The Student Counselling Unit has rolled out various programmes to help first-year students make the transition from school to university.

Currently, the head of the Bellville-based unit, Dr Abie de Villiers and his staff members are holding workshops with first-year students and sharing some much-needed tips on how to cope with the demands of university life.

“Many of the students don’t realise that there is a difference between school and university,” he says.

De Villiers says university life is fast-paced and students are required to cope with a large volume of work.

“We emphasise engaging in academic activities. We also encourage students to attend class, join study groups and make use of the resources on the campuses,” he says.

De Villiers says the unit will work closely with first-year students throughout the year.

The unit plans to host workshops on various student-related issues, from how to handle stress to coping with academic workloads.

First-year students as well as returning students are also encouraged to make use of the services offered by the Student Counselling Unit, which has offices on the Cape Town, Mowbray and Wellington Campuses.

The unit’s services range from individual counselling to career development. All services are free of charge.

More information on the Student Counselling Unit can be found under the Student Affairs and Services section on the CPUT homepage.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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First-year students and their parents are invited to attend the 2009 welcome ceremonies, scheduled to take place during Orientation Week.

• Monday 19 January: Cape Town Campus
• Tuesday 20 January: Wellington Campus
• Wednesday 21 January: Bellville Campus

All ceremonies begin at 10:00 am and feature an address by CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga.

Written by CPUT News
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After a jam-packed week of exciting Orientation activities, thousands of first-year students are expected to report for class this week.

First-year Clothing and Textile Technology students, who ended their Orientation Week on a high note, said they are looking forward to attending their first official lecture.

Twenty-year-old Mica Lee, who is passionate about fashion, said: “I am really looking forward to my first year of studies.”

Lee said Orientation helped ease her into her new life as a CPUT student. Sessions with their lecturers and other student support departments gave them insight into what can be expected of first-year students.

Her classmate Mansoor Galant, is also looking forward to the 2012 academic year. The 18-year-old, who matriculated from Alexander Sinton High in Athlone, said he is positive that he will enjoy the course as it was something he always wanted to pursue. 

But it is not only first-year students who are looking forward to class.

Lecturer Bernie Miller said: “I’m very excited about the year because the students have the right attitude towards their studies. They are expectant of the course.”

Another lecturer, Nommiselo Tyalana, who will teach first-years, said all is in place to ensure a smooth start to classes this week.

Tyalana said the department, which falls under the Engineering Faculty, registered 75 first-year students, of which some will follow the Extended Curriculum Programme.

The course is the only of its kind in the Western Cape and attracts a large number of students each year.

CPUT’s Clothing and Textile Technology graduates are also highly sought after in the industry for their specialist skills.

By: Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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The transition from school to university can be a daunting one but the First Year Experience (FYE) at CPUT aims to help our new students settle in successfully.

FYE is an institution-wide, student-centred initiative that provides support to first-year students to adapt, engage and progress at CPUT.

“It is therefore important for first-year students to participate in FYE because FYE pulls together resources and helpful people available to first-year students. It equips first-year students with helpful techniques to maximise study habits, facilities to ease challenges with studies and university life in general and Support Services to help deal with personal issues says Dr Nosisana Mkonto, institutional coordinator for the FYE.

She encouraged first-year students to get in touch with mentors and retention Officers (ROs) who are based in faculties and can provide support to first-year students.

“Mentors and ROs are students themselves who understand first-year students’ challenges. The CPUT 101 programme available (online) on Blackboard covers a variety of topics that can assist first-year students with their studies and university life in general.”

Videos on the FYE are available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/CPUTfye.

The FYE offices are located as follows:

District Six campus:

Engineering Building room 4.51

E-Learning Centre, room 2.26

Bellville campus:

IT Centre, Room 1.04

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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The new cohort of first-year students who are kicking off their studies at the Wellington campus were officially welcomed into the CPUT family during the 2020 welcoming event held in the Boland town.

This annual three-day event which is hosted at the three campuses - Bellville, District Six and Wellington- serves as a spirited communiqué juncture between the new first-year students with their parents, student representative council members and senior management of the university.

The programme of the day saw numerous speakers taking to the stage, including Dean of Students, Prem Coopoo, Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo and Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof Thobeka Mda.

In welcoming the guests, Nhlapo said; “Welcome to the only smart university in the continent… Your attendance here at the First-Year Welcome Day shows your eagerness to begin your higher education path with us and we are proud and grateful that you have chosen CPUT as your academic partner. In selecting CPUT, you have made a wise choice.

“This institution is one of SA’s leading universities of technology in the mould of Technological University Dublin, Queensland University of Technology, Limerick Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He added that students will enjoy their student experience underpinned by solid student services, “So much that you will want to return to CPUT for further studies.” In her address, Coopoo said the event marked the beginning of a new life with new routines. “You have entered a lively, challenging, diverse caring and warm community…

“You will make new friends who will become friends for life.”

She added that all students are expected to obey the Code of Student Conduct and the general student rules. Mda added that the students should be proud for being selected for the programme. “And also appreciate the privilege of being selected from the thousands who applied. There is a high demand for this programme. In October 2019 we had 17 000 applications for teacher education, when we have spaces for just 1090.” The first-year student, Edinen Kuiters said: “it’s a lot [of information] to take but people here are friendly, everyone is always willing to help.”

Mario Christians, a parent agreed with Edinen and said: “People here are so friendly; they go out of their way to assist you. They are very warm welcoming more than what I expected.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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First-year students in the Department of Office Management and Technology donated almost R250 000 to the Children’s Hospital Trust over the past five years.

As part of their Business Administration 1 syllabus, students embark on an entrepreneurship project in which they are required to raise funds for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

Having raised almost R250 000 for the hospital, CPUT now has plaques on the hospital’s donor walls.

“I think this is a major achievement not only for the students but for the Faculty of Business and the Institution as a whole,” says lecturer Belinda Berman.

Berman says what motivates the department to keep donating to the hospital is that all monies raised by the students and donated to the Trust are directly used on the projects selected and no part of the funds go to staff salaries or administrative costs.

It takes the students two and a half terms to put the project together, which culminates on a Market Day where each group sells its products such as food, snacks and sweets on campus. However, in line with the hospital’s values, no alcoholic or tobacco products can be sold.

Besides equipping the students with holistic skills which are essential, the department promotes social responsibility as the donation to the hospital responds to a social need in not just the country, but the continent as a whole, says senior lecturer Mandie Richards.

From the project, the students acquire various skills including diversity management, business and administrative skills, teamwork, creativity, conflict resolution as well as managing finances.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Full scholarships worth close to a million rand have been awarded to 11 first-year students by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). The delighted students, drawn from the IT, Food and Beverage, Hospitality Management, Tourism and Mechanical Engineering Departments, will now have the privilege of concentrating solely on their studies, without worrying about any financial pressures.

Advancement Department Director Calvin Maseko and fundraiser Khumo Sebola have expressed their gratitude to the NYDA for their generosity and say they hope to strengthen the partnership with the agency in the years to come.

NYDA Senior Manager, Innocentia Mphayo says the agency believes that comprehensive support to a young person is critical to help ensure their years of study are as stress-free as possible.

“So many of our talented young people drop-out due to a lack of funding, a situation that is detrimental both to themselves and to our economy. We hope these comprehensive bursaries give these students the boost they so richly deserve, so that they can become successful in the careers of their choice.”

Mphayo is also urging any CPUT students who might need guidance to take advantage of their services. The NYDA have a full service Youth Advisory Centre in Adderley Street where students are welcome to access reliable and up-to-date information to make informed choices about their futures.

Written by Janyce Weintrob

Tel: +27 21 460 3514
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CPUT STEM Learning Centre in conjunction with the Imbadu Club (Boot Camp) recently hosted a three-day boot camp at the Bellville campus which was designed for first-year students who have challenges with understanding mathematical and science concepts.

In her motivational keynote, PhD candidate in Engineering Education at the University of Cape Town, Ekaterina Rzyankina, said Imbadu introduces first-year students to a range of strategies for learning mathematics and science.

Rzyankina added that it also deepens the students’ knowledge in key areas of the curriculum by identifying the knowledge gaps.  “[The boot camp also] develops their understanding of how key concepts that underpin mathematics or science are linked together across the subject,” she said.

She also advised students to love numbers. “Make it part of life. You can do maths in the rain.”

The boot camp took place over three days with three group work sessions on days one and two, and two group work sessions and the closing session on day 3. Mathematics and science sessions were conducted concurrently covering all the sections in the respective subject guidelines. The sessions were conducted by the Fundani Student Learning Unit (SLU)-based learning facilitators.

Fundani CHED University Capacity Development Grant Project Team member, David Haarhoff said the goal was to assist students who are in need of working through various concepts relating to maths and science for preparation for their final exams. “Students at risk of failing were granted the opportunity to attend. Capacity was limited with the intent of hosting more such events in future,” said Haarhoff.

He was also impressed with the level of engagement g with students throughout the event. The concept of teaching and learning was prevalent for the duration of the three-day event and the project team received “good feedback” from the students who attended the bootcamp.

Motivational speakers included Dr Nosisana Mkonto, Head of Department: Fundani Student Learning Unit, Lauren Davids, Academic Development Practitioner:  Fundani CHED, Dr Mark Jacobs, Lecturer: Electrical Engineering Department, Dr Ignatius John Senior Physics Lecturer in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Dr George Buzuzi ECP Mathematics Lecturer: Mathematics and Physics Department.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The Major Sports Hall was packed this morning as CPUT officially welcome first-year students and their parents to the Bellville Campus.

Acting Vice-chancellor, Dr Chris Nhlapo, told the audience that the university is grateful and proud that the students and their parents chose CPUT as their academic partner.

Nhlapo said the drought that threatens to engulf the Western Cape is everybody’s problem and that students should do their bit to save as much water as possible ahead of Day Zero when taps will be switched off.

He added that the students should consider themselves lucky to get space at CPUT as the university is one of the leading Universities of Technology in the country.

“I encourage everyone to pursue and achieve academic excellence,” he said before sharing tried and tested tips for academic success with the new students

In and around the Student Centre Quad, various units in the Department of Student Affairs and some student societies ran informational stalls advertising their services as well as some business companies which promoted their products.

The students were entertained by the scintillating sounds of local DJ’s, Aux Womdantso, Kenlow & Trapgawd.

Oarabile Madela, a first-year student in Clothing & Textile Technology, said she enjoyed the Nhlapo’s speech as it was informative. Oarabile said she chose CPUT because the other universities in the province do not offer her career path as she did not move want to other provinces.

The event marked the culmination of the university’s three ceremonies held to welcome the new students to its main campuses.

The three-day event wraps up at the Bellville campus today.

Show us your best #FirstYearsOfCPUT picture on social media and you could win a spot prize!

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Hundreds of first-year students and their parents pitched up for the Cape Town Welcome Ceremony yesterday.

Students were introduced to the institutions executive management then visited their respective faculties for a meet and greet sessions with lecturers afterwards.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo thanked parents for entrusting their children’s education to CPUT and encouraged the gathering to take advantage of the multitude of government grants that have become available as a result of the recent fee free education announcement by the president.

“Sign the Acknowledgement of Debt forms and visit your closest Financial Aid office to maximise the government grants both for yourself and CPUT,” he said.

The three-day event wraps up at the Bellville campus today.

Show us your best #FirstYearsOfCPUT picture on social media and you could win a spot prize!

Written by CPUT Events

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