As off 18 July 2022, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) staff and students have physically returned to campus after the relaxation of the public health mandates and the COVID-19 restrictions. To get insight on getting back to the ‘new’ normal, DUT’s Communications team Zanele Mashaba spoke to Ntokozo Nxumalo.
Q: Kindly tell me about your role and the duration you have been at DUT?
A: “I am currently serving in the position of a subject librarian at Riverside Library in the Midlands campus. My role at DUT is to provide specialised reference service to students and faculty in their subject fields and facilitate interdepartmental communications. I am also responsible for establishing liaison relationships that promote cross-departmental cooperation, collaboration, and partnership between the subject librarian and the faculty in order to enhance teaching, learning and research. Over the years, I have displayed high morals and total commitment to my responsibilities at work.”
Q: How has it been like to physically return to campus after the relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions?
“One has to place it on record that COVID-19 forcefully introduced us to new ways of doing things which also had an impact on how the library operates and react to their patrons. The truth of the matter is that working from home did provide some flexibility or relief in terms of so many things like spending most of your time on our busy roads trying to get to your meetings, lectures and other academic activities. Students could attend classes from any part of the world as long as they had suitable devices and connected to the internet. However, there were also issues in terms of interactions using online platforms such as lack of compatible devices, inconsistent supply of electricity, high cost of data, unstable internet network and unconducive home environments. Therefore, physical returning to campus has improved access to university facilities including the library.”
Q: What are some of your coping mechanisms, helping you adapt to working/studying on site?
A: “I am someone who is highly motivated and I guess I don’t need any coping mechanisms, especially because I travel from Durban to Pietermaritzburg every day, so for me that is enough motivation.”
Q: What do you miss the most about working/studying online?
A: “Flexibility, working online allowed me to be able to multitask.”
Q: What is one thing that people do not know about you?
A: “I am an introvert but because of the nature of my work I pretend to be cool.”
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: “I like spending time with my family.”
Q: How do you plan to impact lives at DUT and the surroundings?
A: “Working for DUT has given me an opportunity to touch so many lives and offered me an opportunity to share my light with others.”
Q: What is your daily motivation?
A: “Growing up from the Township of KwaMashu and being able to be where I am today is a great achievement for my life and it is a motivation on its own. I would like to share the following words: ‘Respect opens doors in places where you never knew there was a door’. I use the above quote as a mentor and you will never go wrong if you apply the same principle of respect.”
Q: What are your future goals with DUT?
A; “To serve at an executive management level of the library services.”
Q: If you were granted one wish, what would it be?
A: “Freedom for all, the life of an African Child is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination, Martin Luther King Jr.”
