About – GCM-TEF

GHANA CHAMBER OF MINES TERTIARY EDUCATION FUND (GCM-TEF) FOR UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY (UMaT), TARKWA

CONCEPT NOTE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FUND

Background
The Ghana Chamber of Mines is a voluntary private sector employers association representing companies and organisations engaged in the minerals and mining industry. Its mission is to represent the mining industry in Ghana using the resources and capabilities of its members to deliver services that address members, government and community needs, in order to enhance development. In line with its mission, the Ghana Chamber of Mines Tertiary Education Fund was launched in October, 2019 in an effort to help build the needed human resource capital for the mining industry. For the first phase of the Fund, an annual amount between Four Hundred Thousand US Dollars ($400,000) and Four Hundred and Forty Thousand US dollars (440,000) is expected to be contributed into the Fund collectively by the producing, contract mining and explosive manufacturing member companies of the Chamber. For the first five years, the Fund has been earmarked for the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, which is the premier mining institution in Ghana, to aid in producing high calibre mining professionals for the local industry and beyond. The Fund is to be directly managed by a Governing Board with membership from member companies of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the University of Mines and Technology which will report to the Council of the Chamber.

Support Areas
The Tertiary Education Fund will specifically support areas such as infrastructural development, research of Faculty members and Postgraduate Students related to industry needs and application of automated systems. Another support area is scholarships for Under-Graduate Students and Industry Training Programmes. The Fund will also support secondment programmes for Faculty Members and provision of educational resources for teaching and learning. The percentage allocations of the Fund for the afore-mentioned Support Areas and the details of the Projects are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Percentage Allocation of the Fund for the Support Areas and Details of the Projects

SN	Percentage of Fund	Support Area	Details of Support
1.	55% – 65%	Infrastructural Development	Building of a two-story Chamber of Mines’ Mining and Minerals Faculty Block with several classrooms and offices. The project will serve as a long-lasting legacy for the Chamber. UMaT will provide initial drawings and tentative budget while the Governing Board oversees the tendering process for the construction. The processes for commencement of the Block will start in May, 2020.
2.	10% – 15%	Research Fund of Faculty Members	The Office of Research Innovation and Consultancy of UMaT will liaise with the Governing Board to collate research problems of relevance to industry, and/or national needs, and make them available at the application portal. Potential researchers will apply to the Fund with proposed solutions to the available problems. The Governing Board will constitute a Technical Committee to vet and select the awardees. The application will open at the beginning of December, 2020 and end by 31^st January, 2021. The value of the Fund for one application shall not exceed the cedi equivalent of $10,000, and 4-5 Awards will be announced per year.
3.	10% – 15%	Postgraduate Research Grant	The School of Postgraduate Studies of UMaT will liaise with the GCM-TEF Governing Board to collate research topics of relevance to industry andon automated systems, and make them available at the application portal. A prospective Postgraduate student shall apply with research proposal endorsed by supervisors from UMaT and mining industry advisors. The Governing Board will constitute a Technical Committee to vet and select the awardees. The application will open at the beginning of January and end by 15th February, each year. The value of the Grant for one applicant shall not exceed the cedi equivalent of $5,000, and 8-10 Awards will be announced per year.
4.	10% – 15%	Scholarship for Under-Graduate Students	The undergraduate scholarship has two categories of beneficiaries: brilliant and needy (70% of the scholarship) and extremely needy (30% of the scholarship) Interested undergraduate students will complete an online application with their academic record and all necessary documents. The Governing Board will vet the application forms and select the awardees based on recommendations by UMaT. The exceptional ones will be participants of the ‘Industry Training Programme’ from second to final years and throughout their National Service period as spelt out in Tables 6.1 – 6.10. The scholarship application will open in September, 2020 and complete by 15^th October, 2020. The value of scholarship for one applicant shall not exceed GH¢ 10,000, and at least 27 Awards will be announced per year.
5.	5% – 10%	Provision of Educational Resources	The Educational Resources includes ICT, software, hardware, library books, smart boards, projectors, reagents, simple/low cost equipment, etc. The procedure for the allocation shall commence in September, 2020 with a call for application from the Pro Vice Chancellor’s Office, which will indicate a cap to the amount a department can apply for. UMaT Management will make recommendations to the Governing Board for disbursement of funds to qualifying Departments. The average yearly budget for the University shall be the cedi equivalent of $22,000.
6.	0-5%	Secondment of Faculty members to Mining and related companies under the Chamber	The Secondment programme is to attach Faculty members (Senior Lecturers and below) to Mining firms to strengthen industry-academia linkage for mutual benefit of the industry and the University. The period will be 3-6 weeks per year within the Lecturer’s leave period and the Companies’ availability as agreed upon between the University Training Unit and the Human Resources Office of the Mining companies. The procedure for the secondment will be initiated by UMaT in September, each year. The average yearly budget for the Secondment Programme shall be the cedi equivalent of $7,600 to cover for transportation and other logistics.