The Legal and Welfare Division

The Legal and Welfare Division RICHARD APPIAH-NKYI, ESQ DEPUTY REGISTRAR(LEGAL & WELFARE OFFICE), KNUST

Legal and Welfare Division) • Introduction • Headship of the Division • Sections and Sectional Heads

Introduction • Established as a Section by Council in the Registrar’s Offices in 2000 during the tenure of Professor JSK Ayim • Based upon a memo submitted by the Registrar, Council in November,2006 accepted, in principle, the need to upgrade the Legal Section into a Division by annexing the Welfare Section thereto. • In August,2009, Council approved the establishment of the Legal and Welfare Division of the Registrar’s Offices and integrated into the Division the Security Services and the Fire Prevention Unit (see, Recorder No.337 Sept.2010 VoL.44 No. 4)

Headship of the Division Like the other Divisions in the Registrar’s Offices, it is headed by a Deputy Registrar with the following schedule of duties: • Coordinating, administering and managing the Division under the Registrar; • Providing the requisite leadership and supervising the operations of the Division; • Liaising with other Offices and Departments of the University with the view to ensuring a corporate provision of the services to all sectors and segments of the University; and • Performing any other functions assigned by the Vice-Chancellor or the Registrar.

Headship of the Division(Cont.) He shall, by virtue of his office, be a member of the following: • Welfare Services Board; • Security Services Management Committee; • Transport Organisation Management Committee; • Estate Organisation Management Committee; and • Any other Committees as the University may deem fit.

Sections and Sectional Heads The Division has the following three Sections: • Legal and Welfare; • Insurance and Security; and • Fire and Safety

Legal and Welfare The Legal & Welfare Section which shall be headed by a Senior Assistant Registrar is made up of two units: • Legal Office; and • Welfare Office.

Legal Office Legal Office The Office shall be headed by an Assistant Registrar, who shall be a lawyer with at least three years experience at the Bar.

Legal Office (Cont.) Functions The Office shall perform the following functions: • Representing the University in the Law Courts; • Advising the University on legal matters affecting and/or involving the University; • Preparing, for and on behalf of the University, all conveyances including contract agreements, memorandum of understanding etc.; • Handling estate matters involving deceased members of Staff of the University on request by the bereaved families;

Legal Office (Cont.) • Handling and/or advising the University on all disciplinary matters affecting Staff and Students of the University; • Handling and/or advising the University on all labour and industrial matters involving the University and its Unionized Associations on campus; • Organising seminars on Acts of Parliament such as Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), Intestate Succession Law, 1985 (PNDCL 111); Public Procurement Act, 2003 (663) etc. for the benefit of Staff; • Liaising with the University Security Services on day-to-day security matters; and • Settling disputes involving the University and Staff using Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms.

Welfare Office Welfare Office The Welfare Office shall be headed by an Assistant Registrar/Welfare Officer with a background in any one of the following disciplines: • Social Work; • Sociology; • Psychology; • Guidance and Counselling; • Philosophy, etc.

Welfare Office(Cont.) Functions The office shall perform the following functions: • Developing Employee Assistance programmes and organizing seminars/ workshops etc. in conjunction with the Human Resource Development Division(HRD); • Assisting new Staff to settle and process, for example, SSNIT forms and to ensure that contributions are promptly paid; • Settling disputes involving all categories of staff of the University in conjunction with the Head of the Legal Office; • Providing social and outreach programmes to promote collegiality, friendliness and socialisation among members of the University Community;

Welfare Office(Cont.) • Liaising between the University and its Pensioners and offering Pensioners Assistance Programmes to University Pensioners; • Assisting families of deceased members of Staff and Students in bereavement and related issues; and • Performing any other functions assigned by the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar through Deputy Registrar (Legal and Welfare).

Insurance and Security The Section which shall be headed by a Senior Assistant Registrar consists of two units: • Insurance and Compensation ; and • Security Services.

Insurance and Compensation Office The Office shall be headed by an Assistant Registrar with a background in any of the following disciplines: • insurance; • law; • finance; • economics, etc.

Insurance and Compensation(Cont.) Functions The Office shall perform the following functions: • Managing the insurance portfolio of the University such as the University’s Movable and Immovable Properties; • Offering advisory services to the University on general insurance policy; • Advising the University on asset management and investment strategies, and educating prospective pensioners on income security during retirement;

Insurance and Compensation(Cont.) • Liaising with the appropriate Insurance Companies and Insurance Brokers on behalf of the University in respect of insurance issues; • Advising staff and students on insurance policies (e.g. life, motor vehicle, group insurance, travel insurance for overseas travels, health insurance for overseas travels etc); • Assisting staff in accessing compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Law when affected in the course of duty; and • Perform any other functions assigned by the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar through Deputy Registrar (Legal and Welfare).

Security Services The Security Services shall be headed by a retired Army Officer not below the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel or its equivalent in the other Security Services within the Armed Forces or the Police Service.

Security Services(Cont.) Functions The Security Services shall perform the following functions: • Providing security services to the University Community; • Undertaking investigations, intelligence operations and surveillance in respect of University facilities and installations in and outside University campus; • Undertaking fixed beat duties, day and night joint Military/Security mobile patrols, motorbike patrols, foot patrols and detex patrols; • Liaising with the appropriate offices and departments within the University, and the National Security Services, on all matters bordering on the security of the University Community; and • Submitting situation and intelligence reports to the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar through the Deputy Registrar (Legal and Welfare).

Fire and Safety The Section which shall be headed by a Senior Assistant Registrar consists of two units: • Fire Management Office; and • Disaster Management Office

Fire Management Office The Office shall be headed by an Assistant Registrar/an officer with Fire Management background

Fire Management Office(Cont.) Functions The Office shall perform the following functions: • Prevention of fire outbreaks on University campus; • Suppressing and fighting all types of fires on University campus; and • Performing any other functions assigned by the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar through Deputy Registrar (Legal and Welfare).

Fire Management Office(Cont.) Power to Perform Functions In order to effectively perform its functions, the Office shall have power to do the following: • When practicable, give notice to the occupier of any University premises or land into which officers intend to enter in the exercise of their functions; • Direct any member of the Office who is on duty to, with or without the consent of any occupier of any University premises, enter, and if necessary, break into the premises or place in which a fire has or believed to have broken out for the purposes of extinguishing or dealing with the fire; • Secure the use of water under the control of any person; • Improve accessibility to any such water; and • The most senior in rank of the members of the Office present may close to traffic any street which, in his opinion, is necessary or desirable for the purpose of dealing with the fire.

Disaster Management Office The Office shall be headed by an Assistant Registrar/an officer with disaster management background

Disaster Management Office(Cont.) Functions • Managing and mitigating, in conjunction with other offices and departments in the University, and National Disaster Management Organisation(NADMO), the effects of natural disasters such as floods, landslide, epidemic, insect infestation, earthquakes, windstorm, thunderstorm etc; • Assisting in the rehabilitation of Members of the University Community affected by natural disasters; • Management of the areas of the University Community affected by natural disasters; • Building disaster data and statistics on the University Community;

Disaster Management Office(Cont.) • Identifying, with the appropriate offices and departments, areas within the University Community susceptible to disasters such as floods, landslide, etc. and devise appropriate strategies for disaster mitigation; • Preparing budget for Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation; and • Performing any other functions assigned by the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar through Deputy Registrar (Legal and Welfare).

Organogram REGISTRAR DEPUTY REGISTRAR LEGAL & WELFARE SENIOR ASSISTANT REGISTRAR (FIRE & SAFETY) SENIOR ASSISTANT REGISTRAR (LEGAL AND WELFARE) SENIOR ASSISTANT REGISTRAR INSURANCE & SECURITY ASSISTANT REGISTRAR/ DISASTER MGT. OFFICER ASSISTANT REGISTRAR/ FIRE MGT. OFFICER ASSISTANT REGISTRAR/ LEGAL OFFICER ASSISTANT REGISTRAR/ WELFARE OFFICER ASSISTANT REGISTRAR/ INSURANCE OFFICER HEAD OF SECURITY ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

The End THANK U

The Legal and Welfare Division