Professor Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi is the Director of the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education, University of Ghana, Legon, a position he assumed in August, 2008. Prior to that, he was a Professor at California State University, Fresno where he served as Chair of the Africana and American Indian Studies Programme.

In 2007, he was selected as a Fulbright New Century Scholar (NCS), one of 36 top scholars and practitioners from 25 countries to conduct research that would contribute new knowledge to the interdisciplinary discussion, cross-cultural, and transnational understanding of access and equity in higher education throughout the world.

ON-GOING PROJECTS OF PROFESSOR YAW OHENEBA-SAKYI

June 12-Present      (Co-Project Director), University of Ghana, Legon-Accra University of Ghana-United Nations’ Development Fund (UNDP) Curriculum Project to develop and integrate Peace Education into the Diploma in Youth Development Programme (Amount awarded: $21,000).

Sept 09-Present        (Project Director), University of Ghana Pan African e-Network Project. To connect 53 Learning Centres (plus 5 regional university centres) and 56 hospitals (5 special hospitals) in Africa via satellite, fibre optics and wireless links to 12 Indian super speciality hospitals and 7 Indian universities for tele-education and tele-medicine Internet, Video-conferencing VoIP services and also support e-governance, e-commerce and infotainment.

GRANT AWARDS

2008             Fulbright New Century Scholars (NCS) V Follow-On Award. Project title: International Symposium on Access and Equity in Higher Education: Lessons, Practices and Challenges for Africa and Asia, Dec 18-19. (Amount Awarded: $3,000).

2007-08       Fulbright New Century Scholars (NCS) Program, administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. One out of 36 outstanding scholars and practitioners from the U.S. and abroad selected to collaborate on the 2007-08 research theme: “Higher education in the 21st Century: Access and Equity. My research topic is titled, “The Socio- Religious Context of Access and Equity in Higher Education in Ghana.” (Amount awarded: $37,000, plus accommodation and meals for seminars).

2007-08      The College of Social Sciences Research/Creative Activities Award, California State University, Fresno. To hire student assistants for data collection and processing from fieldwork related to my Fulbright New Century Scholars Project on access and equity in higher education in Ghana. (Amount awarded: $4,000).

2002-06      Instructionally-Related Activities (IRA) Grant, California State University, Fresno. To support Service Learning Course in Africa; Study Tours to Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica (Amount awarded: $122,500).

2000            National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Faculty Development Program, SUNY Potsdam, May-June. To participate in The 2000 Potsdam NEH Summer Seminar for Faculty entitled, "Africa and the African Diaspora: Social Dynamism and Artistic Expressions." (Amount awarded: $3,000.00).

1999-2002 U.S. Department Of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program. Africana Studies Expansion Project at SUNY Potsdam. (Amount awarded: $104,765.00 over 3 years). Grant activities included course development, faculty travel to Tunisia, South Africa, England, the Caribbean, Cameroon, Senegal, Egypt, and Cote d’Ivoire for research and workshops.

ON-GOING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

2012      “Changing Trends in Adult and Continuing Education: The Ghanaian Experience.” (co-authors: Prof. Olivia Kwapong; Dr. Samuel Badu-Nyarko; Dr. Michael Tagoe). A book chapter contribution to the Faculty of Social Sciences Reader.

2012      "The Adult Learner: From Extra-Mural Studies to E-Learning." A book proposal for the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education’s contribution to the University of Ghana’s Readers for the commemoration of the University of Ghana’s 65th Anniversary, 2013. (Editor-in-Chief)

PUBLICATIONS

(A) Books and Monographs

2006     African Families at the Turn of the 21st Century (co-editor, Baffour K. Takyi). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 318 pages, map.

1999     Female Autonomy, Family Decision Making, and Demographic Behavior in Africa. Lewiston, NY/Queenston, Canada/Lampeter, UK: The Edwin Mellen Press.

1995     Female Autonomy, Decision Making, and Demographic Behavior Among Couples in Ghana. (with Kofi Awusabo-Asare, Edna Gbortsu, & Andrew F. Aryee).   Potsdam, NY, & Accra, Ghana.

1994     Family Planning And Reproductive Health Services In Ghana: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Inc.

1990     The Timing of Births During the Onset of the Fertility Transition in Ghana. Ann Abor, Michigan: University Microfilms Inc. Publication #90-00-760.

(B) Chapters in Books

2006     "Introduction to the Study of African Families: A Framework for Analysis." (with Baffour K. Takyi). In African Families at the Turn of the 21st Century, pp. 1-23. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT.

2006     "The Study of African Families: Concluding Remarks." (with Baffour K. Takyi). In African Families at the Turn of the 21st Century, pp. 273-278. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT.

(C) Research Articles in Refereed Journals

2009     “Religion and Socioeconomic Attainment in Ghana (with Tim Heaton and Spencer James). Review of Religious Research, Vol 51(2), pp. 71-86, 2009.

2003     “Marital Choice in Sub-Saharan Africa: Comparing Structural and Cultural Influences in Contemporary Ghana” (with Baffour K. Takyi, Nancy B. Miller and Gay C. Kitson). Comparative Sociology, Vol 2, issue 2: 375-391.

1997     "Gender differentials in family size among Ghanaian couples." (with Baffour K. Takyi). Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol 32 (3-4):296-306.

1997     "The effects of couples' characteristics on contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: The Ghanaian example." (with Baffour K. Takyi). Journal of Biosocial Science, Vol 29 (4):33-49.

1994     "Customs, Practices, Family Life and Marriage in Contemporary Ghana, West Africa." (with Baffour K.Takyi). Family Perspective, Vol. 28 (4): 257-281. This article was prepared for a special issue on international families.

1993     "Effects of socio-demographic variables on birth intervals in Ghana." (with Tim B. Heaton). Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Vol. 23(3): 113-135.

1993     "Socio-demographic and political correlates of university students causal attributions for poverty." (with William E. Griffin). Psychological Reports, Vol. 73: 795-800.

1992      "Determinants of current contraceptive use among Ghanaian women at the highest risk of pregnancy." Journal of Biosocial Science, Vol. 24(4): 463-475.

1991      "Sociodemographic correlates of breastfeeding in Ghana." (with Baffour K. Takyi). Human Biology. Vol. 63(3): 389-402, June.

1990      "Socioeconomic and cultural differentials in contraceptive use among Ghanaian women." International Journal of Sociology of the Family. Vol. 20(2): 139-161.

1990      "Physical violence in Utah families." (with Boyd Rollins). Journal of Family Violence. Vol. 5(4): 301-309.