Wednesday, 15 July

09:30

It has been four months since the University of Cape Town suspended all mass gatherings on campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown. In light of this, the university has decided to move certain 2020 events online.

The annual TB Davie Memorial Lecture, organised by the Academic Freedom Committee, will take place on Wednesday, 5 August, at 18:00. It will be delivered by guest speaker Professor Ravi Kanbur.

Register online.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture series will also be moved online. Professor Hussein Suleman, head of the Department of Computer Science, will present his lecture “Computer science at times of crisis: reflecting on societal drivers for software and algorithm design” on 30 September.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put inequalities in the higher education sector in the spotlight. In response, UCT is hosting a series of virtual events under the banner: “Unleashing the new global university”. Two events have already taken place, with the following to come:

• Monday, 27 July: “Undergraduate student mobility: are virtual experiences a realistic substitute?”
• Monday, 24 August: “Postgraduate researchers: can we rethink the international experience?”
• Monday, 7 September: “How does changing the medium change the way of doing things?”

Read more about “Unleashing the new global university”.

The university will continue to limit the number of people on campus and has developed a COVID-19 Return to UCT policy framework accordingly. In order to engage with staff on this, UCT’s chief operating officer, Dr Reno Morar, will host an open PASS Forum virtually on 6 August 2020.

Read an update by the COO: Key framework for returning to UCT.

Women are especially celebrated in August with a special focus on those who have achieved greatness in their fields. This year, the annual Women’s Month event will be held online. UCT Chancellor Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe has been earmarked as the keynote speaker, while panellists will include For Womxn by Womxn Scholarship recipients. Further details will be shared later.

When lockdown started, the UCT executive was already engaging with staff to develop a new university strategy that focuses on the challenges and opportunities as we move towards 2030. To ensure that the UCT of tomorrow is responsive to the needs of future generations, a number of online sessions will be held with various staff groupings to continue this process. Details will be shared in the next few weeks.

View the Vision 2030 document.

Please visit the Coronavirus Disease 2019 page on the UCT News website for more information.

This audio newsbyte was prepared by the Communication and Marketing Department.

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