Category Archives: Events

Events

Special treatment for women’s home in August

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Residents and staff members of St Anne’s Homes in Woodstock were in for a treat when Somatology students visited them as part of a community service event centred on Women’s Day

St Anne’s provides shelter and support for pregnant, abused and homeless women with young children.

Dr Nicole Brooks, head of the Department of Wellness Sciences, said the students spent a day at St Anne’s earlier this month and spoiled the women with a range of treatments.

“The students gave the residents head, neck and shoulder massages as well as manicures. Our community service events are an important opportunity for our students to learn to give back and this time we chose St Anne’s Homes as August is Women’s Month.”

Residents enjoyed the treatments and expressed their gratitude to the students.

“I felt really good getting treated by the women of CPUT. They made me feel that I don’t need anyone to tell me that I am beautiful,” said one St Anne’s resident.

“Doing our nails and massaging us really relaxed me and made me feel good. I am truly grateful. Thank you,” said another.

About 100 women with their young children benefit from St Anne’s services every year.

It was established in 1904 by the Anglican Church.

Rewarding long service

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Thousands of years of institutional memory was celebrated during the recent Long Service Awards Ceremony.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo said the Awards ceremony was a way to say thank you to people who displayed loyalty towards the institution and that he was acutely aware of how hard staff worked during the 2017 crises.

“Any opportunity to celebrate the resilience of staff and students is welcome. This function is about the people that make sure this institution is moving forward. It is about relationships and building brand security,” he said.

He pointed out that while students and staff came and went, the only true sense of stability is the strong core that defines CPUT.

“Discipline is the greatest thing in the world. Without discipline there is no character. Without character there is no institution,” he said.

This year 186 people received Long Service Awards: 78 for ten years; 26 for 20 years; 45 for 20 years; 11 for 25 years; 18 for 30 years; 6 for 35 years; and two for 40 years of service.

“The days of people investing 40 years in an institution is rare and we really appreciate that. To Jenny Penfold and Jacobus Raubenheimer, and the rest of you, you have known a very different institution to what you see today. But, you will agree that one thing that has never changed is the culture of care for each other. I hope you assist us in reclaiming the institution so that we become a university of technology that is an institution that focuses on people,” he concluded.

Written by Theresa Smith

Service workers brought into the fold

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CPUT took advantage of the recent recess to complete a programme of induction for service colleagues.

927 Protection services, cleaning and gardening employees from all the campuses took part in workshops over four days to learn more about what it means to be a permanent staff member at the institution and how we all contribute to the success of CPUT.

“Today is a start of engaging you to build and enhance your contributions in building CPUT,” Shahieda Hendricks, Manager: Staff Development and Training told inductees as she welcomed them to the Sports Hall on the Bellville Campus.

Welcoming the service employees as colleagues Prof Anthony Staak, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, gave them context to the history of the institution and an introduction to the university’s vision-Vision 2020. He also emphasised our CPUT workplace values of integrity and accountability.

“We see ourselves making a contribution to the Western Cape, the nation and the continent so we actively seek partnerships throughout Africa to do that. It is a noble vision and all of us have a role to play.

“You have a critical role to play in ensuring that our environment is conducive to this work, that it is safe, secure and clean. For most of the students, and certainly the staff, this is our home away from home.

“We need to all be pushing in the same direction and we need to support each other because we are all part of one family at CPUT,” said Staak.

The workshops were about explaining the benefits and responsibilities of working at CPUT and while coordinators at the tables did their best to answer questions, further training sessions will be arranged on the various campuses once a training needs analysis has been completed.

Employment Relations Officer Colin Bezuidenhout of the Learning & Development Department (which is part of Human Capital) was on hand to talk about training possibilities and further study opportunities. He pointed out that CPUT has already started talking to SASSETA (Safety and Security Sector Education Training Authority) and the Services Seta to organise funding for learnerships.

Newly appointed Director of Campus Protection Services Gavin Solomons was also on hand to ask security staff how they wanted to be recognised by the rest of the campus and what they considered to be the benchmarks of their work. “You say you want to be the best. What must we put in place to get that right,” Solomons asked the staff who were energised by challenge.

Amanda Glaeser, Acting Head of Human Capital pointed out that the four unions also presented their philosophies to ensure staff members understood the various options available.

“We were happy to provide the session in three languages and the diversity competence of our campus was demonstrated as a rich and valuable way to work,” said Glaeser.

Written by Theresa Smith

INTRODUCTION: The induction workshop for service workers was an interactive affair.

Hotel School reaches out to those affected by cancer

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Staff members at the Cape Town Hotel School joined the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) at the Tyger Valley Shopping Centre recently to bake 120 cupcakes.

CANSA was launching one of its flagship projects called Cuppa for CANSA at the shopping mall and invited the Cape Town Hotel School to partner with them on the tea pairing section. The Cuppa for CANSA campaign runs from June to October annually and is the Association’s challenge to workplaces, businesses and service organisations to raise awareness of those affected by cancer, by hosting a Cuppa and sharing the photos on CANSA’s national Facebook page.

The Association had partnered with The Tea Merchant who donated speciality teas to pair with cupcakes that infused the taste of the unique blend of teas in them.

CANSA invited the Cape Town Hotel School staff to bake the cupcakes with the four different tea flavours for a panel to taste:

  • Liquorice Tea was paired with a black cupcake with a star anise infused buttercream and decorated with fun liquorice Allsorts.
  • African Sunset Tea was paired with a fruity cupcake with Rooibos Buttercream and garnished with Dried Fruit.
  • Tangerine and Ginger Tea was served with a zesty orange cupcake with a whipped chocolate ganache.
  • Cherry Blossom Tea was paired with a Japanese Cotton Cheesecake with a tea infused Italian Meringue Icing.

TEA & CUPCAKES: The Cape Town Hotel School helped launch Cuppa for CANSA.

“The tea and cupcake pairing was an absolute hit and we found a variety of individuals popping into our coffee shop and experiencing something different. This was clear as all the cupcakes were sold out before the end of the event,” said Portia Mkhize of the Cape Town Hotel School.

“It was a joy-filled event with a contagious energy that allowed everyone to talk to each other and embrace who we are. I had the opportunity to speak to Cancer survivors, people undergoing treatment and was blown away by their zeal for life.”

Hotel School’s Bryony Petersen explained to the crowd why the School took part in this initiative.

Said Petersen: “ Being part of moments like these allow us be grateful for who we are and who we have in our lives, and we chose to make a difference, be that with our time, our support or our love. Being part of spaces such as these reminds us that we have the unimaginable potential to grow together.”

Cleaning up plastic pollution

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Over 180 staff members and students participated in a clean-up exercise around the District Six Campus in order to create awareness about plastic pollution.

The exercise was part of a series of activities commemorating the United Nations World Environment Day (5 June) and World Oceans Day (8 June), jointly hosted by the CPUT Climate Change and Environment Research Focus Area and the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Staff members and students in the Research Focus Area, the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the Green Campus Initiative took part in the clean-up in a bid to sensitise the entire CPUT community to the menace of plastic pollution and ways they may contribute to reducing the pollution.

“It is also a community engagement effort of the Climate Change and Environment challenges,” said Beatrice Opeolu, Extended Curriculum Programme Coordinator in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and leader of the Climate Change and Environmental Research Focus Area.

A symposium themed ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ which took place at the Saretec building on Bellville campus was addressed by six speakers from academia, government and an NGO.

The Climate Change and Environment Research Focus Area (FA) is one of CPUT’s seven FAs. Research, teaching and community engagement activities of the FA are closely aligned to the United Nations sustainable development goals and the South African National Development Plan themes.

World Environment Day is celebrated annually. Week-long events and activities are organised globally to highlight the day and this year’s theme was ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.

The World Oceans Day’s theme was also to prevent plastic pollution and encourage solutions for a healthy ocean. “This topic is important at a time that recent studies had provided empirical data that supports occurrence and negative effects of plastics in aquatic systems,” said Opeolu.

Futuristic exhibition bags Open Day awards

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The Media Department’s futuristic exhibition at CPUT’s annual Open Day scooped two of the four trophies during an awards ceremony where the best stalls were announced.

The department’s winning exhibition was themed future creatives and won the Most Informative and Best Team Spirit categories.

Their exhibition included a set and stage, a green room, cameras, crew and a producer, which gave visitors the impression that they were part of a live TV studio production.

The department consists of the Public Relations, Journalism, Film & Video and Photography programmes.

Lecturer Ayesha Toyer said the Public Relations Programme was responsible for organising the exhibition.

“This exhibition is organised by our first year Public Relations & Communications students as part of a Work-Integrated Learning initiative. The project assesses outcomes like project management, budgeting, sponsorship, fundraising, planning, marketing, promotion and advertising and event management to name a few,” said Toyer,

“Students are assessed on their ability to successfully produce and manage their exhibition stall, as well as promote the four programmes within the department and, in so doing, recruit potential students. They raised over R70 000 in the form of sponsorship and fundraising to stage their exhibition.”

The Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences won the Best Marketing Concept award while the Food Technology Centre won the award for the Best Faculty Experience.