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Members of staff at the Umtata regional centre with the CEMS team |
Prof Mrad Shahia, Executive Dean of the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS), recently visited students and staff members at Unisa's Umtata regional service centre, and staff at the East London office. He was accompanied by Mr Raphael Ngcobo, from the Department of Accounting Sciences, Mr Theo van der Vyver, from the Department of Economic Sciences, and Ms Ilze Crous, CEMS marketer.
The objective was to encourage CEMS students to study and do well in the upcoming examinations, and to find out what problems might be keeping them from completing their qualifications. Students were informed of the visit by SMS, and staff and students flocked to the centres to meet Prof Shahia and his team and to voice their concerns. General questions on the new registration process, examinations, tutorials, the despatch of material, the new programmes, service delivery and course content were patiently dealt with at three parallel sessions. The intended two-hour sessions turned into five-hour sessions.
"The visit was well worth the effort," says Prof Shahia. "It gave us a sense of the specific obstacles students in this rural area have to overcome in order to complete their qualifications. At the same time, they were very grateful for the personal contact and the opportunity to voice their concerns. These concerns will be included in a report and we want to bring it to the attention of the relevant departments on the main campus."
As many students in the rural areas have to travel distances in excess of 150 kilometres, the team visited the centre over a weekend to allow as many people as possible to attend. The students expressed their appreciation for the visit. Staff indicated that these visits should be more frequent and preferably early in the semester to motivate students and to thwart any problems that might keep them from continuing with their studies.
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Mrs Nolundi Msengane (head of the Umtata Regional Centre) with member of the CEMS team: Mr Theo van der Vyver (Economics), Mr Raphael Ngcobo (Financial Accounting) and Prof Mrad Shahia, Executive Dean of CEMS
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