University of Cape Coast

About UCC
The Coat of Arms of the University of Cape Coast consist of a shield, upon which is emblazoned in Red, an Adinkra symbol signifying God's ominipotence. This symbol is superimposed in the lower half of the Shield on a background of Wavy Blue and White Lines signifying the Sea, and in the upper half, a Golden Eagle with outstretched Wings, signifying Strength, Determination and Excellence.

CORPORATE INFORMATION
The University of Cape Coast is one of the rare sea front universities in the world. It was established in October, 1962 as a University College and placed in a special relationship with the University of Ghana, Legon.

On October 1, 1971, the College attained the status of a full and independent University, with the authority to confer its own degrees, diplomas and certificates by an Act of Parliament - The University of Cape Coast Act, 1971 [Act 390] and subsequently the University of Cape Coast Law, 1992 [PNDC Law 278].

The University was established out of a dire need for highly qualified and skilled manpower in education to provide leadership and enlightenment. Its original mandate was therefore to train graduate professional teachers for Ghana's second cycle institutions and the Ministry of Education, in order to meet the manpower needs of the country's accelerated education programme at the time. Today, with the expansion of some of its faculties and the diversification of programmes, the University has the capacity to meet the manpower needs of other ministries and industries in the country, besides that of the Ministry of Education.

The University started with two departments, namely: Arts and Science. These departments developed into faculties in 1963. In order to achieve the set objectives, in 1964, the University created two more Faculties, namely: Education and Economics & Social Studies [now Faculty of Social Sciences]. The fifth faculty [School of Agriculture] was established in 1975. The Faculty of Science was split into the Schools of Physical and Biological Sciences during the 2002/2003 academic year while the Department of Business Studies was also elevated to the School of Business with effect from the 2003/2004 academic year.

The National Accreditation Board (NAB), at its 63rd Meeting held on October 4, 2007 approved a three- year Interim Accreditation for the running of the Basic Sciences component of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB CHB) programme at the School of Medical Sciences of the University of Cape Coast. In view of this, the School of Medical Sciences became fully operational when on Thursday, January 17, 2008 the first batch of students was matriculated.

In order to make graduate studies more relevant and responsive with research related to the economy, the Board of Graduate Studies was changed to the School of Graduate Studies and Research (SGSR) with renewed and enhanced mandate with modules that will focus on action and demand-driven research.

The University has expanded the scope of its Sandwich Programmes to include: M.Ed. [Admin], M.Ed. [Management], M.A. [Human Resources Management], M.A. [Human Resources Development], and M.A. [Democratic Governance, Law and Development, Environmental Management Policy and M.A. [Governance and Sustainable Development], as well as M.A. and M.Ed. [Guidance and Counselling]. The following programmes: B.Com. B.M.S. and B.Sc [Marketing] have been designed for H.N.D. holders. The University also runs sandwich programmes at diploma, graduate and postgraduate levels in Organisation Development [O.D].

Similarly, in the 2005/2006 academic year, the University introduced other new programmes namely: B.Ed. (Management), B.Sc. (Psychology), B.Sc. (Medical Laboratory Technology) and B.Sc. (Nursing). Additionally, an M.Ed. (Information & Communication Technology) was also introduced in the same year under the Centre for Continuing Education. The new programmes are to cater for the academic and professional needs of individuals, institutions and organisations whose activities relate to these programmes.

With the introduction of these new programmes, the University has phased out its B.Ed. (Foundations) and B.Ed. (Population and Family Life) programmes. The 2007/2008 academic year also saw the introduction of new programmes at the graduate level in the Institute of Development Studies, namely, MA (Development Studies), M. Phil. (Development Studies), MA (Development Management) and M. Phil. in Peace and Development Studies. The Department of Physics also introduced a sandwich programme in B.Sc. Engineering Physics for HND holders.

Corporate Strategic Thrusts
1. To vigorously promote research, teaching and outreach that will position University of Cape Coast as a centre of excellence.

2. To attract and retain high calibre academic and administrative staff.

3. To vigorously pursue distance education, develop new relevant programs and periodically review the existing ones.

4. To provide integrated and modern information and communication technology facitilities.

5. To aggressively develop linkages with local and foreign institutions and partnership with industry.

6. To undertake vigorous fund raising drive by aggressively pursing consultancy, internally generated funds and enforcing fiscal discipline.

7. To create an organizational culture that enhances efficiency, discipline and commitment.

8. To improve upon physical infrastructure and support services to enhance teaching, learning and research.

9. To improve upon management capacity and institutional governance structure.

10. To create a conducive working environment which recognises equal opportunities for faculties, staff and students

Facilities
The Central Regional Hospital is in close proximity to UCC and therefore will serve as the Teaching Hospital. This state-of-the -art Hospital is a 236-bed capacity hospital with a 4-bed Intensive Care Unit and 6 renal dialysis tables in the Dialysis Unit. We plan to increase the bed capacity and the existing clinical services and departments to accommodate the rigorous discipline and excellence we seek to establish in a modern Teaching Hospital. Other facilities that UCCSMS will bring on board include the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital and Ankaful Leprosy/General Hospital which have served the University of Ghana Medical School in the past in the area of teaching.

Cape Coast, as a famous tourist destination, could be an added attraction for Medical Specialists and Consultants. With the degree of medical excellence envisaged, we anticipate that the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital will become a centre for medical tourism. UCC has a well established Faculty of Science with well equipped laboratories in the Departments of Human Biology, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, Laboratory Technology, Optometry, and Nursing. These will support and strengthen the scientific and research programmes of the School of Medical Sciences.

University of Cape Coast Degree Programs :

Medicine

Video Presentation

University of Cape Coast visit

New facilities for the library - to serve physically challenged students.