Needy but brilliant students in the University of Cape Coast can now access scholarship packages to complete their studies.
This opportunity has been made possible with the official opening of the Students Financial Support Office (StuFSO) with the mandate to provide financial support to students to pursue their education.
Inauguration
Inaugurating the office, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh, noted that Management was aware of the difficulties some students in the University were facing in terms of getting financial support to complete their studies and therefore, instituted a central fund to offer scholarships to such students. “Management put up a proposal on the establishment of the Student Financial Support Office and a Fund to support students which Council approved”.
The Pro Vice-Chancellor noted that the StuFSO was directly under the Office of the Vice-Chancellor considering its unique function in the University. She noted that Management was aware that some students approached lecturers to assist them financially to pay their fees but added that “We think it is the University’s responsibility to offer this financial assistance like what some old universities do”.
According to the Pro Vice-Chancellor, the University was not only focusing on needy but brilliant students but those who were also “needy but promising” so that they could also rise in the academic ladder.
Activities of StuFSO
Touching on activities of the Office, Prof. Edu-Buandoh indicated that the office was supervised by an 11-member committee including student leaders adding that “we included the Presidents of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and Graduate Students Association (GRASAG) so that students will have a voice in deciding the funding for students”.
The Pro Vice-Chancellor further noted that the University had established links with the Government of Ghana Scholarship and other institutions and agencies. “The office will eventually coordinate all the support from various corporate institutions and facilitate other scholarships like GNPC, CAMFED, etc. This is to enable the office to offer such support to students who are really in need,” she explained.
On the sources of funding for the office, she noted that the University contributed the initial funding whilst the various student unions also supported with some amount of money. She expressed gratitude to GRASAG, SRC, and the Distance Education Students Association (DESAG) for contributing generously to the fund.
Free Services
The Assistant Registrar in-charge of the Students’ Financial Support Office, Mr. Alfred Ghartey, announced that the services of the office were free so students could always come around to make enquiries. “Let me emphasise that our doors are opened to students and we have not engaged any person or group to serve as liaison between the office and students,” he clarified.
In terms of eligibility, he explained that the applicant must be a Ghanaian student who has enrolled in UCC either on regular or distance modes and must demonstrate that they were really in need of financial support. Aside from these, a needy but brilliant student must possess a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.0 whilst a promising student should have a CGPA of 2.5.
StuFSO Committee
It would be recalled that the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah the inaugurated an 11-member Students’ Financial Support Committee to oversee the operation of the StuFSO.
The committee which is chaired by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, has the following members, the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Director of Academic Affairs; Director of Finance, and Academic Board Representative,.
The rest are the representatives of the SRC , GRASAG, DESAG, UCC Alumni, Legal Office, and Secretary to the Committee, Mr. Alfred Ghartey.
Source: ucc.edu.gh
