The Faculty of Engineering recently awarded three Teaching Excellence Awards.
Lecturers who really go that extra mile were awarded with a certificate and monetary award for their teaching and community engagement efforts during 2018.
Cheryl Belford of Civil Engineering & Surveying won the Faculty Award.
Felicity Harris (Mechanical Engineering) and Bronwyn Swarts (Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering) won their departmental awards.
This is not the first time Belford has scooped this particular award – she also won it in 2016. Her efforts to finish her teaching year in 2016 using OER were so successful she was selected to deliver a paper on “the use of open educational resources within a disrupted higher education context” at the Open Education Global Conference in 2017.
Like Belford Swartz has been at the forefront of creating Open Educational Practices at CPUT while Harris recently had her hands full working on the logistics of getting the students entering the Sasol Solar Challenge South Africa, 2018 on the road.
In handing out the awards at the Engineering Faculty Board Meeting Acting Dean Prof Mellet Moll said he hoped other lecturers would be motivated to enter “because it is a real honour and something you can write on your CV.”
He pointed out that an award like this is something that is considered in procedures such as considering ad hominem promotions.
Dr Trunette Joseph explained that applicants were encouraged to enter for the Awards which is judged by a Faculty Adjudication Committee. While five lecturers had applied this year she said only three of the portfolios met the strict criteria.
She complimented the three lecturers on the exemplary level of their work: “Well done Cheryl, Felicity and Bronwyn, for showcasing your excellence in teaching so successfully. You are setting the bar very high for those who will follow in your footsteps. Enjoy spending your award money!” said Joseph.
Written by Theresa Smith
