by Staff Reporter | Jan 23, 2015 | Featured 1
Wits University has reached an agreement on NSFAS funding with the Students’ Representative Council during a meeting on Thursday, January 22. Read the full statement below:
“Wits University has this morning reached an agreement with its Students’ Representative Council (SRC) following concerns raised by students yesterday regarding the shortage of funding that is provided by government and administered by Wits through the National Students’ Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). This shortage is due to the demand for financial aid outstripping the funds dedicated to NSFAS by the state.
Wits has decided that the upfront fee payment will be temporarily waived for first year students only, who have applied for NSFAS, meet the NSFAS criteria, and who have received an academic offer from the University. The waiver will apply until such time as the final NSFAS allocations have been made, which is expected to happen by Friday, 30 January 2015. Thereafter, for those students who have received NSFAS funding, the waiver will become permanent and they will not have to make the upfront payment. For those students who have been declined NSFAS funding, the waiver will be revoked and they will be given five working days in which to make half of the upfront payment, which amounts to R4 670. If these students are not able to meet this payment, their academic offers will be withdrawn.
Regarding residence accommodation, those who do not receive NSFAS funding in the final allocation by 30 January 2015 will be expected to make the normal residence accommodation payments. Students who were allocated NSFAS funding in 2014 and were unable to access the funding following a shortage will be treated as normal NSFAS students, provided that they applied and met the criteria for 2015 NSFAS funding. The University will come to an arrangement with NSFAS in this regard. The 30 students who were given offers by NSFAS which were later retracted will be absorbed into the system. The University has also undertaken to expedite the financial aid appeals process.
The SRC also raised concerns regarding reports of problems in the submission of the documents that are necessary to apply for financial aid. The University will assist students who have experienced problems and refer these students to the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office (FASO). The affected students are requested to visit Room 1103A, First Floor, Senate House from 13:00 on Thursday, 22 January 2015 until close of business on Tuesday, 27 January 2015.
With regard to the queries about returning students who have not been given NSFAS, the SRC has undertaken to provide the names of these students to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic, Professor Andrew Crouch, who will investigate the matter and provide feedback to the SRC.
Wits is entirely comfortable with the principle of transparency in these matters and documents will be made available to the SRC upon request.
The University and its SRC hope that this agreement will go some way towards alleviating the significant financial challenges that many students are facing. Wits remains strongly committed to enabling the maximum possible number of deserving students to enter the higher education system this year.
Professor Andrew Crouch
CHAIRPERSON: FINANCIAL AID, SCHOLARSHIPS AND MERIT AWARDS COMMITTEE
Mcebo Freedom Dlamini
SRC PRESIDENT”
by Staff Reporter | Jan 21, 2015 | News
Wits students who have pending status on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary are being asked to pay an upfront Wits registration fee, which they may not be able to afford.
STATEMENT FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL, PROFESSOR ADAM HABIB, PERTAINING TO STUDENT FUNDING AND FINANCIAL AID
The higher education sector is at risk due to a lack of substantial funding from the state and other societal actors. The amount of funding available for students in South Africa wanting to pursue tertiary education is inadequate and well below that of international norms in similar developing countries. This is a national, systemic problem that should be addressed at the highest levels of government if we are committed to investing in the future of our country.
We recognise that the funds allocated by the state to the National Students’ Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has quadrupled over the last five years to R9.5 billion. Despite this, the demand for financial aid still outstrips the availability of funds dedicated to higher education study.
Wits, like other higher education institutions in the country, administers funds on behalf of NSFAS. The amount of money allocated to universities from NSFAS in 2015 is limited and universities have been explicitly instructed not to overspend on the amounts allocated to them.
For 2015, Wits has been allocated R179 million by NSFAS, of which approximately R152 million has been offered predominantly to returning students. The R152 million has been offered to approximately 2 090 returning students and 330 new, first year students. It is anticipated that by the completion of registration in mid-February that Wits will have offered NSFAS funding to about 450 additional students. In total, NSFAS packages will be allocated to about 2 870 students at Wits this year.
The University will continue processing NSFAS applications as registration takes place over the next few weeks.
Wits has consistently awarded the most number of bursaries and scholarships in the country to its students, according to data collected by the Ministerial Committee on the Funding of Universities (see enclosed table, or click here). Last year, Wits administered about R828 million in student funding which it obtained from various internal and external sources including NSFAS, bursaries, scholarships, governments and the private sector.
The University must also stress that it informed students several times last year that they should prepare to pay their fees should there be insufficient funding from NSFAS. Other issues which are surfacing are that many students did not apply, or did not apply on time, while others submitted incomplete information which resulted in their applications not being processed timeously.
There is definitely a need for more financial aid for students throughout the country and rather than directing misguided anger towards universities, we should be approaching NSFAS, government and other sectors of society to collectively invest in developing the high level skills that our country and continent desperately requires.
Professor Adam Habib
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
by Staff Reporter | Nov 26, 2014 | News
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits) today announced its partnership with edX, the nonprofit online learning destination founded by MIT and Harvard to offer massive open online courses (MOOCs) to a global learning audience. The collaboration is the first of its kind between a major international MOOC provider and an African University.
The total number of students pursuing higher education in Africa tripled between 1991 and 2006, however public investment in education has remained the same[1]. This increase in demand, along with the growing value of university degrees on the continent, means that the current high levels of educational expansion may still not be enough[2]. The edX and Wits partnership will help bridge this gap by delivering education opportunities to students on the continent and beyond.
The edX community throughout Africa, which is already more than 200,000 learners strong, will now have access to courses from a top university on the continent.
“This is a pioneering, innovative project spearheaded by Wits, which will indeed unlock new opportunities in South Africa and through the rest of the continent. This is in line with the University’s commitment to being locally responsive and internationally competitive,” says Prof. Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University. “We are still developing the course content but students from around the world will be able to access our international expertise in a variety of fields ranging from economics and law to deep level mining and the palaeosciences.”
Wits courses (WitsX) will be open for enrollment on edx.org towards the end of 2015. A special edX certificate is issued when a course (or module) has been successfully completed.
“We are pleased to welcome the University of Witwatersrand to our global community of educators and learners,” says Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX. “As a premier research institution and our first university partner in Africa, we look forward to collaborating to increase access to high quality education for all, and especially for learners in South Africa and throughout the continent who are eager for new educational opportunities and to develop new skills.”
Wits joins the more than 60 global universities, colleges and institutions that make up edX’s distinguished academic body, which offer online courses to anyone, anywhere in the world with a desire to learn.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 29, 2014 | Opinion
This week’s show looks at the dropping petrol prices. The team chats to the director and chief economist at Econometrix, Dr Azar Jammime, about the the oil price. They also looked at the eco- challenge and how to build a car that can travel thousands of kms on a single litre of petrol (ridiculous) and wrap up with how a car can be powered by the sun and win a race.
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy. Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 22, 2014 | Opinion
This week we look at Matric Exams. The exams are happening nationwide and we are going to take the chance to look at how we can use scientific research to improve the education system. We chat to Dr Elizabeth Walton, senior lecturer in inclusive education and then we hear from Prof Elizabeth Henning, Director at the Centre for Education Practice and Research at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus.
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy. Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 8, 2014 | Opinion
This week’s show looks at The Nuclear Corruption Scandal. The team chats to Dr Tristen Taylor from Earthlife Africa to find out if we should invest in nuclear energy, as well as nuclear physicist, Dr Jacques Bezuidenhout on what happens when you blast a sea creature with a nuclear reactor. They wrap up with insights from Dr Petro Terblanche, of Pelchem, on how South Africa has the Number one deposit for the chemical crucial to making nuclear fuel.
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy. Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
by Staff Reporter | Sep 19, 2014 | News
Vice Chancellor's statement on the passing of Prof Helen Laburn
While on University business out of the country, I received the tragic news today of the passing of Professor Helen Laburn, following a protracted illness. I worked with Helen for a number of years, first from a distance as a fellow Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, and then more closely in the first six months of my tenure at Wits. Throughout this period, I was struck by Helen’s quiet dignity, yet firm resolve. Helen served this institution with distinction in multiple roles. Even when she took ill, her loyalty to Wits and its strategic goals never wavered. A few months ago, when I was informed that she had again taken ill, I phoned and spoke to her husband, Ted. He told me that she was not doing well and that it was a matter of time. Today that time has arrived when we witness the passing of one of Wits’ greatest daughters. May she rest in peace. May her family and loved ones find solace during this trying time. Our duty to her memory is to build on the foundation that she laid. As a mark of respect, I have asked that the Wits flag be flown at half-mast for the next three days. During this trying time we extend our sympathies to Helen’s family, friends and colleagues, to her husband Ted, their two daughters, and to those who knew her well. Professor Adam Habib Vice-Chancellor and Principal Wits University
Biography
Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and former Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Helen served as a member of the University’s Senior Executive Team, and its Senate and Council. Helen dedicated a substantial portion of her life to Wits University, with her association spanning approximately 45 years, when she first enrolled as a medical student in 1969. She opted to complete a Medical BSc (1973) and then read for a BSc Honours degree (1974), before graduating with a PhD in Physiology in 1977. She joined the University as a member of staff in 1978 as a part-time lecturer and steadily advanced through the ranks. In 2001, she was appointed as Head of the School of Physiology, and in July 2006 as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. In 2011, Helen assumed the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research. She stepped down from this post in 2013, when she fell ill.
Professor of Thermal Physiology at Wits, Helen was an accomplished researcher who was widely published. Her research focused on the physiology of temperature regulation in mammals and humans, with particular interest in the fetus and newborn. She also researched the physiological mechanisms underlying fever and the associated changes in non-thermal physiology. She published approximately 70 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, including 12 chapters in books.
Internationally recognised, Helen was a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, a Member of the Physiological Society (London), an Honorary Fellow of the Physiology Society of Southern Africa, a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa and a Member of the Thermal Physiology Commission of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, amongst her other affiliations. She served on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and was a member of the National Biotechnology Advisory Committee.
Over the years, she served as a director of the Wits Health Consortium, Wits Enterprise, the Origins Centre Association and the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre.
by Staff Reporter | Sep 17, 2014 | Opinion
The ice bucket challenge, which went viral across social media earlier this year, aims to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic laterial sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research. This week’s show looks at the attention the disease has been getting these past few months and speaks to people who are affected by the disease, here in South Africa.
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy. Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
by Staff Reporter | Sep 2, 2014 | News
BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) South Africa wants companies to withdraw trade from Israel to force an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict. But do boycotts work?
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy. Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 29, 2014 | Featured 1
Tony Leon, former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). Photo: Provided
Tony Leon is the former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He was also South Africa’s ambassador to Argentina between 2009 and 2012. He studied Law at Wits and was elected onto the the Wits SRC during the 1980s.
How do you think the DA has fared since your departure?
Electorally, the DA has done well and improved its position in each national election and gained some share of the elusive Black vote. But it failed in its declared objectives of either getting 30% of the national vote in May 2014 or winning the province of Gauteng. Existentially, it faces the prospect of being overshadowed by the bare-knuckled tactics of the EFF as an opposition and then in defining itself as a distinct entity from the ANC.
What are your thoughts on the new opposition politics?
I would add that the real dilemma for opposition politics is that, notwithstanding significant public disenchantment with the ruling party, there is still a 40 point spread between ANC and DA and the ANC governs in eight of nine provinces, but this could shift as conditions deteriorate.
Do white males have a future in South African politics and why?
There are still many white males in the DA (and certainly in the small FF Plus) and even one or three or so in the ANC. But I think there has been a withdrawal of whites from the body politic, which is a pity since, under the constitution, there should be room for all races to participate and prosper in politics.
What are your thoughts on the current conflict in the Middle-East?
I think it is a war without end, sadly. Many states do not recognise Israel’s right to exist, which is the existential issue at the heart of the conflicts and Israel certainly has made the conditions for a properly constituted Palestinian state almost objectively impossible to achieve. Now we have the rise of extremist Islam in the form of IS and the Sunni-Shia divide playing itself out across the borders of states which, in the case of Iraq and Syria, do not really exist as functioning entities. Democracy arrived briefly via the Arab Spring and, with perhaps the exception of Tunisia, never took root anywhere. It is a profoundly depressing picture.
What inspired you to write your new book Opposite Mandela?
I was encouraged by my publisher, Jonathan Ball, to write the account which appears in Opposite Mandela on the basis that, with all the accounts of Mandela and his hugely impactful leadership, no one, until this book, had written from first-hand observation an eye-witness memoir of what it was like to be in opposition to Mandela and still have a good, often warm, relationship with him and his presidency. Hopefully my book sheds some new light on this extraordinary man and the time when he led our nation.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 26, 2014 | Opinion
Can you give up carbohydrates for vegetables and protein? The Tim Noakes diet is the latest craze to lose weight.
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy.
Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 19, 2014 | Opinion
You remember what Facebook did to you, right? Playing with your emotions? Manipulating your newsfeed? They used algorithms, maths and science to trick you. Here’s how…
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy. Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
