It’s Kit Kat time at NMMU

We're taking a break!

We’ve tucked into a Kit Kat, hauled out the slops and slapped on the sun tan lotion. Yes, the life@nmmu blog is taking a breather. We’re taking a break, and eating the proverbial Kit Kat.

It won’t be for too long, but long enough for us to unwind, relax and recharge the batteries that keep us going throughout 2014.

And we’ll be reflecting too, recalling the good times and bad and generally taking stock of all that has happened in the past 365 days.

Such as:

• All our green advances in technology, like the wind turbines and solar phone charging units

• Our staff and students who achieved internationally, like Vice-Chancellor’s Scholars Amy-Rose Westcott, who was the world’s top achiever in the Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary Levels maths exam. She beat 69 000 others around the globe
• 
  
• Former SRC President Yusuf Cassim becoming the youngest member of Parliament in the history of South Africa at just 24 years old

• The incredible number of building projects undertaken, including completion of Africa’s first “green” public building, the R116m Business School 

• Growing interest in NMMU’s future medical school, which is being established in a “bottom-up approach” 

• News of a future maritime faculty for NMMU

There will also be a chance to focus on our future … and for NMMU; much of it will include our 10-year anniversary celebrations in 2015.

So till then, life@nmmu wishes you a blessed festive season and looks forward to connecting with you again in the New Year.

Thank you for your continued support.

Forget the car park blues ...

I glance out of my office window at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) to an almost empty car park. The students are on holiday and the bulk of our academic and support staff are too.

Just as I start to suffer from the “car park blues” and feel sorry for myself with the resentment rising within because they are relaxing while I am still beavering away, I remember …

I remember that I have a job. I am employed.

I have somewhere to go each day and a means of earning a living.

I am fortunate.

I am especially fortunate in South Africa with its official unemployment figure of 25.5% (unofficially, it’s put at over 30%) – which equates to about 5.2 million South Africans without a job, according to StatsSA.

I also remember that I am naive in believing that all 27 000 of our students are relaxing. Few can afford the luxury of a two-month lay-off from a financial perspective. Many of them have to work to supplement the cost of obtaining a tertiary qualification.

As a former lecturer, I once had a student who went overseas every end-of-year break to work on building sites in the United Kingdom so that he could pay for the following year’s tuition fees.

Apart from the financial benefits for students who work in the holidays, there’s another – perhaps more important reason – that students should seek holiday employment during their study years. It just makes them more marketable. It gives them the edge when it comes to entering the workplace for real.

And it’s not just me saying that. Research by Adcorp in 2012 shows that those who take up internships are 30% more successful in finding longer-term placements than those who have had no previous work experience.

Doing holiday jobs gives you more than just financial rewards

I know I have an internship to thank for my first job as a young reporter at the Herald. I worked there every holiday. Perhaps it is simply a case of better the devil you know than the unknown student who sends in his CV. Whatever the reason, I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity I had to practice my future trade and be assured I had chosen the right career. 

But holiday jobs need not be within our chosen field because all work has something to teach us in terms of discipline, commitment, being prompt, being polite, perseverance and interacting with people.

If students find themselves scrubbing dishes, serving people, handing out flyers, inputting information, answering telephones or whatever it is, it also shows a certain willingness (though sadly, there appears to be a growing movement among young people to think they are above certain forms of work – see Catherine Wijnberg’s excellent article: http://ow.ly/G1wr0) and this is to be commended.

Remember the student who worked on the building sites in the British mid-winter. Such work not only paid his fees, it made him appreciative of the fact that he needed a qualification if he did not want to be labourer for the rest of his life.

But it also gave him a head start when it came to permanent employment – his employers recognized his work ethic and his ability to work with people from all works of life (a must for a journalist). Today he travels the world for a top sports media group.

So if you are working student reading this, laugh off your form of the “car park blues” because you have given yourself a head start in the job market – one in which 600 000 graduates in South Africa also find themselves permanently unemployed.

Take advantage of such opportunities to bolster your CV and supplement your study fees

Be the change you want to see …

Sister Ethel with a young recipient from the Christmas party 

“I may be only one person. But I am one person who can make a difference.”

This phrase, painted on a wall of the Missionvale Care Centre in the impoverished shack lands of Missionvale in Port Elizabeth, is one I will never forget.

In fact, it‘s one I cling to in difficult circumstances and one my colleagues, family and friends are probably tired of hearing about from me. And that’s ok, because it’s not going to stop me - or others at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University – from spouting the truth.

We all have the ability to change things – if we are simply committed enough.

A message of encouragement to us all from the Missionvale Care Centre

That change is up to you, and of course, it starts with yourself. Understanding, reflecting, dissecting and getting to know who you really are and what you want to be and what you want to see change (for the better).

Day 3 of the annual Missional Care Centre Christmas party for the children of Missionvale

There are few better examples of being the change you want to see in the world than Port Elizabeth’s own Sister Ethel Normoyle.

Almost 27 years ago Sister Ethel began a journey into the informal shack lands of Missionvale that would begin to change the welfare of an entire community.

She had neither money nor supplies to reach out to the forgotten masses of this deprived community. But she had faith and determination (and nursing know-how).

This week I had the privilege of spending time in the company of the people of Missionvale as they celebrated an early Christmas thanks to the ongoing efforts of Sister Ethel. (For three mornings the Missionvale Care Centre hosted the annual Christmas party for the community’s children.)

And this party, during which 3 000 children each received a gift and some sweets, is but one aspect of what one’s woman’s commitment to change can bring.

Today, Missionvale has its own primary school, clinic, clothing warehouse, child development programme, 291 community gardens, community health practitioners, nutrition unit, church and community hall, crafter’s unit, adult development programme, eye clinic, doctor’s service and a team of volunteers from around the globe.

Not bad for a tiny Irish nun with faith.

As much as Sister Ethel will shy from the limelight, she is the one person who made a difference for Missionvale. She inspired others to the same deep compassion she has for the people of Missionvale.

She practiced the change she wanted to see in the world.

What about you?

What change do you want to see in the world?

At NMMU, we encourage you to take responsibility and do what you know will add value, not just for yourself, but for others. 

The volunteers and staff of the Missionvale Care Centre

Doing things differently …

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is doing things differently - with research that is transdisciplinary

Doing things differently. It’s a catchphrase we like to use at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University because we’d like to believe that we are trying to do things differently – well, certainly differently from your more traditional universities.

As a fairly new university (we are 10 next year), and one born from the merger of three very different institutions of higher learning (that’s the University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Technikon and the PE campus of Vista University), we have a wonderful opportunity to think afresh and not necessarily follow the same path as our established predecessors.

And so, where and when possible, NMMU endeavours to look beyond its “fixedness”.

It’s a term I learnt recently when attending a first-time workshop on “design thinking” presented by NMMU lecturer Prof Margie Cullen at our Business School. She’d attended a workshop at Harvard by Prof Srikanth Datar, and with his blessing, was now sharing the benefits of thinking afresh with anyone who’d care to listen. (Incidentally, there were many who cared to listen.)

In short, our “fixedness” (the set way in which we approach things), is often what stops us from seeing things differently. Instead of seeing a crisis as an opportunity to improve what we have, for example, we only continue to see it as a crisis.

So design thinking is about how you see things … and our assumptions become our worst enemies, especially when it comes to innovation. It blinds us to opportunities.

This fixedness, how we are set in our way of thinking because of our culture, beliefs and/or family traditions, means we will always get the same results.

We simply need to change the way we think.

But before we even get there, says Margie, we need to make time to think. Making that time will help us to ask the right questions and to clear the brain in thinking afresh. It is a time when you can ask yourself the likes of what you learnt today, what you can share, what you can do and what you should or should not repeat.

Thinkers are those who value ideas, explore options, embrace ambiguity, think out of the box, connect to the unconnected, add value and never fear failure. (Incidentally, South Africa does not embrace failure – once you’ve mucked up, you’re unlikely to ever get the consolatory bosom treatment as is commonplace in the States. And yet it is in failure that the biggest lessons are learnt).

Thinkers are those who identify needs and solve them even before we realise we had a need. Apple’s Steve Jobs was one such soul.

Thinkers do not defer responsibility, blaming others. Rather they embrace all that comes their way.

In fact, says Margie, our thinking is what defines us.

So it’s pretty exciting to know that NMMU is determined to avoid “fixedness” just because of what has gone before. (Though there are areas of fixedness that makes me want to scream … but I will save that for another blog).

One such example of the university’s determination to do things differently (to think about today’s real needs), is its integrated approach to learning. The silo approach of only knowing about your own subject is set to change. Students are increasingly being seeped in knowledge from many fields so that the economists can add value to the conservationists and the conservationists can advise the artists and the artists can reflect afresh on the work of the engineers etc.

It’s a transdisciplinary approach that the university is advocating because by working together we are better equipped for seeking solutions for a better tomorrow.

This was evident at the recent 2nd National Global Change Conference attended by about 300 students from universities throughout South Africa. They weren’t only science students, but came from all disciplines.

Ask Prof Maarten de Wet, an internationally-renowned scientist whose discipline links the hard sciences with the humanities in tackling challenges affecting the earth and humanities’ future.

“I am glad I made the move to come to NMMU. Here the university does things differently. We don’t want to think and act separately, but rather work in a comprehensive way – it’s about a transdisciplinary approach.”

Making history … NMMU’s first summer graduation

Education graduates sisters Cindy-Lee and Lee-Ann Bosch

We made history today … that’s Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and some 400-plus students as they were capped at the university’s first summer graduation.

And what a happy occasion is was for 400 Education graduates and 30-odd postgraduate students who received their masters and doctoral degree.

The new summer graduation supplements the university’s traditional graduation ceremonies in April – and following today’s successful event, is very likely to become an annual event on the academic calendar.

No less than 63 staff members filled the stage, while the Indoor Sports Centre itself was almost filled to capacity to witness what South Africa desperately so needs (in large numbers) – qualified teaching graduates who are committed to the country’s future.

The Government might well have boasted an increase in the Grade 12 national senior certificate results in 2013 (over the previous years), but we all well know that the state of education in our country is not healthy.

I mean, 500 000 learners who start out in grade 1, don’t even get to their matric year, and those who do, only need a 30% or 40% pass mark for their various subjects to complete their schooling.

When compared with other countries the shortcomings of our own schooling system are even more obvious.

South Africa’s maths and science ranks second last in the world – not second last in Africa, but the world. According to the Global Information Technology Report of last year, only Yemen’s youngsters are worse than ours.

The facts speak for themselves.

Our schooling system is a mess. We are failing hundreds of youngsters.

That’s why today’s graduation is so special. Yes, it’s a first for us - a piece of NMMU history. But it’s these young men and women who have the opportunity to help create a new history for South Africa.

It’s a history in which our education system will produce learners who can read, write, solve mathematical and other problems and think critically. They won’t just scrape through with 30% or 40%, but get at least 50% for all their subjects. They’ll be our leaders and economic drivers of tomorrow.

BRIGHT FUTURE ... BEd FET graduates Jason Field, Anike Botha (a Vice-Chancellor's Scholar), Margaretha and Carla Steyn all completed their degrees cum laude  

We need dedicated teachers to achieve this – people who are committed to the cause of opening young minds to the wonders of knowledge; people who believe in the abilities of people; people who are not driven by lucrative financial jobs but by ideals …

To see 400-plus young men and women of all races graduate with Bachelor of Education degrees (in Foundation, Intermediate and Further Education and Training phase) and with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education or Honours, was gratifying because it signals hope for our future.

It indicates that there are those who recognise the importance of education and are prepared to put their hands up to help turn our present-day “F” into a “B+” or “A” in building a better tomorrow for all our children.



Congratulations to all our graduates!

'An amazing generosity of spirit'

The NMMU Alumni team lead by example when it comes to supporting its students

Calling all naysayers, prophets of doom and down-in-the-mouth pessimists out there ...

There is hope. There is a better future. There is light at the end of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University kindness tunnel.

Anyone fortunate enough to have attended the Alumni Thanksgiving breakfast would have surely recognised this too as speaker after speaker shared inspiring snippets as to how they had been helped or are helping dozens of students achieve their dreams of obtaining a university education.

Or to use the Vice-Chancellor’s response: “What an amazing generosity of spirit” within the room.

(Incidentally, that room is the South Campus boma that was moved from Bird Street Campus many moons ago to its present location below the university’s many cricket fields).

There was the Alumni Student Association, whose past and present chairmen and women shared the story behind the alumni bag. At R25 for a shopping bag, you are contributing to students whose journey to graduation is full of financial challenges. (The Vice-Chancellor however bought one for R2600 during an impromptu auction).

A little can go a long way in helping students achieve their study dreams

And then there was the story of lecturer Paul Tai-Hing’s initiative – to put theory into practice. It’s an approach that benefits both his students and so many others.

His business management students run their own student businesses with the profits ploughed straight back into the community for education purposes.

In less than two years, his students’ entrepreneurial enthusiasm has raised R384 500 from the sale of a recipe book.

As a result, the students have been able to:

· Restore classrooms at Lwandlekhazi High School in New Brighton

· Contribute R80 000 towards disadvantaged students at NMMU in the form of food parcels, transport costs and study fees

· Buy stationery for Missionvale Primary School learners

· Buy toys for children at Missionvale Care Centre run by Sister Ethel Normoyle and donate R30 000 for general expenses

· Donate R85 000 to the Masenyusane Development Corporation, an organisation that helps the poorest schools in the metro

· R25 000 to the Laphumilanga Orphanage in Zwide

· Sponsorship for 10 matric students to attend the Accounting Winter School at NMMU

· Building of a toilet block, valued at R74 000, at Ben Sinuka Primary School in New Brighton

· Donate computer cabling, valued at R10 000, to Kwezi Lomso High School in Zwide

· Donate R9 500 for security gates at Kwa-Ford Primary School in New Brighton and

But students also gave of their time in the form of:

· 983 hours of one-on-one English tutoring

· 148 weeks of food parcels to families in need

Just as the boss man was moved to be the highest bidder of the bag, so those attending were inspired to do their bit. I am so grateful that generosity rubs off to the benefit of others.

So join the goodwill drive at NMMU, and buy your alumni bursary fund bag for just R25.

To learn more contact paul.geswindt@nmmu.ac.za, call 041 5044371 or e-mail shop@nmmu.ac.za

NMMU Alumni (from left) office bearers Vernon Naidoo, Randall Jonas, Renita Affat of the NMMU Trust and Vice Chancellor Prof Derrick Swartz

NMMU lecturer Paul Tai-Hing (centre) is joined by Vernon Naidoo (left) and Randall Jonas

Living his Legacy

By Bev Erickson

As we celebrate the life of  Tata Madiba, our namesake,  on the first anniversary of his passing – it got me reflecting on the legacy he left behind, and the great leader he was.

I recently had the privilege of listening to the former private secretary of Madiba, Zelda la Grange. Her 60 minute presentation had everyone hanging on her lips as she told humorous and touching stories of her time with Nelson Mandela. She was just so “real” in her approach – nothing pretentious or fake about her – I guess like the man she called boss for more than half of her life.

The story I found particularly fascinating was his attention to detail and what a stickler he was for honesty and integrity. She spoke of a foreign visit when he was given the most beautiful hotel suite – complete with designer bottles of shampoo, body wash and fragrances in the bathroom. Late that evening, Zelda was summoned to his room and asked to fire the entire security team. Madiba had noticed that one of these little bottles had gone missing and would not rest until he had found the perpetrator. As the peacemaker, Zelda lined the entire team up in his room and the perpetrator was identified.  He took note of the little things and he had zero tolerance for dishonesty.

The interesting part of the presentation was the question time afterwards. And of course there were many! She handled them diplomatically and knew where the line was that she wouldn't overstep illustrating her own integrity. 

What a wonderful relationship these two totally different people had. A true testimony to both of them.

Then, last Sunday – I watched Long Walk to Freedom on TV with my husband and 17 year old daughter. I was reluctant to watch the movie as how could anyone even begin to portray such a colossus of a person? But Idris Elba did a pretty good job! It was wonderful to watch the life of Nelson Mandela played out in chronological order – giving a perspective of what he did and achieved in his life time.

Something else that opened my eyes were the comments by my 17 year old on the atrocities of our past and how foreign they were to her. “Did that really happen?”, “Didn't you know it was wrong?” 

But despite the wrong-doings, our beloved Madiba showed compassion and love for his country.

Tata – we will never forget you.

Living his Legacy 1918 - 2013