Ensure Quality Academic Processes, Delivery, Managing Data And Knowledge To Meets The Global Standards - CCOD President Urges

Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, President of CCOD

College for Community and Organizational Development (CCOD) has organized its 4th congregation for 107 Men and Women graduands and matriculants in Sunyani at the campus premises of the Sunyani Pastoral Centre with the theme: Celebrating Academic Excellence. 

The graduands include 11 Diploma, 52 Bachelor of Science, 4 Post Graduate Diploma and 40 Master of Science.

Speaking at the ceremony, the President of the College for Community and Organizational Development, Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu said, “Ensuring quality of academic processes, delivery, managing data and knowledge is equally important, and above all, meets the global standards”. 

He added that within this COVID-19 period, CCOD has developed three major policies which are being rolled out from 2022 to 2026. Such policies include: Staff welfare and condition of service policy; to enhance dialogue and ensure agreement on salaries, wages, hours of work, career growth, support systems, rules and ethics, and other conditions of employment’’.

‘’The new strategic plan focuses on the construction of a University College complex and 3 satellite campuses, institute a reward system, institute feedback mechanism to ensure quality and standards at all times, incorporate Coaching and Mentoring into all courses, apply action research model in all programmes, institute technology and softwares at all levels, partnership with Alumni/Ambassadors of CCOD, empower students to practice OD process consulting and diversify collaboration with assurance’’.

The President said, Quality Assurance and Knowledge Management Policy: With the support of College’s Mentor, University for Development Studies (UDS) and Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), the College has successfully developed its academic quality assurance and knowledge management policy. This policy is to be enforced for the 2022 – 2026 academic years. In addition, Dr Benarkuu said the College has successfully modified its current OD curriculum and introduced new OD programmes based on research, feedback from the field, Stakeholders, Alumni, Mentor institution (UDS) and GTEC. The six programmes for the 2022 – 2026 Academic years are: Diploma in Community and Organisational Development (DOD) – 24 Months.

Bachelor of Science in Organisational Development (BOD) – 48 Months, Post Graduate Diploma in Organisational Development (PGDOD) – 6 Months, Master of Science in Organisational Development (MOD) – 12 Months. Master of Science in Private Sector Development and Advocacy (MPSD) – 12 Months, Master of Philosophy in Organisational Development (MPhil) – 24 Months. Meanwhile, the College is on awaiting the certificates from GTEC to roll them out to the whole world.

In its Strategic partnerships and decentralization of OD education, Dr Benarkuu said, traditionally the school currently offered OD services to mainly the Catholic Church, some public agencies (District Assemblies, Ghana Police, etc.) and Private Sector (NGOs, Companies, etc.) and from 2022 to 2026, the College would be scaling up the OD Process Consulting to the religious, tertiary institutions, traditional institutions, the media, the college Alumni, and private educational organisations. Incubation hub: He said the College hopes to mentor 200 students to be on their own (self-created business or service). Arrangements have been made to operate in 55 communities in Ghana with development partners, communities and the CCOD students.

He commends its foreign founding partners, The Institute of Organization Development, USA, headed by Dr. Nancy R. Zentis and staff of IOD for its commitment to supporting CCOD with OD materials, donation and technical support services. The President of CCOD, Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu reminded the graduands of their responsibilities. He advised them to see themselves as organizational development (OD) practitioners/consultants, they should have Professional competence (continuous learning new tools). 

According to him, they have a corporate social responsibility that is to give their knowledge to their community willingly.

Since they are already certified as change agents, he urged graduands to always remember the “OD Ethics” to lead their field of endeavor, responsibly and voluntarily (volunteering).

And to the matriculants, Dr Benarkuu urged them to always focus on their strengths and it will make their weaknesses irrelevant. He introduces to them the action learning approach called action research. Dr Benarkuu said, CCOD is the hope of Ghana and Africa which emphasized on new skills to transform students to job creation but not job seekers.

In the conclusion, he said OD is a piece of new knowledge in Africa’s tertiary education. CCOD is the first University College that has created both undergraduate and graduate programmes in the field of organizational development (OD). OD education is gaining ground in Africa, and Ghana is giving the way to the rest of Africa. 

.Evans Attah Addai (Addai Mununkum)

AfricaNewsArenaGh.com