The President of the University of Rhode Island (URI), USA, Dr. David M. Dooley, has stressed the need for all universities globally, to offer workable solutions to the challenges that the world faces.
Dr. David M. Dooley said this when he spoke at the University of Cape Coast, where a public lecture was held to climax his inaugural visit to the country. Dr. Dooley noted that the current and future global context for higher education presents both substantial challenges and new opportunities.
He stressed however, that diplomacy and socialization, although less frequently emphasized, are also critical roles that university partnerships can provide; “Universities can and must provide the educational and research foundations that are essential to successfully resolving multiple large-scale issues.”
The lecture was on the theme: “Internationalization and Globalization: Education, Research, Diplomacy and Intelligence.”
Dr. David M. Dooley and colleagues are in Ghana for the first time to strengthen URI’s well-established ties with African universities — including the University of Cape Coast and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
The inaugural visit is also intended for the delegation to visit URI’s ongoing overseas projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development – USAID.
These include the USAID Feed the Future Initiative – Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP) and the USAID/West Africa Analytical Support Services and Evaluations for Sustainable Systems In Agriculture, Environment, and Trade (ASSESS); as well as to visit the University of Cape Coast’s (UCC) ’s collaborative project; the USAID/UCC Fisheries and Coastal Management Capacity Building Support Project.
The public lecture, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor D. D. Kuupole, was preceded by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center (CRC) and the University of Cape Coast’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (DFAS) and the Center for Coastal Management (CCM).
Signing of the MOU symbolizes cooperation and mutual consent of the two parties to establish cooperative relations, and to strengthen synergies between the URI Coastal Resources Center and UCC Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in the implementation of each other’s USAID-funded projects.
Facilitating the symbolic MOU signing, the Senior Natural Resources Management & Energy Advisor of the Economic Growth Office of the USAID/Ghana Mission, Robert Buzzard, expressed continued commitment of the US Government and the USAID Mission to support government and university to rebuild fish stocks and catches, thereby contributing to poverty and hunger reduction.
Mr. Buzzard emphasized that promoting higher education and research is a critical step for making informed science-based decisions for sustainable management of the fishery sector.
The Coastal Resources Center (CRC), at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography and the University of Cape Coast and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology jointly organized the four-day inaugural visit of Dr. Dooley and colleagues to Ghana. CRC/URI is the lead implementing partner for the USAID/Ghana SFMP.
The USAID/UCC Capacity Strengthening Project is also implemented by the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Cape Coast and the USAID/ASSESS project implemented by the US Department of Agriculture with KNUST and URI as key partners.
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By: Akwesi Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana