2012 Engagement Annual Report

During 2012 the university made great strides in achieving its Vision 2020 engagement strategic goals and objectives. The NMMU Policy on Engagement, Engagement Excellence Awards Policy and the Policy on the Establishment of Engagement Entities was approved in 2012. These policies have contributed towards embedding and integrating engagement into the core functions of the university as well as the recognition and reward of engagement. An in–house engagement management information system was developed and tested and will be operationalizedand implemented as from the beginning of 2013. The system is a centralized system which allows all NMMU engagement activities and projects to be captured by the relevant departments for purposes of monitoring and evaluation of engagement projects as well as providing a consolidated database where all external collaboration and projects can be recorded and reported on.The system focuses on collecting information as pertaining to the various categories forming part of the NMMU Engagement Conceptual Framework namely:

Engagement through Community Interaction, Service and Outreach
Engagement through Professional/Discipline based Service Provision
Engagement through Teaching and Learning
Engagement through Research and Scholarship

A detailed audit of the university’s extensive range of outreach programmes to high school learners and teachers was undertaken in 2012. The faculties and the professional support service units within the university provide outreach programmes linked to mathematics, science, engineering, counseling, sport and cultural activities. The data gathered through this process will assist the university with the internal coordination and future planning of these activities aimed at maximum benefit to the recipients of these services. The review of the Centre for Academic Engagement and Collaboration and that of other centralised engagement support structures in supporting engagement as a key strategic priority within 2020 was completed. The report and recommendations of the review will serve at the relevant NMMU committee structures for further action.

The NMMU gives recognition and rewards staff who excel in integrating engagement into their teaching and learning and research activities. The NMMU Engagement Excellence Awards criteria places emphasis on a scholarly approach to engagement and in 2012 the awards were presented for the first time in the following categories:

NMMU Engagement Excellence Award
NMMU Engagement Excellence Team Award
NMMU Emerging Engagement Award

A “Guidelines for Developing an Engagement Portfolio at NMMU” document was developed for the purpose of serving as an instrument for staff forself-evaluation, critical reflection and to identify areas for further developing professional competencies linked to engagement. Engagement portfolios will also be used for compiling information and evidence for purposes of performance management, academic promotion, careerdevelopment and for engagement excellence awards applications. The Learning Beyond the Classroom Co-curricular Recording System was developed by an interdisciplinary team comprised of staff from ICT, Student Governance and Development and Student Academic Development. It is the first ITS linked co-curricular record for students to reflect their involvement in experiences beyond the classroom which includes volunteerism and outreach to the broader community.

2012 Engagement Highlights

The NMMU’s approach to Engagement is that it should be underpinned by scholarship and integrated into the teaching and learning and research functions of the university. There were numerous new engagementactivities in 2012 with the majority of these activities being driven by the centralized and faculty based research and engagement entities. This section provides some of the highlights of the university’s engagement activities in the categories of:community interaction, service and outreach; engagement through professional/discipline based serviceprovision; engagement through teaching and learning and engagement through research and scholarshipactivities. Emphasis is placed on the engagement through community interaction, service and outreach category and the engagement through teaching and learning category. Due to the integrative approach to engagement only brief reference will be made to the engagement highlights falling within the other two categories forming part of the NMMU Engagement Conceptual Framework (professional/discipline based service provision and research and scholarship) as further details are provided in the Research and Innovation section of this report.

Community Interaction Service and Outreach

A wide range of opportunities for public intellectual engagement and debate was created through public and guest lectures andconferences hosted by the NMMU Prof ItumelengMosala was invitedby CANRAD to present the Steve Bantu Biko Memorial Lecture “RiseBiko Rise for the Sake of Our Country”.The Centre alsohosted a local conference with the theme. The continuities of the effects of racism, social and economicfragmentation on the working class and poor communities of the Nelson Mandela Bay. The purpose was to provide a platform for engagement between communities and the NMMU on the issue of linking the work of the university with issues affecting the broader community.
Prof Martin de Wit contributed to the Karoo Development Conference which focused on fracking and tourism. A public lecture on new insights into how modern human beings evolved along the Cape South coast was presented by Prof Richard Cowling. Prof Heather Nel was invited to present at the 18th Commonwealth Conference for Education Ministers in Mauritius and the NMMU was commended for its excellent work that it was doing in partnership with the post-secondary education sector. The Law faculty hosted the SA Chapter of the International Association of Woman Judges conference as well as Society of Law Teachers of Southern Africa conference. The Science Faculty hosted the Joint Conference of the South African Mathematics Society and American Mathematical Society.
The number of outreach programmes to high schools in the Metro and surrounding towns has grown exponentially over the past 5 years. An audit of these programmes and projects which are mainly initiated by the Science, Education and EngineeringFaculties are targeted at grade 11 and 12 learners and educators. An extensive range of projects supported by corporate partners were launched in 2012 in addition to the ongoing ones.The Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Unit offered mathematics and science upgrade programmes to 320 educators from Eastern Cape and Free State Schools. It hosted the GeoGebra conference during which 120 mathematics educators from the Eastern Cape participated. This resulted in a series of follow up workshops aimed at training in–service Mathematics educators in the use of an open source graphics programme as part of the teaching of mathematics in classrooms. The unit offered a Saturday Mathematics Incubator school programme of additional mathematics for 250 grade 12 pupils from 35 schools.
Theprogrammes run by department of mechanical engineering were the Technical High School Intervention programme, Siemens Cyber Junkyard Competition, Green Technology Workshop, Engineering Awareness week, FET Colleges Intervention programme, the Automotive Industry Development/Merseta engineering development programme and the Rural FET College Work Integrated Learning Project for lecturers from 5 rural FET Colleges.
The NMMU became a key stakeholder in a long–term multi-stakeholder integrated development project in the Amajingqi Traditional Area situated near Willowvale in the Eastern Cape Province. The interventions provided by the NMMU are in ICT, Earth and Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Science Education and Youth Development.
Increasedlevels of servicewas provided to the general public via the following: Psychology Clinic, Biokinetics Centre, Law Clinic,Refugee Rights Unit, Street Law UNIT Canrad, Department of Arts and Culture. The Sport Bureau and the Human Movement Sciences launched a range of initiates aimed at participation in sport by the broader community. This included the Passport to Health Project aimed at promoting health in disadvantaged high schools, the Charity Cup Soccer Tournament which is aimed at developing soccer at grassroots level and the Golden Games which is a sports day for the aged throughout the Metro and its surrounds.
On Mandela Day executive management visited and read to pupils at primary schools in the Metro. A vocal tribute video to Mandela by the NMMU choir was launched on You Tube with 10 000 hits within the first 5 days also aired on SABC’s Morning Live and on Kyk Net’s Kwela as part of their birthday tribute programmes.

Engagement through Professional/Discipline based service provision

The NMMU School of Music, Art and Design partnered with the Mandela Bay Development Agency on the Route 67 creative empowerment and upliftment initiative which forms part of its regeneration programme of the Inner City of Port Elizabeth and the Nelson Mandela Metro.The project created partnerships of learning, skills transfer and experiential learning for over 120 students, unskilled trainees, and informal creative industry practitioners.
The Developmental Studies Department organized the Eastern Cape Private Participation Process for the draft Defense Review in acknowledgement of the department’s expertise on defense economics and policy, as well as the success of the department in hosting of the international conference in 2009 on Countertrade, Offsets and Industrial Participation. The department also led the Eastern Cape Education Forum on Local Economic Development.The aim of the Forum is achieving enhanced local economic development within the Eastern Cape through effective and coordinated collaboration between Higher Education in the Eastern Cape and Local Economic Development stakeholders in the province.
eNtsa was cited as one of only two world class technology stations in South Africa as a result of its extensive partnerships with industry and its ability to deliver on multi-million rand contracts linked to nuclear and power generation, transport and the wider manufacturing industry. The entity worked with up to 150 different enterprises completing more than 200 projects annually.

Engagement through Teaching and Learning

A number of new formal and informal programmes were developed during 2012 as a result of extensive consultations and partnerships with external stakeholders.The Business School was the only African Business School to receive a Business School Leadership Award at the Asia Best Business School Awards in Singapore. It was ranked number one among 15 schools by Financial Mail in its Annual Business School Ranking for its executive and executive customized programmes. This was confirmed by IPSOS Markinor indicating that it presented 19 % of the South African market share of customized executive programmes and 23% of the executive programmes.

A post school education centre, the Centre for Integrated Post-School Education and Training was established with the aim of assisting and expanding support of the FET sector in South Africa.The centre will facilitate initial and continuing professional development of FET staff, provide admission routes and learning pathways for FET students to pursue career orientated qualificationsand will conduct research to contribute to policy development and implementation in this sector.

The new formalprogrammes that were developed and will be offered in 2013 include amongst others the following:

Diploma in Chemical Process Technology – The NMMU through its institute InnoVenton is the first institution to offer this qualification which was developed through long term partnership and collaboration with South African refineries who will be offering bursaries and experiential learning opportunities to students.
Pharmacy Technical Assistant Higher Certificate(one year) and the Pharmacy Technician (two year) -The NMMU will be the first University in South Africa to offer these much needed qualification for pharmacy support personnel.
Emergency Medical Care Practitioner (four year) – This qualification was developed as a result of extensive consultation and collaboration with the Eastern Cape Health Department who have allocated considerable funding for the development of the degree.
Forest Fire Management Certificate (one year)- The course was developed by the Forestry Department on the George Campus after consultation with the South African Forestry
BCom Degree in Hospitality Management- The course will cater for the rapidly growing needs in the hospitality and tourism industry.Coupled with this programme a fully-fledged hotel school will be established on the Second Avenue Campus. In addition to this the Business and Economic Sciences Faculty will introduce six newprogrammes to meet the changing needs of the business world. Theprogrammes are the Diploma in Accountancy, Higher Certificate in Business Studies, Post Graduate Diploma in Accountancy, Higher Certificate in Accountancy and the Advanced Diploma in Economics.

The NMMU increased its wide range of short learning and customized skills training programmes targeted at the needs of business and industry. The current total of registered short learning programmes offered by the NMMU is 533. The majority of these short learning programmes are offered by the Leadership Academy situated in the NMMU Business School, InnoVenton situated in the Science Faculty, the Institute for Law in Action situated in the Law Faculty as well as the various departments within the Engineering Faculty. Some of the highlights in terms of non-formal programme offerings include:

The Industrial Engineering Department through a memorandum of understanding will develop and provide short learning programmes geared to the needs of the tyre industry for Continental Tyre Worldwide.
The ICT Department launched a mobile phone application for community healthcare workers which will result in the offering of e-Skills for Community Healthcare Workers short courses at the NMMU –Emmanuel Haven Living Lab in the Motherwell Township. The Living Lab focuses on health and wellbeing and the transfer of skills and education. The phone application is used for purposes of patient registration, recording of details of patient visits and raising alert as to when a patient requires urgent attention.
The FIFA/CIES/NMMU Certificate in Sport Management had its largest enrollment in 2012 which included 10 students from Rwanda, Zimbabwe,Lesotho, Namibia and Nigeria.
A memorandum of understanding was signed with the Security Services Seta and the Manufacturing Seta aimed at the provision of sector specific training programmes. The Institute for Law in Action and the Leadership Academy were re-accredited by the Local Government Seta as a service provider to provide training to municipal finance officials. The Institute for Law in Action also received accreditation from the South African Police Services and the Health Professionals Council.
The Leadership Academy became the preferred provider of short learning programmes for Coca-Cola Sabco’s talent development programme offering short courses and customized programmes to South African, Ethiopian, Tanzanian, Ugandan,Kenyan, Namibian, Sri-Lankan and Nepalese students.
The Community Development Unit was tasked by the Transnet Foundation to develop and present a three day short learning programme on social mobilization to all its appointed provincial agents involved with the logistical and marketing arrangements of the PhelophepaHealth Care Train.

Opportunities were expanded for students to undergo off-campus work integrated learning, service learning, and curriculum based volunteerism through the formalization of partnerships with external stakeholders, which included the Cheshire Homes, the Education Training Development Practice and the Manufacturing Seta, FamHealthMedipark, Masifunde Learner Development,Emmanuel Aids Haven and the Automotive Industry Development Centre. On campus experiential learning opportunities were provided by NMMU research and engagement entities. Projects worked on included the Bio-fuels,theSiemensCyber JunkYard Competition, theproduction of the Solar Car, the Badja Bug Car, NMMU Racing’s DibaOne and wind energy projects.

Engagement through Research and Scholarship

The research entities were extensively involved in applied research and contract research, problem solving and analysis, the provision of professional services and technology transfer partnerships with external stakeholders. The main partners were the automotive industry, Eskom, local and provincial government,the energy,petroleum,finance, health and the natural environment sectors of the economy.Further details of these activities are provided in the research and innovation section of the report.