Two DUT staff members are ecstatic about each being awarded the prestigious scholarship to study the Doctor of Business Administration in Higher Education Management, DBA (HEM), at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.
The Future Leaders Initiative (FLI), a partnership between the SA Department of Higher Education and Training, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and the University of Bath, was launched in 2015.
NMMU, which is leading the initiative, was given a R17 million grant from the Department to take responsibility for its management. The FLI saw the first group of 27 senior staff members, one from each South African University, enrolled from this year (2016) for a professional doctorate in business administration in higher education management through the University of Bath. The four to five year doctorate is offered as a part-time learning qualification with a combination of online and face-to-face lectures at the University of Bath and NMMU.
It is the first programme of its kind to be offered world-wide for participants who have held a mid to senior level of responsibility in the field of higher education.
DUT’s Revd. Dr Delysia Norelle Timm reiterated her excitement upon hearing the news of the scholarships, which were made possible through the call for applications sent out by the office of the DVC Academic at DUT. “It’s an achievement to get a full scholarship and we must celebrate these things at DUT,” she said. Revd. Dr Timm will be playing a mentoring role for the two candidates from DUT.
Julian Vooght, DUT’s Quality Manager/Specialist and Lalitha Chetty, DUT’s Legal Advisor, were both over the moon on being selected for the professional doctorate which gives particular priority to the development of candidates as managers and develops reflective professionals.
“My work in the DUT’s Centre for Quality Promotion and Assurance (CQPA) includes planning and conducting surveys such as graduate surveys and module evaluation surveys, analysing and reporting on institutional survey data, as well as related evaluation mechanisms. The programme is so far a good experience in collaborative work. There is also a strong emphasis on scholarship, the application of theory to practice to the DUT context and to enhance my self reflection and critical analysis,” said Vooght.
Chetty had postponed her doctoral studies until her children had completed their schooling and the DBA opportunity could not have materialised at a more opportune time. “The DBA is quite different from my area of expertise (Law) and I sometimes feel like a fish out of water. However, I am determined to extract the most out of this wonderful opportunity,” she said excitedly.
Both Chetty and Vooght have already spent a week at NMMU in early January this year where they networked with a diverse group of students from around the world.
Professor Nomthandazo Gwele, the DUT DVC: Academic, congratulated the pair on their success. “It’s a fantastic achievement as they were not the only candidates. They were chosen as proof that they deserved to be part of this programme. For DUT, it is very exciting because it’s not always that we get scholarships, especially international ones, and it means that we (DUT) are really growing as a University,” she said.
– Waheeda Peters
Pictured: Professor Nomthandazo Gwele and Rev. Dr Delysia Norelle Timm, congratulate Julian Vooght and Lalitha Chetty on being given the prestigious DBA (HEM) Scholarship.
