The number has now brought the total student population to 4,887 and out of those admitted, 1,532 were undergraduates and 1,037 representing 68 per cent were males whilst 495 signifying 32 per cent were females.

Professor Harrison Kwame Dapaah, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) announced at the sixth matriculation ceremony of the University on Saturday in Sunyani. Concerning postgraduate programmes, he said, a total of 129 applicants were offered admission to commence Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctoral programmes, saying that represented over 100 per cent improvement above last academic year’s figures into the Graduate School.

The VC added that 18 out of the number indicating 14 per cent were females, while 111, indicating 86 per cent were males. Prof. Dapaah emphasised that it was the objective of the University to increase total postgraduate enrolment to about 15 per cent of the total student population in the near future.

He said the University was poised to provide access to university education to as many qualified applicants as possible, but it was constrained due to inadequate academic and residential facilities for staff and students. The VC expressed worry that a number of projects which could have put a total of 24 lecture rooms at the disposal of the University had come to a standstill.

Prof. Dapaah cited a two-storey lecture block , a four-storey 12-room lecture block,  the South Wing of a 1,600 capacity hostel at the Sunyani campus and the permanent facilities  at the Dormaa-Ahenkro satellite campus to house the School of Agriculture and Technology, all under construction by different building construction firms had come to a halt.

He expressed optimism that the completion of those facilities would address both the residential and classroom accommodation challenges facing the students and assist in providing unmatched learning experience for them.

Prof. Dapaah therefore reiterated his appeal to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) “to put the UENR on its priority list as directed by the Vice President, Alhaji Dr, Mahamudu Bawumiah during the University’s second congregation ceremony held in August this year”.

The VC advised the fresh students on the need to acquaint themselves with all the rules and regulations governing the University and religiously observe them.  Prof. Dapaah stressed that they must avoid academic dishonesty and other social vices as that could jeopardise whatever professional opportunities at their disposal as students of the University.

He emphasized that whenever a student was found culpable for having committed any of the following crimes, “cheating during examinations or continuous assessment, stealing, physical and sexual assault”, the net result “is outright dismissal with possible prosecution by the Police”.   

Prof. Dapaah reminded the matriculants about their primary aim of enrolling at the University to go through their chosen academic programmes to ultimately graduate with success and therefore urged them to focus seriously on their studies by beginning “with the end in mind”.