There has been general improvement in the level of discipline on the campuses of universities in the country, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Addow Obeng, has observed. That, according to him, was the result of the option of good governance by university authorities and mature student leadership. "The campuses are quiet and academic programmes have not been interrupted for some years. This can be attributed to good governance of the universities as well as mature student leadership on our campuses," he said at the 15th matriculation of the Valley View University. At the ceremony, 961 fresh students were formally admitted into the institution. Rev (Prof) Addow Obeng said discipline on university campus ensured stability of the academic calendar, creating a peaceful ambience for serious academic engagement, enabled close working relationship between staff and students and provide opportunity for every individual in the university to perform at peak levels. Apart from the generally good order on campus, he said, self-discipline and willpower of a student played a decisive role in academic success, and that university students in Ghana still had a problem in that area. Rev Prof Addow Obeng said self-discipline was the ability to get oneself to take action regardless of one's emotional state, saying that a self-discipline would pay attention to proper time management, choice of friends and good study habits. With regard to the matriculants, he said, each of them should count themselves lucky to have been selected for admission. Rev Prof Addow Obeng said the students had gained admission into one of the leading private universities in the country; a private university with a Charter to award its own degrees. "The core value of this university is excellence, integrity and service. Valley View University emphasises academic, vocational and technological excellence in a context which promises intellectual, spiritual, psychological and physical dimension of life for service to God and humanity," he said. Welcoming the matriculants, the President of the VVU, Dr Seth A. Laryea, said the matriculants came from 11 African countries, including Ghana, and that with the enrolment, the university's student population now stood at 3,289. He said a number of studies revealed some key conditions that stimulated educational effectiveness in colleges and universities and those comprised effective student-engagement, a passionate commitment to institutional mission and philosophy, an unshakeable focus on student learning and clearly defined pathways to student success. He charged each of the matriculants to be self-disciplined as well as be committed to excellence, integrity and service. The Board Chairman of the VVU and President of the Ghana Union Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Pastor Samuel Larmie, entreated the students to help fight moral decadence in the society. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana