Triple the joy

Only the cream-of-the-academic-cream is awarded the prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. These are the youngsters who not only get straight A’s for their final matric marks, but are among the top academic achievers in the country. An average of 85% should do it.

An average of 85.1% did it for Deon Beauzec – just.

Yes, that’s how clever the 25 Vice-Chancellor’s Scholars are …

But few are likely to be as kind as Deon who has opted to share his R82 742-a-year bursary with his sibling, Michael, especially since the twin brothers and their parents do not have the means to fund their studies.

Michael and Deon Boezec

Deon’s windfall will now cover both boys’ tuition as they tackle a three-year BSc Chemistry degree.

Besides, Michael’s average mark for matric was none too shabby either at 83.5%.

And, according to Deon, his brother might have beaten him. It’s as they have done throughout their school careers – shared academic awards or taken it in turns to outdo the other.

“Not for one moment did I think about keeping it for myself. We have never competed. We just try to support one another,” says Deon.

This is also why the boys forewent their favourite past-time of soccer in 2014 so that they could concentrate on their studies as they were both hoping to find spots at a medical school.

Sadly, for them, they were not accepted.

Fortunately for us, both boys can pursue a degree and then be first in the queue for the new general medical practitioner degree that NMMU hopes to begin in 2018. (The university has already introduced a number of medically-related programmes as part of its ‘bottom-up’ approach to establishing a fully-fledged Medical School by 2020 – but more of this in subsequent blogs).

“We’d like to study medicine here. After we heard about the approach, we’re keen on enrolling for medicine here.”

That approach is one of building a medical school that responds to the real needs of South Africa, particularly within the public health domain.

And both boys are set on serving society.

It’s just who they are.

Like their sisters, Bianca, who is a teacher at an underprivileged township school, and Simone, who works as a radiographer in a state hospital, they are intent on helping others.

“It’s not something that can be taught. It’s just been a way of life for us,” says Michael.

So not only are these boys brainy. They’re kind too. And they’re committed to being part of the solution when it comes to health care in South Africa.

That's triple the joy for us!

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

Kicking failure into touch – and remembering Ubuntu

ALUMNI ACHIEVERS … The winners at NMMU’s annual Alumni Awards evening on Monday were (from left) Dr Amber Anderson, Dr Hanningtone Gaya, Nomkhita Mona, Baxolile Mabinya, Nicholas Hafner, Deon Schoeman, Tracy Cheetham and Garret Barnwell.

By Guest Blogger (Nicky Willemse)

This week, NMMU celebrated the cream of its alumni crop – those who have graduated from the institution and gone on to achieve great things.

People like South African cricket coach Russell Domingo, Tracy Cheetham, who manages SKA SA (Square Kilometre Array South Africa), the biggest science project in the world, wine guru Nicholas Hafner and Dimension Data’s Baxolile Mabinya, who is the group’s strategy director for the Middle East and Africa.

Then there was author Isla Morley, Coca-Cola Fortune’s HR exec Dr Amber Anderson, the president of the South African Association of Doctors Without Borders, Garret Barnwell, Kenyan brand and marketing authority, Dr Hanningtone Gaya, and the founder of Klinicare Pharmacies, Deon Schoeman. And one of last year’s winners, Safcol CEO Nomkhita Mona, was also in town to belatedly collect her award.

It was a glittering event with speeches galore – some short, some (a tad) long, some clever, some humorous.

But in the speeches, there were two common threads – and that’s what really stood out most for me.

The first was that a number of these top achievers had experienced failure along the line. In fact, three of them were hauled over the coals as university students for dismal marks and told to buck up or get out. Deon’s pharmacy lecturer, appalled at Deon’s 19% for a test, told him he wasn’t a “pharmacist’s backside”. Tracy’s told her she had to improve her marks or get kicked out of architecture, while Isla’s lecturer called her essay a “howler” – when she asked what he meant, he said it was so bad, it had made him howl with laughter.

They could have lost heart, fallen out the system, tried something else (as other students have probably done). Instead, they chose to prove their lecturers wrong – and have gone on to excel beyond their lecturers’ and, more importantly, their own expectations.

For these three individuals, those comments marked a turning point in their lives, where they shifted gear from mediocre to excellent.

A little bit of failure can work wonders.

The other thread that stood out was the spirit of Ubuntu. Just about all the recipients thanked those in their lives who had helped them get to where they are today. Many recited the Ubuntu philosophy: I am because you are.

Their achievements are not theirs alone. They are the result of the endless support of parents, spouses, lecturers – and their awards are an indication not just of the talent of the recipients, but the talent of the people and places that have “grown” them.

Congratulations to all.

And as you go forward, “just believe” (to quote the catchy mantra of Computing Science’s Prof Jean Greyling, as recounted by award recipient Baxolile).

Just believe … in yourself, in your ability, in the things that keep you going forward (your faith, family, friends, colleagues – all the things you mentioned in your speeches) – and keep making your alma mater, city, region and country proud.

Bianca inspires us to give of ourselves

Guest blogger Ros Baatjies

I’ve never met Bianca-Anne Harper Agherdien. Like the rest of Nelson Mandela Bay who make it their business to keep abreast of what is happening in the region, I knew that she was Miss Port Elizabeth 2010. I also knew that she was a Pharmacy student at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University at the time of winning the title.

She often smiled at me from the photographs of mutual Facebook friends. She also often smiled from the pages of the daily newspaper. And wasn’t that smile just bright and beautiful.

People might ask why there was so much hype about her motor vehicle accident, the appeal to donate blood and her passing last week.

Bianca was the sweetheart of the city.

Goodwill did not end when her reign as Miss PE ended. It went far beyond that. She lived an inspiring life. Trying to live an inspiring life puts the focus on others and that is what she did as a young woman in her twenties.

NMMU alumnus & Miss PE 2010 Bianca Harper Agherdien leaves us an inspiring legacy.

She gave herself away so that God could use her. I am sure that many citizens of the beautiful Bay can share stories of how she touched their lives.

Bob Marley once said: “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively”.

But let us spare a thought for her husband, Anver, her parents, Denzyl and Patty, and her brother, Charles. Judging by their Facebook appeals for blood donations, they would have done anything for her to survive. Their love for her was obvious in the words of the stories in the newspapers.

She, no doubt, inspired them to do their best and focus on the needs of others rather than their own needs. And the legacy she left is one of giving of yourself until it hurts.

Perhaps your name is not Bianca-Anne and you were never a beauty queen, but you do your bit for the community, the sick, elderly and the disadvantaged. You may not have featured in newspapers, but you feed the homeless every week. People might not know your name; yet you are famous in the area where you serve soup and bread at community clinics.

Keep on doing it, because your greatness is in your ability to affect those around you positively.

I’ve never met Bianca-Anne Harper Agherdien, but her short life has inspired me to be better, do better and do more to make this life better for others. 

Cheating - is it worth it?

By: Roslyn Baatjies

Guest blogger

An afternoon conversation with my niece (6) and her twelve-year old brother revealed that they know that cheating is gaining reward by dishonest means or finding an easy way out of an unpleasant situation and that it is generally used for the breaking of rules to gain unfair advantage in a competitive situation. The example Amber cites is when a runner stands a little way ahead of others in a race before they set off.

But Shawn immediately thinks of cheating in the classroom test setting. What he tells me confirms that he knows what cheating is. He says that children go to the bathroom during tests and tell each other what the answers are to the questions. He also mentions a few other ways of cheating in tests and I ask them what happens if you are caught out. Shawn says that it means that you get zero for the test and that you have to go to detention. I ask the two of them if it’s right to cheat and they answer that it is not.

Cheating is rife at schools and universities. A recent Sunday Times article revealed that crib notes have been found on the inside of a T-shirt, on rulers or the back of calculators — university students are brazenly cheating in tests and exams.

A discussion about cheating at a recent faculty meeting revealed that lecturers are well aware of the dishonest practice in tests. In many instances it is difficult to deny bathroom breaks, because the infringing on human rights argument surfaces.

Exams are a few weeks away and I am hopeful that the NMMU Port Elizabeth campuses will equal the George Campus June exam achievement of no cheating.

Integrity is one of our six values. It is commonly described as doing the right thing even when no-one is watching.

Integrity at NMMU extends to academic integrity. To give expression to our value of excellence, the University is committed to preserving and promoting a culture of professionalism characterised by the highest standards of personal honesty and the integrity of academic work.  Since the advent of the internet, the opportunity for and actual  incidence of plagiarism have increased, and accordingly it has become necessary to promote the development of good academic behaviour, including ethical writing practices,  and to put measures in place to assist in the prevention of plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty in general and plagiarism in particular, constitute a disregard of our values and could seriously undermine the academic standing of NMMU and its qualifications.

The university launched its Academic Integrity campaign last year and put in place a policy - Policy for the promotion of academic integrity and prevention of plagiarism –as a framework through which all staff and students are empowered to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity.

I laud the university for doing this, but how strange is it that you need a policy to encourage people to be honest. I am sure that there are those who believe that it is only cheating when you are found out. I am also sure that those who have never cheated and try doing it one day, will be the ones who are caught out.

Don Galer wrote: ‘Integrity is what we say, is what we do, is what we say we do.

Good luck with the preparation for the exams and the exams themselves. And remember that the reward is so much sweeter when the result is achieved honesty. 

Soapbox … let them vent

Once upon a time (and still today in Hyde Park, London) people would stand in the middle of the village square and have their say amid those willing to listen.

It’s this concept of “having your say” that Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University has adapted to the needs of the 21st century, but with one small change.

NMMU’s SOAPBOX is anonymous.

Whereas yesteryear when you literally stood on a box to be seen by anyone who might be interested and possibly face their abuse too, NMMU’s version allows you to have your say without anyone ever knowing who you are!

Yes, it’s a safe, anonymous online platform for sharing by our staff and students.

You can say what you need to say without fear of prejudice.

Today, far too few people are prepared to publicly blurt out what angers or ails them, and so all their angst, irritations and hurts get swopped in the hushed gossip in office corridors, rarely reaching those who might be able to amend the negatives.

And so enter SOAPBOX, an electronic system that forwards the moans, groans, ideas and praises of staff and students to those who need to hear to them without the individual’s name ever being known. Not even the administrator of our SOAPBOX knows who the sender is.

SOAPBOX is an internal tool that gives people the opportunity to offload, and while we occasional receive a note of praise or suggestion for improving something on our six campuses or for our 27 000 students, the bulk of the contributions are complaints.

Here’s an insight to some of the latest offerings on SOAPBOX (because it’s on view for all to see – just like the individual in the village square of yesteryear).

anon | 07/10/2014 07:31:33
re "What's wrong with the Mr and Ms NMMU 2014/15 communique photo??"

Seriously?! Very "representative" group of students!!
REPLY:
I'm afraid the finalists can only be chosen from among those who enter.

EditDeleteRejectReport abuse


NO TOILET PAPER IN THE LIBRARY.
There was no toilet paper in the gents toilet in the basement in the library. Does the university expect students to use their hands?? This is really bad. Please fix it. We as students expect nothing but superior service our counter parts are receiving

REPLY:
Not sure what you mean. It looks fine to us?

EditDeleteRejectReport abuse


anon | 06/10/2014 11:34:49
Just want to say thanks for replying on the marine drive being closed for entrance in the evenings. Will the gate be available for access in afternoon after the upgrades?

EditDeleteRejectReport abuse


anon | 03/10/2014 09:14:55
Our "new democracy" is perpetuating a "culture" of misplaced self-importance!


We don’t mind that most of the feedback is complaints - about toilets, potholes, lack of packing, slack lecturers, lack of transformation, rude treatment etc – because we have the know-how and ability to channel them to the relevant parties to try to make good.

After all, if someone does not alert you to an issue, how are you supposed to fix it?

Isn't it better to take those moans, groans and rumblings to those responsible and aim for constructive improvement than to see them constantly circulate at the water foundation, tea table or office corridors without possibility of resolution?

And besides, it is also important to give people a place to offload … it makes us feel better just to share something with someone who is listening.

So yes, let’s vent … (but let’s also fix those complaints).

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 …

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.

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.

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.