The President of the University of Rhode Island, United States of America, Dr. David M. Dooley has stated that is only universities that can only solve the numerous challenges facing the world. “There is no set of institutions to solve the numerous world crisis than the world’s numerous universities”. The President of URI made this statement at a public lecture to climax his visit to the University of Cape Coast on the theme “Internationalisation and Globalisation: Education, Research, Diplomacy and Intelligence”. Dr. David Dooley and his team were in the country to strengthen the already existing ties between URI and UCC and also afford them the opportunity to visit some USAID funded projects on campus. Explaining the need to embrace globalisation in the pursuit of education, Dr. Dooley said globalisation and Internationalisation must be made a budget priority for all participating partners. This, he said, was crucial because education was important in solving global challenges as well as taking advantage of global opportunities. “Universities have important roles to play in partnering governments to help solve problems of humanity’. Dr. Dooley stated that “Global challenges come with a lot of global opportunities that need to be taken advantage of since problems of globalization need global solutions”. According to him the world has virtually become borderless and thus “We are no more insulated by borders and oceans. Problems of food supply for example are not only the problem of the developing world but for all nations”. The URI president mentioned that current and future global context for higher education presents both substantial challenges and new opportunities. He stressed that diplomacy and socialisation, although less frequently emphasised were critical roles that university partnership can provide. “Universities can and must provide the educational and research foundations that are essential to successfully resolving multiple large scale issues”. Dr. Dooley advocated for the articulation of agreements, joint degrees and dual programmes, facility use agreement and collaborative research and scholarship as some of the means of giving meaning to internationalisation and globalisation. President Dooley said placing students outside their jurisdiction for example help them not only to acquire degrees but international languages and exposure as well. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Centre (CRC) and the University of Cape Coast’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (DFAS) and the Centre for Coastal Management (CCM). The signing of the MoU will strengthen synergies between the URI Coastal Resources Centre and the UCC Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in the implementation of each other’s USAID-funded projects. The President of URI and his entourage had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor and some principal officers of the university.
