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DR PARKER SAYS STEWARDSHIP IS ABOUT HOW THE
DUT COMMUNITY CAN DEMONSTRATE THEIR VALUES
AND PRINCIPLES IN ACTION Simangele Zuma and Waheeda Peters
At the recent DUT Data Awards ceremony the staff were awarded for outstanding data presentations focusing on DUT’s ENVISION 2030 for each of its core perspectives, namely Stewardship, Systems and Processes, Sustainability and Society.
In recognition of the best presentation in the perspective of Stewardship, the award was handed to Dr Koo Parker for the Student Feedback from the First Year Student Survey (FYSS), which is an initiative of the Siyaphumelela Project.
Dr Parker said that she was honoured that the Adjudicating Committee awarded her Best Presentation for the Stewardship perspective. “I was thrilled to accept the award on behalf of the Planning Office and the many colleagues across the University who helped with the administration of the First Year Student Survey (FYSS) on which my presentation was based,” she said.
Dr Parker’s presentation highlighted the stewardship role of the Siyaphumelela Project in building a data culture at DUT and using data to inform policies and processes at the University.
“The Project aims to improve student success and the student experience, and more particularly, increase throughput rates of undergraduate students. Data was presented from the 2019 and 2020 First Year Student Survey (FYSS). This is a new survey that we developed to collect feedback on students’ support needs and their experiences
with certain departments/activities with which they would have engaged during the registration process,” she said.
She further indicated that these departments include Recruitment, Registration, Cashiers and Orientation. “The two-year comparison indicated that students’ experiences have improved. More than 60% of students in both 2019 and 2020 reported having a good or very good experience in their engagements with these departments. Recruitment showed the biggest improvement, but it is clear that there are still problems being experienced during registration. Students recommended that staff show greater patience and understanding, and that better registration facilities, including computers, were needed to improve the registration experience,” she said.
Dr Parker stressed that given the shift to online registration this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are reviewing the FYSS accordingly. She said that the Planning Office aims to enhance stewardship by continuing its institutional research work and building collaborations with other DUT departments to provide useful trend data for policy improvement purposes.
“The theme of Data Day since its inception in 2019 is Knowing, Doing, Impacting. It’s about the intentional use of data to inform and transform what we do. Data is not just numbers or statistics, but evidence. So, all staff, from academic to research to support, can be more intentional about how they
make evidence-based decisions in their work,” she said. She further relayed that Data Day provides a platform for staff to showcase, learn and celebrate this way of thinking.
“In 2020, Data Day was directly aligned to ENVISION 2030, and since this is the strategic vision and plan for all of us at DUT, we think it is vital for all staff to be involved,” she said.
Dr Parker said that in the same way that Data Day is about data-informed action, stewardship is about how the DUT community can demonstrate their values and principles in action. “This perspective highlights the values of transparency and accountability, which are intrinsic to one of the focus areas of our Siyaphumelela work; that of building a data-informed institutional culture. How staff engage with students is another example of Stewardship – how we can nurture a people-centred culture. Like in the FYSS feedback, students were asking for staff to show more patience with them. Students too can show stewardship in being accountable and responsible in their learning and research activities,” she said.
Dr Parker also highlighted what is forthcoming in terms of projects that she is working on for this year. “A major project being co-ordinated through the Planning Office is the establishment of baseline data, measures and targets for ENVISION 2030’s key performance indicators. We will definitely continue with DUT Data Day virtually, but we are planning to hold it during the last
Pictured: Dr Koo Parker.
DUT Data Day provides an opportunity for the DUT community to showcase and learn about the different types of data and data usage at the University. It focuses on institutional data and on understanding the importance of applying data to guide decision- making within DUT. As the University begins implementing its new strategic plan, what exists in new data is important for helping it move towards its vision and its 12 strategic objectives.
two weeks in June. Other projects include DUT participation in the Siyaphumelela student engagement surveys, and U-Multirank international benchmarking survey,” she said.
FEENIX AWARDS DUT
THE UNIVERSITY OF
THE YEAR AWARD
Simangele Zuma
Feenix, a public benefit organisation that assists students in graduating debt-free, awarded the Durban University of Technology (DUT) the University of the Year Award recently for ensuring that access to education is not dependent on wealth.
Feenix Student Engagement Manager Cara-Jean Petersen said that along with this award, a DUT staff member, Mthetheleli Gwaza from the Advancement and Relations Office, received a Feenix University Staff of the Year Award. Gwaza, who was appointed as the Feenix Liaison, was honoured for his dedication when leading the Feenix-DUT relationship.
“What contributed towards DUT winning the University of the Year Award was the excellent responsiveness and administrative support during student recruitment drives and disbursement periods (student payments); DUT’s initiative in raising brand awareness of Feenix and linking students to alternative funding opportunities like an online crowdfunding profile; regular media exposure (newsletters, social media posts, website etc.); and strong, invested and fruitful relationships between Advancement and Alumni Relations Office and Feenix Student Engagement Team,” said Petersen.
She said that DUT also assisted with Student Ambassador recruitment and training, actively assisting with recruitment during the #CapTheGap campaign launched in response to COVID-19 and lockdown.
“ The recruitment resulted in 109 students being assisted with laptops, data and food vouchers. The donation value was R823 130,21. All efforts resulted in a 1 400% growth of funded students when comparing November 2019 to November 2020 statistics. To date, 34 DUT students have been funded for a total value of R791 429.86 thanks to this fruitful partnership,” explained Petersen.
Pictured: Advancement and Alumni Relations Director Zwakele Ngubane.
Furthermore, Petersen said that DUT consistently went above and beyond in building and strengthening the partnership in order to benefit their students and see more students progress through their academic journey debt free.
Advancement and Alumni Relations Director Zwakele Ngubane said that the DUT-Feenix relationship began in 2017 and they are looking forward to a long-term relationship to increase the number of DUT students who benefit from the Feenix crowd-funding. He said that they are looking forward to greater things during this year and beyond. Ngubane thanked his team for their dedication towards their work, especially Gwaza for flying the DUT flag high.
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