The University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC) has appointed Prof. Eric Opoku Mensah as the Acting Vice-Chancellor, effective February 8, 2024. He succeeds the retired Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, the previous Vice-Chancellor.
The announcement was contained in a press statement released yesterday by the University’s Governing Council to congratulate him on his appointment.
According to the statement, Prof. Opoku Mensah will assume responsibility for guiding UniMAC through its ongoing pursuit of academic excellence, fostering collaboration among faculty, staff and students, and advancing the university’s mission of becoming a globally recognized centre for excellence in the training of media, arts, and communication professionals.
“The University Governing Council and the entire UniMAC community extend their heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Eric Opoku Mensah on his appointment as Acting Vice-Chancellor. We are confident that under his capable leadership, UniMAC will continue to thrive and uphold its rightful reputation,” portions of the statement read.
The statement explained that Prof. Opoku Mensah brings a wealth of experience and expertise in higher education management to this role, having served as the Deputy Rector and, later, Rector of the Institute of Journalism, a constituent institute of the University.
It noted that he had served the academic community with distinction for several years, and has a proven track record of leadership and innovation, exemplifying the core values of UniMAC through his dedication to academic excellence, research, and student welfare.
The statement further said his vision for higher education aligns seamlessly with the University’s commitment to fostering a dynamic learning environment that prepares students for success in the modern world.
Profile
Prof. Eric Opoku Mensah is a Rhetoric and Media Studies scholar. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Language and a Master of Philosophy Degree in English Language from the University of Cape Coast. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he focused his doctoral research on an examination of the political communication of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
He has a deep-seated research interest in Nkrumah’s pan-African rhetorical enterprise, his rhetorical artifacts, their formations, and how they have contributed to the creation of nationhood and citizenship in a burgeoning democratic society. He has attended many international conferences and workshops, and also serves as a reviewer for several local and international journals in language and communication studies.
Again, he serves as an External Assessor for the National Accreditation Board (NAB), now Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), and as an External Examiner for some public and private universities in Ghana. He is a frequent visiting scholar at Uppsala University, Sweden. He has numerous peer-reviewed articles in both local and international journals to his name.
Experience in higher education
Apart from his academic work, Prof. Opoku Mensah has considerable experience in Ghana’s higher education landscape in terms of policy framework and university union leadership.
He has participated in numerous workshops and forums on higher education policy developments both locally and internationally, with the International Labour Organization (ILO) conference in Geneva and the Education International Conference (EI) in Taipei and Bangkok as notable mentions.
He is also a past National President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), after having served as Local President and Local Vice President of the University of Cape Coast chapter of UTAG.
He has served in various administrative positions and boards, including serving as a member of the University of Cape Coast Governing Council, Academic Board, College Board, and Faculty Boards, as well as the Head of the Communication Studies Department and several other roles.
He has a clear understanding of Ghana’s higher education policy framework and has participated in several workshops on the new Tertiary Education Policy in Ghana and participated in critical discussions on the University Bill.
Prof. Opoku Mensah has won several grants from the Swedish Council for Higher Education, Education International, Swedish National Bank, The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), and Uppsala Forum for Democracy, Peace and Justice, among others.
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