An agreement has been signed between the University of Cape Coast and Institute of Accountancy, Ghana, (ICAG) for the establishment of an Accountancy Chair at the university. Signing of the agreement has paved the way for processes to be made for the appointment of an occupant by August this year. It is also expected to help forge a strong business relationship between the university and ICAG. It is also hoped that the establishment of the chair will result in the exploration of avenues through research, training and development to enhance the teaching skills of lecturers and faculty members in order to ensure that knowledge transfer is maximised. An amount of $60, 000 will be provided for a two –year period that is covering 2016/17 and 2017/18. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the President of ICAG, Prof. Kwame Omane-Antwi said, it was the expectation of the Institute that the establishment of the Accountancy chair would pave way for collaborative research that would be beneficial to both industry and academia. The President of ICAG was of the view that the state of the country’s economy now called for pragmatic financial management practices that would ensure the maximization of the potential of the scarce resources. According to Prof. Omane-Antwi, degree and postgraduate programmes offered in the School of Business must necessarily be tailored to the changing trends in the business environment. “We are positive that this chair will facilitate research into packaging appropriate programmes that be of benefit to industry and commerce by ensuring that graduates will be appropriately equipped with the core skills that will ensure they are seamlessly integrated into industry”. He said there was the need for innovation and development of entrepreneurial skills, which would a clear departure from the status quo in order to make graduates more adaptable with minimal learning curve. Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. D. D. Kuupole expressed management’s excitement at the development saying, “the chair will challenge us to understand the difficulties associated with accountancy and do in-depth research that will benefit those of us in academia and those in industry. We need to make our voices heard, this could be done through research.” “That is what we need to do as academics, therefore any academic who does not engage in research that affects policy must reconsider this position. This is because theory must go with practice”. He called for a critical and stringent selection criteria as well as a serious monitoring regimen for the money to serve the purpose for which it was provided.
