A Section of Participants at the Seminar
A 3-day sensitization and training seminar to further update staff in the four Colleges on the use of assessment tools for the new promotion guidelines for academic staff has taken place at the J. H. Nketia Conference Hall of the Institute of African Studies. It was organized under the auspices of the Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs. The seminar, the second in the series, was attended by Provosts, Deans, Directors, and Heads of Department.
The training elicited feedback from staff on areas of the new guidelines that may require redress from University Management. As a training of trainers, the seminar sought to imbibe in the participants, the knowledge and skills needed to conduct similar training for other academics in their units.
Discussions throughout the 3-days touched on how to use the tripod of the assessment instruments, namely teaching (T), research and scholarly work (RSW) and university and public service (UPS) for staff applying for promotion. The aim was to equip staff applying for promotion and heads assisting in the promotion processes to be abreast of the guidelines in order to create a system of fairness for everyone.
Prof. Jonathan Fletcher, Dean of the School of Education and Leadership, and Prof. Sefa-Dedeh of the School of Engineering Sciences, led discussions on the general import of the document, especially on research and scholarly works and the university and public service components. Prof. Fletcher stressed the need for faculty members to read the document and also to give themselves adequate time to put their promotion papers together, noting that the document recommended a minimum of six months preparation for submission of an application for promotion.
Prof. Fletcher and his team made up of Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, Dr. Yaa Cole, Dr. Ernest Ampadu, Dr. Joseph Cobbinah and Dr. Paul Butakor, again led discussions on good teaching practices and on how to effectively use the tool on In-class assessment.
The 3-days training seminar was officially opened and closed by Prof. Kwame Offei, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs. In his closing remarks, Prof. Offei indicated that the new promotion guidelines took effect from August 1, 2016 and would serve as the guideline under which all applications would be received. He added that as part of transitional arrangements, only one teaching assessment results would be required for all applications for promotion, and after the transitional period ends on August 31, 2017, two assessments would be required from applicants as prescribed in the document.
Prof. Kwame Offei and Prof. Jonathan Fletcher at the training Seminar
Prof. Offei called on Provosts to work expeditiously with Deans and Heads of Department to form a Departmental Teaching Assessment Committee (DTAC) to oversee the implementation of the document. He also thanked participants for the large turnout and encouraged the various Units to liaise with the School of Education and Leadership should they require further assistance to train colleagues in their respective Units.
A video session on the in-class observation and assessment tool was shown to participants, and time devoted for questions and to seek further clarification on the Assessment tool.
