The International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics, which is hosted by the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, has been recognized by AOSIS Publishers for its outstanding contribution to Open Access Journal.

The conference, together with the faculty’s Journal of Business and Management Dynamics (JBMD), received recognition for contributing to Open Access Journal in South Africa.

The CPUT conference has since 2015 brought together researchers, business leaders and postgraduate students who present their research papers, conceptual papers, case studies and technical reports addressing contemporary and development issues in management, business, finance, tourism and information management, entrepreneurship and technology.

“This recognition is an endorsement of the achievement of my vision in establishing an international conference framework that brings together academic researchers and postgraduate students across African universities and beyond to share their research output, and to create sustainable conference proceedings that lead to a recognised and accredited journal for the faculty and the university,” says Dr Twum-Darko, Editor-in-Chief of JBMD.

“Professionally, it encourages me and the team to pursue this agenda and create a sustainable platform to deepen postgraduate research in the faculty and promote internationalisation and collaboration among African institutions of higher learning."

During the recent event, which was held at the University of Pretoria, editors of Open Access scholarly books and journals were recognised.

CPUT’s 2018 conference, which will take place in August will bring together academics and business leaders from across the world to share their thinking and research outcomes on the theme of managing business competitiveness in times of glocalisation, which refers to the practice of conducting business according to both local and global considerations.

AOSIS empowers Africa by publishing open access scholarly journals, books and conference proceedings.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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On 20 August 2009 the CPUT chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society was officially launched at with the induction of over fifty new members at an evening ceremony on Bellville Campus.

CPUT is the first University of Technology (UoT) in the country to become a member of this non-profit international academic honour society, with the Central University of Technology, Free State launching its chapter in 2010.

CPUT is also one of three other provincial member institutions, namely the Universities of Stellenbosch, Cape Town and the Western Cape, who hosted their new member induction ceremonies earlier that week.

Golden Key South Africa’s Director, Charlene Günter, was present at the ceremony, along with national Chapter Relations Officer Hope Khoza, who recognised both honorary and new members on the night.

Also in attendance was Anda Bici, a member of the CPUT’s Central Student Representative Council who was instrumental in bringing the idea to the attention of the Dean of Students and Alumni Office.

Günter welcomed the guests and shared vital information to inductees, such as application for the new executive committee and receiving correspondence or electronic updates.

During the ceremony the Golden Key Chapter awards were announced with Theunis Botha, a BTech: Engineering graduate now studying towards an MTech qualification, receiving an accolade for his outstanding academic achievements.

Student Affairs and Services Transformation Manager Sam Henkeman and Alumni Officer Nandipha Madadasana were also awarded honourary life-time memberships to the Society, due to their pioneering work in successfully launching the CPUT chapter.

Another heart-warming story was that of Miriam Owusu Sekyere, an international MTech: Oncology Nursing student, whose family travelled from Ghana to celebrate this milestone with her.

Henkeman then went onto read the Golden Key Charge, a pledge of commitment to service and leadership for newly inducted ‘key holders’.

According to Henkeman, the newly formed chapter creates the prospect of turning the tide for CPUT’s undergraduate students to excel academically and obtain international scholarship opportunities.

“It also opens a door to corporate partnerships for the institutions, where experiential learning and co-operative education can take place,” he added.

Golden Key’s local partners include corporations like Rand Merchant Bank, Sasol, Investec, BMW, Unilever and the Public Investment Corporation.

This ceremony formally marks the inception of the CPUT chapter, which entitles the institution to select two representatives to form part of the local chapters’ delegation at the 2010 Golden Key International Conference in Salt Lake City, USA.

The conference affords delegations with an opportunity for cultural exchange, where each country hosts a presentation highlighting the unique work that their chapters are involved in.

The Golden Key initiative is the result of a partnership between the Transformation and Diversity Office and the Alumni division of the Advancement Office and was embarked upon to acknowledge and reward academic excellence amongst the top 15% of undergraduate CPUT students.

At CPUT, the Golden Key initiative forms part of a bigger student-driven project under development that is aimed at creating a better sense of belonging, unity and developing an ethos among members of the campus communities.

Presently, Golden Key has over 300 chapters at institutions of higher learning across seven countries and boasts national representation with chapters in four out of South Africa’s nine provinces.

By: Thando J. Moiloa

Photo: (top right) Director of Golden Key South Africa Charlene Gunter, Student Affairs and Services Transformation Manager Sam Henkeman and Chapter Relations Officer at Golden Key South Africa Hope Khoza.(bottom) The new 'key holders' gather for a group photo after the ceremony.

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT students' life stories have been shared at an international conference in Spain.

A senior lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences has presented a paper on Digital Storytelling at the recent 7^th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies in Barcelona, Spain.

The title of Mandie Richards’ paper was Creating a Platform for Transformation through Digital Storytelling. 

Richards also chaired a session at the conference called Technologies in Business Management Education.

Digital Storytelling has been integrated into the curriculum for Diversity Management 1, a subject she co-ordinates, as it allows students to explore their culture and identities and share their stories with their class mates.

She says that the subject provides opportunities for students to learn about each other and creates awareness about the diversity and socio-economic backgrounds of each individual.

“Very often students have no idea as to the adversities many students have to overcome to get to this point of studying at a tertiary institution,” says Richards.

In addition to students telling their stories, writing a script and improving their acting voice, they also have to provide a social comment to educate viewers about their story.

She feels that it is important that educators use technology creatively to captivate students, whilst adding value to their experience at university.

“Networking at the conference has also led to many new ideas which may be implemented into the Digital Storytelling methodology in the future,” she adds.

Richards joined the CPUT Digital storytelling project in 2013, and thus far more than 550 students have participated in sharing their stories through Digital Storytelling. Read more about Digital Storytelling at CPUT here http://bit.ly/1bd3VDo

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Two CPUT academics were among the presenters at the International Conference on Innovation in Basic – Higher Education.

Zinzi Magoda, a lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, and the Faculty of Education’s Assoc Prof Zayd Waghid, presented their work at the conference, which was held earlier this month in Istanbul, Turkey.

Magoda’s presentation was titled: The effect of using business experiments as a teaching strategy for effective student learning: A case of entrepreneurship students at a University of Technology.

Her areas of expertise in research include social entrepreneurship, social media marketing, consumer behaviour studies, marketing, growth, and development of Small Medium Micro Enterprises and female entrepreneurship.

She is pursuing a DPhil in Business Management and holds a National Research Foundation grant (NRF). Magoda was recently awarded a Black Academics Advancement Programme (BAAP) grant.

She said the conference's focus on innovations in basic and higher education was “a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the most recent advancements and cutting-edge research in these fields as well as to exchange best practices in teaching and learning, leadership and administration, and research collaborations”.

She thanked CPUT and the NRF for the opportunity.

Waghid’s presentation was titled: Exploring South African university educators’ pedagogical practices concerning Global Citizenship Education.

“In response to the current pandemic, I investigate the philosophical underpinnings guiding university educators' pedagogical practices at a South African university. I use a soft versus critical Global Citizenship Education framework as a conceptual lens to investigate the extent to which university educators' pedagogical practices supported by educational technology can be reconsidered in order to achieve some of the goals of critical Global Citizenship Education in cultivating social justice,” said Waghid.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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