An official of the Public Affairs Department of the United States Embassy, Maya Parker, has called on the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. G. K. T. Oduro to discuss issues concerning cultural and research linkages with the University.

Maya Parker mentioned the availability of junior staff development programme designed for staff of the University who would to pursue postgraduate studies in the United States of America (USA). She indicated that there were opportunities for junior faculty in UCC to pursue doctoral studies in the USA on a cost-sharing basis. She also mentioned that a professor from the Department of History at the University of Miami, USA, Prof. E. Abaka would be taking up a Fulbright position at the Department of History at UCC.

In his response, the Pro- Vice-Chancellor said the engagement would provide more opportunities for further discussion between the two institutions “since internationalisation is now key in acquiring knowledge and experience”. He mentioned that, due to difficulties in seeking funding to send staff abroad, the University was encouraging staff to enrol on local Ph. D programmes. According to him though it was good to take advantage of what was available locally, it has its own disadvantages explaining that “cross-cultural learning has always been beneficial”.

Prof. Oduro said management would ensure that the right persons were nominated to benefit from such opportunities to broaden their knowledge in order to return to help their departments. He indicated that the university was now trying to find diverse means of training its student, especially medical students. He assured that the university would make everything possible for Fulbright scholar to “feel at home” during his stay here. He thanked the head of Department of History, Prof. K. O. Kwarteng, for extending the opportunity to other departments in the University.