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The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ernest Aryeetey has announced that the university will hold smaller graduation ceremonies in July and November with a view to making students graduate in the same calendar year that they complete their studies. He said the graduation ceremony was the last to be held in March. Prof. Aryeetey made this known at the graduation ceremony held in Accra, Legon campus for students, who successfully completed their programmes during the 2010/2011 academic year. A total of 3810 students graduated at various levels. At the Bachelor�s level, a total of 417 students, representing 14.8 percent of the graduating class, obtained first class honours, 925 or 32.7 percent had second class upper, 1238 or 43.8 percent had second class lower and 232 or 8.2 percent obtained third class. 18.8 percent of certificates and diploma students obtained distinctions, with the remaining obtaining passes. Prof Aryeetey said a new structure for PhD programmes in the university had been approved and would come into effect from the 2012/ 2013 academic year. He said key changes to the existing programme include the admission of first degree holders into the MPhil/ PhD programmes, introduction of comprehensive examinations before research work begins, introduction of compulsory course work and formal defense of research proposals. Prof Aryeetey said, �It is expected that these changes will make our doctoral students more analytical, ensure that they are familiar with current and relevant literature in their fields and also ensure that our doctoral practices and established norms in universities the world over.� He said the University Council had approved a new name for the Faculty of Social Studies and is now known as Faculty of Social Sciences. �It is expected that the change of name will align the Faculty with similar faculties in other universities around the world which use the name Social Sciences, and will better reflect the developments that have taken place in the Faculty over the past decade, with more emphasis being placed on post-graduate training and research�. He said the name of the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries had also been changed to Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences. Prof Aryeetey said the designation marine sciences provides a wider coverage to include more applied aspects of the subject and would also reflect the significant changes which have been made recently in postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at the Department. He announced that the University of Ghana placed 16th on the chart of the �Top 100 Universities and Colleges in Africa� on the 41CU web ranking for 2012. The ranking, he said, is based on the popularity and usage of university�s website.