Big moves for bigwigs

Prof  Piet Naude

The times they are a changin' …

The words of Bob Dylan’s song are pretty topical for many at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University as we anticipate what the future might bring with the departure of two of the university’s three deputy vice-chancellors.

Today, we say tot siens to Prof Piet Naude, who has served the university for 20-plus years most recently as head of Academic Affair, and in November it will hamba kahle to Prof Thoko Mayekiso, who champion our Research and Engagement.

Both are moving on to bigger job responsibilities – Prof Piet as Director of the Stellenbosch University Business School as of 1 September and Prof Thoko as Vice-Chancellor of the new Mpumalanga University. Yes, big moves for our bigwigs.

Prof Thoko Mayekiso

And then there’s our Dean of Students Khaya Matiso. He’s been seconded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Training to take charge of the dysfunctional PE College with the FET sector.

We wish them every success for the future.

And their successors too …

They are:

· Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): Research and Engagement Prof Andrew Leitch (who is the Dean of Science)

· Acting DVC: Academic Affairs: Prof Denise Zinn (who is the Dean of Education)

· Acting Dean of Student: Mxolisi Ncapyi

· Acting Dean of Education: Prof Nonnie Botha

· Acting Dean of Science: incumbent not yet named

And so the times they are a changing because whenever someone leaves or arrives things do change, if only marginally. But they do change, and change is never a bad thing, is it?

If you think it is, that change is uncomfortable, unnecessary or downright inconvenient, perhaps you’ll find comfort in the oft-quoted paradox of “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.

Postgraduate applications ...

More graduates at NMMU are studying further

It doesn’t take rocket science to appreciate that the better your education qualifications, then generally the better your salary.

That’s why we’re smiling at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University today.

You see a quick look into the latest postgraduate applications to NMMU shows that an increasing number of students appreciate this fact, and are hoping to study further.

Or in numerical terms, the university has received the following number of applications for study in 2015:

· 560 honours degrees

· 506 masters degrees

· 76 doctoral degrees

But what is even more gratifying, is that these figures are substantially higher than those received at the same time last year.

In fact, they are 154%, 93% and 204% better respectively than exactly a year ago.

A further breakdown of the present statistics reveals the biggest growth to be in the faculties of Arts, Business and Economic Sciences, Health Sciences and Science. However, every faculty’s applications for postgraduate studies show a marked increase.

Of course, the big question is why?

Why this exceptional increase in the number of applications?

As part of the marketing division within the university, we’d personally like to think it’s the great work of our student recruiters in selling the advantages of postgraduate studies at NMMU. We’re also hopeful that the NMMU television commercial – a first for us – has had a positive spin-off in terms of recruitment too.

But if we’re really honest, there are probably several reasons for the increase, not least the economy and a lack of job opportunities.

The general consensus of senior students interviewed at the Careers Fair at the end of July was that they’d study further if they were unable to get a job or if they were able to get a bursary to support their postgraduate studies. It’s a matter of grabbing whichever opportunity arises first.

This is also why the number of applications may not translate into actual registrations. Many students simply test the waters – applying at several universities in the hope that financial support will materialise for them.

So now it’s a waiting game to see if our hopes for a vastly increased number of postgraduate students for 2015 will materialise or not.

In the meantime, if you’re more curious still about which postgraduate qualifications are attracting student applications, here are the numbers with the 2013 figures followed by the 2014 figures.

Faculty

Arts
Honours

25     84

Masters

53    54

PhD

5     4

Business and Economic Sciences
Honours

53    161

Masters

39    124

PhD

11    34

Education

Honours

21    26

Masters

1     12

PhD

1    5

Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology
Honours

9    13

Masters

16   43

PhD

2    20

Health Sciences

Honours

58      158

Masters

129    228

PhD

2    7

Law

LLM

15   18

PhD

3   3

Science

Honours

54    118

Masters

9      27

PhD

1   3

If you’d like further information on postgraduate studies contact Jo-Ann.Daniels@nmmu.ac.za or call 041 5043084.

A student march ...

Every student with the potential to succeed at tertiary level is surely deserving of the opportunity …

You agree, don’t you?

Academically deserving students are deserving of a decent university education. The sad reality, however, is that many of these deserving students fall by the wayside solely because of a lack of financial support. They simply don’t have to the money to study.

And the present South African bursary pie is neither big enough nor adequately equipped to fairly distribute what it has.

Ask the thousands of promising prospective young students who have been forced to prematurely give up on their career dreams; ask the dozens of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) students who had to stop studying because the promised financial support never materialised; ask the NMMU student who spent many nights sleeping under the boardwalk because his money ran out and the bursary money never arrived.

We shared innumerable stories of heartache earlier this year when the new centralised pilot project for NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) failed to deliver upon so many of its promises and far fewer students at NMMU benefitted from the government initiative than before.

NMMU was one of half a dozen institutions of higher learning to form part of the national pilot project in which the distribution of funding was centralised. The statistics tell their own story:

· Of the 2493 first-years who applied for financial assistance, only 365 were successful (that 14.6%)

· Of the 4 881 senior students who applied, 3 231 were successful (66%) but (at last correspondence)

· Of the 471 BTech students who applied – and all but promised assistance – none received financial support.

In 2013, when NMMU was charging with distributing the NSFAS bursary pie, 3 207 senior and 1 063 first years received funding of varying amounts.

The bottom line – it appears NMMU did a better job than the new centralised team.

And that’s why NMMU students are marching on Thursday at midday.

They’ve issued an invitation for all students to join them in demanding an improved NSFAS system. Alternatively, if this is not possible, they’re asking NMMU to withdraw their support for the centralised national scheme.

Where: Gather at North Campus in front of the Letaba and Lebombo residences

When: At 1pm on Thursday

Route: Along Link Road to the traffic circle and head for South Campus

The students will then hand over a memorandum with their demands for an improved bursary scheme to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Derrick Swartz in front the main building.

It should all be over by 1pm.

It’s good to see students standing up for students, but it will be even better to see the NSFAS fiasco of earlier this year overhauled and improved to give deserving student the opportunity to a better life.

In addition to the march, NMMU's SRC has organised a meeting with NSFAS representatives from Cape Town to engage with students and to communicate their proposed solutions.

The SRC has asked that a NSFAS administrator be permanently stationed at NMMU so that students do not have to contact Cape Town for assistance.

SRC President Luzuko Ntshongwana says, "We're happy some students who have not been funded due to insufficient funds received funding this week. Nonetheless, we still need more funding for deserving students."

Nicely put ... and yes, we're agreed, more funding needs to be found for those deserving students.

NMMU's medical future ... doing it differently

NMMU's proposed medical school is under the spotlight

Tomorrow’s a pretty big day for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) – and its future.

You see, a small team from the Health Sciences Faculty is off to the Public Health Standing Committee down at the metro’s municipal headquarters at 10am to share insights on our innovative approach to health care education in South Africa.

They want to know what the university has in mind with their “bottom-up” approach to a medical school. They want to know how the university is going to respond to the ever-pressing health care needs of the country, and particularly the Eastern Cape. And they probably want to know how it’s going to impact on their own roles.

With only three doctors for every 100 000 patients, it’s pretty obvious there’s a need to produce young men and women who can respond to that need and serve our province.

The university has already received the thumbs up from several quarters, including those in the health profession. It was singled out for its innovative and realistic approach to health care education at a recent health conference in Cape Town.

“We’re being praised for how we are about to redefine the norm for health services education in South Africa,” says NMMU’s Dr Andrew Crichton, who is part of a large team driving the transformation of university’s Health Science Faculty in readiness for a medical school.

The university’s Council has already given the thumbs up to a blue print for the proposed medical school which has also been positively received by other key stakeholders within the health profession.

“We’re simply doing things differently and in line with the real needs of South Africa.”

Let’s hope the Public Health Standing Committee is in agreement too.

Unlike other tertiary institutions, NMMU will not start out with a fully-fledged medical school but, as shared, take a “bottom-up” approach and focus its curriculum on producing doctors for the realities of the South African context.

Exit and entry levels into the new General Medical Practitioner (GMP) degree, to be introduced in 2018, will also differ from traditional medical schools, along with its innovative trans-disciplinary study approach.

“It’s about being responsive to our public care system – having a real social purpose with real-world impact - and strengthening our national health imperatives. As a comprehensive university, NMMU will distinguish itself from other medical establishments in the way it does things,” says Dr Crichton.

The “bottom up” approach saw the introduction of four-year dietetics and emergency medical care degrees in 2013 and 2013 respectively, along with the much-need pharmacy technician programmes.

A Clinical Associates degree (BCMP) is expected to be introduced in 2016 and the flagship GMP degree in 2018.

But let’s hear what this key group thinks of the innovative plan …

(That means please watch this space).

Staying connected ... onboard

The trip takes 50 minutes. That’s 50 minutes for sleeping, 50 minutes for chatting, 50 minutes for reading, 50 minutes for worrying, 50 minutes for watching Port Elizabeth pass by …

From tomorrow – Friday 22 August – however, passengers will be able to add 50 minutes of free Wi-Fi into the mix.

That’s as it’s going to be for Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) students who use the Blunden bus service from our Missionvale Campus to our Second, North and South campuses in Summerstrand and back again. That’s 50 minutes plus 50 minutes each day – time that can now be spent productively (or unproductively) online.

NMMU students Jamie Wilke (left) and Simone Brewis use the free Wi-Fi on Blunden Buses with owner Shaun Blunden

In a first for Port Elizabeth, Blunden Buses is going to give its passenger free access to Wi-Fi, starting with a pilot project on the 60-seater bus they use to transport our students across the city.

“We want to add value to our passengers. Who uses Wi-Fi the most? Students. That’s why we’re starting with them,” says company owner Shaun Blunden.

NMMU already offers free Wi-Fi on all its campuses.

Once the month-long pilot project is completed, all 76 buses in the Blunden fleet will offer free Wi-Fi.

This will include the 18 buses (from 22 to 60-seater vehicles) that service NMMU students across the city from 6.30am to 10pm daily.

“I can’t wait to see the students’ faces tomorrow morning,” says Shaun, whose company’s involvement with the university started with two buses in 2006.

Next year, the family business plans to launch a mobile app that will enable students to establish the whereabouts of each of its campus-to-campus hopper buses.

  

A first for PE - free Wi-Fi on Blunden's buses

Jika ... it's a fact

Music group Mi Casa is coming to NMMU

Yes, it’s a fact, South Africa’s coolest band is coming to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. That’s Mi Casa, a trio of talented musicians, who are going to share their special brand of swing at a concert to close a successful Diversity Month at the institution.

But did you know, in line with their hit song, Jika, which is Zulu for the truth or a fact, that the band’s lead singer is an Eastern Cape man?

Yes, J-Something may have Portuguese ancestry, but he grew up in Port Alfred, just down the coast from us, and attended school in Grahamstown.

He’s a Graeme boy, who matriculated in 2006.

And perhaps more interesting is that the suave-looking Joao da Fonseca (aka J-Something) was a brilliant sportsman. That’s what they remember. That, and his ability to sing gospel songs.

He played cricket and rugby for the all-boy’s school’s first team.

“He was captain of our first rugby team,” recalls fellow Graeme schoolmate Hlumelo Ncopo, who was a few years behind Joao, and now works for NMMU.

Joao da Fonseca was an excellent sportsman

Another NMMU student who was in grade 8 when the lead singer was in matric, and is now studying Human Movement Science, also recalls his excellence on the sports field.

“He was a brilliant centre,” says Seve.

Music had featured, yes, but not with the force of J-Something’s one-time athletic ability.

Interesting how that happens.

It’s interesting how we people remember in a certain way and are understandably surprised when they do not turn out as we anticipate and are certainly not, as in this case, leading the top music group in the country!

I don’t suppose the Stellenbosch University BCom Marketing graduate hadn’t contemplated life on the music stage either … but destiny has a way of getting in the way.

Legend has it that Joao, and fellow musicians Moshe Kgasonae (Mo-T) and Sipho Mphahlaza met at a roof top party late in 2010 where they put on an impromptu performance …

“The sheer improbability of the group’s existence … three musicians landed up being in the same place, at the same time, with such incredibly strong music chemistry … “ says their promotional material.

Jika or no jika, we’re thrilled that Mi Casa is coming to:

· NMMU’s Vodacom Indoor Centre on South Campus at 7pm on Wednesday 27 April

If you’d like to be there to watch the one-time school sports star and his musical friends, tickets are R10 to staff and students (with your official card) and R20 to the public. These can be obtained from the SRC Chambers on South Campus or at the door.

If you’d like to know more, contact Sesethu on Sesethu.gqomo2@nmmu.ac.za

FOMO ... are you suffering?

If ever there was a time for sufferers of FOMO at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), that month is August …

With so much on the go, staff and students fear they may be missing out as they struggle to make choices. Yes, FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out, is alive and well at NMMU this month since Diversity Month means diaries are sagging under the weight of choices.

Add the now-controversial Talking Walls, Women’s Month and all the usual study and sporting commitments into the mix and you have a smorgasbord of epic event happenings.

It’s hard to keep pace, let alone make choices:

Do you listen to the sports girls or a lunch musical interlude? Do you check out the scientists of the future at the Eskom Science Expo or admire the photographic work of NMMU’s own students at an off-campus exhibition? Or do you challenge yourself on the question of fracking in the Karoo or celebrate “the curves of humanity” at a Women’s Day celebration.

It is happenings overload at NMMU right now.

That’s a good thing, right?

It’s good that the university is exposing its staff and student to a multitude of interesting things – showcasing the very diversity that it is celebrating this month.

For good measure, and for those who want to try to get their FOMO under control, here’s a list of what is known to this office:

· The Richmond Hill Music Festival Photographic Exhibition at Alliance Francais’s premises at 17 Mackay Street, Richmond Hill, until 29 August.

· NMMU conversations – Women’s Month discussion – at Senate Hall, on 21 August from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

· Vocalensemble proton from Austria at South Campus Auditorium from midday on 21 August. Entry free.

· Eskom Expo for Young Scientists at the NMMU Indoor Sports Centre today and tomorrow.

· Unity through Diversity at Student Counselling (on all NMMU campuses) from 12 to 1pm today and tomorrow.

· CANRAD seminar by Prof Allison Drew from the University of York in the United Kingdom from 2pm to 4pm at the Executive Seminar Room, North Campus on 21 August.

· Inaugural lecture of Prof Ncedile Saule at North Campus Conference Centre on 26 August.

· Food for all women in agricultural talk by Prof Edith Vries at George Campus Lecture Theatre from 5.30pm to 7pm on 21 August.

· The Raymond Mhlaba Memorial Lecture with Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform as the keynote speaker from 6pm on 21 August.

And then there’s the country’s most popular music group, Mi Casa, who will be performing on Wednesday 27 August to close off Diversity Month. But more on them soon …

In the interim, if FOMO is getting to you, you can always pop into the special sessions at Student Counselling. We’re sure they’ll oblige in between refreshments and some exploratory thought on sayings and music on unity through diversity …

Be brave enough to start a conversation

The talking walls are on each of NMMU's campuses 

That’s what Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University did … they heeded the call by Higher Education South Africa to try to assess what role higher education might be playing in terms of promoting democracy in South Africa.

They started the conversation by erecting temporary walls – “talking walls” - on all six of our campuses to give staff and students the opportunity to share what democracy means to them anonymously.

And for the most part, participants have responded responsibly citing everything from being able to study at a multi-cultural university to being able to vote.

But of course you always get one …

In fact, in this case, it’s probably three or four.

These are the ones who choose to spoil a perfectly good idea by sharing racist and offensive comments, which flies in the very face of NMMU’s values, and democracy itself.

The very values the university endeavours to instill in its students, like integrity and taking responsibility, are the very ones that are flouted and ignored.

Nasty, negative, racist and downright offensive statements have been shared on at least two of the nine or so boards. And a number of staff and students are not happy – understandably so.

“It tarnishes our reputation,” one highlighted, and indeed it does. Few of our 27 000 students would want to be associated with those who spew forth such venomous hate speech, but that’s life, isn’t it?

There is always one or more who will ruin it for the rest because I would hate to think that the majority of our students, the Born Frees, are racist. Most have moved on or certainly want to move beyond things that categorise them according to their colour.

We’re embarrassed by the horrible comments too because it’s Diversity Month at NMMU – a time when we celebrate our differences and how they enrich our lives.

These “talking walls” are aimed at enriching our lives by giving those who work and study here the opportunity – in line with HESA’s call – to have their say.

After all, a university, a place of higher learning, is the ideal platform for such discussions to take place. It is part of what we are meant to do. We are meant to provide folk with a safe space for sharing.

Yes, we’re meant to have critical conversations, we’re meant to be brave enough to start the conversation …

We were brave enough.

And now we’ve got to be brave, bold and honest enough in handling the fall-out (I have no doubt the media will follow up). We’ve got to acknowledge that though we have come a long way during the first 20 years of our democracy, we still have a long way to go …

After all, the writing is on the wall (literally).

Physically diverse but equally committed

Zanele Mdodana

Jolynn Minnaar

One is as tall as the other is short; one as dark as the other white and one as glam as the other is casually chic.

On the surface the two women – both guest speakers during Diversity Month at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Monday 18 August – are worlds apart. They come from vastly different backgrounds too, but there’s more that unifies these women than makes them different.

So please meet Zanele Mdodana, the physically tall, dark, glamorous woman (when she’s not dashing about the netball court) and Jolynn Minnaar, the slightly-built, casually-dressed white woman.

Both have made their mark. Zanele as an exemplary Proteas netball player, a Laureas Sport ambassador and more recently as founder of the project “Vision Girls Foundation” and Jolynn as a talented film-maker and driving force in the concerns around fracking in the Karoo.

Zanele grew up in a Port Elizabeth township, Jolynn on a farm in the Karoo.

Their backgrounds and life experiences stand in complete opposition to one another, yet there’s more that unites than divides these young women.

Drive, perseverance, commitment and a sense of purpose unites them.

It’s the latter that makes both women exceptional.

Zanele, who is also an NMMU staff member with Madibaz Sport, wants to use her God-given talents to serve others, to be a role model and provide hope to netball players of tomorrow in Port Elizabeth and beyond.

Likewise, Jolynn is using her talents as a film-maker and the insights she gathered while tracing the gas industry in America, to trigger thinking as to whether shale gas really is the solution for our energy-hungry world.

Both are driven by a sense of purpose.

And both women will be talking about their passion and purpose on Monday at NMMU.

It's about passion and a sense of purpose 

Jolynn will also screening her film Unearthed – an investigative documentary that probes fracking in America. She spent five months in North America – from New Brunswick, Canada, to Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to Colorado – during which time she traced the gas industry and met scientists, gas companies and those living in gas drilling areas, to fully research this method of gas extraction.

All in all, Unearthed is the result of 18 months of research, over 400 interviews, a large number of gag orders, no trespassing zones and the reality of being exposed first-hand to chemicals on drilling sites.

But let Jolynn tell you more.

Here are the details:

Date: Monday 18 August

Time: 5.30pm to 8pm & again from 8pm to 9.30pm (two screenings)

Venue: NMMU South Campus Council Chambers

RSVP: marcelledutoil@gmail.com

The film received the WorldView award at the Durban FilmMart for the feature film, which was one of only eight of 106 submissions across Africa selected to participate. It has also since been viewed in Cape Town, Johannesburg and the United Kingdom.

Zanele in action as a Proteas netball player

And let Zanele, along with NMMU honours student Zanele Vimbela, share their experiences about netball with you at the recent Commonwealth Games. But you’ve been warned, Zanele Mdodana is likely to take you off the court because she has a purpose in life – and it goes beyond the confines of playing netball.

Here are the details:

Date: Monday 18 August

Time: 12pm to 1.30pm

Venue: Chancellor’s Room, Sports Centre, South Campus

RSVP: Boiketlo.mongoato@nmmu.a.c.za

Thanks CANRAD (our Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism & Democracy) for providing such diverse speakers and topics knowing, however, that there’s more that unites than divides them.

A cliche, but life does go on ...

After every storm, there's a rainbow

“After every storm, there’s a rainbow.”

So revelations over the past week at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) have left many of us reeling … A leading academic at NMMU cited for the validity of his CV, and possibly doctorate. The allegation flies in the face of our ivory tower (in this case, the 18-storey edifice we inherited from our predecessor) and has us bristling in disbelief and/or anger.

A university is all about learning; it’s all about producing new knowledge; it’s all about inspiring students; it’s all about discussion, debate and discourse; it’s all about critical thinking; it's all about research; it’s all about different paradyms; it’s all about instilling new notions; it’s all about finding new solutions; it’s about technology; it’s about academic freedom; it's about serving society …

Oh, it’s about so many things … but one thing’s for sure, it’s not about CHEATING in any form of word.

So when a former dean is accused of “misrepresenting” his CV – the documentation that got him the job in the first place – it’s a tad hard to accept. But let’s not rush ahead of ourselves as the investigation is ongoing.

In the interim, Prof Velile Notshulwana has been suspended.

If we didn’t learn this via our internal e-mail yesterday, we’d have found it hard to miss today. It was again plastered on the billboards and splashed across the front page of the local daily, the Herald with its 23000 readers. (The Advertising Value Equivalent – what you would pay for the space if you were advertising - of last week’s full page expose was close to R100 000. What a joke. It’s negative news).

It’s been hard – this assault upon NMMU’s credibility, but I’m hopeful we’ll weather the proverbial storm.

Once the investigation, which is also verifying his PhD, articles and employment claims, is completed, a disciplinary hearing will be held.

As long as we do the right thing, and let the world know we have done the right thing by communicating the findings, the university will survive the present bruising. It’s been a nasty bruising that few of us in public relations and communications at the university would like to re-live, but the bruise will fade … and life will go on, and there will be many more wonderful rainbows to follow.

Madibaz Radio ... coming to you soon

“Radio bought people closer, brought entertainment to the doorsteps of homes … it contributed to the happiness and welfare of human society …”

I think we’re all agreed with this, and thankful for the invention of Guglielmo Marconi, about 113 years ago.

Radio is an integral part of lives – entertaining, enlightening, educating or simply reminding us we’re not alone. And very soon radio will become a part of our work and study lives at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Yes, we’re getting our own radio station. Madibaz Radio.

The institution has a had a couple of successful forays into radio in the past with Radio Uppie (with the former University of Port Elizabeth), the community-focused CBFM and smaller ventures by journalism students. Several of today’s top DJs – Daron Mann, Lance du Plessis and Martin Bester to mention a few – started out on these stations.

Madibaz Radio's management team (back from left) Musa Mosweni, Tebogo Sekhalo, Sinazo Mtshengu, manager Saki Makapela, (front) Khanyisa Melwa and Kgabo Maphoto.

But now it’s time for a new generation of radio presenters, programmers and DJs to take centre stage (which happens to physically be above Standard Bank in the Kraal area on South Campus). And how excited Madibaz Radio station manager Saki Makapela and his young team of volunteers are to begin broadcasting.

It is baby steps first as the station will be broadcast via a web address online. And then it hopes to spread its wings later this year with a broadcast licence to reach further listeners via traditional radio channels on the FM frequency. The team has already applied for the licence.

“We’re excited about what’s to come and can’t wait to start broadcasting,” says Saki, a former NMMU journalism student, who previously worked for South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

So far a team of 60 student volunteers has been assembled, led by a smaller dedicated management team. Volunteers will be given a two-month probation to prove their worth and to assess that the programme line-up meets the diverse needs of its diverse listeners.

NMMU music students are already recording the radio jingles, its journalism students are preparing to read the news and the DJ Student Society is providing music mixes and other expertise to respond to the provisional 7am to 10pm weekday programme line-up of:

· 7 – 9am breakfast show

· 9am to midday, mid-morning show

· 12pm to 1pm lunchtime show

· 1pm to 2pm alternate show - current affairs, sport, campus politics and societies

· 2pm to 4pm afternoon cruise

· 4pm to 6pm drive show

· 6pm to 7pm current affairs talk hours

· 7pm to 8pm education talk show

· 8pm to 10pm music offerings

The line-up at the weekends will offer different genres of music from a jazz hour through to hip hop and will also flight the original work of NMMU’s own talented music students.

The teams responsible for each programme will come up with names for their own shows “because we want them to take responsibility for the role,” says Musa Mosweni, who is Madibaz Radio’s programming manager.

According to Saki, Madibaz Radio is purely a student station with its focus on students and student needs.

The content mix is expected to be 80% English, 15% isiXhosa and 5% Afrikaans.

So yes, it’s all pretty exciting … now we simply wait as the final equipment is installed and the teams are trained in the various processes. This will probably take another month.

Stuart Keil and David Opperman of Magnetic Storm are installing equipment for the new Madibaz Radio.

In the interim, however, if you have questions or wish to advertise on Madibaz Radio, here are your contacts:

Programming.madibazradio@nmmu.ac.za

Sales.madibazradio@nmmu.ac.za

Marketing.madibazradio@nmmu.ac.za

Technical.madibazradio@nmmu.ac.za

Music.madibazradio@nmmu.ac.za



We wish the team all the best for Madibaz Radio.

Talking heads ... and walls

 “When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said,” or so says Catherine Murdock.

How true. And so, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is doing its bit to stimulate conversation around a topic key to South Africa’s future – democracy, a subject that might otherwise not be discussed, debated or even reflected upon.

Enter Talking Heads and Talking Walls.

Talking Heads artwork of NMMU staff and students

Both are initiatives to get staff and students thinking, talking and sharing about democracy, especially South Africa’s 20-year democracy and the role that higher education can play.

It is part of a bigger campaign within NMMU, and part of a national campaign being championed by Higher Education South Africa (HESA).

NMMU’s Talking Heads are large cut-out profiles of actual NMMU staff and students who also share their thoughts on democracy within the artwork silhouettes (see photograph above).

The Talking Walls are large Corex white boards on which staff and students are invited to share their thoughts on democracy. These have been positioned in busy areas on all six of NMMU’s campuses, some having several boards.

And so far so good … the conversation is flowing.

NMMU student Khanya Mdlankomo shares her thoughts on the Talking Wall.

The HESA project, which is being rolled under the banner of the Common Campaign Days, is underway at all 23 institutions of higher learning throughout South Africa.

At NMMU, we have also introduced a democracy webpage, hosted a book launch, an environmental justice exhibition, an education seminar and a high profile discussion – called the Big Debate – around the post-school market. The latter was particularly successful with students tweeting their thoughts and opinions with the panelists.

But the Talking Heads and Talking Walls are ongoing – a welcome innovative addition on the NMMU landscape.

The number of profile artworks featuring NMMU staff and students will be increased and will travel from campus to campus, while the temporary Talking Walls will be joined by permanent, larger Talking Walls throughout NMMU. These walls will host other interesting discussions and will, in future, form part of the university’s public art.

So please join the conversation.

What does democracy mean to you? Go to http://intra.nmmu.ac.za/Soapbox/May-2014-(1)/20-years-of-democracy

Billboard blues ... for NMMU

NMMU's integrity is under the spotlight

NMMU Prof in CV Scandal …

These words screamed at us from the billboards en route to our university. They’re words that fill us with shock, curiosity and anger; words that trigger questions and disbelief; words that hurt.

It does not matter whether we are staff members or students, the billboard and accompanying lead story in today’s Herald newspaper about a former dean’s alleged plagiarism and fraudulent actions, impacts upon us all.

But none more so than Prof Velile Notshulwana, whose integrity and credibility is at the centre of story.

An investigation is underway at NMMU to verify the validity of Prof Notshulwana’s CV after the university was alerted by independent sources that all might not be as claimed by the good professor. Possibly at about the same time, the local newspaper, the Herald, began its own investigations. Today’s front page and page 2 stories are the result of that investigation.

And it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

Prof Notshulwana who studied in the States, but originally comes from Port Elizabeth, is alleged to have provided false information in his CV, claimed authorship of journal articles of which he was not involved and plagiarised the writings of others for his weekly columns in the Herald back in 2011 and 2012. The famed Dr Phil is among those whose writing he is alleged to have used without the source’s acknowledgement.

There are now also aspersions about the validity of his doctorate.

As part of the appointment process at NMMU, all CVs of short-listed candidates are vetted on behalf of the university by an outside agency. The university followed this process with Prof Notshulwana. No information was brought to NMMU’s attention by Kroll (Managed Integrity Evaluation (Pty) Ltd) to doubt the material claims made in the CV.

Right now, however, this is immaterial. Right now, what’s important is that NMMU completes its own investigation and responds accordingly. They must either apologise profusely for the embarrassment caused to our former colleague or mete out punishment according to its our own disciplinary code.

Whatever the findings, it’s imperative that we do what is right to protect our integrity.

NMMU must walk the talk and uphold its values, especially that of integrity and taking responsibility.

Failure to do so will impact upon us all because we’re all tainted with the same brush – students and staff together.

The public doesn’t look for the detail. It’s the broad strokes they see … for everyone knows bad things happen (that’s life); it’s how we handle the bad stuff that’s important.

Join NMMU & see the world ...

Heather Wilford

Today, it’s over to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) student Heather Wilford, who recently returned from an exchange programme in Holland …

We’re pretty confident that once you have read her feedback, you’ll go scrambling about the NMMU website for similar opportunities because every year the university sends hundreds of its students overseas to get a taste of life elsewhere.

“How do you know what a dream is, if you never accomplished one? How do you know what an adventure is if you never took part in one? How do you know what is an anguish if you’ve never said goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears.

“How do you know what being desperate is, if you never arrived in a place alone and cannot understand what everyone else was saying. How do you know what diversity is if you never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world? How do you know what tolerance is, if you never had to get used to something different even if you didn’t like it.

“How do you know what autonomy is, if you never had the chance to decide something by yourself? How do you know what it means to grow up, if you never stop being a child to start a new course?

Heather (second right) experiencing Hup Hup Holande!

“How do you know what is to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone and had a computer screen to prevent you from doing it. How do you know what distance is, if you never, looking at a map, said ‘I’m so far away’? How do you know what language is, if you never had to learn one from friends. How do you know what patriotism is, if you never shouted “Hup Hup Holanda” wearing a flag around your body?

“How do you know what an opportunity is, if you never caught one? How do you know what pride is, if you never experienced it for yourself at realizing how much you have accomplished. How do you know what to seize the day is, if you never saw the time running so fast?

“How do you know what love is, if you never experienced the adrenaline from a summer fling? How do you know what a friend is, if the circumstances never showed you the true ones? How do you know what family is, if you never had one that supported you unconditionally.

“How do you know what borders are, if you never crossed yours, to see what is on the other side? How do you know what imagination is, if you never thought about the moment when you returned home?

“How do you know the world, if you have never been an exchange student?”

I told you you’d be yearning to experience the joys of travelling once you’d read this …

For more information contact NMMU’s International Office for Education’s Study Abroad Programme on studyabroad@nmmu.ac.za

Heather Wilford recommends travelling.  

Diversity Month at NMMU

About 8% of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s 27 000-plus students come from outside South Africa’s borders or, to be more specific, from 64 countries around the globe.

This makes us one of the most internationalized universities in the country, and certainly a top candidate for celebrating diversity. And that’s what we do every August at NMMU. We celebrate our wonderful differences with an equally diverse selection of events.

Of course, those differences range far beyond our own Rainbow nation collective through to the differences we have across our continent and across the world and goes far beyond colour. It also includes our differences in gender, age, size, culture, religion, ideas …

In fact, respect for diversity is one of NMMU’s six values, and possibly the university’s leading “unsold” selling point.

Ask any NMMU student what makes this university special and there’s a good change they will mention the mix of students and the value that this adds to their lives.

Or to quote Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar Kirsty-Lee Fouche: “I love working with people, meeting new ones and being exposed to others from all walks of life. I think it’s very important to embrace our differences and respect other cultures, beliefs, values and ideas.”

And this month, August, is when we celebrate those differences and appreciate how every individual is unique. Diversity at NMMU is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing these differences.

August allows us to really explore these differences in a safe, positive and nurturing environment.

That’s why there are debates on stereotyping, food tasting sessions, photographic competitions, discussions, music concerts and even Russian language lessons …

It was Martin Luther King who said “we fear each other because we do not know each other”. So take advantage of this opportunity at NMMU or wherever you happen to live or work to put that fear aside and get to know someone of a different culture and colour to you.

Your life will be enriched.

Check out NMMU’s programme on http://ow.ly/zULsB and get involved.

Slipping into slippers ... at work

Putting your feet up at work

There’s something so comforting about slipping into a pair of slippers – down-time, home-time, relaxation, no-fuss, no-bother, no-worry about what we look like, cup of tea, feet-up, couch-time, fire-side comforts …

Not so when we are at work.

We simply don’t associate the comfort of our slippers with the heady, fast-paced world of work, do we?

How liberating then to swop our stilettoes for slippers for a day as part of the annual Reach for a Dream Slipper Day fundraising campaign at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) today, 1 August.

As one of NMMU’s values is Ubuntu, which recognises our compassion for others, we are encouraged to support such initiatives.

And so our department (Marketing and Corporate Relations), bought our R10 stickers to help this fabulous charity organisation top last year’s figure of R2.3m for funds raised and to enjoy the luxury of padded pantoffels in the office for a day.

Slowing the pace with slippers ...

What a small price to pay for the privilege of stepping into down-time, home-time, relaxation etc., a good few hours before official slipper-time begins at the weekend.

How liberating to sit behind a desk wearing my faithful foot servants and then schlep down the passage to put the kettle on for an accompanying cuppa. (Slippers imply a slowing of pace, hence we schlep as oppose to walk). And how gratifying to know that the out-of-kilter comfort experienced today will give youngsters with terminal illnesses the opportunity to experience something special to them …

Of course, it’s all a little easier when your colleagues are cosseted in their slippers too. Brave is the lecturer who steps boldly into a lecture hall wearing his Superman slippers …

Mind you, he or she will be in good company, not just today, but any day for it is not unknown for members of Generation Y (our students) to pop into a shop, visit friends or even casually trawl the malls in their favourite footwear – slippers. (Not to mention pyjamas pants …)

For slippers are no longer the sole preserve of grandmothers … they’ve come out of the closet (literally and figuratively) in recent years as witnessed by the support the annual Slipper Day charity drive receives.

And they’re also no longer “Grannified”, dull affairs … They’re of every colour for every taste, but comfort remains the core.

It was something that Derek “the slipper man” appreciated. According to reports, he wore his faithful footwear for 23 consecutive years … at home and at work, in fact everywhere …

Nah, evenings, weekends and once a year at work is time enough for me and my slippers! And you?

Slipper talk at NMMU - living our value of ubuntu.