On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the College of Health Sciences (CHS), University of Ghana, hosted a landmark meeting between its current leadership and a distinguished past Provosts and Deputy Provosts. The event, initiated by the current Provost, Professor Alfred Edwin Yawson, aimed to reflect on the College’s journey over the years and deliberate on strategic pathways for its future development, in line with the University’s vision and the upcoming 25th Anniversary of the College.
The meeting sought to harness the institutional memory, experience, and wisdom of past Provosts in shaping a more dynamic, resilient, and forward-looking College. It also served as a forum for the current leadership to share its ongoing initiatives, challenges, and future plans, and to receive guidance and support from past leaders of CHS. The meeting brought together an esteemed group of former Provosts and senior college officials, including:
The immediate past College Registrar, Mr. Michael Opare Atuah, formally introduced the distinguished guests including Deans/Director, College Registrar, some faculty and administrative staff.
Prof. Alfred Yawson warmly welcomed the guests and gave an overview of preparations toward the College’s 25th Anniversary celebrations scheduled for April to November 2025. He then shared his vision for CHS, anchored in the University of Ghana’s “Five Strategic Pillars”: providing a transformative student experience, conducting impactful research, ensuring faculty and staff well-being, fostering partnerships and stakeholder engagement and promoting sustainable resource mobilization.
He reaffirmed CHS's commitment to the university's core values; integrity, commitment, respect, and loyalty and its mission to improve national and global health outcomes through research, innovation, and service. Professor Yawson candidly mentioned several challenges affecting CHS, including: limited human resources in critical clinical areas, inadequate training infrastructure and equipment, poor student hostel amenities and administrative delays due to complex procurement processes. Despite these issues, he highlighted key achievements such as the introduction of new postgraduate programmes aimed at PhD progression, CHS's leadership in attracting research grants among peer institutions among others.
The past Provosts commended Professor Yawson for his impressive leadership and shared valuable recommendations focused on sustainability, academic excellence, and institutional integrity. Some of these include talent development which emphasized internal training to make CHS a self-reliant institution less dependent on external support. One additional issue that was extensively discussed was the UGMC Transformation. Past Provosts advocated for the transformation of the University of Ghana Medical Centre into a world-class academic center forming the heart of a future "medical village" and stressed the importance of protecting land earmarked for the College's migration to the main campus and completing the long-delayed SBAHS building, with a reminder to engage government on past commitments. It was also recommended to attach the UGMS Clinic to the University Hospital to benefit from NHIS coverage and infrastructure upgrades. Some suggestions on the need to resume work on halted hostel project were discussed at length. It was also recommended that there was the need to emphasize academic Integrity by reviewing examination regulations in light of recent concerns about leaks and inadequate student preparation. Discussions regarding proactive maintenance of CHS infrastructure and formal transfer of the UGMC Simulation Centre and Research Unit to CHS were discussed at length. Past Provosts advocated for enhanced student mentorship and enforcement of professional dress codes and emphasized preserving the College’s culture of Wednesday prayer and thanksgiving services as a spiritual cornerstone of CHS.
The meeting ended on a high note, marked by mutual respect, gratitude, and a shared determination to see CHS rise to even greater heights. The discussions were forward-looking, deeply reflective, and enriched by the collective wisdom of past and present leaders.
With the 25th Anniversary approaching, this engagement reaffirmed a united vision for CHS, one built on excellence, innovation, and service to humanity.
