The School of Social Sciences has held a maiden orientation programme for fresh graduate students admitted into various programmes in the School for the 2019-2010 academic year.

The orientation, under the theme: “Managing Your Supervisor and Time” brought together MA, MPhil and PhD students from the six departments of the School, namely, Departments of Economics, Geography and Resource Development, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work and Sociology.

In a brief welcome remark, the Dean of the School, Prof. Charity Sylvia Akotia, stated that the orientation is part of activities outlined for the academic year in line with Strategic Goal 4 of the School’s Strategic Plan that focusses on people, including students. She urged the students to take responsibility for their graduate studies, taking full advantage of the opportunity to read and research on their own as well as engaging their supervisors towards the successful completion of their programmes.

The resource persons for the event, Dr. Joana Salifu Yendork and Dr. Isaac Boafo, lecturers at the Department of Psychology and Sociology respectively, took turns to speak on the theme.

In her presentation, Dr. Salifu Yendork stressed the need for the students to understand their identities in the light of the reality of their current status as graduate students. She took them through some basic factors of their identities such as their gender, marital status, mental condition, financial position as well as their social engagements and religious and political affiliations, among other things. She explained that each of these factors could positively or adversely affect their graduate studies depending on how well they are able to manage the limited time allotted for their programmes as well as distractions like social media.

Dr. Salifu Yendork urged the graduate students to set specific and achievable goals in order to meet deadlines for submission of their theses, and particularly stressed the need for depth, breadth and originality in their PhD theses. She also urged them to make use of academic resources and other services provided by the School of Graduate Studies and the University to enhance their studies.

On his part, Dr. Boafo informed the students about the importance of supervision towards the successful completion of their graduate programmes. He stressed the need to own their programmes and, therefore, take the initiative in ensuring that their theses are supervised and submitted on schedule. Dr. Boafo took time to explain to the students, the need to schedule regular meetings with their supervisors at every stage of their research and especially at critical stages like the data analysis stage that require more frequent meetings and discussions. He also urged them to cooperate with their supervisors and to desist from taking their criticisms personally. Furthermore, Dr. Boafo urged the students to bring any matters of concern regarding supervision to the attention of their Heads of Departments as early as possible.

Professor William Baah-Boateng and Professor Joseph Osafo, Heads of the Departments of Economics and Psychology, respectively, attended the orientation. They took turns to speak to the students about the importance of owning their own research in order to add value to themselves and gain expertise in their fields of study. They also stressed the need to read widely and take their studies seriously, being ready to accept correction from their supervisors as well as being respectful and assertive.

As part of the programme, two representatives of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG), Ms. Grace Owusu Asare and Mr. Kenneth Felitse, took turns to present their perspectives on graduate studies. Their presentations centred on their personal experiences and expectations as graduate students of the School.

Ms. Owusu Asare and Mr. Felitse urged the graduate students to take both their studies and social lives seriously, using the opportunity to learn new things as well as to develop networks for the future. They both stressed the need for discipline and time management, the need to adopt values that will serve as guidelines for their lives and studies as well as the need for resilience to navigate through any challenges they would be confronted with.

At the end of their presentations, the resource persons took time to respond to questions from the students.

The progamme ended successfully with the Dean reiterating the need for the students to work hard to enable them complete their programmes on time. 

Dr. Joana Salifu Yendork	Dr. Isaac Boafo	Mr. Kenneth Felitse
Lecturer at the Department of Psychology	Lecturer at the Department of Sociology	GRASAG Representative

MS. GRACE OWUSU ASARE
GRASAG Representative