Dear colleagues
This campus announcement aims to inform the UCT community about recent developments on campus.
SRC elections ongoing
The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) election period began on Monday, 5 October and runs until Friday, 16 October 2020. SRC candidate manifestos, leadership CVs and one-minute campaign videos can be viewed on the SRC and Student Faculty Council’s elections Vula tab.
All registered undergraduate and postgraduate students are eligible to vote online on the eBallot platform from 12 to 16 October using their UCT credentials to log in and cast their vote.
Social Responsiveness Award nominations
UCT’s distinguished Social Responsiveness Award provides a clear institutional indication to members of the university that social responsiveness is a significant core institutional activity. The award, with a value of R35 000, is open to individual staff and formal or informal groupings within UCT. Staff must be employed either on a permanent basis or under a limited term contract of at least two years and must have been employed for a period of not less than 12 months prior to the date of nomination.
Nominations and applications for the award should be submitted to Sonwabo Ngcelwane no later than 30 October 2020.
Reminder: Nominations for VC’s Excellence Awards
The deadline for submission for the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards has been extended to Friday, 23 October 2020.The awards aim to recognise members of the UCT community who make an outstanding contribution to the university’s mission and objectives through innovation or improvement in services, and/or sustained exceptional performance in an area or areas beneficial to the university and its strategic imperatives.
Professional, administrative support and services (PASS) staff may apply or nominate colleagues for the Global Citizenship Award and the Service Excellence Award, while all staff involved in transformation work may apply or nominate colleagues for the UCT Transformation Award.
For questions related to the nomination process or criteria, please email Daphney Makgoba or call 021 650 2175.
UCT’s COVID-19 cases update
As at 13 October, UCT has had 103 reported positive COVID-19 cases among non-health sciences staff, with 90 recoveries.
Please note that for this week, the update only pertains to staff; the students’ update will be shared next week. As at 6 October when the last update was shared, the reported students’ cases was 36, including 10 health sciences students on clinical platforms.
Nine staff and one student have been sadly lost to the pandemic.
How to boost your mental health, one day at a time
October is Mental Health Awareness Month – and an ideal time to put some simple self-care steps into practice. If you are struggling to cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, year-end stress or any other concerns, ICAS invites you to take the Mental Health 30-Day Challenge: each page invites you to do one (or a few) easy activities to love yourself.
ICTS scheduled maintenance
Please note that on Sunday, 18 October 2020, the Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) department will perform scheduled maintenance from 09:00 to 17:00. Unless advised to the contrary, staff and students should note that no ICT services will be available for the duration of the maintenance slot. Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots for 2020 before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, and other activities that require ICT services.
Read previous communications:
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COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March and implement a national lockdown from 26 March.
UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated regularly with the latest COVID-19 information.
Getting credible, evidence-based, accessible information and recommendations relating to COVID-19
The Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, are producing educational video material for use on digital platforms and in multiple languages. The information contained in these videos is authenticated and endorsed by the team of experts based in the Department of Medicine. Many of the recommendations are based on current best evidence and are aligned to provincial, national and international guidelines. For more information on UCT’s Department of Medicine, please visit the website.
To watch more videos like these, visit the Department of Medicine’s YouTube channel.
As the COVID-19 crisis drags on and evolves, civil society groups are responding to growing and diversifying needs – just when access to resources is becoming more insecure, writes UCT’s Prof Ralph Hamann.
03 Jul 2020 - 6 min read RepublishedThe Covid-19 crisis has reinforced the global consequences of fragmented, inadequate and inequitable healthcare systems and the damage caused by hesitant and poorly communicated responses.
24 Jun 2020 - >10 min read OpinionOur scientists must not practise in isolation, but be encouraged to be creative and increase our knowledge of the needs of developing economies, write Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, vice-chancellor of UCT, and Professor Thokozani Majozi from the University of the Witwatersrand.
09 Jun 2020 - 6 min read RepublishedSouth Africa has been recognised globally for its success in flattening the curve, which came as a result of President Ramaphosa responding quickly to the crisis, writes Prof Alan Hirsch.
28 Apr 2020 - 6 min read RepublishedIn an email to the UCT community, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said:
“COVID-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, is a rapidly changing epidemic. [...] Information [...] will be updated as and when new information becomes available.”
We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.