CUT held its 3^rd annual Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards on 31 October 2018 to reward excellence of both academic and support staff, who have consistently walked an extra mile in ensuring that their hard work and efforts add great value towards the success of the university.

The ceremony was dedicated to celebrating the achievement of both support and academic staff who have attained exceptional levels of excellence in their respective fields of speciality. “We salute each and every hero and heroine for their many efforts to support CUT in achieving our set mandate of teaching and learning, research and community engagement.

The Vice Chancellor’s Excellence Awards are held annually to recognise exceptional performance of our employees for their sustained and outstanding achievements and to acknowledge excellence & leadership in the categories of teaching, research and innovation and scholarship in community engagement. These accolades are a symbol of recognition of hard work and dedication of our staff members. It is only through people that we can create an exceptional university. I wish to congratulate the recipients of these awards. You can all feel proud of your achievements, and we thank you for bringing credit to the university.”

The recipients not only received certificates of recognition but were also awarded a sum of R30 000 each. Winners may take 1/3 of the amount as a cash benefit and the remaining is intended to enhance their teaching, research, innovation, community engagement.

The awards and certificates were awarded in the following categories:

CATEGORY A:  TEACHING AWARDS

• Early Career Teaching Award: Ms L Bokopane from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.
• Advanced Career Teaching Award:  Dr D Mtyongwe from the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences.

CATEGORY B:  RESEARCH AWARDS

• Early Career Research Award:  Dr OJ Gericke from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. 
• Mid-Career Research Award:  Prof. EM Masinde from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.
• Established Research Award:  Prof. FA Emuze from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.

CATEGORY C:  COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD

Community Engagement Award: Mrs A Slabbert from the Faculty of Management Sciences.

CATEGORY D: INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARDS

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award:  The two researchers who received the award are: Mr I van Zyl and Mr A Kinnear from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.

SUPPORT STAFF

• Senior Management, Dr O Makola
• Middle Management, L Jordaan
• Administrative staff:  K Mokoena

Images

Main image: Ms Lindiwe Bokopane, Senior Lecturer: Elec/Electronic/Comp Eng in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology,  received an award under Early career Teaching and is congratulated by Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal (left) and Prof. Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela, Senior Director: Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT).

1: Mr Karabo Mokoena, Faculty Officer in the Faculty of Humanities received an award under the Category of Support Staff - Administrative staff award. He was recognised for his dedication and diligence in his role within the faculty. He was awarded with R10 000 cheque by Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal (left) and Dr Gary Paul, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Resources and Operations (right).

2: Dr Dee Mtyongwe, from Dental Assisting in  Health and Environmental Sciences received an award under Advanced Career Teaching category. She is a lecturer in Dental Assisting and is being congratulated by Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal (left) and Prof. Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela, Senior Director: Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT).

3: Ms Leandra Jordaan, Deputy Director: Web and Print Editing in the Communications and Marketing Section, received the support Staff award under the Middle Management category. She was awarded the R10 000 cheque by Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal (left) and Dr Gary Paul, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Resources and Operations (right).

5: Dr Oupa Makola, Campus Director from the  Welkom Campus received the R10 000 cheque as the excellence award under Senior Management Category. He was awarded for taking a leadership role in research work (which led to two books under his belt) and his community development and engagement programmes; especially his SABC slots where he is a regular studio guest to address social challenges impacting on youth and society at large.  He is flanked by Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal (left) and Dr Gary Paul, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Resources and Operations.