Happy New Year! Afehyiapa! Afi oo! Okliboni!
On behalf of the Management of the University, I welcome you back from the Christmas and New Year festivities. I trust you are well rested and refreshed with new energy and ideas for the 2023/24 academic year which promises to be exciting. I believe that the energy and optimism that every new year brings will be directed toward becoming a useful tool for the growth of our university.
I am grateful for the invaluable contributions and support I have received from you since we started operations four years ago. Four years ago, around this period, the people on campus were just a handful, made up of only staff members, before we started admitting our first batch of students. It is already four years and the campus is filling up. It is the doing of the Lord and we can only be grateful.
I am so proud of what we have achieved so far. I continue to count on our hard work, unity, commitment, and dedication to the course of building UESD the ‘UESD way’. Let the vision and mission of the university continue to inspire us to do things the ‘UESD way’. We need to remain resilient and stay focused on our objectives, no matter what challenges come our way.
In my Christmas message to you at the 3rd UESD Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in December 2023, I indicated that the 2022/23 academic year was eventful, filled with its highs and lows. Despite the challenges, the Lord saw us through. We made some significant achievements in the last academic year. Notable among them were the remarkable increase in our admission numbers, the promulgation of the UESD Statutes by Council and the Launch of the UESD Strategic Plan. I entreat you to get copies on the university website and read. Let us work together to achieve the objectives of the University’s strategic plan. Accreditation of all our academic programmes is near completion. As of 31st December 2023, we had one programme issued with an accreditation letter. We hope to complete and receive accreditation letters for the rest.
I express my deepest mixed feelings at the loss of our cherished colleague and our cherished student. May God grant them eternal rest till we meet them again.
Full Cycle
The 2023/24 academic year is significant and promises to be even more eventful because it is a year of reaching the full cycle of admissions, that is Levels 100, 200, 300 and 400 and possibly where we hold our maiden graduation for the first batch of students. It is also a year where the fruits of most of the initiatives we have taken since June 2020 will be seen.
To our fresh men and women who compliment the full Levels of the university, congratulations on your admissions into the School of Sustainable Development (SSD) and the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences (SNES). We are delighted to have you, and we welcome you warmly to campus with the motto; Securing the Environment. We will do everything it takes to help you develop an attitude that allows you to be creative and discover yourself. We are privileged to have you.
For most of you (fresh men and women), this is the first time you are going to be on your own without supervision from your parents or teachers. It is just another level of your life that comes with its challenges. You may feel free, but that freedom has a limit too. Remember that you are free to engage in anything but not everything is good. As a student, what I require of you is to keep the main business of being here the main thing. Regarding all the others consider what is necessary and good for you now and in the future.
Make good use of your time, abide by the rules and regulations of the university as contained in the Students Handbook, a copy of which has been posted on the university’s website (www.uesd.edu.gh), make good friends, get to know the campus and the Somanya township and above all, avoid bad company. Stay focused and make learning on campus an enjoyable experience. Do not hesitate to contact your leadership, SRC for help. You may also engage Lecturers and Administrators for assistance. Every little thing that matters to you, matters to us.
To our continuing students, welcome to a new year of learning! Whichever level you are we applaud you for how far you have come. The journey to success continues. Do not relent on what you have built. I urge you to continue to work hard and, in all honesty, to achieve your academic and life goals. Give your best to any task assigned to you and do not take for granted the training and exposure being offered through initiatives such as the Leadership, Mentorship, and Inspiration Series (LIMS), the Community-Based Experiential Learning (CoBEL), and industrial attachments.
We welcome back particularly, our final year students, our pioneers, who will hopefully graduate this year. The grades you will make in this final leg may define
the Class you will make. Do not rest on your oars. Challenge yourselves and put your best effort in your studies. We will do everything it takes to make your academic moments momentous. Keep in mind what you gain through knowledge and learning should be imparted to make our world a better place. Every one of you is a winner! All we ask of you is to maintain a positive attitude towards learning.
We want you to know that we are here for you to help you pursue your dreams. Bring on your best!
As I have always believed, UESD will succeed and to achieve this, I still need your support in efforts to get UESD to succeed the UESD way. Let us also not forget to put our core values HOPE (Honesty, Opportunity. Perseverance and Enterprising) to work. When we put these values to work, then we create hope for the future.
We have set ourselves as HOPE to the world. Let us come together to work, to provide hope to the world. The year 2024 will be more eventful because UESD is moving from one stage to another, a higher one – ‘to full cycle’.
Appreciation to Partners
Finally, I wish to appreciate our partners who have supported our growth so far and entreat all to continue to contribute to building a strong UESD for posterity. It is my wish that in 2024, we will collectively work to enhance our partnerships and strategically position ourselves to court new ones.
God bless us all. I thank you.
Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson
VICE-CHANCELLOR