Committee to review operation of Legon

Accra, Oct 11, GNA - A nine-member Committee has been set up to review the operations of the University of Ghana, Legon to enhance effectiveness in the academic and administrative work of the University. A memorandum signed by Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Vice-Chancellor of the University, named Professor E. Nii Ashie Kotey of the Faculty of Law as the Chairman of the Committee.

Prof Aryeetey said the review had been necessitated by the increasing concern among the University community that a number of aspects of its governance structures had not been functional enough to facilitate the smooth operation of the various units. "There are concerns that relationships among the different units are sometimes managed with considerable ambiguity and inconsistency," the memorandum stated.

It cited anomalies in the operations of various colleges which had been affected by unclear lines of authority and responsibility among them and also among the rest of the University. "Interestingly, it is still unclear where Research Centres are placed in the order of things, illustrated by the fact that they do not even have a voice at Academic Board meetings", said the memorandum. "There is sometimes tension in teaching departments over resource allocation in view of ambiguous authority structures which lead to informal relationships and decision-making, as well as an apparent lack of transparency."

Among other things the committee would review the functionality of the current structure of University governance, and the relationship between Colleges of the University and the central administration. It would also review the relationships between the component units of the colleges and the college administration, as well as the effectiveness of recently created Directorates of the central administration.

According to the statement, Prof. Aryeetey said though several reforms including the implementation of the Visitation Panel's report and a recent Act of Parliament defining in principle the relationship between the State and the University, there were still many challenges yet to be addressed. He said it was based on those observations and the strong need to make all units very functional, effective and efficient that the Committee was formed to advise on how best to overcome the remaining challenges after recent reforms. Other members of the Committee are Prof S. N. Woode, Chairman of Ghana's Public Services Commission, Mr Ebow Daniel, former Registrar, University of Ghana, Mr Paul Effah, former Executive Secretary, National Council on Tertiary Education (NCTE), and Professor Nii Noi Dowuona, Head, Department of Soil Science. The rest are Dr Dan Ofori, Head, Organization and Human Resources Management, University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Professor Esther Sakyi-Dawson, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Ms Abena Oduro, Vice Dean, Faculty of Social Studies, with Mr Augustine Andoh, Office of the Vice Chancellor as Secretary. 12 Oct. 10