April 2023 Newsletter

APRIL 2023 NEWSLETTER

FIELD TRIP TO THE SHAI HILLS RESOURCE RESERVE

The Freshman African Studies class at Palm embarked on a field trip to the Shai Hills Resource Reserve on 27^th April, 2023. The trip was aimed at exposing the African Studies students to unfamiliar sights and scenes. Furthermore, the trip was designed to instill in the students pride for the African continent, and inspire them to strive to contribute their best in making Africa great. The students and faculty members explored the Seyu cave, Mogo Hills, the fauna-rich savanna grasslands, and the cultural museum, all located at the Resource Reserve.

CAREER SEMINARS

HAVING A WINNING PERSONA

In preparation for their internships during the summer break, the sophomores were taken through a seminar on how to “Have a Winning Persona.”

The virtual session was facilitated by Emelia Ainosoon, a strategic communication and public relations professional. The session focused on appropriate behavior in the corporate world, email and telephone etiquettes and how to be assertive without being arrogant and rude.

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

As part of the career seminars for the semester, Ms. Esther Mensah, the Registrar took her turn to share her knowledge on the topic, “Dress for Success.” The purpose of the seminar was to get students to appreciate the need to dress appropriately for all occasion especially official occasions.

Her co-facilitator was the President of the University College, Dr. Peter Carlos Okantey. He shared his insights on the topic and used the opportunity to teach the male students how to tie the knot a tie. He walked them through shirt, tie, shoe, trouser and sock etiquettes. He stated, “it is better to overdress than underdress.”

PALM VISITS OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

Palm Institute represented by the Founder and President, Dr. Peter Carlos Okantey visited Oklahoma State University, to strengthen the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions. The President visited the College of Education and Human Sciences, Spears School of Business, the College of Computer Science and the OSU Library during his visit.

SIGNING OF HONOUR CODE

Congratulations to the Class of 2026 for voting to adopt the Honour System and the Palm Examination Honour Code. Throughout the academic year, the freshmen class of students had several conversations, sessions, seminars, and a debate on Palm Honour System and Examinations Honour Code facilitated by the leadership of the University College, staff and faculty. During those sessions the students were given various opportunities and platforms to discuss it in detail. Every class of students that join Palm are given the opportunity to vote whether they want to adopt the Honour System and the Examination Honour Code or not. To adopt the Palm Honour System and the Examination Honour Code, two thirds majority of the Class of students must vote YES in order for the Class of students to adopt the Honour System and Examination Honour Code at Palm.

A class of students who vote to adopt the Honour System and Examination Honour Code in essence pledges to do the right thing when no one is watching. In essence, that class of students is taking ownership of their own journey to ethical leadership in any given situation and leading the way in our quest to fulfill our mission of producing educated ethical leaders in Africa.

Palm Institute is the second university in Ghana and Africa to adopt the Honour System and the Examination Honour Code. Read more about the Palm Honour System and Examination Honour Code.

ADMISSIONS

During the month of April, the Admission Drive for the 2023/2024 academic year was launched. The admissions team reached out to students, teachers, parents, and community members through a church outreach and a career fair at Emef Assemblies of God and Aburi Girls’ Senior High School respectively to create awareness of what Palm has to offer and to find potential qualified students.

GREENLAB HACKATON SERIES

On 29^th April 2023, Palm Institute organized the 3^rd Hackathon that introduced students to solving complex problems. Students learned to write problem briefs, ideate, produce prototypes and present a complete Solution Brief in the end. They also learned how to connect the problem statement, Point of View (POV) statement, and the How Might We (HMW) statement, which are crucial to the design thinking process.

As a result of my discovery of this new version of myself, I was able to take that bold step to teach Mathematics at the Doryumu Pentecost International School (a primary school in a neighboring community) for my Community Service in my quest to give back to my the community. My ability to speak publicly has improved significantly.

Through my experiences at Palm, I have become a confident young woman today. I am positive that at the end of my four year journey at Palm Institute, I will be a first choice candidate for employers in various industries because of the hard and soft skills I have acquired.

IMPACT STORY

My name is Gloria Lartey. I am in my sophomore year pursuing a degree in Business Information Technology. Before enrolling at Palm Institute, I was very shy and my self-esteem was very low. I was the first hide behind everyone regardless of my intellectual abilities.

I remember when I was approached by the Career Counselor to consider applying to become a peer mentor, my immediate reaction was “No” because I felt I had nothing to offer the freshmen. I later decided to apply to give back as a peer mentor and indeed it has been a great experience serving the freshman class. As I interacted with my mentees regularly, I noticed significant growth in confidence, leadership, team participation, and my ability to communicate effectively.