Inaugural lecture by Professor Cairncross and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

Professor Lydia Cairncross will deliver the next lecture in the UCT Inaugural Lecture Series on Thursday, 2 November 2023. Read about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. Inaugural lecture by Professor Cairncross

Professor Lydia Cairncross, the head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Cape Town (UCT)/Groote Schuur Hospital Academic Complex, will deliver her inaugural lecture on Thursday, 2 November 2023 in the Neuroscience Institute Lecture Theatre, Groote Schuur Hospital at 18:00. It is titled “Access to Surgical Care – the Imperative for Health Equity Action in Academic Medicine”.

Professor Cairncross will describe the complex interface between the daily pressures of surgical service delivery in health systems under strain and the pursuit of formal academic medicine. She will reflect on her research, clinical and activist work in relation to her special areas of interest in endocrine and oncology surgery; and explore the potential for academic medicine to catalyse a more just, equal and community-centred health system.

• RSVP for the lecture by Professor Cairncross.

2. Third transformation think tank session

The third session in the “Transformation: A Humanising Praxis Think Tank Series”, hosted by Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Transformation, Student Affairs and Social Responsiveness Professor Elelwani Ramugondo, will take place on Wednesday, 1 November 2023.

The session will be addressed by Dr Athambile Masola and Anelile Dlamini-Gibixego, who will present on “Transformation in the trade publishing sector in South Africa, in Arts Development and Democracy Project”.

• Read the speakers’ short bios.

The session will take place from 08:30 to 12:00 in a hybrid format at the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika.

• Please register for the session.
• Watch a video to find out more about the Transformation Think Tank series.
• Read about the second session in the series.

3. UCT pop-up shop

The UCT official merchandise clearance pop-up shop was launched earlier in October 2023 as an interim arrangement. The pop-up shop is located at the Steve Biko Students’ Union Building, Cissy Gool Plaza on upper campus and will be operational until the end of November 2023 or while stocks last. Trading hours are from 10:00 to 15:00 on weekdays, excluding public holidays. Payment can be done via debit cards, credit cards or p-cards. Prices and combo specials are valid while stocks last. Returns can regrettably not be accommodated.

• Read more about the pop-up shop and available merchandise.

4. Reminder: Please complete the 2023 student engagement survey

UCT students and teaching staff are invited to participate in the 2023 South African Survey of Student Engagement (SASSE) and the Lecturer Survey of Student Engagement (LSSE) respectively. These two national surveys gather feedback from undergraduate students and staff across South African universities, and the results provide each institution with invaluable institutional and comparative data.

The feedback gathered provides insight into the quality of teaching and learning at UCT, allows the institution to identify areas of improvement, and helps to ensure that educational practices are aligned with the needs of students and staff. Both surveys should be completed by Tuesday, 31 October 2023.

• Read the full DVC Desk: Please complete the 2023 student engagement survey.
• Complete the South African Survey of Student Engagement 2023.
• Compete the Lecturer Survey of Student Engagement 2023.

5. Reminder: University of the Future call for ideas

The University of the Future (UoF) project steering committee invites all staff and students to submit ideas to contribute towards shaping UCT’s developmental strategic roadmap following the launch of the UoF project as part of our Vision 2030.

This is an exciting opportunity to rethink, redesign and realign UCT’s current spaces and services to be fit for purpose and fit for the future.

The guidelines, requirements, themes, and eligibility criteria can all be found on the UoF challenge ideas webpage. Ideas should be submitted by Tuesday, 31 October 2023.

Ideas which the committee selects for further development will be showcased at an exhibition in early 2024. Following the exhibition, a further set of curated proposals will then be prepared for submission to relevant UCT committees and council subcommittees for implementation.

• Learn more about the UoF call for ideas.

6. UCT to co-host African Universities Gender Equality Forum in November

UCT, the Shared Value Africa Initiative, and the #ITSNOTOK movement will co-host the African Universities Gender Equality Forum on Thursday, 23 November 2023. It will be held via Zoom from 14:00 to 15:30 CAT.

The forum aims to cultivate awareness about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and foster dialogue to introduce cultural norms that prevent SGBV and catalyse programmatic change in the higher education sector.

It is intended to serve as a platform through which participants can work towards driving meaningful conversations and change to eradicate SGBV and increase gender equity within African universities.

• RSVP to attend the event online.

 7. Master’s/PhD parking discs for 2024

All master’s students and PhD candidates interested in a parking disc for P18 on upper campus for 2024 are reminded to add their details to an online list in order to be issued with the relevant parking disc. An annual parking fee applies. The online form will only be available on Wednesday, 1 November 2023. Please note that there is a limited number of bays available and only the first 100 students will be given discs. Once this number is reached, the allocation process will be closed.

To complete the form, please go to the campus parking page on 1 November 2023.

Communication and Marketing Department

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements