The Sunyani Technical University (STU) has inaugurated Faculty Advisory Boards (FABs) to provide valuable guidance and advisory support to the faculties to advance the vision of the University.
Membership of the FABs for each of the current four Faculties are - the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology (FAST), Faculty of Engineering (FoE), Faculty of Build Environment and Applied Arts (FBEAA) and Faculty of Business and Management Studies (FBMS) of the University were selected from the academia and industry.
The University also launched a Research and Innovative Fund with GH¢ 100, 000.00 seed capital to support and inspire faculty/staff and students to undertake intensive research activities that would lead to innovation and inventions.
Professor Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the STU, explained with the promulgation of the Technical Universities Act, 2016, (Act 992 as amended) the University had a new mandate to provide higher education in Engineering, Science and Technology, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Applied Arts and related disciplines.
“This has presented the institution with a unique opportunity to re-position and elevate itself in Engineering, Science and Technology and TVET related areas to play key role in highly-skilled human capital development for industry to spur on national development”, he said.
The University is also positioning itself to be a Centre of Excellence for professional career development and for academic progression through a well-coordinated linkage with industry and relevant professional bodies.
In line with this, Prof Adinkrah-Appiah said the “STU is setting itself up to be a top-notch technical University delivering education par excellence, hands-on training and cutting-edge research innovation to drive local, national and global sustainable development”.
The VC was grateful to the members for their kind acceptance to serve on the FABs and hoped they would competently and efficiently deliver so as to advance the vision of the University.
Among other functions, the FABs would provide guidance to the Departments and their respective faculties to develop industry-driven academic programmes and review existing programmes to make them relevant to the needs of industry to meet national aspirations.
They will also serve as vital communication link between the faculties and the University on one hand, and the respective industries, institutions and professional bodies, both locally and internationally, on the other hand, for purposes of collaborative endeavours, as well as provide advice to faculty boards on matters related to training, research and capacity building of staff and students.