On Wednesday (June 5, 2013), a number of DUT staff members met with Shelagh Gastrow and Riedwaan Baboo of Inyathelo to discuss the basic elements in the estabishment of a development/advancement operation at DUT.

This engagement occurred under the auspices of the Kresge-Inyathelo Grant made to DUT by the Kresge Foundation which is based in Michigan, USA. The DUT Hotel School at the Ritson Campus was the venue.

Kresge Foundation is a foundation which creates opportunities and provides funding to improve communities, higher education institutions and promotes environmental conservation. The foundation is working in conjunction with Inyathelo, a Cape Town based organisation that also aims to strengthen civil society organisations and higher education institutions in South Africa.
In 2012, DUT submitted an application for a grant to the Kresge Foundation. DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ahmed Bawa was the key driver behind the application for the Kresge-Inyathelo Advancement Grant Application for DUT along with the Technology Transfer and Innovation Department (TTI). Despite tough competition from 13 other universities in South Africa, DUT was selected to receive this prestigious grant.

The project started this year (2013) with a grant of R1 499 972. This will be followed by a performance-linked annual bonus grant of around R 1 000 000 per annum. These funds will be used to promote the advancement/development and fundraising activities at DUT.

The coaching session which took place yesterday introduced DUT’s leadership to the general principles of advancement/development in higher education institutions.
“This programme will be a new way of bringing private resources into the university, installing advancement operation systems and looking at how installation can attract private investments,” said Shelagh Gastrow, Executive Director of Inyathelo.

The outcome of the meeting was to guarantee that the staff will be committed to being actively involved in activities to advance the university towards its strategic goals.

– Nikita-Smith-Morgan

Pictured (from left): DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal; Prof Ahmed Bawa, Shelagh Gastrow; Executive Director of Inyathelo, Prof Fredrick Otieno; DVC: Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) and Riedwaan Baboo; Programme Coordinator at Inyathelo at the meeting between DUT and Kresge-Inyathelo Foundation held at the DUT Hotel School, Ritson Campus, this week.