The College of Art and Social Sciences (CASS) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has organized another edition of special academic awards for deserving students, lecturers and departments of the College for the 2011/2012 academic year. The ceremony, the third of its kind, was under the theme, “Celebrating Excellence”.
Speaking at the event the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. W. O. Ellis, said that as an academic institution, the focal point was achieving excellence. He thus expressed his joy and congratulated the awardees for their achievements. He also congratulated the College for setting the pace in the quest for achieving excellence and hoped that other Colleges of the University would emulate this initiative.
In a welcome address the Provost of CASS, Prof. Samuel Kofi Afrane, said that recognition in the form of awards acted as the lubricant and consequently facilitated higher performance and better results. He also added that motivated people were critical to the progressand development of every institution and that morale was boosted by recognising people’s dedication and commitment. He said that it was for this fact that the College organised the Awards Day to appreciate people in the College who had distinguished themselves in their different pursuits.
The awards for the students were given to the best students at three levels: department, faculty and college. The event awarded twenty-four (24) students of the college with the overall best student award going to Miss Chantalle Marie Leonie-Mensah, a second year student of the KNUST School of Business (KSB).
There were also other awards specifically intended to highlight areas of critical concern where the management of the University wanted to promote improved performance. These awards were for the most responsive Head of Department or Dean, which went to Dr. Mrs. Lebene Tettey of the Department of Modern Languages; the best performing department in research and this went to the Department of Accounting and Finance; the best performing department in Internally Generated Funds (IGF) which was awarded to the Department of Integrated Rural Arts and Industry; and finally, anaward for the department with the most progressive website and it went to KSB.
The Guest Chairman – Mr. Ben Acolatse, General Manager Northern Ghana, Mechanical Lloyd – in his speech advised the awardees to always motivate themselves to continue with the hard work, commitment and perseverance in order to continue achieving greater successes.
The Vice-Chancellor, in a closing remark, congratulated the College for being the most progressive in terms of motivation. He also advised the awardees to see beyond the awards given to them and to shed off negativities and take up the mantle of positivities.
