Month: May 2016
Wisconsin International University College Launches School of Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree Programme
Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, a member of the AAU, has launched its School of Nursing and its Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programme at an Inauguration Ceremony on Monday, 9th May, 2016.
The Ceremony, which took place at the University College’s main campus in North Legon, was attended by dignitaries from the Ghana Health Service, nursing and medical professionals, management, staff and students of Wisconsin.
Delivering the keynote address, the guest speaker, Prof Ahmed Adu-Oppong, Dean of the School of Nursing, at the University of Cape Coast, said: “Ghana needs to develop to provide quality healthcare for its populace.“To do so, it must explore new trends in modern healthcare delivery so as to develop appropriate interventions in this sector.”
Prof Adu-Oppong added that nurses trained at Wisconsin would be extremely fortunate as they would have access to state-of-the-art learning facilities as well as exposure to the many cultures represented in the student community and opportunities to study IT, French and Chinese.
Wisconsin’s vision is to develop a Nursing Educational Center of Excellence which will train exceptional professional nurses who are marketable globally.
Dean of the School of Nursing at Wisconsin, Dr Carlos Arrow, said leadership through empowerment would be his approach to running the School of Nursing and training of the students.
Wisconsin was granted accreditation by the National Accreditation Board to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programme on 29th March, 2016. The programme is affiliated to the University of Cape Coast.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana, the professional body responsible for the training and regulation of nurses and midwives in the country, has also approved the programme, the institution’s facilities, and its instructors.
Wisconsin’s student nurses will benefit from:
• a fully-equipped skills laboratory that simulates a real-life ward
• a well-stocked library and access to leading electronic library databases
• modern, air-conditioned classrooms with cutting-edge technology and visual teaching aids
• IT, French and Chinese skills for greater marketability
• skills in Sign Language to enable nurses to communicate with persons with hearing and speech impairments
• a low student-to-instructor ratio
• disabled access to classrooms and the skills laboratory
• an on-site physician on call
• an on-site Sick Bay
Admissions are currently underway for the Summer Semester, which started on 11th May, 2016.
Eligible applicants include Senior Secondary School leavers, healthcare assistants, community or enrolled nurses, who will enter the programme at level 100.
Holders of a Diploma in Nursing, professional nurses and state-registered nurses will be placed at level 200 or higher.
Mature applicants who are non-nursing professionals can also apply, provided they meet the minimum entry requirements.
Editor’s Notes:
About Wisconsin International University College: The establishment of the University College was initiated and facilitated by Dr. John Buuck, President of Wisconsin International University (WIU) in the United States of America and Rev. Dr. Paul K. Fynn of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana in 1998.
It received its Interim Accreditation in January 2000 under the name University College of Wisconsin International University – Ghana (UCWIU-Gh). It was thus one of the first private universities to receive accreditation.
Article Submitted by:
Victoria Chimbwanda
Wisconsin International University C ollege
Phone: 050 697 7909
P.O. Box LG 751
Legon, Accra
http://www.wiuc-ghana.edu.gh
Tuning Africa Symposium on Research and Good Practice in Competences-Based Student-Centred Approach in Higher Education Tuning Academy
Tuning Africa Symposium on Research and Good Practice in Competences-Based Student-Centred Approach in Higher Education Tuning Academy: Tuning—Africa II
1—Introduction
This is a call for a proposal for the Symposium on Research and Good Practice competences-based student-centred approach in higher education which will form part of the Tuning Africa II 3rd General Meeting planned to take place from 17 to 19 October 2016 in Accra, Ghana.
Participation is invited from
- All Tuning Africa II project participants
- Academics from the universities which form part of the Tuning Africa consortium
- Academics and researchers from other African universities
All applicants will be expected to submit their full paper for publication (free of charge) to the Tuning Journal for Higher Education and attend the Symposium.
Successful applicants who are not members of the Tuning Africa II project will have their expenses (accommodation and travel) covered by the project.
2—Opportunities
The Tuning Africa Symposium will provide you an opportunity to present your research and good practice in the domain of competences-based student-centred approach in higher education.
If your proposal is accepted, you will have an opportunity to:
- share your research and good practice with colleagues from other universities and countries, as well as with Tuning experts and researchers;
- submit your paper for publication in Tuning Journal for Higher Education (TJHE), a peer-reviewed international journal;
- provide you a platform to engage with policymakers from Africa and EU;
- prepare a paper that you could submit as part of an application for a Tuning Research Scholarship in Deusto University, Spain.
Advisory Board Members of the HAQAA Initiative meet in Brussels
As a follow up to the Harmonization of the African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation (HAQAA) Initiative activities, the scheduled Advisory Board meeting took place in Brussels from the 26th to the 27th of April 2016. All the Advisory Board members, as well as members of the consortium attended the meeting (see pictures within the article)
The main objectives of the meeting which included clarification of the African Union Commission and the European Commission’s strategic partnership in the HAQAA Initiative, an overview of the HAQAA Initiative work plan and the available synergies, the role of the Advisory Board in the HAQAA Initiative and the way forward were discussed.
The approaches and methodologies for the HAQAA Initiative training course by the 
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) whose call is to be released on the 12th of May 2016 on the following address: http://www.aau.org/haqaa/tag/daad/ were discussed and refined. The training course is currently targeting English speaking representatives from Ministries of Higher Education in Africa. The call for the French version of the same training course will be made later in the year.
It was good to note that there was a lot of progress in terms of the HAQAA Initiative database development and web portal that is being carried out by the AAU. The website is meant to provide information on quality assurance activities, organization and agencies, experts in Quality Assurance and Accreditation as well as an interactive platform for the exchange of knowledge and information on Quality Assurance.
Members also endorsed the idea of having the official Launch of the HAQAA Initiative in Windhoek, Namibia in September 2016 during the International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa (ICQAHEA). Meetings of the Advisory Board and the Technical Working Group for the Initiative are also planned for this period.
The HAQAA Initiative complements PAQAF and other Quality Assurance initiatives
All the lined-up activities for the HAQAA Initiative including nurturing the quality culture in African universities through awareness campaigns are meant to promote the Pan African Quality Assurance Framework (PAQAF) through the African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM) and other quality assurance tools such as the Quality Connect Institutional Evaluation Programme which are ongoing quality assurance activities that are coordinated by the Association of African Universities (AAU) as the “Voice of Higher Education in Africa” on behalf of the African Union Commission (AUC).
The 5 HAQAA Initiative partners, comprising the University of Barcelona (UB) which is the leader; the Association of African Universities (AAU); European Universities Association (EUA); the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), are very thankful to the European Commission (EC) for funding the HAQAA Initiative.
Submitted by: Dr Violet Makuku (Project Officer – HAQAA Initiative)
AAU Blog 