Faculty management and support staff welcomed the visit, which Prof Maluleke described as “a welcome opportunity to understand more intimately, the valuable contribution of the Faculty of Humanities to the academic project at TUT and to the national skills revolution."
Prof Mashupye H Maserumule, Executive Dean of the Faculty, wasted no time to bring the VC up to speed with the profile of the Faculty, as well as the way in which its staff work together to align the Faculty’s vision and mission with that of the University. He went on to outline the plans which the Faculty has in place to ensure that it lives up to the TUT vision of producing knowledge that works, producing future ready graduates, impactful research, problem-solving innovation, attaining operational excellence and facilitating the emergence of a truly digital university.
After listening intently to the presentation, Prof Maluleke commended the Faculty for the strides made in the areas of teaching and learning, and student success rate. He also provided a few suggestions on areas that still need improvement, such as the need to improve the humanities graduation rate and the research output rate of each academic. He also urged the Faculty to take advantage of its location in the middle of the township of Soshanguve with satellite campuses at Polokwane, and Mbombela, by putting its expertise at the disposal of the local community (community engagement) in a more structured and deliberate way. Equally important, said Prof Maluleke, is the need to ensure that the bridge between the university and industry is kept strong and functional.
“Moving TUT from good to great is not about moving from small to big – TUT is already the largest contact university in the country, it is about moving from mediocrity to the highest quality possible. Moving TUT from good to great is about getting our students, undergraduate and postgraduate to finish on record time. It is about producing ground breaking research and it is about innovation that will solve real societal and industrial problems.” Prof Maluleke said.
The collegial visit concluded with an informa conversation between staff members, faculty management and the Vice Chancellor.