Impact of COVID-19 adjusted level 4 and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

A number of decisions have been made recently that affect both staff and students. These include adjustments to the UCT academic calendar due to the country moving into adjusted lockdown alert Level 4. Read more on this and other updates below.

1. Impact of the adjusted Level 4 COVID-19 regulations on the academic calendar

With the country now under adjusted Lockdown Level 4, the UCT academic calendar has been affected. This includes deferring invigilated group exams and suspending on-campus undergraduate and postgraduate classes, tutorials, and undergraduate laboratory practices, except for students on a clinical platform who should await further guidance. Residences will remain open for students already in university accommodation.

Researchers, including postgraduate research students and postdoctoral research fellows (PDRFs), should adhere to established protocols and the curfew to continue with their work.

The university will share any further details at a later stage.

• Read the VC Desk: Impact of the adjusted Level 4 COVID-19 regulations on the academic calendar.

2. Farewell to Professor Ronnie and Dr Ally

The Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng pays tribute to the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Professor Linda Ronnie, and the Executive Director of the Development and Alumni Department, Dr Russell Ally, as they are about to vacate the crucial roles they have held at UCT.

• Read the VC Desk: Farewell to Professor Ronnie and Dr Ally.

3. Report on UCT Council meeting of 19 June

The UCT Council met on Saturday, 19 June 2021 and several major decisions were made, including the renaming of Smuts Hall residence and the approval of three important UCT policies: the UCT Disciplinary Procedure, the Policy Addressing Bullying, and the UCT Collections and Stewardship Policy.

• Read the Chair's Desk: Report on UCT Council meeting of 19 June.

4. Virtual July graduation

The UCT graduation ceremonies will take place virtually from 12 to 19 July 2021. Ceremonies will be staged through online broadcast events which will be pre-recorded. The recordings will be available for viewing on all UCT social media platforms, through the UCT graduation web page and on the UCT News website.

• Read the VC Desk: Virtual July graduation.

5. NIH announces critical changes to effort reporting

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recently published a notice alerting grant-holding institutions to upcoming changes to the ‘Biosketch’ and ‘Other Support’ document requirements. These changes will be effective from 25 January 2022, but grant holders and applicants need to start preparing for these changes already, particularly the “Other Support” requirements. Failure to meet the new requirements may cause the NIH to withdraw your application from consideration.

An important aspect of the changes is the increased assessment of the time commitments of NIH-funded researchers on their full suite of grants – both NIH and other grants – to ensure researchers are not committed beyond 100% of their time across all activities, whether supported by external funders or in kind.

• Read the DVC Desk: NIH announces critical changes to effort reporting.

6. How to make UCT phone calls while working remotely

Since the start of the pandemic, many people have been working via Microsoft Teams. Teams provides great collaboration tools, but when it comes to making phone calls, you can only contact UCT numbers. If you need to call someone outside of UCT, please use Skype for Business – bearing in mind that calls are charged to your department, and the types of calls you can make are determined by your UCT dialling plan.

• Visit the ICTS website to learn more about these aspects of phone calls while working remotely.

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements