Build Capacities of Professors Ahead of Administrative Appointments

The former Dean of the Ghana Technology University College(GTUC), has tasked appointing authorities of the various state universities to consider building the capacities of prospective professors before giving them any administrative positions.

Dr. Francis Boateng Agyenim suggests that Professors due for administrative and managerial appointments should be taken through at least, three months training in office management, conflict resolution, financial management and media engagement as well as any other relevant skills required to run such offices.

He maintains that, academic qualifications, journal publications and community services alone are not enough to qualify one to become a good manager of an administrative office in a university as big as KNUST.

The Director of the Industrial Research Institute(IIR) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) made the suggestion with reference to the present development at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) leading to the closure of the school and dissolution of the governing council.

He attributed the circumstances that triggered students rampage at the university's campus to lack of effective communication and inadequate consultation between the university's governing council, school management and the student body.

He said the development also calls for a sober reflections on the composition of university governing councils, management membership and decision making processes and policy implementation.

He further cautioned against the over politicization of the unfortunate incident and entreated the public to dissociate politics from all discussions emanating from the happenings at the KNUST.

He disputed public perceptions that membership of the various university councils have strictly been political, emphasizing that KNUST Council is not political.

Dr. Agyenim said considering the nature of the task of a university's Governing Council, selection of members to the council has never been straightforward political although most council members have their political links.

He sited himself as a former council member who had no political affiliation.

"Though I had no political links, yet was selected to serve as a council member of one of the country's top universities," Dr Boateng observed.

The former dean educated that the constitution of a university council over the years have been done with three to four government nominees depending on the size of the University of which one appointee automatically becomes the chairman of the council.

"First, any member of the council comprising Government Appointees, the University's Management Team(the Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellor and Registrar), SRC and representatives of the Graduate School can propose new policies or policy changes.

These proposals are debated on the floor of the council during which each member has the right to speak on the issue being proposed.

It is worth noting that ultimate power at the council level rests with the Council Chair, as the VC's Power at the council is very limited just like any other floor member.

The council Chair assigns appropriate standing committee of the council to take over if the issue at hand needs further deliberation.

If for any reason none of the standing committees can do justice to the issue, then an adhoc committee would be set up to come up with recommendations on the subject.

Results from the standing or adhoc committee would then be subject to further interrogation on the floor of the council following which a final decision is made.

Once a decision is made, it is then passed on to the University Management Team for implementation with deadlines.

The duration between the day a final decision is made and when full implementation is expected to take place may take not less than a year.

If this process was followed, then no one can fault the council at this stage.

Even during implementation, if the Council is petitioned, the Chair has every right to halt the process, although council Chairs would usually not interfere with the day-to-day operations of the university," the former dean described the process of decision making and implementation at the council and management levels.

Dr Boateng contended that it would also be too early to blame the VC at this stage if one does not have the facts.

He pointed out that, a policy as significant as conversion of halls, would require broader consultation with students, hall executives, parents, old students, government and relevant stakeholders.

Considering when the KNUST Governing Council was inaugurated and now, a little over a year, he suspects that adequate consultation was not made.

He said the fact that authorities might not have fully engaged students in the implementation process does not give them any cause to engage in acts of violence and vandalism on campus.

He insisted that students who will be found culpable after investigations should be prosecuted and jailed if possible and those who will be readmitted, be made to sign bond of good behaviour.

Moving forward, Dr. Francis Boateng Agyenim called on the government to begin infrastructure expansion in the various state universities to allow the absorption of extra numbers since the Free SHS policy is going to put extra pressure on the limited facilities at the Universities.

He stressed that both KNUST and the University of Ghana have become too big to be managed by one central Council and suggested to government to consider moving some of their faculties to other parts of the country for easy management as well as to spread development.

He also expressed concern over the proliferation of private universities in the Ghanaian tertiary educational space. He bemoans that many of them especially foreign owned have concentrated on liberal programmes which require very little investment in terms of infrastructure.

He therefore recommended at least 50% science and engineering based quota intake before such foreign universities are allowed to operate while appealing to government to empower and further strengthen National Accreditation Board to enable it efficiently over see the operations of the universities.

Dr. Francis Boateng Agyenim, former Dean, Ghana Technology University and Director of Industrial Research Institute of CSIR.