The Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programmes (AQAS) is dedicated to ensuring that universities meet international quality assurance standards for their academic systems and programmes.
In line with this mission, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi hosted AQAS from May 12 to 16, 2024, to evaluate the alignment of the Regional Transport Research & Education Centre Kumasi (TRECK) programmes with global standards.
This visit marked a significant step toward securing international accreditation for TRECK’s flagship programmes: MPhil/MSc Transport Systems, MSc Transport Leadership, and PhD Transport Systems.
The AQAS expert panel, consisting of Prof. Dr. Alex Apeagyei, Prof. Dr. Washington Ochieng, Ms Charléne Kouassi, Ms Maike Grünberg, and Patrick Heinzer (AQAS consultant), began their formal interactions with a meeting involving senior management members of KNUST to discuss the University's strategic direction and quality assurance processes.
Key participants included Prof. Kwabena Biritwum Nyarko, Provost of the College of Engineering, Mrs Ida Saeed, College Registrar, Prof. Eric Kwabena Forkuo, Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, Dean, Quality Assurance and Planning Office, Prof. Helen Essandoh, Director of TRECK, and other senior management members of the College of Engineering.
Over the subsequent days, the panel participated in in-depth interactions with various stakeholders. Issues discussed during these interactions included intended learning outcomes of the programmes, teaching practices, student evaluation methods, industry collaborations and graduate employment. They engaged with ACE-TRECK Management team, faculty, students, graduates as well as key stakeholders from the transport industry.
As part of their visit, the AQAS experts presented Certificates to KEEP, one of the ACE Centres, for successfully completing the international accreditation process of their programmes at an earlier date.
In their preliminary feedback, the AQAS panel commended KNUST's efforts and indicated that a detailed report of their site visit and the decision of AQAS regarding the international accreditation of programmes will be made available in a later date.
