OFFICE OF THE DEAN: PROF PE GREEN FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES ROOM 4.32, COMMERCE BUILDING, DISTRICT SIX CAMPUS, CAPE TOWN TELEPHONE: +27 21 460 3639 / 3146 EMAIL: GreenP@cput.ac.za / SallieA@cput.ac.za
01 February 2022 Dear Students Welcome to Academic Year 2022! We trust that you enjoyed a pleasant summer holiday, that you were safe and in good health. The Faculty of Business and Management Sciences is pleased that you have registered with this faculty, and that you are pursuing your academic journey. Congratulations to all students who worked really hard in 2021, to be promoted to the next level of study. We are all aware of the challenges of teaching and learning remotely and applaud all students who performed well academically despite these challenges. To those students, who did not perform as well as anticipated, there is always an opportunity to improve and succeed in Academic Year 2022 (AY2022). Success is the result of hard work, dedication and motivation to succeed. As was practice in 2020 and 2021, the actual location of teaching, learning and assessment (i.e., remotely or face-to-face on campus) is determined by national lockdown levels. South Africa is currently in lockdown level 1 which allows for venues to have 50% capacity. Many departments will be continuing with remote learning for Term 1 / Semester 1, while other departments will invite students to campus for orientation and face-to-face classes, particularly first year students. Each department will communicate specific teaching, learning and assessment arrangements to students, with additional information being provided in all subject guides. Students are reminded to refer to programme, subject and survival guides which provide a wealth of information that pertain to teaching, learning, assessment. In addition, the CPUT Student Rule Book 2020, provides detailed information on assessment, grievance procedures and other information that students should know. The CPUT Student Rule Book may be accessed on: https://www.cput.ac.za/storage/study_at_cput/2020/Student_Rules_Regulations_2020.pdf It is important to note that the Cape Peninsula University of Technology is a contact university, not a distance learning university. Remote learning was allowed as a concession during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this could well change at some time with staff and students returning to campus for face-to-face tuition. Similarly, tuition could be a combination of face-to-face classes and assessment, and remote teaching, learning and assessment. Students should be aware of tuition arrangements and ensure that provision is made to return to campus when required to do so. This information will be communicated via CPUT Newsflash as well as specific academic departments. If in doubt, contact your subject lecturer and your department. Challenges with remote teaching, learning and assessment will probably remain, for example, poor internet connectivity, load shedding and data provision. We have dealt with this before and should have learnt from previous experience. It is important to contact your subject lecturer at any time when connectivity is a challenge and you need to be in class or complete an assessment. Failure to communicate such challenges in learning and assessment will be deemed as students not having attended or completed an assessment.
Academic success, as with success in all other areas, requires appropriate learning devices to succeed. Students should have access to a laptop, a mobile smart phone, data and a learning space that will allow access to learning and to complete assessments undisturbed. Access to a laptop is imperative, especially to complete tasks, conduct research, complete assignments and other online assessments. Students are encouraged to work towards procuring appropriate learning devices and have adequate data to support their learning journey. We wish you well for Academic Year 2022. Be decisive about your goals for 2022 and be motivated to achieve each goal that you set for yourself. The faculty has, and will continue to support students to perform well academically. Lastly, education should be to improve thinking and development of individuals for the betterment of society at large. What will our educational contribution be to change the world? That should be our individual and collective challenge for AY2022.
Yours faithfully,
Prof PE Green DEAN: FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Cape Peninsula University of Technology PO Box 1906 Bellville 7535 www.cput.ac.za