Prof. Adzahlie-Mensah Succeeds Prof. Nsoh as Director of IERIS
Prof. Vincent Adzahlie-Mensah from the College for Distance and e-Learning (CODeL), University of Education, Winneba (UEW), has succeeded Prof. Ephraim Avea Nsoh as the new Director of the Institute for Educational Research and Innovation Studies (IERIS) following the latter’s retirement.
Under the tenure of Prof. Avea Nsoh, the Institute successfully recruited 13 research associates from diverse university faculties. This strategic initiative aimed to address understaffing challenges and enhance research endeavours across the Institute's numerous centres.
Prof. Nsoh played a pivotal role in setting up the Institute's advisory board, which, in turn, gave its nod to a management proposal for crafting a tailor-made strategic plan exclusively for the institute.
He successfully engaged renowned external experts, including Prof. Dr. Therese Neuer-Miebach from the Senior Experten Service (SES) in Bonn, Germany, and Nana Prof. George Sefa Dei from the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) at the University of Toronto, Canada. These distinguished experts provided valuable independent insights into the activities of IERIS through periodic meetings with the staff and one-on-one consultations with the Research Fellows.
At a handing-over ceremony held at the IERIS Conference Room, Prof. Nsoh revealed that the Institute was setting up digital tools and platforms, including databases, datasets, computing systems, and computing networks, in collaboration with the IT Directorate to streamline work at the Institute.
“Following pressure from the institute, extensive work was done on the internet. As a result, its performance has increased dramatically. After we got the ICT Directorate to assign a very serious and committed IT expert to the institute, our system has become more functional,” he remarked.
According to Prof. Nsoh, he worked to identify, document, nurture, engage, and grow IERIS’ partnership portfolio.
“The reason was to increase the Institute’s visibility, learn from them, and particularly grow its resource base, especially the finances. Some possible collaborations are with the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA-UCC), the Ghana Chamber of Mines, and the Ghana Oil Company,” he stated.
He said that under his direction, key records like the research agenda, Institutional Review Board (IRB), fundraising plan, strategic plan, professional development manuals, Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Languages Education, Research and Advocacy (CEILERA), data analysis course and framework for partnerships were produced.
Prof. Nsoh pointed out that working at IERIS was a great opportunity for him to learn, develop his research capacity, and forge connections that might change the direction of his research. He expressed gratitude for the great support received from both his secretarial staff and other colleagues of the institute. He wished his successor well and exhorted him to put in more effort to surpass what had previously been accomplished.
Prof. Adzahlie-Mensah thanked Prof. Avea Nsoh and his team for setting up the grounds for him to take off. He requested similar levels of assistance and cooperation from staff to help him succeed at the Institute.
