A student academic reading support programme, developed by CPUT academics on the Wellington Campus, is yielding remarkable results.

Rolled out four years ago as a pilot, the Leesnet programme aims to develop reading comprehension and improve the reading skills of students.

Those who participated in the programme last year, doubled their reading speeds in just six months and significantly improved their comprehension skills.

READ: Students during one of the Leesnet classes, which sees them work on a computer-based reading programme

The programme has received buy-in from Education lecturers at the campus and has now become a permanent feature on first-year Education students’ timetables.

The programme is presented by four Education lecturers– Sanet Cox, Suzan Wust, Louise Groebler and Debbie Cilliers, who identified the need to improve students’ reading skills, which are crucial for academic life.

INNOVATE: Lecturers who are presenting the Leesnet programme. A similar programme has been rolled at the Mowbray Campus.

Cox says their efforts are supported by international and local research, which reveals that the majority of first-year university students do not have the proper reading skills required for academic work. Research has shown that first years are required to read 300 - 400 words per minutes (wpm), however, the reality is that many only manage 190 or less wpm.

“For students to read and write academically, they need to read at a specific level,” says Cox.

This innovative programme sees first year students attend two lessons a week that focus on various reading strategies. One lesson is dedicated to working on the Reader are Leaders computer-based programme.

“It is quite interesting and exciting to see how they progress,” says Cox.

And the programme has been well received by students.

First year student Delwin Manho says Leesnet teaches students how to distinguish between different types of text and how to focus on what is important.

His classmate Kayla Rivalland says the programme has provided her with valuable tips which she can use in her teaching career.

“It gives me a good idea of how to coach learners to read,” she says.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News

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Wellington Campus will be a buzz of activity as thousands of first-year students attend the Welcome Ceremony.

Students, together with their parents, spouses or partners will attend the Welcome Ceremony that takes place at the Murrary House Gardens.

The students can expect a warm welcome from the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga and other members of the university's Executive Management.

The ceremonies are a key feature on the university’s calendar and mark the beginning of first-year students’ academic journey at CPUT.

The series of welcome ceremonies will culminate on Thursday, 17 January at the Bellville Campus. This ceremony will take place in the Major Sports Hall.

All ceremonies will start promptly at 10h00.

*For additional information on the registration processes for first-year students, please see the notices on the CPUT homepage

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Sport facilities at the Wellington Campus are set for a major revamp after the institution secured funding of more than R4 million from the National Lotteries Board.

The funding of R4.5m was awarded to the institution after Tyrone Africa, Sports Coordinator at the campus, submitted a proposal to the Board highlighting the need for an upgrade of the sport facilities.

Although Wellington Campus has a thriving sport culture, with a large number of students holding Boland colours in various sporting codes, facilities are dilapidated and hamper the development of the institution’s sports programme.

The current facilities are also preventing the institution from offering their sport expertise and facilities to the broader community.

However, Africa said sporting activities in Wellington will be boosted with the funding.

“The upgrade of facilities will allow us to expand and deepen our already existent teaching, training and sports programmes to include all communities and schools in the Boland area,” he said.

The proposal submitted identified nine areas for development. Of the nine, funding was awarded for development of two areas. This includes the revamp of the tennis and netball courts and the upgrade of the rugby fields.

Africa said funds will be used to resurface the six tennis and netball courts. Lighting will also be installed at the courts, which will allow students and the community to utilise the courts after-hours.

However, the bulk of the funds will be used for the installation of high mast lighting on the two rugby fields. The current lightning is inadequate and only provides light for one of the fields.

Africa said the lights, which will cost close to R3m, are much needed because students are only available for sport activities after 5pm during weekdays.

“We want to install six high mast lighting poles that can cover the two rugby fields,” said Africa .

He said proper lighting will allow students and the community to utilise the fields optimally.

“We are very excited about this. We want the Wellington campus to become the hub of sport activities in this community,” said Africa .

Wellington Campus Manager, Ben Turner, said the upgrade of the sport facilities will ensure the development of the institution and community sports programmes.

“There is a lot of options open to us now,” he said.

Turner said they are hoping to complete the upgrade by the end of the academic year. He said news of the funding has already spread in the Boland community.

“The campus community and the broader community are very excited,” he said.

The Wellington Campus is planning to submit another proposal to National Lotteries Board for funding for development of several other sports facilities. Facilities identified for an upgrade include the club house, hockey field and the student centre as well as the installation of a synthetic athletic track.

“We’ve got big ideas for the Wellington campus, but we will have to phase them in over time,” said Turner.

By Candes Keating

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A 21-year-old teaching student, based at the Wellington Campus has been chosen to represent the Cape Peninsula University of Technology during a three week leadership trip to the United Kingdom.

Maria Louw is one of 17 South African students, who has been awarded the prestigious Abe Bailey Travel Bursary.

The bursary was established in terms of the will of the late Abe Bailey, who was a mining magnate and politician in South Africa. The aim of the bursary is to broaden the views of South African students by exposing them to different cultures.

Marog Taylor, trustee of the fund, said bursaries are awarded each year to students from South African universities, and covers the costs of a three week educational tour of England and Scotland. Taylor said students selected for the trip are those who demonstrated leadership skills at their campuses or within their community. Students also have to excel academically, said Taylor.

Louw said she never expected to be awarded the bursary. However, her leadership roles in faith based community projects in Wellington and in several cultural programmes at the campus helped her clinch the bursary.

Louw, who is currently completing her practical teaching course at Durbanville Primary School, said her chosen career also requires of her to have leadership skills.

“When you are in class, you have to take the lead,” she said.

Louw, who is from Nieuwoudtville, a small rural town in the Northern Cape, said she is positive that the trip will be a success and is looking forward to be exposed to a different culture.

“I am very excited,” she said.

Louw, along with the other students will travel to the United Kingdom on 21 November 2008.

By Candes Keating, Marketing and Communication Department

Written by CPUT News
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The Wellington campus is set to become the sports hub of the Boland region thanks to a substantial donation of R4.5 million from the National Lotteries Board.

The campus, which boasts a thriving sports culture, recently used the funds to revamp the surfaces of several tennis and netball courts and also install mast lighting at the rugby field.

The funding was awarded to the institution after Wellington Campus Sports Coordinator Tyrone Africa submitted a proposal to the board highlighting the need for an upgrade of the facilities.

Speaking at the recent official opening of the revamped facilities, Africa says the makeover is a stepping stone for other sport-related projects.

“This is a pioneer project for the institution. We would like to improve sports facilities across the CPUT campuses,” he says.

FUN: The netball and rugby team show off their skills on the resurfaced netball court.

Head of Student Affairs, Malinge Gqeba thanked the board for their investment in CPUT and also commended Africa for putting together the winning proposal.

“The National Lotteries Board made it possible for those playing sport to have access to proper facilities,” he says.

And students are already reaping the benefits of the state-of-the-art facilities.

Deputy Chairperson of the Sports Forum at the campus, Enanda Heasbroek, says with new lighting installed at the netball and tennis courts, which also boast new smooth surfaces, the teams have been able to extend their training hours.

“We are training for much longer periods at night and it is really improving our skills,” she says.

Head of the Rugby Team, Ashley Dreyden says the new mast lighting on the rugby fields means they can now host student league games, which usually take place at night.

“The facilities are top-notch,” says Ashley.

By Candes Keating

Photographs by Clive Galant

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT’s Wellington campus played host to the second Welcome Ceremony of the orientation week.

WELCOME: Deans and members of Executive Management attended the ceremony.

Eager first years and their parents took their seats under the shade of a huge tree in the Murray House gardens and Campus Manager Ben Turner wasted no time welcoming them to their first official CPUT gathering.

Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Anthony Staak took to the podium next and called the Wellington campus CPUT’s “gem in the countryside” which offers a range of programmes including Education, Business and Science.

“You will find your experience here is very different from what you were used to,” he says.

“There will be much more emphasis on problem-solving, critical thinking and independent work. It is important you develop the skills to become independent thinkers.”

Staak also encouraged the first years to become active participants in student life.

“Discuss, debate, socialize and befriend. An important resource is your fellow student.

This is how learning happens,” he says.

“You are indeed fortunate to have students here from very diverse backgrounds, from different cultures and very different life experiences.”

EAGER: First years and their parents at the Wellington Campus Welcome Ceremony.

The ceremony ended with a special welcome from the campus SRC leader.

The final Welcome Ceremony takes place in the Auditorium on the Bellville Campus Thursday at 10am.

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CPUT students are able to extend themselves beyond their own self-interest, with the most recent evidence of this being a R10 000 cheque handed over to a deserving, indebted foreign student by the Wellington Local Student Representative Council (LSRC).

Christian Songwa, a second-year Agriculture student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, experienced financial relief as a result of the fundraising efforts of his fellow students on the Wellington Campus.

“The main criteria for the successful applicant was academic achievement and financial need,” says Jason Rousseau, acting LSRC Chairperson, adding, “Christian’s sterling academic records as well as the fact that he has established a student society put him head and shoulders above all the other applicants.”

Applications were open to students from the Applied Science and Business Faculties. Only foreign students could apply with a motivation letter, international identification, student fee account, housing account and their academic record. The money was raised through, amongst others, an inter-hostel singing as well as theatre competition.

The acknowledgement from his peers energised and motivated Christian as he was preparing for exams. “It couldn’t have come at a better time. This is the last year [of study] before my internship next year. I found my motivation levels lagging, but winning really woke me up to work harder,” he explains.

Christian is the president and founder of the Agriculture Students’ Society, which aims to “bring together all students interested in Agriculture to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience and mutual understanding”.

Written by Abigail Calata

Students enrolled at the Wellington Campus now have access to brand new clinic facilities.

On 24 June 2009, Campus Health Services, a department tasked with promoting health and wellness at CPUT, officially opened the clinic.

The clinic, which is staffed by Sister Tania Maree, will offer a range of services to students, from general medical consultations, wound dressing to attending to minor ailments.

Dean of Students Cora Njoli Motale, who addressed members of the CPUT community at the opening of the clinic, said: “Within student services we are trusted with so many responsibilities. One of those is looking after the wellness of our students.”

With clinics situated at four of CPUT’s campuses, Motale said they are able to offer quality health services to students.

Elisabet Smit, Head of Student Counselling said health services at Wellington campus had a “humble beginning.”

In 2004, CPUT nursing Sister Dorothy Jonathan, approached the Drakenstein Municipality and secured temporary use of a local clinic.

However, limited medical services were available to students.

The clinic was also not easy accessible as it was located off campus.

With an increase in demand for primary health care services, the institution decided in 2007 to build a clinic adjacent to the Student Counselling Office.

Smit said building work commenced in June 2008. The clinic opened its doors at the start of the first term in 2009.

Chairperson of the Wellington Student Representative Council Ian Dippenaar welcomed the clinic and said it will contribute to making students’ lives easier.

Dr Allie Jardine, Head of Health Services at CPUT, said he is excited about the clinic.

The “dream of a clinic” would not have been realised without the funding approved by the Executive Management, said Dr Jardine.

Wellington campus manager Ben Turner, said: “We are very proud about the clinic.”

By Candes Keating

Photo: Attending the launch of the Wellington Clinic were (back row) Head of Health Services Dr Allie Jardine, (front row) Dean of Students Cora Njoli Motale, Manager of Wellington Campus Ben Turner and CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga.

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The Boland region is home to the picturesque Wellington Campus where a range of courses in the faculties of Applied Sciences, Business as well as Education and Social Sciences is offered.

The campus is the only site at CPUT where Afrikaans is used as a medium of training for Education students.

Of the more than 2 200 students registered at the campus, 1 200 are enrolled in the B Ed programme, which is offered by the Faculty of Education.

The faculty is renowned for its excellent curriculum and high training standards and was recently awarded the Medal of Honour by the South African Teachers Union (SAOU) in recognition of excellent training of teachers to the benefit of the Afrikaans speaking community.

The campus also houses the Department of Agriculture, which offers a qualification in Viticulture and Oenology. Students following these courses have access to a an experimental wine cellar and will soon have access to a state-of-the-art Agriculture Facility, which will be constructed this year.

Its vibrant student community is also active in a range of sporting activities as well as community engagement programmes, which range from tutoring learners at rural schools to facilitating sport and art programmes in impoverished communities in the region.

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

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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Authoring a textbook aimed at student teachers is no mean feat, as the task requires hard work, a passion for your discipline, as well as years of experience in the schooling and higher education sector.

Wellington Campus based Education lecturers, Dr Georina Westraadt and Margot Wood are testament to this fact. The duo was handpicked to lend their expertise to the compilation of the recently released Teaching Life Skills in the Foundation Phase textbook.

Published by Van Schaik Publishers, the textbook is aimed at Foundation Phase (grades R-3) student teachers as well as teachers and covers the topics of physical education, personal and social wellbeing, creative arts education as well as the teaching of natural sciences, technology and social sciences.

Westraadt, a senior lecturer in Art Education, together with Wood, a drama lecturer, authored chapters that focused on creative arts, which covers the teaching and learning areas of art, drama, dance and music.

Westraadt says the teaching of life skills in the Foundation Phase is crucial in the education of a child as it lays a sound foundation for their holistic development.

“Young children have rich imaginations and art education aims to develop that, especially so that they don’t lose it as they get older,” she says.

The author of the chapter titled “Teaching art in the Foundation Phase” Westraadt says children learn through creative thinking, and by developing this area they develop other skills needed to navigate life.

Woods, who authored the chapters titled “Teaching drama in the Foundation Phase” and “Teaching dance in the Foundation Phase”, says these areas of teaching are not solely focused on training the child for the stage, but looks at the development of the whole child.

“It has a lot to do with developing communication, concentration and group skills,” says Wood.

“It benefits all aspects of the development of a child.”

Teaching Life Skills in the Foundation Phase is structured according to the CAPS Foundation Phase curriculum. For more information on the textbook or to purchase see: http://www.vanschaiknet.com/book/view/353

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Second-year Education student Corne Conradie scooped the prize for coming up with a winning name for the character featured on the Help2Read project’s logo.

Corne, who is also a volunteer for the project, won a R250 book voucher for the innovative name, Nolwazi (Nguni for mother of knowledge).

Help2Read is a non-profit organisation on a mission to erase illiteracy in South Africa.

Since 2015, they have partnered with the Faculty of Education on the Wellington Campus where they have trained pre-service teachers, who are English Home language subject specialists, as volunteers for Help2Read.

The students work at a children’s home and in schools in the Wellington area, where they enhance the reading skills of the pupils in their care.

Every other day the students commit an hour to reading with a specific child for the whole year.

“In May of 2017, Help2Read launched its new look,” says the faculty’s Dr Hanlie Dippenaar, “and part of this campaign was to run a competition to find the name of the little reader in their logo”.

“Congratulations to Corne for her innovative and creative contribution. We on the Wellington campus, are proud to be part of the Help2Read initiative and to be part of the future of reading in South Africa.”

Initially, Corne came up with six well-researched names, but together with her siblings she decided on Nolwazi.

She says volunteering in the project plays an integral part towards her holistic development as a CPUT student.

Melody Volmink, Literacy Tutor and Relationship Co-ordinator at Help2Read congratulated Corne and thanked her colleague, Leani van Zyl, for championing the partnership with CPUT by providing intensive training and support to the students.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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CPUT is focused on becoming the nucleus of agricultural teaching and development in the Cape Winelands region.

This objective will be boosted with the construction of a multi-million Rand Agri-Hub on the Wellington Campus.

The Agri-Hub will house the Agriculture Department and will feature a vineyard, fruit orchards, vegetable fields as well as a livestock husbandry training facility.

The existing wine cellar, which was funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training to the tune of R2 m will also be incorporated into the new development.

This facility will also feature modern lecture rooms, conference facilities, laboratories and greenhouses.

The department’s Dr Francois Lategan says the Agri-Hub will be on par with what students can expect once in industry and will provide them with a hands-on learning experience.

“They will experience the atmosphere of agriculture every day,” says Lategan.

Apart from ensuring a first-class teaching and learning experience for CPUT students, Lategan says the new facility will also play a key role in developing closer ties between CPUT and the local, national and international agricultural sector, which will see them collaborate on capacity building programmes and joint research projects.

“Aspects of these collaborative programmes are already functional at local and international levels and these new facilities will just enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of the programmes offered at the Wellington campus,” says Lategaan.

The Department is already well established in the Cape Winelands Region and active in locally based and industry funded community engagement programmes.

To find out more about the programme see: http://www.cput.ac.za/academic/faculties/appliedsciences/departments/agriculture 

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

CPUT is the largest university in the Western Cape, with campuses and service points located across the province.

The Boland region is home to the picturesque Wellington Campus where a range of courses in the faculties of Applied Sciences, Business as well as Education and Social Sciences is offered.

This campus is renowned for its vibrant student community that is active in an array of community engagement programmes, which range from tutoring learners at rural schools to facilitating sport and art programmes in impoverished communities in the region.

The campus also houses the internationally recognised Centre for Multigrade Education that was established in 2009. The centre is the only of its kind in Africa that focuses on the development of frameworks and policies for quality instruction and learning in multigrade education.

Students at the campus also have access to state-of-the-art facilities, such as an experimental wine cellar that is used as a training facility for students following the National Diploma in Agriculture – Viticulture and Oenology, and a wide range of sporting facilities.

Maps and contact details for the Wellington Campus

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Two academics in the Faculty of Education have contributed two chapters to a textbook which introduces prospective teachers to children’s literature and details how children can be encouraged to become enthusiastic readers.

Drs Hanlie Dippenaar and Candice Livingston were recently part of a joint collaboration with the University of Pretoria in the writing and publishing of an undergraduate textbook for the teaching of children’s literature.

The textbook, Introducing children’s Literature: a guide to the South African Classroom was published by Van Schaik Publishers. The textbook, which comprises of 11 chapters, has been prescribed for first-year students in the English Department on the Wellington Campus.

“A lot has been published on children’s literature but little has been published on how it is implemented within the South African classroom context. This book deals with where literature fits in within the teaching and learning environment in the classroom’ says Livingston.

“It looks at how caregivers, teachers and parents play a role in the educational development of learners.”

She adds that the book also addresses how teaching should be done in the context of a decolonised curriculum which is demanded by the #FeesMustFall movement.

Livingston’s chapter deals with types of children’s literature, while Dippenaar’s looks at the historical development of the genre in South Africa in English, Afrikaans and IsiXhosa with a particular reference to oral tradition.

The textbook is available at Van Schaik’ bookstores and will soon be available at the CPUT libraries.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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A genealogical collection donated to CPUT will help members of the public and researchers to trace their ancestry.

The collection, which is housed at the Wellington Campus Library, can be accessed for free.

The genealogical collection has been bequeathed to the university by the now-defunct Genealogical Institute of South Africa (GISA), which was based in Stellenbosch. CPUT recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding over the donation with GISA.

Integrated as part of the bigger CPUT Libraries’ Special Collection, the GISA Collection of film rolls and apparatus, books, clippings, photographs and reference works.

Also included in the collection are records from the Dutch Reformed church and other churches in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The records consist of baptism and marriage registries as well as death notices on film.

While GISA used charge a nominal fee for the service and access to the collection, CPUT libraries made the collection available at no cost to users.

Besides records GISA also bequeathed to CPUT Microfiche Readers, Microfilm Readers and a Film Digitization Computer.

“We haven’t checked against CPUT’s own collection if we don’t have some of the titles in the GISA Collection, but we’ll do so soon,” said Vuyiseka Mtshakazi, at the Wellington Campus Library.

Mtshakazi added that sorting and arranging the collection according to the Dewy System is a very big project.

Librarian Joanne Arendse said researchers have already started to visit the library to make use of the new collection.

“And we’ve been receiving positive feedback from them,” added Arendse.

Microfilms that only GISA had are also part of the collection donated to CPUT. “The aim is to have the information contained in the films to be digitised,” she said.

“The material will be catalogued as Local Genealogy History Collection and is part of CPUT’s Special Collection.”

Written by Kwanele Butana

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A recent trip to Mendel University in the Czech Republic has furnished Oenology lecturer Anton Nel with an expanded sample selection for his doctoral studies.

Nel, who is a lecturer at the Department of Agriculture’s new campus and also manages the laboratories in Wellington, is working on his PhD thesis about pinking (which is when white wine develops a pink colouration upon exposure to air).

His research visit was part of a collaborative agreement CPUT has with Mendel University in Brno, meant to expand on common research interests in the wine industry, explained Associate Professor Francois Lategan of the Department of Agriculture.

“Together with Mendel University we have developed a platform of collaboration in which research and curriculum development features as strong pillars. He went to do empirical research to further this component,” said Lategan.

Nel started his thesis, Pinking of South African Sauvignon blanc (Vitis vinifera L), research in 2016 and hopes to finish by the end of this year. One part of the study applies directly to what the winemaker can or cannot do about pinking while the scientific part tries to identify the compound that causes the effect.

“There’s a novel new part to this study. Does the pinking influence the sensory evaluation of the wine? In my studies I have found that people could identify a difference on smell, but when they tasted it they couldn’t tell the difference,” he said.

He tested more than 160 Czech wines form the four different sub-regions (Znojemská, Mikulovska, Velkopavlovická & Slovacka) and found that more than 50% showed the pinking potential: “And, they didn’t even know it, so for them that was an eye-opener.”

In addition to delivering six lectures at Mendel University during his visit, Nel used their Oenology laboratories to analyse the samples he collected of 11 different cultivars (for his South African samples he concentrated only on the Sauvignon blanc cultivar).

Nel did travel around as he collected his samples from wine cellars and got the impression that the Czech wine industry is not that different to the South African one, albeit it with a smaller commercial component. On the teaching side Mendel University’s Oenology programme falls under their Horticulture Department, but their teaching methods, lecturers and students were very familiar to him.

As for future collaboration plans, doing research at Mendel University has opened up all sorts of potential study avenues: “Immediately there were questions out of the study and immediately there were project planned, so there is scope for more cooperation. As soon as that comes online, more will develop from it,” said Nel.

Written by Theresa Smith

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Provides coverage for the Applied Sciences and Engineering Faculties and the Wellington Campus.

Wellington campus kicked off the First Year Experience by welcoming new students on the picturesque grounds of House Murray.

The various house committees made sure students attended in full force and the weather played along with a light, cooling breeze.

Dean of Students Prem Coopoo welcomed the students and urged them to make use of the support services available on all campuses, such as Student Health Clinics, sports clubs and counselling services, to have a well-rounded experience: “We don’t want you to come here just get your certificate and leave. We want you to leave as the best version of yourself,” said Coopoo.

In delivering the keynote welcome Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo said it was important to point out that no CPUT campuses had any hazing or ragging rituals.
He expressed his hope that incoming students would enjoy their experience so much that they would return for postgraduate studies before enumerating a few of the institution’s most recent successes.

“At all times we encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. We are a university of technology and this is a place where we make things happen,” said Nhlapo.
He pointed out that the institution had received about 40 000 applications for only 9 000 first year spaces which meant attending first year students had had to work hard to earn a space.

Written by Theresa Smith
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Provides coverage for the Applied Sciences and Engineering Faculties and the Wellington Campus.

Students and staff gathered for an illuminating talk on the do’s and don’ts of social media by social media lawyer Emma Sadlier.

She presented a talk about how to stay on the right side of the law when using digital platforms at the Auditorium on Bellville campus last week.

South Africa’s leading legal expert on social media law used well-known local cases of crimen injuria and defamation to explain the consequences of posting ill-judged messages and perpetuating fake news online.

Sadlier started off her talk by posing a simple tenet to judge whether you should post a message or not. “Would I put it on a billboard?” she told the audience to ask themselves. “Once it is out there, it is out there. When you get that feeling in your tummy when you are about to post, think ‘billboard’.”

Running through the agreements everyone signs up when using social media, Sadlier pointed out you give free social media platforms permission to use your content and reminded everyone present to think before they post.

“Do not think that you can be anonymous online. Don’t think you can say something was a joke or that you were hacked. When you joke online you lose context and control of the audience,” she said as she highlighted cases of people prosecuted for stating online they wanted to harm people.

Though the idea might seem macabre, Sadlier reminded people that if they use Facebook they should appoint a Facebook legacy contact. This is a person who decides what should happen to your account after you die.

While it applies to everyone, she admonished students especially to start policing their own digital footprint because more and more prospective employers check you out online as part of their recruitment strategy. She highlighted the justdelete.me directory of links as useful for deleting online accounts you no longer use and haveibeenpwned.com as useful for checking whether you have been hacked.

“The more you protect your privacy, the more you have,” said Sadlier.

After the presentation Dean of Student Affairs Prem Coopoo said she hoped to invite Sadlier to address the rest of CPUT campuses later this year.

Written by Theresa Smith

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