MountCrest University College (MCU) and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), University of London, on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster a genuine and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two institutions.
In the MOU, signed at MountCrest’s Kanda Campus in Accra, the School of Advanced Studies (SAS), acting through its Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, agrees to a collaboration with MountCrest to host, promote and deliver distance learning part-time Master of Philosophy in Law and Doctor of Philosophy in Law programmes dubbed “The Programmes.”
The delivery of the programmes aim to build capacity within MountCrest in the wider context of legal education in Ghana.
The MOU was signed by Ms. Irene Ansa-Asare, Rector of MountCrest and Prof. Carl Stychin, Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
The collaboration will focus on the marketing and the promotion of the Programmes to potential students to include legal academics in Ghana and other Commonwealth African jurisdictions who currently lack Doctorial degrees.
Under the collaboration, students will be surpervised by IALS-trained supervisors based in the United Kingdom. Students will also be provided with a personal tutor at MountCrest who will have an overarching welfare responsibility. Also MountCrest staff appointed as personal tutors on the Programmes will be supported and mentored by IALS staff, potentially leading up to their recruitment as “second supervisors” in due course, as part of the ethos of ‘upskilling’ in the collaborative venture.
Applications
The SAS will, in the first instance invite applications from faculty and other eligible alumni of MountCrest directly to IALS for admission into the Programmes.
Prior to application, potential students will be supported by IALS and MountCrest to develop their research proposals through in-person research training in Ghana, delivered by IALS staff with ongoing mentoring and support thereafter by MountCrest staff.
Although the Programmes will be delivered primarily by distance learning, students enrolled into the Programmes will be provided with additional ‘wrap-around’ support. Initially this will consist of an annual visit by IALS staff to conduct in-person research training, individual meetings with students and the chance for students to give presentations on their research.
It is anticipated that 12 students will be recruited to take part in the pre-application research programme, of which five deserving students will be invited to apply for admission into the Programme for the 2024-2025 academic year. This process will be repeated for an initial three-year period.
In a brief statement, Ms. Ansa-Asare said the collaboration between the two institutions started last year and the upgrade to PhD level was to advance post-graduate activity at MCU and also enhance research efforts.
She said there were plans to widen the collaboration to include other universities in Ghana and later across Africa.
Responding, Prof. Carl Styching described the signing ceremony as “an important point in our journey together.”
He said it was a great privilege for him to be back in MCU and was looking forward to other institutions joining in the collaboration.
Present at the ceremony were Dr. Samuel Akortey Akor, Deputy Rector; Prof. Gladys Amponsah, Dean, School of Medical & Health Sciences; The Registrar, Ms. Ama Aboagyewa Akor; Col. (Rtd) Augusta Wellington, Head, Department of Nursing; Mr. Ernest Koomson, Deputy Registrar (Academic & Student Affairs); Mrs. Esther Agbeko, Deputy Registrar (Human Resource); Faculty and Administrative staff; SRC president, Kofi Selorm and other students.