Emergency campus evacuation drills and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

As part of prioritising emergency preparedness, staff and students will receive an emergency evacuation notification which will ensure they know what to do in an emergency. Read more on this and other updates below.

1. Be Prepared! Emergency Response Programme (BP! ERP)

Being prepared for an emergency is crucial. Not only does it prioritise safety, it also reduces the level of anxiety during an emergency. The Occupational Health and Safety Division and Campus Protection Services will be coordinating campus-wide evacuation drills over the next few months and the university community will be duly notified. To kickstart the programme it will be ensured that all staff and students are able to receive the UCT emergency SMS notifications.

Staff and students will receive an emergency evacuation notification via SMS on Friday, 3 September 2021 as a means of testing the system. This will be followed by a prompt to a link in the SMS to complete a form. This will ensure that staff and students are notified during an emergency.

Everyone is encouraged to participate. Remember that you will always be notified whether it is an emergency or a test. In case of a real emergency, please ensure that you understand and follow the protocols of the building or space you are in.

Look out for Part 2: Disaster and Emergency Evacuation Procedures of the BP! ERP

2. UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre now open

In supporting efforts by the government to widen access to COVID-19 vaccinations, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has partnered with the Western Cape Department of Health to launch the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre.

The vaccination site, located at UCT’s Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray, was launched on 30 August and officially commenced operations on 1 September. It is open to all members of the public and will administer vaccines to 75 people per hour at full capacity.

The vaccination site will be open every weekday. Its location on the Main Road near the Mowbray Public Transport Interchange, the N2, the university community and the businesses and communities that surround the university makes it easily accessible.

• Read the VC Desk: The UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre to open on 1 September 2021.
• View the launch event video.

3. Distinguished Teacher Awards 2020 recipients

The Distinguished Teacher Award (DTA) is an institutional award that recognises outstanding teaching at UCT and acknowledges the recipient’s contribution to the promotion of teaching and learning excellence at the institution. Every year, the DTA Committee is faced with the task of choosing awardees from a large pool of eligible teachers whose portfolios, submitted in support of their nominations, attest to the distinctiveness of some of UCT’s teachers.

The DTA recipients for 2020 are Dr Bodhisattva Kar and Dr Marlon Swai.

Dr Kar is the head of the Department of Historical Studies. His teaching methodology is underpinned by a passion for training a new generation of South African historians who demonstrate conceptual depth, are technically competent, critically conscious; and strongly prepared for leadership, teaching, research, and social responsiveness. 

Dr Marlon Swai is a lecturer in Social Anthropology. His innovative and critical pedagogies make use of multi-languaging, which, in addition to captivating students according to testimony to his teaching, facilitates their understanding of the role of language in the knowledge project, and how the identities of both teachers and students play themselves out in classrooms.

• Read the VC Desk: Distinguished Teacher Awards 2020 recipients.

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements