THE authorities of Christian Service University College (CSUC) in Kumasi have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Estate Financing Company of the United States of America for the construction of a hostel complex to ease the accommodation problem facing students.
The university would also use its internally generated funds to construct a five storey library, a computer centre and communication laboratory at the university campus this year.
The projects, which are part of the vision of the university to create a conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning, are also expected to enhance research work for both lecturers and students, and to sustain student intake, infrastructural development and improved academic standard.
The Chairman of the CSUC Council, Professor Sam Afrane, announced this during the 33rd graduation ceremony of the university last Saturday, and said the school had acquired 11-acres at Saben-Akrofuom on the Obuasi road to develop a new campus for the university.
“In order to ensure that we have adequate land to achieve the totality of our long-term vision, we have initiated the process of acquiring additional 10-15 more acres for the project,” he stressed.
In all, 391 students graduated from the university and out of the number, 31, including 12 females, obtained first class honours, 81 secured second class upper division, while 176 received second class lower division with 18 of them securing third class.
Professor Afrane explained that while the computer centre and communications laboratory, among other projects, would be financed through internally generated funds, that of the students’ hostel, designed to accommodate between 250 and 300 students, would be financed by Estate Financing Company.
On human resource development, he said starting from this year, “the university will institutionalise an ‘awards day’ to recognise and reward individuals who have excelled in the performance of their duties”.
Prof. Afrane said “CSUC is committed to the promotion of academic excellence and scholarship as enshrined in our vision. To this end, the council has increased the budget for staff research together with perks to motivate staff to intensify their research activities”.
Commending the graduates for their hard work, he said it was time the government introduced “appropriate policies and the necessary legislative reforms that will ensure access to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to support the development of private universities like CSUC”.
Hhe said, the provision of such funds would provide “avenues for manpower training of many young people who cannot access our few and over-stretched public universities”.
In her address, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Joyce R. Aryee, urged the graduates who aspire to become public officials to eschew any tendency of using their positions to amass wealth at the expense of society which they intended to serve.
“The essence of being a public servant or aspiring to such a position was not for amassing wealth at the expense of the public good. Instead, it was service to mankind and to one’s country,” she noted.
She said “the cost of poor performance and corruption in the public service are too great to bear. This is true not only for the public service, but also for the entire public sector, political leadership and other strata of society”.
To extricate Ghana from “the terrible but self-imposed morass, there is now more than ever the need to demonstrate competence and higher regard for ethics in all our endeavours, especially in the provision of public services,” she noted.
Dr Aryee, however, expressed concern about the low remuneration and lack of opportunities for public servants and their families to enhance their advancement in society.
“These conditions breed low morale and make corruption seem inevitable and a necessary evil. In areas where basic needs of citizens cannot be met, talking about professionalism and ethics seem a luxury, but we cannot allow survival to become our value,” she noted.
Stressing, she said “ when survival becomes our paramount value, corruption can become a way of life. I am certain everyone knows that when there is very little or no regard for law and order, extreme social dislocation occur, and the moral fabric of a society gets torn apart”.
In his address, the President of CSUC, Professor Emmanuel Frempong, said in line with their objectives, the university was preparing students “who are well trained and motivated spiritually, academically and professionally to serve the church and society in all spheres of life”.
“It is our duty to promote and encourage the formation of moral character and the application of biblical ethics to contemporary moral issues” he stressed.
He said the plan to introduce a BSc Nursing programme was also far advanced and gave the assurance that the authorities were working hard to secure accreditation to start the programme soon.
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