Ms Belinda van der Merwe, a lecturer in Radiography, has received the National Excellence Commendation Award in Teaching and Learning from Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA). Annually, 

HELTASA in partnership with the Council on Higher Education (CHE) recognizes excellence in teaching and learning, by generating a cadre of academics who are identifiable and able to provide inspiration and leadership in teaching in their disciplines, institutions and regions. Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) has as its core values innovation, customer service, integrity, diversity and of course excellence, and this accolade demonstrates our commitment to not only the values but also the institutions vision - to become an engaged university. van der Merwe was selected by the National Excellence in Teaching and Learning Awards Selection Committee as the recipient of a commendation award. Nationally a total of 38 applications were received from which five excellence awards and nine commendation awards were made.    The award evaluation team asserted, ‘The quality of the candidates was extremely high, and we believe her selection is a significant achievement. We hope that she will be able to serve as a role model and leader with regard to teaching excellence, both at her institution, as well as in the higher education sector in South Africa.’  

Her students who anonymously recommended her for the award made some comments on their experience in her class room, “She keeps me interested in her subject as a result I enjoy and pass it very well. I love the way she teaches.”, and “She is a good lecturer and gives us time to understand and is always available when we need her. She makes the subject very easy to understand with her practical activities and group assignments.”, and finally “The lecturer is good at what she does and she shows the love of lecturing the subject. She strives to make it a point that we understand everything she is teaching before she leaves the class.”   The selection committee commended her for the articulation of a consistent philosophy, showing up to date knowledge of teaching and learning with teaching and assessment methods systematically aligned to the philosophy, and her technological innovations were also noted with interest. Ms van der Merwe’s teaching portfolio will be held up as an example of good teaching practices by HELTASA and CHE and as such be placed on their websites.   Asking her how she felt about the award the unassuming Mrs van der Merwe responds “I am humbled by the award because I believe I am just doing what I am supposed to do and all my colleagues deserve the same recognition!”.