CUT International Students Association (ISA) recently hosted the X-Culture certificate handout ceremony at the Bloemfontein campus. The event aimed to celebrate the accomplishments of 18 CUT students who participated in the globally recognised X-Culture virtual exchange programme, a key initiative for promoting Internationalisation at Home (I@H) at CUT. 

About 5,377 students from 131 universities in 70 countries across six continents participated in the programme. These students were divided into 1,289 virtual teams, each comprising of approximately six members from different countries, who collaborated to address real-world business challenges presented by multinational corporations. Through this programme, students gained first-hand experience of the complexities of international collaboration while developing skills in business plan development, communication, and intercultural competence. 

CUT’s participation in X-Culture aligns with the university’s commitment to cultivating graduate attributes, including entrepreneurship, teamwork, innovation and problem-solving, technological literacy, numeracy, communication, technical and conceptual competence, citizenship, and global leadership. These attributes, along with 21st-century employability skills, are essential for today’s global workforce and are the core outcomes of CUT’s teaching and extracurricular activities. 

Each year, the top 50 students are invited to the X-Culture Global Symposium. Among the participants selected for the 2024 symposium held in St. Louis, Missouri, was CUT’s Masungulo Ndlovu, a fourth-year Agricultural Management student. He attended the symposium, hosted by Saint Louis University’s Boeing Institute of International Business in collaboration with Maritz, from 24-26 October 2024, where he engaged with global business leaders, international educators, and fellow top-performing students, expanding his professional and personal network on an international scale.  

Through initiatives like the X-Culture, CUT continues to strengthen its position as a leading institution in fostering internationalisation and global competencies among its students.