No use for research if it doesn't impact positively on the society - Prof. Dickson

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has asked the decentralized departments under the local governance system to open up for collaboration with the University.

This, according to the University authorities, was necessary to find an antidote to development concerns inhibiting the country’s progress.

“Our position as a University is this, there is no meaning or use for our research if it does not impact the lives of the people that we serve better,” Professor (Mrs) Rita Akosua Dickson, the new Vice-Chancellor, noted.

Consequently, the decentralized departments should present to the University with their problems, so that, together they work to address them.

“Let us hear from you. Let us have the problems and solve them together, to improve the quality of life of the Ghanaian people,” she said, stressing that the KNUST was endowed with the technical expertise needed for the country’s growth.

Prof. Dickson, speaking at a meeting with the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, whilst on a working visit, said the KNUST existed to solve problems.

“Our focus is to find answers to the development challenges in society. Therefore, let us hear where the issues and concerns are,” she appeale d.

The University, according to Prof. Akosua Dickson, had envisioned running more short courses in the next four years.

“We have been doing this, but we are going to up our game,” she remarked.

Prof. Dickson said the University intended to make the contents of its short courses client-tailored to benefit those who patronized them, especially civil servants.

“We would be flexible in our approach to the courses as we seek to make them client-friendly,” the Vice-Chancellor assured and invited the KMA to come on board as it sought to train and develop the skills of its staff to be more efficient on the job.

Mr. Assibey-Antwi said the KMA was happy to have been working with the KNUST to address development issues in the metropolis.

He underscored the need for the Assembly’s decentralized departments to work with their KNUST counterparts in the interest of the nation.