Prof. Avoke Commends IUCDS for Enhancing Staff Development
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Prof. Mawutor Avoke, has commended the Inter-University Conference for Doctoral Studies (IUCDS) for setting up a permanent university framework to train the required manpower and improve the competencies of staff at partner institutions.
He underscored the importance of fostering partnerships with sister universities both within and outside Ghana, particularly in the West African sub-region, to preserve the academic interest of students in doctoral programmes, maintain quality teaching and research in partner institutions, facilitate the dissemination of research findings, promote academic standards, and approve equivalents in the awards of certificates, diplomas, and degrees.
Prof. Avoke was welcoming participants at the opening ceremony of a three-day seminar organised by the IUCDS in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), UEW. The seminar, which took place from Tuesday, 17th to Thursday, 19th January, 2023, at the Jophus Anamuah-Mensah Conference Centre, North Campus, UEW, was under the theme "Promoting Staff Development Through Collaborative Research and Quality Teaching in Education."
"My sincere thanks to all those who have been working hard to put in place the requisite structures and guidelines for promoting effective staff development through collaborative research under the umbrella of the Conference for quality teaching in our educational institutions," he avowed.
The Vice-Chancellor, while admitting that the prevailing conditions in universities today make it difficult for students to secure sponsorship for PhD programmes, called on all PhD students participating in the seminar to redouble their efforts in developing their research skills to realise the vision of the founding members of the Doctoral School.
Prof. Avoke hinted that the UEW had approved the decision of the College of Languages Education to adopt all IUCDS conference activities to harmonise resources for their expansion and ensure university-wide implementation.
“As a follow up to that decision together with resolutions of the IUCDS adopted on the 27th of January, 2022, at UEW, there should be currently an increase in the number of PhD students taking part in the seminar, from the limited six in the Department of French Education to 271 in the entire university,” he affirmed.
He advocated for the commencement of co-supervision and assessment of doctorate theses and dissertations in the French, Ewe, and English languages, as well as literature programmes offered to PhD students at the UEW and I’Universite de Lomé.
Prof. Avoke revealed that UEW’s Research, Innovation, and Staff Development Fund (RISDF) has been pivotal in improving the research culture at the university. He explained that the RISDF was designed to enhance and create an enabling environment for growth and groundbreaking research. "I, therefore, strongly advocate a fund in the fashion of RISDF, bearing in mind the main objectives common to all the partner institutions."
Meanwhile, the Head of the Scientific Unit, IUCDS and Head of the Department of European Languages and Integration Studies, University of Lagos, Nigeria, Prof. M. A. Ilupeju, in a short presentation, summarised the activities of the journal (JoReFi) of IUCDS.
The Executive Secretary of IUCDS, UEW, Prof. Dominic S. Y. Amuzu, gave an overview presentation on the activities of the IUCDS; the President, Universite Charles Louis de Montesquieu, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Prof. Urbain K. Amoa, spoke on the main theme of the seminar; and the Dean of SGS, UEW, Prof. Victor Antwi, apprised the audience of doctoral study programmes at UEW.
The three-day seminar featured presentations from seasoned resource persons on current research topics and methodologies to better prepare participants for their fields of study and to produce high-quality research.
