Page 16 - DUT Excellence

DUT OBTAINS THE 2021 GLOBAL AWARD FOR
MAGUBANE’S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF INNOVATION AND EXCELLENCE IN
INTERNATIONALISATION
It is another proud moment for DUT as the Institute said that ordinarily DUT would have been invited to
the US to receive this award, however, this year, AIEA hosted a virtual conference.
A big thank you goes to the team at the International Of ce, whom Dr Samuels said had worked really hard to ensure that DUT remains at the cutting edge of the international education in the world. “We have brought in collaborative online international learning as a form of virtual engagement. We have engaged with partners across the world and we have
engaged in internationalisation of the curriculum. We
have worked hard with faculties and units in ensuring that internationalisation is embedded into the activities of the University. It is aligned to ENVISION2030; by doing this it helps drive the strategy of the University and contributes to the achievement of that strategy,” said Dr Samuels.
To win similar awards, Dr Samuels said that DUTs need to ensure that the Institution is at the cutting edge of internationalisation and innovation, and is looking at new ways of staying relevant and being able to deal with global issues as they emerge; not relying on old ways of doing things. He said DUT has to use technology and ensure that internationalisation impacts on the University and its core business, make waves in the world so DUT can be noticed for excellence in its work.
Simangele Zuma
was awarded the 2021 Global Award for Innovation
and Excellence in Internationalisation by the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) based in the United States, which hosted a virtual ceremony on 16 February 2021.
This is exciting news for DUT as in the long history of the AIEA, this is the rst time that a university outside of the US and Europe was honoured with this award.
Pictured: DUT’s Director of International Of ce Dr Lavern Samuels.
The Director of the International Of ce at DUT Dr
Lavern Samuels said that DUT scooped this award due to its
innovation and internationalisation, doing things differently, using virtual engagement and nding new ways in engaging internationalisation over the last few years. He said that DUT has taken internationalisation beyond academic mobility but internationalising the curriculum so that the bene t is felt across the University and not just for a few students and staff.
“It is a unique honour for us to receive this award, particularly with it not being awarded to any other South African university before. It allows us to take our place in international education as a university of excellence and that makes us really proud. It follows up on many other accolades for the University, particularly the rankings that we achieved in 2020. It builds DUT’s reputation and that means a lot for us to be recognised as a university of excellence,” said Dr Samuels proudly. He
14
DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY