Page 7 - DUT Excellence

DUT AWARDED FEENIX UNIVERSITY OF THE YEAR
MAGUBANE’S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF AWARD 2020
DUT was recently awarded the Feenix University of the Year Award 2020 for going beyond the call of duty in partnering with Feenix to assist students in meeting their
nancial obligations.
DUT’s Advancement and Alumni Relations Director Zwakele Ngubane said that Feenix recently shared the exciting news via email that it has awarded the DUT team the University of the Year Award in appreciation of its continued willingness to go beyond the call of duty, valuable collaborative partnership and contribution towards ensuring that access to education is not dependent on wealth.
“The DUT-Feenix partnership began in 2017, which was mainly with the Financial Aid Of ce, however, it was in 2019 when I had a meeting with Ms Nyasha Njela at a workshop hosted in Cape Town for fundraisers where discussions about further strengthening the relationship between the two organisations took place,” said Ngubane.
Furthermore, he said that various meetings followed thereafter where agreements were made in terms of how the two organisations would work together to increase the number of DUT students who could bene t from Feenix crowd-funding.
“It was also agreed that since Feenix had a number of disbursement periods throughout the year where funding could be allocated to the more active universities and students, DUT could now feature and host a campaign on the platform and other forms of collaboration that would increase the number of allocations to DUT students. During the year 2020, the Advancement Of ce worked very closely with Feenix and managed to secure a number of nancial support
Pictured: DUT Advancement and Alumni Relations Director Zwakele Ngubane.
opportunities for its students as well as support for devices and data that also became a focal area due to the COVID-19 pandemic that engulfed not only the nation but the globe,” he explained.
According to Ngubane, it was this close collaboration, quick responses and action taken when funding opportunities availed themselves that resulted in the signi cant improvement of a number of DUT students who would bene t from Feenix disbursements. He further said that it was the increased collaborative engagement with Feenix that led to DUT being announced as the Feenix University of theYear for 2020.
“Recognition must also be given not only to the Advancement Of ce as a unit but one particular staff member, Mthetheleli Gwaza, who was appointed as the Feenix liaison for the Advancement and
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DUT EXCELLENCE 2021 // SEMESTER 1