Page 67 - DUT Annual Report 2020

DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2020
COUNCIL STATEMENT ON TRANSFORMATION
The University’s ENVISION2030 strategy outlines its intent to be a University that is fully conscious of its stewardship in society; one whose resolve is to revolutionise its systems and processes and align them with this post-modern world of digitalisation and arti cial intelligence; to be a University whose obligation is to do everything in a sustainable manner, environmentally and otherwise; and ultimately to be a University whose commitment is to impact the lives and livelihoods of our people, both internal and external. These are encapsulated in the four strategy map Perspectives of Stewardship, Systems and Processes, Sustainability, and Society.
The DUT Council is thus committed to ensuring that transformation is approached in its broadest understanding, not only pertaining to equity matters but also to the way in which the University conducts its business, responds to its communities and its students, and how it builds relationships with government at all levels, community organisations, and business and industry.
The double-helix DUT DNA speaks particularly to the ways in which we are people-centred, engaged, innovative and entrepreneurial, and this is fundamentally represented in how our values and principles are demonstrated in action as we engage amongst ourselves and with others – the nature of our engagements, the ways in which we steward our people, both internal and external. To this end, various strategies and projects on transformation are under way in our attempt to become a South African university, rather than being simply a university in South Africa. We spent 2020 on readying the University for the implementation of ENVISION2030, working on refining our systems and processes, and cultivating an institutional sense of agency that enables us to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders, while simultaneously responding to the imperative of the broader public good expected of a public university.
There are three Strategic Objectives for the Stewardship Perspective, namely Living Values, Institutional Culture, and Creativity. Essentially these speak to living our values so that we are true, selfless, value- and principle- driven custodians of our people, equipment, facilities,
infrastructure and buildings. We embrace the centrality of the intellectual, social, and emotional development of our people and aspire to engage in activities of imagination and action to shape our thinking and change our mindsets to being entrepreneurial in all our approaches. The intent to embrace the talents, dedication, and commitment of our staff and continuously to build capacity is fundamentally important. A people- centred focus ensures that all endeavours are geared to the holistic development of our people, so that they are adequately prepared to repair discernible societal dysfunctions through innovation and creativity.
In our approach to our students, our endeavours are also geared to their holistic development. Student- centred activities include developing an emphasis on students in control of their destiny, improving student support services, and the need to recentre our students within a more caring university environment. The First- Year Student Experience programme, as one such agent, is being rolled out further, with involvement of faculties and student support services. This project focuses on assisting first-year students’ transition to university life and its challenges. Plans were formulated to extend this programme in 2020 to second-year students as the Second-Year Student Experience programme; however, this was hampered by the COVID-19 lockdown conditions. Additionally, the Extended Curriculum Programmes in most faculties have provided an access opportunity into university education for students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. Through the University’s participation in the Siyaphumelela Project,
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