Her address: “A fresh chapter in our book” focused on the valiant efforts made to ensure that the 2016 academic year could be completed without disruption, as well as the challenges facing the higher education sector in 2017. “At the start of the new academic year we should – as a campus community, ask ourselves what we can collectively do to achieve and excel in the year that lies ahead,” said Prof Du Plessis. In answering this question, the following key elements came to the fore:
- Ensuring that graduates transit successfully into the world of work;
- Providing opportunities for students to participate in activities across all campuses;
- Taking lessons of the past to heart to create a better future;
- Remain focused on the core business – i.e. teaching-learning, research and community engagement;
- Reduce the drop-out rate of students;
- Pro-actively address funding needs within the higher education sector, and;
- Celebrate each success.
Facing challenges as a team
“The year 2016 ended on a low note for many universities in South Africa. We are grateful to say that at the North-West University we completed the 2016 academic year successfully and we obtained a pass rate of 83 percent. Last year the Vanderbijlpark Campus was closed on a few occasions when we felt it became unsafe or it was a non-conducive academic environment. The thing is, if you don’t have stability, you cannot move forward, so for us it was important to get to a point where we have stability,” says Prof Du Plessis and adds that when there is stability, the campus can engage in rational discussions and robust debates in an effort to find solutions to current problems. Having said this, Prof Du Plessis extended a word of thanks to each member of the staff component for their respective efforts in helping students to finish their curricula and prepare for the end of year exam during 2016.
Prof Du Plessis closed her address by quoting the words of William Halsey, a famous admiral in the US navy: “There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.”
Prof Linda du Plessis
