Put UENR on your priority list – V.C appeals to GETFund

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Prof Harrison K. Dapaah has appealed to the GETFund to prioritize the infrastructure needs of the university.

This according to him will ease the accommodation challenges facing the school and help provide unmatched learning experiences for students.

The Vice-Chancellor made the appeal on Saturday, during the 6^th Matriculation ceremony of fresh students to the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Prof Harrison K. Dapaah, said the university is poised to provide university education to as many students as possible but they are faced with lack of residential facilities for both students and staff.

He added that the completion of all projects, which currently remain at standstill, will go a long way to help them provide an unmatched learning experience for the students.

“Sadly, a number of projects which could have put a total of 24 lecture rooms at the disposal of the University have come to a standstill’ he said, adding that these include a “2 storey lecture block under construction, a 4 storey 12 room lecture block and the South wing of a 1,600 hostel capacity as well as the construction of permanent facilities at the Dormaa Ahenkro campus to house the School of Agriculture and Technology”.

He, therefore, appealed “to the GETFund to put UENR on its priority list as directed by the Vice President of the Republic, H.E Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia during the second congregation held in August this year”.

The university which operates a multi-campus system was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 830 in 2011. In 2012, the university admitted its pioneering students of 154 with three programmes. The university has a total student population of 4,887 and is currently running about 30 academic programmes in 2017, an indication that the school has grown in leaps and bounds within its short time of existence.

Prof Dapaah revealed at the matriculation that 1,887 students were admitted, out of which only 495 students representing 32% are females and the remaining 1,532, representing 68% are males. He further announced that they have plans of increasing their postgraduate enrolment into the university to 15% of the total student population in the near future after offering admissions to 129 postgraduate students this year.

The Vice-Chancellor also noted that the University will continue to collaborate with other bodies to help deal with the developmental challenges of Ghana even as they prepare the students to compete globally after school.

“UENR will continue to engage and partner institutions and other stakeholders to provide platforms for students and staff to exchange ideas and generate knowledge for the mutual benefit of industry, the University and Ghana in general”, he reiterated.

The increasing enrolment at the University comes with its own challenges, a situation that saddens the managers of the UENR, which is the only institution in Africa to own a Constellation Observation System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMI-2) Ground station which has the capacity to accurately predict the weather, four days ahead.

Prof Harrison K. Dapaah urged the students to make maximum use of the facilities placed at their disposal at the school to achieve academic success to the overall benefit of Ghana.

He further added that students will be dismissed outright should they engage in cheating during examinations or continuous assessment, stealing, and physical or sexual assault, as the university will not countenance any such anti-social practices.

 

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