The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has appointed the executive director of the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at the North-West University (NWU) to serve on its advisory panel on the implementation of the language policy framework for public higher-education institutions.

The first-ever North-West University (NWU) Student Leadership Summit held on 6 October 2023 at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre witnessed the participation of more than 150 students representing various student leadership structures from all three campuses.

The theme, "Navigating your journey", served as a guiding compass throughout the summit, emphasising the significance of goal setting, planning, and progress tracking in one's personal and professional life.

The journey of a law student is undoubtably challenging and short, and their time at the North-West University (NWU) has prepared them for the opportunities and obstacles that lie ahead.

Having arrived here a few years ago, they are about to leave and embark on different journeys to try and find appropriate solutions to the issues the global community is currently facing.

On Thursday evening, 12 October, the Faculty of Law hosted a farewell dinner with the theme “Law as a superpower” for the final-year students.

The North-West University (NWU) hosted a donors' event in Sandton, Johannesburg on 5 October 2023 to reach out to its various donors, bringing them up to date with what is happening at the university and to discuss the dilemma of the “missing middle”.

A recurring theme at the event was the challenge faced by "missing middle" students. The parents of these students earn too much to qualify for funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), yet they can't afford to pay for their children’s education.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) is proud to share another achievement: Dr Ilzé Engelbrecht, a postdoctoral fellow at the Occupational Hygiene and Health Research Initiative (OHHRI), was awarded the Best Poster Award at a recent postdoctoral conference hosted by Stellenbosch University.

Protecting surface and groundwater from mining activities is crucial to safeguard ecosystems, public health and sustainable water resources. That is why the Centre for Water Science and Management (CWSM) at the North-West University (NWU) and its specialised team of researchers are doing invaluable work in protecting an indispensable resource.

The CWSM is focused on contract research, mostly in the mining industry, with their largest completed mining-related project being the modelling of the entire East Rand basin. This was done in conjunction with the German company DMT.

One has adorned billboards from Cape Town to the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU), the other is a bit more inconspicuous. But there is no denying the impact made by Elmeré van den Berg and Jarred Elliot in their respective sporting codes of netball and badminton during 2023.

Very few eyebrows lifted on Wednesday, 4 October when Vernon Paulo, the NWU’s ace hooker, was crowned as the Player of the Year by the NWU Rugby Institute.

Paulo was rewarded with the Johan Claassen Trophy for his outstanding play in the Varsity Cup, and was exceptional throughout the series. Not only did he score the most tries in the competition – definitely a rare occurrence for a tight forward – but his work ethic and leadership were also some of the main features in the course of the competition.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Health Sciences hosted its first Community Engagement Colloquium on the Vanderbijlpark Campus on 2 and 3 October.

The purpose of this colloquium - titled "Health sciences and partnerships for sustainable communities" - was to bring together academics, practitioners, and community members to start a conversation about the ways in which they can work together to improve health outcomes for communities.

As the world undergoes rapid technological and societal transformations, educational institutions face the urgent need to reimagine their teaching and learning methodologies.

In the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), an online open-access book titled Problem-based Learning and Pedagogies of Play: Active Approaches Towards Self-Directed is Learning explores active learning.