Dr Xena Cupido, the newly appointed Director at the Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development, says her appointment is not only a victory for herself but for all women in the higher education sector.

“Much has been said about the under-representation of women in higher education, so for me, this certainly is a great professional development opportunity,” says Cupido. “But not just for me alone, for other women too who aspire for professional development and growth in higher education."

She adds that along the way of her professional development there had been several wonderful role models from which she learnt a great deal with some big shoes to fill. “But I am ready for the challenge, grateful and excited about the possibilities,” she enthuses.  

“I am very excited and thankful to have been considered for the new role and look forward to working with my colleagues across the University community as we navigate through this very difficult time,” says the former Acting Head of the Fundani’s Student Learning Unit. “In 2020 we experienced unprecedented disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing us to rapidly think of alternative ways to complete the academic year.”

She argues that the lockdown regulations saw the University community, for the first time ever, sharing common experiences of displacement, dispossession and uncertainty. 

“It is this shared experience that has heightened the need for deeper engagement between the University, staff and students,” adds Cupido. “So, this is both an exciting and daunting time in higher education.

“I welcome the opportunity to be a part of this next phase, where we begin to rethink University spaces and the role we can play as academic developers.  In this new appointment, I hope to continue to pursue innovative strategies that keep moving us forward.”

She says that the pace at which we had to adapt to the current circumstances has been rapid, but during this transition, the University community became more attuned to the wellbeing of staff and students and the efforts required to teach and learn remotely.  Cupido discusses her plans for the new role she assumed at Fundani at the beginning of the month. “Working collaboratively across disciplines where we are able to co-create teaching and learning experiences that are responsive to the needs of the University community is key.”

She says that this requires of the University to adopt an inquiry-based approach, an academic fluidity that will see lecturers able to develop new skills to enact a humanising and transformative pedagogy. “It is therefore  important that we remain mindful of the very real and continuing inequities that create barriers to access and success, from which we all have to learn, unlearn and re-learn as the only constant.” 

Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Aligned to the International Womxn’s Day theme of “Gender Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” and continuing with the African tradition of art and storytelling, the Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) recently hosted a workshop to celebrate CPUT womxn’s voices and experiences.

Fundani CHED Director, Dr Xena Cupido, says they were deliberate in the use of the noun, plural wom·xn [wim-in]. a woman (used, especially in intersectional feminism, as an alternative spelling to avoid the suggestion of sexism perceived in the sequences m-a-n and m-e-n, and to be inclusive of trans and nonbinary women).

Womxn within CPUT were invited to share their lived experiences, intergenerational stories, challenges, highlights and influence under the following topics:  Womxn in Poverty; Education; Health; Violence; Power and Decision Making; The Environment; Girl Child.

The workshop which was held at Bellville Campus was facilitated by Janine Lange, a feminist indigenous storyteller, interdisciplinary artist and researcher. As a kundalini yoga instructor and narrative practitioner, she works with embodied practices to facilitate the focalising of peripheral stories to promote engagement, acceptance and collaboration rather than tolerance in institutional practice and the artmaking/ research process. She currently serves as an associate lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and is a PhD fellow in the New Imaginaries project for sexual and gender justice based in the Women’s and Gender Studies department at UWC.

The two-day programme journeyed with participants through the development of a tree of life. “Tree of Life” exercise was used as a metaphor to assist in storytelling based on one's life. Using arts-based pedagogies, participants captured the experience through drawing,” says Cupido. During the second day the participants were taken through a process to develop their stories, poem, narrative and or art piece.

The workshop was open to all womxn at CPUT, students and staff members. The womxn engaged in the workshop both face to face and online.  It created a moment in time, away from the everyday business to take time to “exhale”.

“It is important to create spaces within our environment where we acknowledge the rich diversity, backgrounds, strengths and wisdom in the institution.  We can learn from each other in surprising and unexpected ways when we share our individual and collective experiences. Faculties and departments are encouraged to host such events not just during womxn's month, but throughout the year,” Cupido remarks.

She added that cultural understanding emerged from the workshop, “but more so that our experiences are more similar than different, we are able to bring ourselves into a space through imagination and creativity.  As we shared our stories, trust, empathy and feelings of community unfolded. We felt a sense of Oneness”.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Academic leaders serve a crucial leadership, management and administrative function in higher education. As such Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) has established an Academic Leadership Programme (ALP) to promote interactions between academics in different departments/faculties to enhance academics’ professional competencies.

The programme Coordinator, Dr Zanele Masuku; Academic Staff Development Unit, Fundani: CHED, said ALP is designed for newly appointed heads of departments (HODs) and acting HODs to support them in navigating their new roles in a safe space to discuss their day-to-day work procedures and academic practices.

“The aim of ALP is to support and capacitate newly appointed academic leaders, to leadership and management positions. This is because of the dual nature of their appointments, as academics and as managers/leaders of the departments/faculties. ALP aims to fill the gap as some HODs assume their roles unprepared for the position, hence the theme is: Capacitate/empower, innovate, and lead,” Masuku remarked.

The event commenced at Bellville campus with an overview of academic leadership by Masuku. She said the workshop was a space where HODs could share their experiences and help one another in developing robust discussions and community of practice.

In her opening address Dr Xena Cupido, Director: Fundani CHED, said: “This programme marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to fostering academic excellence, nurturing leadership skills, and advancing the vision of our esteemed institution as we journey towards Vision 2030.”

Cupido said the programme had been meticulously designed to address a critical need within academic community. “These academic leaders play a vital role in steering the ship of their respective departments, overseeing the implementation of policies, and ensuring the smooth functioning of our academic ecosystem. However, as they navigate the complex intersection of academia and management, it is essential that they receive the support and tools necessary for success.”

Masuku added: “They [HODs] require support and skills on how to delegate work to others and how to trust the academics they lead with the projects they are working on.” Dr Siyanda Makaula, Director: Quality Management Directorate, provided an overview of CPUT Quality Matters and Processes in Learning and Teaching. The event was also graced by the presence of Prof Eugene Cloete, CEO of the Cape Higher Education Consortium, talking about the academic leadership.

Dr Kabelo Sebolai: Language Unit also made a presentation on language question and epistemic justice.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Achieving the Dream (ATD) presented CPUT with a special 20th anniversary award at DREAM: the Siyaphumelela Network Award held at Orlando, Florida in the United States of America.

Dr Xena Cupido, Director: Fundani CHED, said the Siyaphumelela Network Award celebrated the work of South African participant institutions in advancing equity and driving student-centred transformation. Dr Nosisana Mkonto and Prof Muhammad Nakhooda accepted the award on CPUT's behalf. The Siyaphumelela Team at CPUT, consists of the chair, Cupido, Prof Hanlie Dippenaar, Dr Lizel Hudson, and data expert, Dr Thomas Farrar who is also the head of Mathematics and Physics Department. The team has been interrogating diverse data repositories and engaging in regular conversations as they drew insights and unpacked data to develop a far clearer picture of student needs at CPUT, said Cupido.

She said over the last four years, the Siyaphumelela Project at CPUT under her leadership–and co-chaired by Nakhooda, “has laid the foundations to understand the meaning and drivers of student success in the constantly changing context of CPUT and, together with partners at University of the Western Cape and University of Cape Town, its place in the larger landscape of the Western Cape”.

The Siyaphumelela Project is an objective of the larger Kresge Foundation’s Education Program, which works towards supporting colleges and universities around the world to better understand and support the most vulnerable students along their chosen academic journeys. The Annual Achieving the Dream Conference brings all benefactors of these projects together to share experiences and talk through best practices. “Important lessons and achievements are discussed, with shared stories from very diverse international higher education contexts,” Cupido said.

Nakhooda, sourced the data and presented it in new ways so that it becomes not only accessible, but also meaningful and actionable. He said the Siyaphumelela Student Success Initiative seeks to empower universities to better design their systems in an integrated way, around unique cohorts, unique needs, and for unique contexts. “In order to realise this aim, one must actively search for various data sources, that together, create a holistic picture of what constitutes student success, rather than the singular measures of throughput and retention.”

Cupido added that CPUT has committed itself through a memorandum of understanding signed in 2020, to be a participant university in the national Siyaphumelela Student Success Project. She said the institution has pledged to create a student-centred culture at CPUT, “to reduce prejudices based on gender and race, and to support student success by improving institutional capacity in this regard through the collection and interrogation of data that may be indicators of student application, retention, support and success”.

Mkonto, Head of Student Transition, Access, Retention, and Success (STARS) Unit and First Year Experience (FYE) Coordinator, said the project, along with Kresge's objective to aid vulnerable students, intersects with FYE initiative and the STARS Unit. She said these initiatives collectively aim to provide comprehensive support to students, enabling them to effectively adapt to university life, actively engage in their academic pursuits, and ultimately succeed in their studies. At the Achieving the Dream conference, academics shared challenges, opportunities, and best practices in achieving student success. Two things that stood out for her at the conference include:

• The use of data to understand the students’ journey through the university.
• Scholar awards where students shared their personal journeys towards achieving academic success.

“Through such engagements, CPUT can learn how to effectively use data to gain deeper insight into understanding the student journey and integrate student voice to cultivate student success.”

Cupido added that the students’ success is “everybody's business, from administration, support, academic, professional through to leadership”. She said CPUT has worked toward developing the necessary structures through programmes such as FYE mentors and retention officers, tutors and teaching assistants, working with data interns to understand and interpret data. “Vision 2030 has been fundamental in guiding the process.”

Reflecting on the award, Cupido said: “This is a recognition of the work being done at CPUT to prioritise students and their success, as future leaders, responsible and responsive citizens, willing to make a difference in the lives of others.”

She said the project culminated in the STARS Unit in Fundani CHED and the development of a STARS committee, a sub-committee of the Senate Learning and Teaching committee. “Here we will be able to track the student support interventions offered and the impact it has on student success.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In a showcase of academic dedication, CPUT has proudly announced that two academics have been selected for the prestigious Teaching Advancement at Universities (TAU) 5 programme.

The Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development’s (CHED), Dr Xena Cupido, said the prestigious fellowship programme, aimed at fostering excellence in learning and teaching across South African universities, has welcomed Dr Sanet Cox and Dr Bronwyn Swartz into its ranks, marking a significant milestone for CPUT.

Swartz feels “very grateful to be supported” and said she heard about TAU from a previous colleague, who told her that “it was an incredibly supportive programme for academics aspiring to improve their Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoLT) capabilities”.

“I am hoping that I will be able to make an impact. The structure of the TAU includes doing two projects. I have just started three projects, two of which I will take advantage of being part of TAU to make progress or complete. I am very excited about this.”

Cox is “excited” about the nomination and acceptance into the programme and has been “overwhelmed by the kind responses that I have received from colleagues”. “I feel very honoured to be a part of this prestigious programme and look forward to participation, and to learning from experts.”

She continued: “Not only is it the next logical step in my academic career, but it also provides me with the opportunity of becoming a change agent in my working environment. I have been involved in lecturing and student support activities for many years and I am eager to engage in research regarding student support that may bring about sustainable change in the future of my department, in our faculty, and in the education system.” As a lecturer in the Education Faculty, she is aware that primarily she teaches university students on an academic level, while on a secondary level she models teaching to pre-service teachers, who need to go into the world and apply skills that they have been taught.

Cupido said the TAU Fellowships Programme is designed to nurture a new generation of senior academics, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to act as scholars, leaders, and agents of change within their respective disciplines. “By focusing on inter-institutional collaboration and promoting social justice in education, the programme seeks to enhance the quality and impact of learning and teaching in South Africa's public universities.

Cox and Swartz’s acceptance into the TAU 5 cohort underscores CPUT's commitment to academic excellence and its role in shaping the future of higher education in the country.” The programme spans 19 months and includes a series of block-week contact sessions, individual projects tailored to each participant's learning and teaching environment, collaborative group projects, and reflective reports. This comprehensive approach ensures that fellows not only contribute to their institutions but also to the broader academic community, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

Cupido added that the CPUT's participation in the TAU Fellowships Programme has been notable, with 10 TAU fellows, having completed the programme to date. “This achievement reflects the university's dedication to advancing the pedagogical skills of its faculty and its commitment to contributing positively to the higher education landscape in South Africa.

Swartz said: “I will have to do an individual project tailored to our learning and teaching environment. I will also be expected to take part in collaborative group projects and write reflective reports.”

Cox’ research interest for TAU will focus on the “impact of our support programme (FYE specific) on our students, their success, and the retention rate”. Cupido said: “The university extends its heartfelt congratulations to doctors, Cox and Swartz on this remarkable achievement.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In an effort to promote sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation, the STEM Club offered students a platform to exhibit their best research projects to the CPUT community.

This year's category winners are Mzameli Mashiyi, who is developing an African language speech recognition AI (Technology) and Nomava Mgidi, who is addressing unemployment through fashion design (Social Science).

This was part of the annual STEM Expo Competition at SARETEC as part of the National Science Week, where students were given opportunities to upscale their research projects via the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) for possible commercialisation. During this year's Expo Competition, the STEM Club worked closely with the Community Engagement (CE) and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) units. The neighbouring high school learners were also invited to be part of the programme and to view the exhibitions. CE and WIL also conducted a workshop with the learners.

The guest speakers included Jacqueline Scheepers: Manager: Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Unit, Dr Xena Cupido: Fundani CHED director, Dr Mark Jacobs: Maths lecturer, Dr Gillian Arendse: Nuclear Physicist for iThemba Labs), and Ntokozo Mashaba: last year's winner. Dr Frikkie George, who is also CPUT STEM Support Lead, said the lively and animated talk of Dr Arendse “gapped the interest of the attendees”.

George, who also coordinated the event, said they witnessed fewer exhibitors this year but “the quality of the projects was impressive”.

However, the STEM Expo Competition was well attended. “We explore the possibility of accessing funding for the winners to up-scale their projects for commercialisation. This event showcases the CPUT STEM Club's members' research projects, and it may contribute to their academic performance.”

George, who is also the acting Head of Department: Fundani STARS Unit, continued: “This STEM Expo competition will advance the STEM awareness at CPUT and showcase students' research projects in the different departments.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The annual conference which serves as a platform for information and networking on language teaching matters and development profession was co-hosted by CPUT and the South African Association for Language Teaching (SAALT) at Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town.

These include language teaching matters such as new trends and developments, syllabi, publications, and activities related to the language teaching and development profession. Opening the two-day conference, Dr Xena Cupido, Director: Fundani CHED, welcomed the delegates at SAALT, celebrating 60 years of excellence in language teaching and learning in diverse contexts. “I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate SAALT on its diamond anniversary, what a beautiful way to celebrate the work that has been done over the many years.

“As CPUT we are particularly proud to be able to celebrate this milestone with you and to be given the opportunity to co-host this year’s gathering. It certainly underscores our shared commitment to academic and educational advancements in language teaching and developing indigenous languages as an academic and scientific language,” said Cupido.

She said the conference embarked on various discussions, presentations, and workshops and that the topics “deeply” resonate with CPUT's Vision 2030 to ensure that the language of instruction supports student learning as well as to promote a multilingual environment that recognises CPUT’s unique African identity and historic circumstances. “As an institution, our intent is to foster an inclusive and equitable environment that recognises the linguistic diversity of staff and students.”

In her keynote address, Prof Cynthia Marivate, the first Chief Executive Officer of the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), addressed: The relationship and Influence of Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments, with special reference to African Languages.

Her paper calls for the empowerment of teachers through basic research skills. She said: “The paper is proposing that when teachers are equipped with quality and quantity research skills even basically, this will make their participation in discussions of curriculum reviews or policy implementation meaningful,” said Marivate. Head of the Language Unit at Fundani CHED, Dr Kabelo Sebolai said the conference was very successful. Sebolai said for a few years before COVID-19, SAALT which used to be very strong previously, was starting to show signs of dwindling. “Its first face-to-face conference after COVID-19, held in Pretoria in 2023 was a great success by comparison to the one preceding it in 2019. If that conference (2019) brought SAALT back to life, this year’s conference added significantly to this revitalisation. The latter exceeded its set goals...”

He continued: “It feels really good to us at CPUT, given the hard work we put into making this conference a reality. We started preparing for it in January and continued to work hard on this until the very last day of the conference. We are very proud of ourselves and Fundani, particularly. The support we received from the office of the Director (Fundani) was amazing. Also, we received very positive feedback from the participants in general.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.