has been provided.
The classroom block contains nine rooms, two of which have been converted into offices for the Registrar, the Vice Chancellor and a third one a Board Meeting room.
In one of the two computer laboratories, 80 of the systems have been put in place while an additional 250 were yet to be delivered.
contract
Professor James H. Ephraim, the Vice Chancellor of CUCG who addressed a press conference at the university’s new campus, indicated that a three-storey hostel was currently under construction and that about 70 per cent of work was complete, while contracts had also been awarded for the construction of 16 staff bungalows with plans far advanced to establish science laboratories for the basic sciences.
He claimed that the university had been able to embark on those massive projects through the efforts of the GCBC, the owners of the university.
The Vice Chancellor explained that, from a modest beginning of 50 students who matriculated on November 13, 2003, the university had a current enrolment of 1,280 who were undertaking degree programmes in Economics and Business Administration, with options in Economics, Accounting, Management as well as Banking and Finance.
According to him, the university was also offering training programmes in Religious Studies up to the Master’s level, BSc. Public Health with options in Health Management, Health Informatics and Health Education as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Education (B.Ed), which had the options of School Administration and Guidance and Counselling.
In addition, he said, the university offers a one year and two year Diploma Programmes in Education respectively for graduate teachers who wanted to have a professional qualification, and that it organises a night school, which provides the opportunity for adults, especially employees, to study for their part-time degrees.
Training
He pointed out that one unique feature of the university’s training programmes was its inbuilt enrichment and religious courses, saying, “Through our interactive pedagogy, our students are empowered with unparalleled excellent tuition, high moral values and profound understanding of socio-cultural challenges in Ghana and it is not surprising that enrolment at the university is growing at an exponential rate,”
On the job market, the Vice- Chancellor mentioned that, the university’s graduates were being sought after by many institutions and “we are getting very positive feedback on the performance of those who are already employed and this could not have been possible without highly qualified staff. Currently, the university is having and continues to attract a cream of the best brains across the world”.