The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), Professor Suren Singh, hosted the 3RD Annual State of the Faculty Address (SOFA3) and Awards Ceremony on 15 December 2021 via Microsoft Teams.

The annual event highlights key strategic achievements and developments in the Faculty and was delivered by the Executive Dean, Professor Suren Singh. The event was directed by Mr Nivar Somaru (Academic Development Practitioner: FAS) who opened the event by stating that the SOFA3 provided the Faculty with an opportunity to engage with staff, students, alumni and key stakeholders and to showcase the accomplishments of the Faculty as well.

He further indicated that SOFA’s aim is to recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of departments, staff and students who have managed to achieve great successes despite the impact that the pandemic has had on the sector as a whole.

“To this end, and through the consideration of audited performance data from Management Information (MI) the Faculty made a total of 118 awards within the categories of Department Performance Awards, Research Excellence Award by Departments, Staff Teaching and Learning Excellence Awards in Departments, Staff and Student Research Excellence Awards in Departments and Student Academic Excellence Awards,” said Somaru.

During her institutional welcome the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning, Professor Nokhuthula Sibiya, commended the Faculty on the many successes aligned to ENVISION2030 and acknowledged the fact that through the leadership of Prof Singh the Faculty of Applied Sciences is the only Faculty to host a State of the Faculty Address.

During his delivery of the State of the Faculty Address Prof Singh highlighted many of the key successes achieved in the Faculty by way of drawing direct comparisons of data over a three to five-year period.

“The State of the Faculty Address is something that we use around our mission, vision and values, and is a sort of an annual overview of what happened in the Faculty and how we are tracking the shifts. Over the last seven years since I became an Executive Dean and how we are tracking that across departments and what we are engaging with in order to push quality in our teaching, learning and research as well. There has been a constant push to increase the numbers of our staff based on our increasing programmes across the different departments across the Faculty. Now we have a steady increase in the numbers, and I’m hopeful that this will, in in next year when more programmes are introduced, that number will pass 90, we are sitting on 87th staff as of 2020, an increase of six more from 2019,” he said.

He further conveyed of key significance was the Faculty success in near doubling its student enrolment, achieving excellent graduation rates, the shift in Resource Allocation Model of the Faculty and significant improvements in student success rates whilst acknowledging the hard work and dedication put in by staff -particularly in the areas of student success, research and professional development.

Prof Singh added that continuous staff development in Teaching, Learning and Research was imperative and this was further enhanced through initiatives delved into by the Faculty such as hosting the Revolutionising Teaching, Learning and Assessment Practices in Applied Sciences workshop, the Faculty Research Day and the Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship day. He relayed that other initiatives included staff attending several development workshops such as Universities South Africa (USAF) Lecturer Development Programme and the awarding of DHET NGAP and NESP posts in several Departments.

On the technological advancement front, Prof Singh added that the Faculty is embracing the new normal by acquiring proctoring software and using Autoscholar to track and assist students with academic issues.

Prof Singh highlighted that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of all stakeholders, particularly the students. He mentioned, as an example, that many students found it difficult to attain placements in industry for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in 2020, and the Faculty had strategised and addressed this in 2021 by providing students with safe and secure simulated WIL offered on campus by the Academic Departments.

The event concluded with the awarding of the Faculty awards followed by the vote of thanks given by Prof Tukayi Kudanga. He thanked Prof Singh for his leadership in the Faculty and all the support that he has given to the various departments so that they can achieve their performance goals. He wished everyone a happy festive season and a very successful 2022.

Pictured: The Executive Dean, Professor Suren Singh.

Waheeda Peters