A journey of awakening

When the New Academic Practitioners’ Programme (NAPP) was inaugurated at the University of Cape Town (UCT) two decades ago, Professor Hussein Suleman was among the first cohort of emerging scholars to participate. Today, he serves as the dean of the Faculty of Science – a true testament to the immeasurable contribution of this initiative in developing up-and-coming academics.

In fact, NAPP has become a flagship programme in the national higher education sector. Recognised by the Department of Higher Education and Training, it has been recommended for replication at other universities, according to Associate Professor Kasturi Behari-Leak, the dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED).

“When I arrived at UCT, I was not new to academia. But NAPP helped me network with people across the university – not only in my faculty but also with individuals I would not normally have met,” Professor Suleman recalled. “Twenty-one years later, I still know these people and count them as friends. Networking is very important because at UCT, we often work in silos and do not always appreciate the experiences of colleagues from other faculties or departments. NAPP helps break those barriers. While we conduct departmental inductions and other initiatives, we rarely manage to break out of our specific spaces. This programme is where we get to appreciate that there is a lot of common areas and experiences they have across the institution.”

Incubation programme

Convened by CHED, NAPP aims to nurture the professional development of academics with no more than five years of teaching experience in higher education. Since 2004, the initiative has served as an incubation platform for new lecturers and educators, integrating theoretical and practical approaches to academic development.

Its key areas of focus include teaching, learning, and assessment; research; management and administration; and community outreach. Additionally, the programme provides guidance on several ad hominem procedures, including the UCT Assessment Policy, the Teaching and Learning Charter, the transformation policy, research and career planning strategies, and technology-enhanced teaching opportunities.

In essence, NAPP seeks to integrate new academics into the cultural and academic ethos of UCT, ensuring they become productive, valuable, and thriving members of the university community. The programme consists of two cohorts of 20 participants each per semester. Its structure includes a two-and-a-half-day residential retreat, complemented by three full-day workshops on teaching, learning, assessment, and curriculum development spread throughout the semester.

“To see how people like him have grown within the system to become deans who now support others is just incredible.”

Impact

On Thursday, 6 March, UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mosa Moshabela hosted a celebratory cocktail function to honour the participants of the last two cohorts. The event was also attended by deans and UCT executives.

Reflecting on the programme’s impact, Professor Moshabela said, “Listening to Professor Suleman speak about how NAPP started in 2004 and to see how people like him have grown within the system to become deans who now support others is just incredible. It tells me that a decade or so from now, some of you will be deans introducing others to this very same platform. That is encouraging and makes the future exciting.”

Professor Moshabela noted the critical role of UCT’s people in shaping its reputation and legacy. “You can have a beautiful name and brand like UCT, with an amazing legacy and reputation in the world, and with a lot of influence and impact in the world, but what makes UCT is its people. We are a hub of talent and one thing that is important to me is that we continue to attract the best talent in student and academic staff and support staff. People are ones who will make us who we are; it has always been the case.”

“What makes UCT is its people.”

He said as much as it was important for the university leadership to create an enabling environment for emerging scholars to succeed, the scholars also need to play their part. “It’s important that you also become a partner in the process of creating an enabling environment for you,” he told attendees. “When you are early in your academic careers you may feel that you don’t have a voice, power or influence. But sometimes its starts with you understanding what you need and voicing it out. Your generation needs different tools and support to the generation before you. So, when you speak up and voice your need, it is a start of providing you with support.”

Moshabela called on the young scholars to form connections with peers locally and globally and to be active role players who influence their success and that of others. “When you shine, you make us all shine; you make the country shine, and you make our continent shine.”

In her brief remarks, Behari-Leak highlighted the complexity of newness and the university’s role in shaping and supporting young academics to foster a sense of belonging. “We hear the word belonging, inclusivity and so on so often. But if you understood those words just 10 years ago, you would appreciate what it means today; when we didn’t belong and there was no inclusion. It is a big deal to think of ourselves as part of something bigger and to use our urgency to do the important work we have been called to do.”

Like Suleman, recent NAPP participants spoke highly of their experiences. One of them, Kalpana Maraj, shared her experiences: “I have spent my entire academic career entrenched in the Chemical Engineering building. It was eye-opening to see that other disciplines exist! Learning from colleagues in different fields and recognising our shared challenges and similarities was amazing.”