The College of Human Sciences launched its fourth Mentorship Programme together with the Human Resources Development division on 11 June 2012 at the Mphebatho Function Venue, Muckleneuk Campus, Pretoria. Over 50 mentors and mentees attended, and Dr Britta Zawada expressed how delighted she was that the CHS group continues to grow despite the School of Education’s departure.
Dr Britta Zawada welcoming the 2012 class
In her address Dr Zawada emphasised that while the mentors and mentees may face challenges in their year-long relationship, with perseverance the results will be fruitful. “In the mentorship relationship, the idea is not for the mentee to become a clone, or some watered-down version of the mentor. It is also not for the mentee to become the research assistant of the mentor. The idea is for the mentor to create that rich exposure, to create many and varied environments and forks in the road for the mentee to travel on, to get excited, to create new ideas and visions, and even to get lost on occasion,” said Dr Zawada.
In her list of challenges she reminded the new group of mentees that as academics there are three things they need to excel in, which are to:
- Teach: You have to teach your students as best as you can, and that may mean that you want to change and experiment. Last decade’s ‘best’ may not be this decades best’.
- Research: You have to create new knowledge through research, either in your discipline or in reflective practice and scholarship.
- Engage: You have to be aware and engaged and participate in what goes on around you, in your department, school, college and the university, in your community, and in society at large.
Firoza Patel from Unisa’s Human Resources division complimented the college management for development programmes of this kind. She added that such programmes were beneficial for both the mentors and mentees, and that HR takes initiative in providing assistance and adding value to the programme to ensure excellent results.
The Scholars Development Plan, which is the first of its kind in the South African higher education sector, was introduced to the college by the Executive Dean of the CHS, Prof Rosemary Moeketsi. The plan is one of the CHS’ many initiatives and projects. It is a transformational strategy designed to improve the skewed staff profile and address succession challenges by producing a new generation of excellent scholars. The plan consists of five development programmes focusing on tuition, research, mentorship, leadership and academic fellowship.
Prof Phillip Higgs, Scholars Development Plan Project Manager, welcomed the new scholars and gave an overview of the programme. He stated that the primary objective is to create a platform for the development of young academics, assisting them to realize their full potential. “In 2008, the Executive Dean Prof Moeketsi looked into the future and established many needs within the college. One of the crucial ones that she felt she needed to address was an ageing cadre which could be replaced through developing younger and vibrant academics. The mentorship programme you will be entering into during the next 12 months involves various mentorship forums and progress reports as well as workshops.”
Dr Zawada concluded by stating, “In academia the one tool we use is critical peer review. To the mentees, I want to say: embrace critique, from your mentor, from your peers, from your CoD, from everyone. That is the only way to be able to accurately judge where you are, and if you are, indeed, fulfilling the value of excellence.”
By Ziyanda Rala
