MONROVIA – The academic team at the Amos C Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Liberia on Monday held an Arts and Crafts Day Exhibition organized by the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. The exhibition was held at the Thelma E Duncan Sawyer Faculty Lounge in Fendall on Monday, 9 September 2024 to kick start activities marking the 104th Graduation Convocation of UL which runs from September 16-20, 2024.
The arts exhibition featured the creative works of faculty and students of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities. The combined graduation convocation of the Amos C Sawyer College, William V.S. Tubman College of Education and College of Honor and Gender Interdisciplinary Studies will take place on Monday, September 16.
While the joint convocation of Science, Agriculture and Engineering Colleges will be held on September 17, to be followed by Business College convocation on Wednesday, September 18. Also, graduate and professional schools graduation convocation is planned for Friday, 20, September 2024.
For the September 16th graduation convocation 178 candidates from the Amos C Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities have successfully completed and fulfilled a four-year Baccalaureate degree requirement to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree. Off the 178 include 107 are males and 77 are females from Nine (9) academic departments in the college.
The minimum credit hours needed for completion of a specialized degree program is 124. Students are allowed to choose from the 12 academic degree granting departments to fulfill a four-year program to earn a degree. Students can take up to 15 credits for each of the eight academic semesters at the ACS College.
The Associate Dean of Amos C Sawyer College who is also Director of IBB Graduate Program of International Studies, Associate Prof Dr. Tanya Ansahta Garnett served as guest speaker. The Acting President and his Cabinet as well as Deans, Chairpersons and faculty attended the Monday’s Arts and Crafts exhibition.
During the Monday’s exhibition, UL Acting President, Dr. Conteh performed the unveiling of His Excellency President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s portrait, while the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Prof. Dr. Agnes Reeves-Taylor on behalf of ACS College unveiled Dr. Conteh’s portrait.
The Dean of the Amos C Sawyer College, Prof. Dr. Josephus Moses Gba-hinnih Gray who is also Sharda University in India Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia on behalf of academic team and faculty of the College unveiled the portrait of Dr. Reeves-Taylor.
Meanwhile, the ACS College (formerly Liberia College) has continued to evolve since 1862, when the Government of Liberia, 15 years after independence, authorized the establishment of a college. The first President of the Liberia, Joseph J. Roberts becoming the first President of Liberia College. By all accounts, the first group of students was seven, three of them were recipients of the American Colonization Society’s (ACS) scholarships and the other four students were self-sponsored. The first group of students was tested in Greek, Latin and Mathematics.
It is worth noting that the ACS College has established good working ties with the Deans and academic teams of institutions including Sharda University School of Humanities and Social Sciences in New Delhi, India; Hinds Community College Program of Social Sciences in Richmond, Mississippi, USA; Paris Graduate School. Program of Political Science and Research in Paris, France; and L’ University Charles Louis De Montesquieu (UCLM) French Program in Cocody, Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire., among other institutions of higher learning.
The campus is situated on a major highway and surrounded by friendly communities. The College Sawyer is an interesting paradox– a small, supportive community hosted in a single roof of the Academic Complex of the University of Liberia in Fendall. It is just a place where anyone soon know every face and it’s the best place with a beautiful land scape, with access to every possible amenity. But it sits at the heart of the university’s Fendall campus in Louisiana, Montserrado County, few miles away from the Red-light general market in Paynesville City.
The college is widely respected for being the first in the Republic of Liberia and second in West Africa and fifth on the African continent to be established and confer degrees. Since then, it continues to confer degrees in various disciplines.
At the college, high premium is placed on research, thesis defense and presentation, essay based final exams to evaluate students writing skills and critical thinking in shaping their learning outcomes and approach to critical issues and subjects. At the distinguished ACS College, students receive a top-quality education and at the same time faculty and students are equally held in an orbit of high standard.
The College remains committed to empowering its students with requisite knowledge and practical skills vital to achieving personal and professional success in the changing local and global communities. The mission and vision of Amos C. Sawyer College are aligned with those of the University of Liberia. The vision is to transform the way that the world is understood, how knowledge is created, and how problems are approached and solved.
In 1951, the Amos C. Sawyer College (formerly Liberia College) and William V. S. Tubman College of Education (formerly William V. S. Tubman Teachers’ College) merged to form the University of Liberia through the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia (TDEL), based in the United States of America.
For the record, Sawyer College is well-regarded and strongly valued because of its numerous achievements including being the first to confer degree in the Republic of Liberia and the producer of the highest college graduates at the University of Liberia and the country; the college will turn 164 in February 2025.
The college has been successful in integrating research in all the degree granting departments, as one of the major requirements for completion. At Sawyer College, faculties pursue a full range of research interests related to their own academic disciplines, while the college has harmonized the various academic departments’ curricula and introduced standardized research methodology course across the college. Students who successfully pass research course are advanced for thesis writing or undertake a senior project as a special requirement to fulfill four-year Baccalaureate degree requirement to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree.
The minimum credit hours needed for completion of a specialized degree program is 124. Students are allowed to choose from the 12 academic degree granting departments to fulfill a four-year program to earn a degree. Students can take up to 15 credits for each of the eight academic semesters at the ACS College.
The graduates of the college are making tremendous contributions to societies across the international sphere with obvious outputs in numerous areas including national development. Some of the graduates have risen to serve as President, Vice President, Justices of the Supreme Court, Ministers, Senators, Representative, Ambassador, President of tertiary institutions, heads of public corporations, standard-bearers of political parties, academic directors, deans and media experts.
The College also strives to be among the most innovative academic institutions in the world and remains committed to empowering its students with requisite knowledge and practical skills vital to achieving personal and professional success in the changing local and global communities in which they live, work and compete in the job market.
The College maintains academic excellence, quality teaching, broad based research and emphasizes professionalism, efficiency, and productivity. Graduates from the College earn degrees in English, French, Demography, Geography, Sociology, Criminology, Social Work, History, Political Science, Communication and Media Studies, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Chinese Language and Culture, as well as Fine and Performing Arts. The non-degree granting units are: Physical Education and Sports, Social Science, ROTC, Liberian Languages and Confucius Institute.
At the college, three certificate and diploma program are in place for capacity building and career development for others whom for particular reason might not want to pursue degree studies. The five programs are: (1) Joe W. Mulbah Center of Journalism and Public Relations (2) UL Center for Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing (3) Certificate in Statistics Program (CEST) and (4) Fine and Performing Arts diplomas and certificates program.
For the current semester, the College offered 157 courses representing 679 sections with 443 sections offered at the Fendall Campus, 184 on the Capitol Hill campus and six sections at the Sinje Technical and Vocational College campus in Grand Cape Mount County. Off the 679 sections, 630 (93%) were offered for face-to-face traditional learning, while 49(7%) sections were taught online. Students voluntarily make decisions whether for in-person traditional class, or blended learning/ eLearning.
For over 163 years, the College has withstood the test of time as one of the best colleges in the republic in the areas of academic excellence, quality research and teaching, peer-reviewed publications and creative thinking in which all scholarly works are cherished and promoted.
The ACS College is recognized beyond the borders of Liberia due to the publications of books, out the last two academic years, six faculty members including the Dean, Chairman of the Department of Political Sciences, two instructors from the Department of English and Language Studies, and an instructor each from the Social Work Unit and the Department of Political Science, respectively.
The college is very proud to state that 15 teaching assistants who departed the country through UL and World Bank sponsorships for master’s studies in Modern History, Social Work, English and Literature and Population Studies are back in the country after successful completion of advanced studies.
Additionally, 13 other teaching assistants and instructors are away pursuing doctorate and master’s studies and hopefully would return to rejoin the distinguished faculty members in the college. Assiduous efforts are put into place by the ACS College, if approved by the Faculty Senate to introduce MA and MSc programs in Sociology, and Professional Writing and Communication.
For the current academic year, Amos C. Sawyer College has 276 faculty members of which 242(88%) represents males and 34(12%) recorded for females. Out of the total 276 faculty, 111 (40%) represents Part-time faculty while 165(60%) recoded for Full-time faculty. Further, the faculty breakdown for the period under reviewed shows 47(17%) representing faculty with Bachelor’s degrees. Two hundred-fourteen are faculty with Master’s degrees and 15 (5%) are doctorate degree holders.
