It's how you handle things that counts

Bad things happen. It’s how you handle these bad things that really matters.

Bad things have happened to each one of us. We’ve let a friend down and caused them harm; failed to hand in an assignment; missed an examination even; forgotten to feed the dogs; been injured in a sports event; we’ve hurt another in a silly fight; lost a loved one …

The list of bad things – be they trivial or traumatic - is never-ending. It is a part of life. Often these bad things are beyond our control – like a taxi accident that leaves us physically scarred or a parents’ retrenchment that leaves us without funding for our studies.

Plain, bad misfortune.

What is in our control however, is our response to these bad things.

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University has had its fair share of bad things as reported in the local media from late 2013 and this year: its apparent refusal to admit blind students; the alleged plagiarism and fraud by a professor and now, as was shared at the weekend, staff who took bursary money that was not theirs to take …

So what is the university’s response to all of this?

NMMU has a responsibility to its staff and students to do the right thing.

In the case of the apparent refusal to admit blind students, NMMU welcomed the visually impaired students, going out of its way to accommodate them with new facilities, training staff and ensuring these new students received other specialised support.

The former Dean of the Faculty of Arts is no longer in the employ of NMMU and the staff members who took bursary money have returned it with interest. To be fair, there had been “no dishonest intent” by these staff members, who unwittingly took up an offer by the former head of the student finance division.

NMMU has tried to do what is right even though it may have initially erred in turning away the blind students; failed to do more stringent checks of the professor’s CV and perhaps not acted swiftly enough regarding the bursary allegations.

And for these shortcomings, I believe NMMU would do well to say it is sorry. Staff and students might appreciate an apology that acknowledges failure (even perceived failure) and gives an assurance that the University wishes to make good.

After all, it’s how you handle things that really matters …