by Prelene Singh | Apr 5, 2013 | News
AN INQUIRY into a salary dispute between university unions and the administration has been extended to April 10 and 11 by the deputy vice-chancellor’s office.
The hearings, which started last month, will be held in Central Block on east campus from 9am to 4pm
An external chairperson, advocate Mark Antrobus, has been appointed to conduct the hearings. He will find resolution to the dispute which occurred last August over salary negotiations and research funding.
“As the hearings are only partially complete it would obviously be premature to comment at this stage on the outcome which will only be made available once the hearings have been completed,” said Antrobus
The inquiry will not replace current negotiations between Wits administration and union over a salary increase.
In an email sent out to university staff during the week, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for finance and operations Prof Tawana Kupe said that recent tensions between management and staff arose due to a failure to agree on the 2012 salary increase.
A task team will be established this month to compare Wits’ salaries with that of five other peer institutions. Kupe said “this will serve as a basis for negotiating a three to five year salary settlement”.
The task team will include Kupe, the university’s chief financial officer, and representatives from the Wits human resources department, the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), Academic Staff Association of Wits University (Asawu) and the Administrative Library and Technical Staff Association (Altsa).
“Asawu is committed to working with Wits management in order to achieve competitive and fair salaries for academics at Wits,” Wits Asawu president David Dickinson told Wits Vuvuzela
Dickinson said Asawu was concerned with the “continued, informal, practice of academic staff being appointed in some parts of the university as salary levels below the agreed salary scales.”
He added that they have called on senior management to address this issue as a matter of urgency.
Adam Habib, incoming vice-chancellor, said the institution needed to pay competitive salaries if the university is to attract and retain excellent teachers and researchers.
“I am fairly optimistic that this issue will be put to rest,” he said.
This enquiry was called upon following the strikes last year on August 2 where lectures, tutorials and laboratory instruction had been suspended for one day.
Nehawu, who represent support staff, has demanded a 9% increase last year during the protests at the university. The Wits Council has offered a 6.8 percent increase for support staff and a 7.55 percent increase for academics in June 2012.
Asawu has demanded that their salaries be benchmarked to the 75th percentile with the other top five tertiary institutions in South Africa and increased funding for research.
Shortly after the strike, Altsa signed an agreement to change the salary implementation cycle to January-December from July-June. The next increase will be in January 2014.
by Prelene Singh | Mar 15, 2013 | News
Updated: March 15
As mentioned in the article below the accident occurred under the bridge on Yale road off university property. It is important to regard the situation as two separate matters, said Rob Kemp.
The traffic lights and the general operation of that intersection is property of the Johannesburg Council and therefore the university has no jurisdiction at this intersection and cannot interfere with the traffic flow in any way.
Yale road north which leads to the boomgates and after, is the university’s concern. Kemp said that they attempt to get the traffic through this point as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The lead up to the boom and the Yale road/tunnel to west campus is where Campus Control places an internal parking officer when traffic is the busiest.
Kemp said, “Campus Control will assist where possible if students and staff need asistance whether this is on university property or not.
[hr]
Orignial: March 1
A WITS student was knocked off his motorbike last week Thursday on Yale road near the intersection with Empire road.
Wits Vuvuzela arrived on the scene shortly after the accident and saw the driver of the motorbike, a male student, lying on the ground. He appeared to be injured and several paramedics were treating him.
His silver motorcycle could be seen lying on the ground some distance away.
The accident closed off a lane of the road forcing Johannesburg Metro police to reroute traffic around the scene. The accident drew a crowd of people who looked on to the scene.
Whether the student was injured or how the accident occurred is not yet known.
The student was on his motorbike when he collided with a grey Mercedes Benz at about 2.30pm under the bridge on Yale road, according to Campus Control investigations manager Oscar Manqaba.
When asked by Wits Vuvuzela what safety precautions the university taken to prevent accidents at the intersection, Campus Control head Rob Kemp said the accident was not the university’s responsibility.
“The accident occurred under the bridge on Yale road, this is off university property,” he said.
The north gate entrance to the university is a busy intersection from 6.30-8am and later at 4-5pm.
Students are advised to take extra precautions when entering and exiting the university at these traffic points as it is a high accident zone.
by Prelene Singh | Mar 4, 2013 | News
The Student Information Management System (SIMS) goes live today with their new self-service functionality for current students.
The diagram attached shows the architecture that is being recommended.
(Sourced from the SIMS Project Team)
Enterprise Resource Planning also known as the ERP which is a combination of Oracle Finances, Oracle HRMS and the Oracle Student System formally powered the university.
In March 2013, the Oracle Student admission System (OSS) will be de-commissioned. As a plan to move forward the university is launching the new student information management system to replace the old OSS.
The development of this new Knowledge and information management portfolio came about through aims to embrace free and open source solution. To create a custom built solution based on a component footed on architecture referred to as the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
According to the SIMS website, which can be found on the Wits Intranet, the proposal has Campus solution at its core. Students will be able to visit the Wits homepage and click on “current students” to view their Fees Statements; Academic Programs; Financial Aid; Marks; Timetables, among many other options.
The diagram attached shows the architecture that is being recommended.
by Prelene Singh | Mar 1, 2013 | Featured 1
Witsies enjoy a good laugh in the sun on a Wednesday afternoon, opposite the William Cullen Library. Students take pleasure in sharing a joke among them as they indulge in a blissful walk past the fountain. Pic: Prelene Singh
