The CPUT community extends a warm welcome to Prof Thobeka Mda, who has taken up the position of Dean at the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences.

The former Deputy Executive Director for Capacity Enhancement at the Human Sciences Research Council, Prof Mda comes highly qualified and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to CPUT.

WELCOMED: Prof Thobeka Mda chats to Wellington Campus Manager, Ben Turner.

Prof Mda is also no stranger to the higher education landscape having held the Dean position at the Faculty of Education at Unisa from 2000 to 2004.

Based at the Mowbray Campus, Prof Mda spent her first week at CPUT meeting with Education Faculty staff members at the various campuses.

Qualifying as a high school teacher 35 years ago, Prof Mda told Wellington Campus staff members that she is “a teacher” like the rest of them.

Prof Mda says she is also familiar with issues facing the education sector, from mergers of institutions to curriculum revamps.

“I do think that we’ve had similar histories in education,” she says.

Impressed with the picturesque Wellington Campus, Prof Mda says although the department is located a distance from the other sites, she will interact with staff members regularly and plans to get to know each one.

Prof Johan Anker, who heads up the Education Department at the Wellington Campus, committed his support along with that of the staff to the Dean.

“We are looking forward to working with Prof Mda,” he says.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Guided by the university’s Vision 2020 Strategic Plan, members of the Executive Management ensure the proper running of the university’s assets such as finances, human resources, infrastructure, and facilities.

They also monitor the implementation of institutional policies and maintain the highest standards in the realization of the university’s academic project.

The executive management reports to Council for all academic, research and innovation as well as all other functions of the institution.

The body is ably led by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Prins Nevhutalu, who has been at the helm of CPUT since 2014.

He had previously worked as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at both the University of Zululand and Tshwane University of Technology

Dr Nevhutalu is assisted by three Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Professor Anthony Staak (Academic), Dr Chris Nhlapo (Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships) and Prof Louis Fourie (Knowledge and Information Technology Services).

Other members are Cora Motale, Dean of Students, Registrar Nikile Ntsababa and Executive Directors Sibusisiwe Sibanda (Infrastructure Development and Facilities Management), Dr Octavia Mkhabela (Office of the Vice Chancellor), Maresce Geduld-Jeftha (Finance) and Mikhail Mabuza (Human Capital).

In order to succeed in its duties the Executive Management counts on the help of Deans who lead the university’s faculties.

They are Prof Olalekan Fatoki (Applied Sciences), Prof Mzikayise Binza (Business and Management Sciences), Prof Thobeka Mda (Education), Prof Marshall Sheldon (Engineering), Prof Dhiro Gihwala (Health and Wellness Sciences) and Prof Johannes Cronjè (Informatics and Design).

Written by Kwanele Butana
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The Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Fasset) has donated R14.6m in student bursaries to the Graduate Centre for Management (GCM) this year.

Not fewer than 125 deserving Accounting students, from second-year upwards, benefitted from the allocation received from the Fasset’s PIVOTAL Bursary Scheme with Academic Support. The successful applicants had to prove that their annual household income was not more than R600 000, the so-called “Missing Middle” grouping.

GCM’s Arnelle Meyer said CPUT and Fasset have been working in partnership for years. Meyer said besides tuition fees the bursaries cover textbooks, transport and accommodation expenses.

“They have access to a tutor on a weekly basis. Fasset is trying to address the financial burden weighing down the students from completing their studies.” She added that the students will also attend lectures during university holidays.

The award includes the provision of soft skills training which covers the following:

• Communication (reading/ observing; business writing; study skills, speaking skills); 
• Interpersonal skills (teamwork; networking);
• Decision-making skills (problem-solving, critical thinking);
• Life skills (stress management, time management, ethics, job search strategies, interview skills)

Dean of Business and Management Sciences, Prof Paul Green, said he was extremely excited about the project and commended GCM for the initiative which he referred to as a strategic project.

“You are very privileged to get the opportunity to study,” Green told the successful students. He added that research shows that universities have a high dropout rate.

“The university wants to help deserving students who are needy to complete their studies. Make yourselves and the faculty proud, work hard.”

Written by Kwanele Butana

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an excelling student during the Faculty of Education graduation ceremony on Wednesday night.

Annemarie Visser, a BEd in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching graduate, was rewarded with the Dean’s Merit Certificate for her outstanding academic performance over the four years of study.

Annemarie registered for the degree in 2016 and majored in Mathematics and Computer Applications Technology. She obtained 37 distinctions out of her 40 subjects, with a final aggregate of 86%.

“I feel very excited, grateful and honoured,” she says. “I wanted it, and I worked for it.”

She adds that she studied very hard to maintain her academic excellence. “I was involved in all of my lessons, I had a close relationship with my lecturers.”

The Protea Heights Academy teacher, who this year achieved a 99% average in Mathematics, says her overall average for the subject during her studies was 98%.

“I am very grateful to Dr Kalvin Whittles who was my Maths lecturer over the four years for his unwavering support.”

The former class representative for Mathematics plans to pursue an Honours degree in education next year.

Her advice to students who want to excel in their studies is that they must want it enough. “Work hard, try to succeed in all your subjects. Give everything, and you must want it.”

Annemarie was born in Cape Town in 1994, and attended Tygerberg High School where she completed her schooling in 2012.

“I’m extremely grateful for my parents, and there I only have God to thank,” she concludes. “I’m so thankful for everything they have done for me and taught me. This quote is very close to my heart and so true: ‘If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants’ from Isaac Newton.” 

Written by Kwanele Butana

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The Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, Prof Tembisa Ngqondi, recently hosted a special awards ceremony to celebrate student achievers in the Faculty.

About 70 students from the faculty’s five departments – Information Technology, Media, Urban and Regional Planning, Architectural Technology and Interior Design and Applied Design – were honoured during the ceremony, which was held on the District Six Campus.

Ngqondi said the awards are “a form of recognition of outstanding performance”.

“We just want to say as a faculty we recognise excellence.”

She said the event was also an appreciation of hard work and an encouragement “to please continue to do what you are doing well”.

“You are now role models and you are going to become mentors.”

Ngqondi said the achievements would not have been possible without the hard work of the lecturers and thanked them for their dedication.

The work produced by students were also showcased during the event.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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The new Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof Andile Mji, believes that teaching and learning with technology and empowering the next generation of Educators in South Africa will be the Faculty’s contribution towards accomplishing CPUT’s vision.

“I see CPUT as one of the great Universities of Technology in the country,” said Mji. “The vision of being Africa’s leading Smart University of Technology, globally renowned for innovation, with graduates that shape a better world for humanity, attracted me to the university.”

Mji, who joined CPUT during this University term, has spent several years in higher education (HE), having worked at the University of Transkei (now Walter Sisulu University), University of South Africa (Unisa) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).

Mji added that he found that everyone at CPUT had been very welcoming. “Some colleagues from different environments within the university have wished me well,” he continued. “I noticed in all their well wishes and welcoming statements that they said welcome to the CPUT family. So, my first impression is being acknowledged as a family member.

He believes that his experience in HE means that he is familiar with and thoroughly knows the South African HE landscape.

“I am a Mathematics Education Professor with extensive publications and supervision in the area, he added. “I have worked at the management level as an Assistant Dean for 16 years at TUT. In addition, l possess an MBA from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Finland. I suppose then my contribution will be in focused leadership meant to take the Faculty of Education (and the University) to greater heights by ensuring that we excel in our core business of teaching and learning, research as well as community service.

He joined TUT in 2005 as a professor at Unisa, where his last designation was associate professor. “At TUT, I worked as an assistant dean all my years.”