Inaugural lecture by Professor Engel and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

The University of Cape Town (UCT) will host the sixth lecture in the inaugural lecture series on Thursday, 3 August 2023. The lecture will be presented by Professor Mark Engel. Read more about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. Inaugural Lecture by Professor Engel

Professor Mark Engel, an epidemiologist in the Department of Medicine at UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences, will present the next UCT Inaugural Lecture, on Thursday, 3 August 2023 at the New Learning Centre Lecture Theatre, Anatomy Building, in Observatory.

The lecture is titled “We are here too – Contributing African Strep A research towards eliminating rheumatic heart disease”. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), despite being largely unseen in developed countries, remains rampant in poorer communities and low-resourced settings around the world. Strep A, the bacteria responsible for the antecedent sore throat infection believed to initiate the immune processes involved in RHD development, is largely unresearched in Africa.

Professor Engel collaborates with colleagues across Africa to apply a wide range of investigative approaches, from molecular to population-based research to all aspects of RHD.

• Read the full communication by the VC interim: UCT Inaugural Lecture: Professor Mark Engel.

2. Reminder: Webinar on suicide prevention and intervention

A free webinar on suicide prevention and intervention will be hosted by the UCT Disability Service, situated within the Office for Inclusivity & Change, in conjunction with Kolpin and O’ Connor Consultants.

The webinar, scheduled for Wednesday, 26 July 2023 from 18:00 to 19:30, will explore issues related to suicide prevention and intervention in higher education. It is open to all students and staff. The speakers are Dr Loren O’ Connor and Dr Thierry Kolpin.

Dr O’ Connor has served as a school counsellor, school psychologist and therapist in private practice, and as assistant vice-chancellor at Brandman University in the United States (US), where he developed an Office of Accessible Education that served over 25 university campuses in California and Washington. Dr Kolpin received his doctorate from Stanford University in the US, with an emphasis on school and community-based counselling psychology. He is currently an associate professor of education at Brandman University, and he is also a practicing clinical psychologist.

For further information, please contact c.hendrickse@uct.ac.za.

3. Venue change for UCT Assessment Project Workshop series

The Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) invites staff and students to participate in and contribute their valuable insights at workshops it will host to shape UCT's new assessment policy. These engaging sessions are designed to foster input, discussion and debate surrounding assessment systems while exploring successful examples to inspire UCT’s approach.

Be a part of the UCT Assessment Project and help transform programmes of assessment to enable student success. Register now for one of the following sessions (please note the change in venues):

• Session 1: 28 July, 14:00 to 17:00 (MS Teams)
• Session 2: 31 July, 11:00 to 14:00 (Garnet Room, New Engineering Building, Upper Campus)
• Session 3: 1 August, 14:00 to 17:00 (Bremner Mafeje Room, Middle Campus)

Please register for a session by Thursday, 27 July 2023.

If you are not able to attend the sessions but would still like to contribute to this project, simply indicate your interest on the registration form. For further details contact Soraya Lester.

4. P&S Workplace Services Portal maintenance

The P&S Workplace Services Portal is scheduled to undergo routine maintenance and will not be available from 14:00 on Friday, 28 July 2023 until 22:00 on Sunday, 30 July 2023.

Staff will not have access to the portal during this time.

For any maintenance emergencies during this period, please contact the maintenance and operations helpdesk on 021 650 4322/4321.

The P&S department thanks staff for their patience while this important maintenance update is being undertaken.

For any queries, please email the P&S technical support team.

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements