Sciences - University of Ghana

SCHOOL OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES: The School of Research and
Graduate Studies is responsible for graduate students and research. There is a separate
Handbook for Graduate Studies. The Office deals with all matters which have to do with
registration and records, official correspondence and welfare of graduate students. The Office
of the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies is headed by a Dean who is of professorial
status and appointed by the Academic Board. He/she is assisted by an Executive Secretary, a
Research Administrator and a team of administrative staff. The other important function of the
School is the Research Administration. The function includes Grant Applications and
Reporting, Contract Report (including Consultancy), Ethical Clearance, Registration,
Patenting, Commer-cialization of Intellectual Property and Management of External Funds.
ACCRA CITY CAMPUS (Formerly the External Degree Centre): The City Campus grew
out of the 1960 Commission on University Education in Ghana which recommended the
organization of courses leading to the degrees of the University of Ghana for persons who intend
to study for such degrees on part-time basis. It started as the External Degree Centre, established
by the University of Ghana during the 1963/64 academic session and charged with the
responsibility of offering on part-time basis courses in the Humanities available to full-time
students of the University of Ghana except, perhaps, the laboratory based courses. The
Academic Board subsequently decided to make the Institute of Adult Education the
implementing agency and the Accra Workers College as the venue. Two main categories of
persons were identified for the programme.
i. Persons who are normally qualified for university education but who, for various
reasons, prefer not to study as full-time students;
ii. Person who are considered ―Mature‖ and capable of pursuing degree programmes but
who do not possess the requisite university entry qualifications. Applicants who fall
into this category are required to be at least 30 years of age at the time of submitting
application. They are also required to pass an examination conducted by the university
which is intended to test intellectual capability and promise rather than knowledge of
particular subject.
The External Degree Centre offered courses leading to the BA and BSc (Administration)
degrees. The syllabuses and other requirements for the degrees are the same as those used by the
University of Ghana for full-time students except that study at the Centre is part-time/off-campus
and duration extends over a period of not less than eight semesters and not exceeding 12
semesters.
The External Degree programme was originally conceived as a university programme in which
all departments in the Faculties of Arts, Social Studies, Law and Administration would
participate. The courses offered at the Degree Centre are taught by lecturers from the faculties of
the University who are recruited through their Heads of Department. This arrangement was
adopted to ensure that lecturers who teach the courses on campus are the same lecturers who
teach at the External Degree Centre. Part-time students at the External Degree Centre were,
therefore, not to be disadvantaged vis-à-vis their full-time colleagues since both groups of
students wrote the same examination. The arrangement thus guaranteed parity of esteem
between the on-campus and off-campus programmes.
In 2002, the Academic Board of the University approved an arrangement to transform the
External Degree Centre into the Accra City Campus of the University of Ghana, to offer parttime
degree programmes in Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science in Administration
(BSc Admin). Admission is on fee-paying basis and students are free to subscribe to
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