The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson has held an interactive stakeholder meeting with KNUST Alumni of North America at Gaithersburg, Maryland. The event which took place at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel on Saturday, 15th October, 2022 aimed at enabling participants gain insights into the current developments at KNUST and the critical role that the alumni could play to support the University.
Welcoming the Vice-Chancellor and her team, the North America Chapter President of the KNUST Alumni Association, Mr. Clement Quartey Papafio expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor and her team for the opportunity and recounted the gains that his Chapter had recorded over the past years. He was optimistic that the deliberations would inure to the mutual benefit of both parties. He concluded by charging the other Chapters in the region to regroup to support the University.
In his speech, the Global President of the KNUST Alumni Association, Dr. Kwaku Agbesi lauded the Vice-Chancellor for taking a keen interest in the growth and activities of the Association. He emphasised the goals of the Alumni Association to amongst others, promote the welfare of the University, contribute financially to projects, participate in mentorship programmes, and provide scholarship opportunities to underprivileged students. He thanked the North America Chapter for their support to the Prempeh II Library and urged them to do more.
Mr. James Kwasi Oberko, Senior Assistant Registrar of the Advancement and Alumni Relations Office (AARO) of KNUST, highlighting the vision of the Vice-Chancellor, informed the gathering that his Office has been resourced to play the critical liaison role between the alumni and the University for a mutual benefit.
The Dean of the International Programmes Office (IPO), Professor Daniel Yaw Addai Duah expressed the readiness of his Office to work with the Alumni to identify opportunities in North American higher education institutions and companies for collaborations.
Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson, expressing her appreciation for the opportunity, asked the alumni to guard the KNUST brand with care, noting that the University needs all alumni to contribute their quota to help train graduates to deal with contemporary global issues. She encouraged KNUST alumni to avail themselves, expertise, and resources for the benefit of students and the University. ‘We need you to come and talk to the students in your colleges and departments. The students must not only hear your successes, but your downfalls so they learn from it. These talks can challenge them’ she stressed. We are not only interested in the University’s products, but the products’ product. What this means is that whatever resources you have, share them with us, she stressed.
The Vice-Chancellor also responded to various questions from the alumni present and online and assured them of KNUST’s continual growth and called for their unflinching support in the attainment of the University’s vision.
Other KNUST officials who were present at the programme were Mr. Andrews Kwasi Boateng, Registrar, Mr. Yaw Nimo-Baffour, Finance Officer, Professor Kofi Owusu-Daaku, Former Dean of Students and Ms. Efua Arko, Senior Assistant Registrar at the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.