2 Teaching and Learning Our hybrid model of online and contact teaching is a pedagogy designed to enable our students to succeed at university and in life.
In an age of overwhelming choice, UP continues to
The
UP
student
body
is
becoming
increasingly
attract a substantial number of top students and staff
representative of the country’s demographics. Of the
and to produce quality graduates who contribute to the
total enrolment of 48 304 contact students (excluding
knowledge economy. As one of the largest contact and
occasional students), 26.5% were postgraduates in 2020,
residential universities in South Africa, with nine faculties
and of these postgraduates, 65.17% (8 347) were black
and a business school spread across seven campuses,
students. The percentage of black contact students
we have a responsibility to enhance access to higher
(undergraduate and postgraduate) was 60.58% in 2020
education and successful learning.
and, in addition, almost all the students enrolled for distance education were black. The majority of our
UP was one of few universities able to complete the
contact students, 57%, are women.
academic year successfully in 2020, in the face of the immense disruptions COVID-19 caused in education in
Academic Orientation and FLY@UP
South Africa. The pandemic forced universities to take
The Academic Orientation Programme starts off our FLY@
innovative paths. Our teaching and learning approach
UP – “Finish Line is Yours at the University of Pretoria” –
is inquiry driven and community based, encouraging
campaign, signalling to students that completing their
students to seek out additional resources and put their
degrees in the minimum time is their responsibility.
knowledge to practical use through engagement in the communities neighbouring our campuses. Contact
Various innovative FLY@UP initiatives were introduced in
sessions in traditional lecture halls, seminars, laboratories
2020. For example, in February 2020, first-year students
and practical sites are combined with online learning and
completed the new UP Readiness Survey as part of the UP
teaching, based on our experience of more than 20 years
Orientation (UPO) module. This programme produced a
of digital education.
91,9% pass rate in 2020. An exciting addition to the UPO was the inclusion of Brave the UPO Bear – a chatbot – to
ACCESS FOR SUCCESS
assist with general queries.
A total of 8 620 first-year students registered at UP in 2020, either online, or in person, and over 700 of them
The UP Readiness Survey allowed us to identify at-risk
had achieved six or more distinctions in the school-
students, who were then invited to join the Student
leaving examinations.
Academic
Annual Review 2020
Readiness
Survey
(STARS)
Mentorship
19
