Nominations for VC’s Excellence Awards and other updates

27 October 2021

Dear colleagues

The nominations for the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards will be closing in two days’ time – on Friday, 29 October. Read about this and other recent developments on campus.

Nominations for Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards

The university is making a call to all those aware of teams or individuals who have gone over and above the line of duty to make a difference in the lives of others through transformative change, to nominate them for the Vice-Chancellors’ Excellence Awards. There are three categories: global citizenship, service excellence and transformation. The deadline for the submissions is Friday, 29 October 2021.

Read the VC Desk: Vice-Chancellors’ Excellence Awards 2021.

UCT vaccination site to operate on Saturdays

The UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre will remain open on Saturdays, from 09:00 to 13:00, until further notice.

The site is also open every weekday from 08:00 to 15:00. It is located at the university's Forest Hill residence complex on the Main Road, Mowbray. Access to the site is through Broad Street.

Report on the UCT Council meeting of 16 October 2021

During its meeting on Saturday, 16 October 2021, the university Council deliberated on and took decisions on a number of matters. These include a vaccination proposal, revised terms of reference for the Office of the Ombud, wellness break for staff, senior staff appointments, Transformation Report 2020 and Social Responsiveness Report 2020/21, appointment of trustees to the UCT Foundation Trust, appointment of directors to the Board of Food and Connect, and the establishment of an executive committee of Convocation.

Read the Chair’s Desk: Report on the UCT Council meeting of 16 October 2021.

Research on campus and our research symposium

With South Africa having exited the third wave and current infection numbers country-wide being low, UCT is now moving into a period of increasingly returning to engaged and ‘in person’ ways of working. This is supported by the promise of the reduced risk and consequence of COVID-19 as people increasingly become vaccinated. This positions the university well to increase research on campus and to re-vitalise interactive and engaged research.

The executive encourages staff and postdoctoral fellows to increasingly take up regular periods of time on campus, to hold face-to-face discussion groups, small scale meetings, socially distanced seminars and put back in place some face-to-face postgraduate supervision.

As part of increasing face-to-face meetings and working to get events up and going again, UCT hosted its 2nd Research Symposium of 2021 as a hybrid event on 27 October 2021.

Read the DVC Desk: Research on campus and our research symposium.

New inductees to the College of Fellows

This year, UCT has announced nine new fellows who have broken boundaries and reached an esteemed level of success in their respective fields. Induction to the College of Fellows at UCT is one of the highest recognitions an academic staff member can receive for their work. It signals original, distinguished academic work that merits special acknowledgement.

The nine permanent UCT academics who have been awarded a Fellowship this year are:

Professor Michael Claeys, Professor Joan Hambidge, Professor Nicola Illing, Professor Hanri Mostert, Professor Mpiko Ntsekhe, Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, Professor Francis Nyamnjoh, Professor Fiona Ross, and Professor Karen Sliwa-Hahnle.

Read the VC Desk: New inductees to the College of Fellows.

Reminder: Transformation and Inclusion in Higher Education Lekgotla 2021

In line with its commitment to interrogating its progress towards being a truly African university which has rid itself of racism, harassment, hetero-patriarchy, trans/homophobia, xenophobia, and all forms of inequalities, UCT will be hosting the last session of the Transformation and Inclusion in Higher Education Lekgotla 2021 on Friday, 29 October 2021. Five sessions with successful runs have been held since Monday, 11 October 2021.

The aim of the lekgotla is to connect and share work, best practice and limitations of structured approaches to better monitor, evaluate and track culture change within a student and staff population in an increasingly turbulent world. Reviewing strategies and approaches that continuously measure and evaluate development towards an institution that is accessible to all as a university of choice, is therefore critical.