Foundation Students Compete in Annual Project Management Competition

As part of the Project Management module which is compulsory for all our Foundation students, they are put into groups and tasked to undertake various projects on and off campus. LUG gives each group 500 GHS, and they are encouraged to come up with innovative fund raising methods in order to raise additional funds needed for their chosen projects. Each year the students form several groups, and after screening them, the Project Management Lecturer, Jewel selects the top five to participate in the annual Project Management Final Competition.

On 10th March, 2020, the top five groups participated in this year’s competition, and each had 10 minutes to present to the audience, which was followed by questions from the panel of judges. Below are details of the groups and their projects:

1. The Dreamliners: These students decided to focus on the SDG Goal 4, which focuses on providing inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all. These students decided to build a new classroom block for the Ponkrom M/A Basic School in Cape Coast, after visiting the school and realizing the students had class outdoors. The Dreamliners raised over 8,000 GHS from various sources and were able to lay the foundation in the first phase of the project, and then finally built the classroom block. They shared that even though they had several challenges, which included time, financing and transportation costs of visiting Cape Coast multiple times, they were all proud to have completed their project and to have built something that could leave a lasting impact and benefit the community.

2. Project PASS: this was a project aimed at giving back to the community. This group visited the Rising Star Home, and taught the children in the home bead-making, and held a session on health and hygiene as well. In order to raise funds for this, these students sold hot dogs on campus.

3. Project DATT: Group 3 organised LUG Equip Students, which was a workshop aimed at encouraging students to discover and enhance skills to allow them to have multiple sources of income. This workshop was aimed to highlight different ways students could start thinking entrepreneurially, and ultimately decrease the financial burden on their parents and guardians. The workshop included sessions on photography, social media marketing, make up artistry and beadmaking. This group was able to spend less than the 500 ghs budget given by the university.

4. Lancaster Innovative Group (LIG): The fourth group to present came up with the idea of redesigning and launching the LUG student blog. The aim of this was to address communication and social needs of the student body, improve and encourage creative writing through blogging. They also created flyers, banners and t-shirts to create awareness on campus. One of the features added to the blog was the Student Portfolio to highlight student achievements. Click here to see the blog.

5. Project DIALA: Project DIALA decided to improve the campus rooftop space by installing waterproof roller blinds. This group aimed to add value to the rooftop, and make it a conducive space for students to use all-year-round. In order to raise funds for this project, these students sold Kool-Aid on Mondays and Thursdays for six weeks during sports club training evenings, and solicited for funds from friends and family.

At the end of the presentations and Question and Answer sessions, the students were all commended for their hardwork and impactful projects by the panel of judges which was made up of Ms Kuukua Nyarko, our Registrar, Mr Ernie Wulff, a Statistics lecturer from the Business Faculty and Mr Isaac Apeakorang, our Finance Manager. After deliberations, the results were announced as follows:

1st Place – The Dreamliners