UCT Digital Bootcamp launch and other updates

24 June 2022

Dear colleagues and students

The university has launched the UCT Digital Bootcamp, an innovative pilot project aimed at offering another employment pathway for young people to help them unleash their digital potential. Read more on this and other updates below.

1. Launch of the UCT Digital Bootcamp

The University of Cape Town (UCT) in partnership with digital education company, Umuzi, launched an innovative project for UCT’s interrupted studies students as well as those who have not been able to secure employment for three years or more. The UCT Digital Bootcamp launch took place on Wednesday, 22 June 2022.

The UCT Digital Bootcamp will offer sponsored training to eligible participants. No previous digital experience or skills are required.

As part of the UCT Digital Bootcamp pilot programme, 100 young people will begin to move ahead in a direction that may be different from their original career goals, but will be provided with digital skills for them to possibly reach those goals by a different path.


2. UCT VC elected to head the International Alliance of Research Universities

UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng has been elected chair of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU). She was elected at the recent IARU Presidents’ Meeting, which took place at Cambridge University. She will take over from Professor Stephen J Toope, the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

Her two-year term will be from 2023 to 2025, during which the IARU Secretariat will be located at UCT. Her election means that, for the first time in the history of IARU, the organisation will be led by an African.

IARU is a network of 11 international research-intensive universities from nine countries across the globe. Established in 2006, the IARU members are the Australian National University; ETH Zurich; National University of Singapore; Peking University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Cambridge; UCT; University of Copenhagen; University of Oxford; the University of Tokyo; and Yale University.


3. ICTS extended scheduled maintenance on Sunday, 26 June

Please note that on Sunday, 26 June there will be an extended Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) scheduled maintenance slot from 08:00 to 17:00. All ICT services other than UCT email and other Microsoft 365 services will be unavailable for the duration of the maintenance slot.

Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, etc that require ICT services. 

For more information, see an article on why ICTS schedules regular monthly maintenance slots.


4. Complete the 2022 UCT Student Experience Survey

UCT is conducting a survey about student experiences with learning and teaching in the first semester of 2022. Feedback is very important, and the university welcomes the opportunity to find out what students experienced over the first half of the year and how the learning experience can be enhanced going forward. 

In addition to better understanding learning experiences across all courses, there is also an interest in knowing what changes students would like to see in relation to learning and teaching at UCT as COVID-19 restrictions are further relaxed.

The survey is for undergraduate and postgraduate students and will take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Comments need to be submitted by 29 July 2022.

For more information and questions, please contact Daniela Gachago.

Communication and Marketing Department


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