History of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

The University has undergone several name changes for historical reasons. It started off as Kumasi College of Technology, then as Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, followed by University of Science and Technology before finally reverting to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Kumasi College of Technology was established by a Government Ordinance of the Gold Coast on 6th October 1951. It, however, opened officially on 22nd January 1952 with 200 Teacher Training students transferred from Achimota College to form the nucleus of the new College.

In October 1952, the School of Engineering and the Department of Commerce were established and the first students were admitted. From 1952 to 1955, the School of Engineering prepared students for professional qualifications only.

In 1955, the School embarked on courses leading to the University of London, Bachelor of Engineering External Degree Examinations.

A Pharmacy Department was established in January 1953, with the transfer of the former School of Pharmacy from Korle-Bu Hospital, Accra, to the College. The Department ran a two-year comprehensive course in Pharmacy leading to the award of the Pharmacy Board Certificate.

A Department of Agriculture was opened, also in 1953, to provide a number of ad hoc courses of varying duration, from a few terms to three years, for the Ministry of Agriculture.

A Department of General Studies was also instituted to prepare students for the Higher School Certificate Examinations in both Science and Arts subjects and to give instruction in such subjects as were requested by the Arts subjects and to give instruction in such subjects as were requested by the other departments.

Once established, the College began to grow and in 1957, the School of Architecture, Town Planning and Building was inaugurated and its first students were admitted in January 1958, for professional courses in Architecture, Town Planning and Building.

As the College expanded, it was decided to make the Kumasi College of Technology a purely Science and Technology Institution.

In pursuit of this policy, the Teacher Training College, with the exception of the Art School, was transferred in January 1958 to the Winneba Training College now the University of Education, Winneba and in 1959, the Commerce Department was transferred to Achimota to form the nucleus of the present School of Administration of the University of Ghana, Legon.

Accession to University Status

In December 1960, the Government of Ghana appointed a University Commission to advise it on the future development of University Education in Ghana, in connection with the proposal to transform the University College of Ghana and the Kumasi College of Technology into an independent universities.

Following the report of the Commission, which came out in early 1961, the Government decided to establish two independent universities in Kumasi and at Legon near Accra. The Kumasi College of Technology was thus transformed into a full-fledged University, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, by an Act of Parliament on 22nd August 1961.

The University’s name was changed to University of Science and Technology after the Revolution of 24th February 1966. However, by another Act of Parliament (Act 559) of 1998, the University has been renamed Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.

The University started awarding her own degrees in June 1964.

All degree examinations are reviewed by external examiners and moderators to ensure that high academic standards are maintained.

General Information

The University is situated approximately on a sixteen square-kilometre campus of undulating land and pleasant surroundings, about seven kilometres away from the central business district of the city of Kumasi.

The campus presents a panorama of beautiful and modern buildings interspersed with verdant lawns and tropical flora, which provide a cool and refreshing atmosphere congenial to academic studies.

It has within the short period of its existence become an important centre for the training of scientists and technologists not only for Ghana but also for other African countries as well as from other parts of the world.

There are six traditional Halls of Residence and a number of hostels on the University campus.

The Halls of Residence are Queen Elizabeth II, Unity, Independence, Republic, University

and Africa. Three of the Halls of residence are mixed, two for males only and one for females only. These traditional Halls have offices each with its kitchen, dining hall and separate junior and senior common rooms for students and senior members of the Hall.

The residents share communal bathrooms and toilets. The on-campus hostels are a mixture of postgraduate and undergraduate accommodation.

The largest of these is managed by the Ghana Universities Staff Superannuation Scheme (GUSSS). The Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II Hostel has been put up by the cumulative contribution of undergraduate students over the years.

Medical students of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital live in University-owned VALCO hostels. There are also a number of privately owned hostels both on-campus and off-campus in the surrounding townships.

The New KNUST

KNUST has, since January 2005, transformed from its previous centralized system of administration into a significantly decentralized one called the Collegiate system. Under this system, the various faculties have been condensed into six colleges.

Since its inception, the University has been administered on the Faculty-based system. This naturally led to a situation where new Faculties and Institutes were created to meet the ever-growing academic pursuits of students.

The resultant collection of Faculties largely hampered efficient administrative and academic operations, as duplication of efforts and long administrative processes were rampant. The need to deal with these complexities and harmonize the operation of the existing structures became apparent and unavoidable.

This was more so, with the ever-increasing numbers in student population. True to the vision to make KNUST the model for technological education in Africa and the then Vice-Chancellor’s commitment to academic excellence, the Collegiate System came into being with the promulgation of new statutes on November 29, 2004, to underpin these changes.

On 5th April 2005, the Pioneering Provosts were inducted and invested into office at the Great Hall of the KNUST. They were Prof. Stephen Osei, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR); Prof. S. O. Asiama, College of Architecture and Planning (CAP); Prof. Dr. Daniel Buor, College of Art and Social Sciences (CASS); Prof. F.W.Y. Momade, College of Engineering(CoE); Prof. Kwame Sarpong, College of Health Sciences (CHS); and Prof. Aboagy  Menyeh, College of Science (CoS).

The colleges are semi-autonomous, which means that they are given the power to largely run on their own without much dependence on the central administration for financial support.

The Provosts report directly to the Vice-Chancellor. There is also a school of Graduate Studies headed by a Dean who coordinates and facilitates graduate programs of the colleges and reports directly to the Vice-Chancellor.

A College Registrar, Finance Officer and Librarian directly assist the Provosts in administration. Under each Provost are the various Faculties, Centres Institutes and Departments, headed by Deans Directors and Heads.

As both administrative and academic leaders Colleges, the Provosts are to provide the needed leadership for the Colleges to guarantee efficient running of their establishments