​​

The vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus, is a major pest of South African grapevines. Sooty moulds grow on honeydew excreted by the mealybugs, disfiguring fruit and making them unsuitable for export or sale within the highly selective table grape industry. Mealybugs also feed on plant sap, and serve as vectors for viruses such as the grapevine leaf roll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3). Chemical pesticides are the main tool used in their control, though their waxy coating and sheltered habitats often make pesticide application problematic. Natural enemies (such as parasitic wasps) are used as part of integrated pest management schemes for the control of the vine mealybug, but more biological control methods are sought.

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are insect pathogens which are currently used commercially for the control of soil-based insect life stages. EPNs exist in the soil as an infective juvenile life stage (IJs) which seek out and parasitise soil-based insect hosts. However, EPNs are ill-suited to environments outside of the soil, being prone to desiccation, which has limited research into their use on pests of foliage. One possible means of promoting EPN survival on foliage is through the use of adjuvants, two of which are Zeba®, an anti-desiccant, and Nu-Film-P®, a spreader/sticker. These could provide EPNs with a long-lasting, thin film of water, allowing them to survive longer on foliage and providing them with a medium in which to move.

The focus of this study was in the above-ground application of EPN treatments to control the vine mealybug on grapevine foliage. Steinernema yirgalemense was selected for testing going forward after assessing its temperature and humidity requirements, as well as comparing its ability to infect and kill P. ficus against three newly-described indigenous EPN species. Subsequently, Zeba and Nu-Film-P were tested in solution with S. yirgalemense, where it was found that both in combination were able to cause significantly more IJs to be deposited onto grapevine leaves than any other treatment.

S. yirgalemense IJs were then formulated in three treatments (water only, Zeba, and Zeba + Nu-Film-P) and applied to mealybugs in mesh pockets. These pockets were then hung in the test environment, to simulate foliar conditions. Tests in the growth chamber and glasshouse environments gave promising results, with the IJ formulation containing both Zeba and Nu-Film-P resulting in over 80% mealybug mortality in each environment. The protocol was then taken to Welgevallen Experimental Farm in Stellenbosch, where this treatment achieved 66% mortality in the field. Another trial was performed to investigate the effects of morning versus afternoon application on IJ survival, where it was found that IJs applied in the morning (high relative humidity, low temperature) survived longer than those applied in the afternoon (low relative humidity, high temperature).

The overall conclusion was that there is potential for the use of S. yirgalemense as a biocontrol agent of P. ficus on grapevine foliage, though further testing is required and methods need to be refined. As new EPN species are discovered, and new adjuvants formulated, these must be tested in this use case. Methods for managing environmental conditions are also key. Shade netting, which is already in use to protect grapevines from excess UV radiation, also raises relative humidity and reduces temperatures in grapevines on which it is used. Finally, these methods must be put into practice in a full field trial on a natural infestation.

This study was a research project of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) at Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, Stellenbosch. The study was presented as an MSc thesis of the student, Thomas Platt, carried out at the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology of the Stellenbosch University. The study and was supervised by Prof Antoinette P. Malan and Dr Nomakholwa F. Stokwe. Winetech, the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) and the Technology and Human resources for Industry Programme, provided funding (THRIP: TP14062571871).

It might come as a surprise to many but girls do outshine boys at school and at university, a recent study at Stelllenbosch University (SU) found.

“On average girls actually do better than boys. They learn to read much quicker than boys do (which is true of pretty much all middle- and high-income countries). In South Africa girls also perform better in mathematics," say Drs Nic Spaull and Hendrik van Broekhuizen from the research group on Socio-Economic Policy (ReSEP) in SU's Department of Economics.

Their study titled The 'Martha Effect': The compounding female advantage in South African higher education was published recently in the Stellenbosch Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics and the Bureau for Economic Research at SU.

The researchers looked at large nationally-representative surveys from 2011 and 2015 which show that by Grade 4 girls are a full year of learning ahead of their male peers in reading and by Grade 5 about 40% of a year of a learning ahead of boys in mathematics. However, by matric this has reversed and boys do better than girls in maths and science in matric.

But the researchers didn't stop there. They went a step further and tried to find out whether or not this female advantage continues into university.

Using data from the Higher Education Management Information System, they looked at all the matriculants of 2008 (112, 402 in total) that went to university and followed them for a six-year period (2009-2014). The researchers were also able to use detailed information on the results of all students collected by the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training.

“We found strong evidence of a large female advantage that continues to grow at each hurdle of the higher education process. To be specific, relative to their male counterparts we find that there were 27% more females who qualified for university, 34% more who enroll in university, 56% more who complete any undergraduate qualification and 66% more who attain a bachelor's degree. This despite there being roughly equal numbers of boys and girls at the start of school." 

The researchers say another striking finding is the very large drop-off from Matric to degree attainment. 

“For every 100 females in matric there are only 85 males in matric. And for every 100 females in matric only 8 females will complete an undergraduate degree within six years, with even lower numbers for males (only 5 males)."

“We found that this large female advantage remains after controlling for school-level performance, and exists for all subgroups of race, age, socioeconomic status, province of origin and institution attended." 

The researchers point out that this is not because females choose 'easier' fields of study than males.

“We examined 19 fields of study and find that females are significantly more likely to get a degree in 12 of the 19 fields (often by substantial margins), and are significantly less likely to get a degree in five of the 19 fields."

“However, this is almost entirely because they do not access these traditionally 'male' programs rather than due to lower completion rates once they are in. Only in Engineering and Computer Science do girls do worse than boys once they are accepted to the program."

The researchers add that one of their most interesting findings was that females are always and everywhere 20% less likely to dropout than their male counterparts (including in traditionally 'male' fields like Engineering and Computer Science), even after controlling for field of study, race, age, socioeconomic status, location or institution. 

And this isn't just a South African phenomenon, say the researchers.

“The emergence of a female advantage at school and at university is a global trend among middle and high-income countries. In the 33 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – mainly a club of rich countries – 58% of bachelor's degrees were awarded to women. In South Africa it is 61%."

The researchers say they don't yet know why this is the case but the best international evidence points to the fact that girls perform better when it comes to things such as self-control, self-motivation, dependability, sociability, perceptions of self-worth, locus of control, time-preference and delayed gratification.

They add that any conversation about 'gender equality' needs to take into account the disadvantage faced by boys at school and university, but also why this reverses when one moves into the labour-market.

Reference: Spaull, N. & Van Broekhuizen, H. 2017. The 'Martha Effect': The compounding female advantage in South African higher education. Stellenbosch Working Paper Series 14 (2017).

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES ONLY

Dr Nic Spaull

Department of Economics

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

Stellenbosch University

E-mail: nicholasspaull@gmail.com

                      ISSUED BY

Martin Viljoen

Manager: Media

Corporate Communications

Stellenbosch University

Tel: 021 808 4921

E-mail: viljoenm@sun.ac.za ​​

Teaching is a privilege and an immense responsibility – one that Prof Nuraan Davids, chair of the Department of Education Policy Studies in the Faculty of Education, does not take lightly.

It was recently announced that she is the recipient of a Stellenbosch University Distinguished Teacher Award. The function was held on 28 November.

Earlier this year, Prof Davids also received a commendation for excellence in teaching and learning from the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA).

“I was attracted to teaching because of my own inspirational and phenomenal teachers. This award recognises the immense value and pride which I attach to my teaching. It is not only richly rewarding, but also inspire​s me to do better.

“My teaching thrives on engaging, deliberating and debating with my students. I don't think students realise the value that they bring into classes – that as I teach, I learn from them.

“Above anything else, teaching is a privilege, because a teacher or lecturer is in a position to influence and shape what and how students think. As a teacher I have the privilege of playing a meaningful role in students' lives – in how they see themselves, and what they aspire to become. With this privilege comes the immense responsibility that teachers truly have the capacity and opportunity to bring either hope and self-belief, or disinterest and despondency.

“Teaching, therefore, has to be accompanied by love, compassion, respect and care. What I say matters, how I treat my students matters – because I will be remembered not only for what I teach, but for how I made my students feel about themselves. This cannot be taken lightly and it is a recognition which truly separates teaching from most other professions."

Prof Davids is as passionate about research as she is about teaching and regards the two pursuits as intertwined and mutually contingent.

Besides being honoured as a teacher, she also recently received the news that she was awarded a C2 rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF). A C2 rating is awarded to applicants who are regarded as established researchers.

In 2018 Tevarus Naicker will be a fifth year medical student at Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). He will also be settled into his role as chairperson of the Tygerberg Student Council (TSC), a title that comes with great responsibility and commitment to serve.

“It's a great honour to be in this position, but the role means nothing if I'm unable to make meaningful changes," says Naicker.

According to him the main function of the TSC is to speak on behalf of students. “Communication is fundamental in active representation. The TSC will use every possible opportunity to communicate with students on campus via social opportunities, residence leadership structures and through ex-officio members in order to represent as accurately as possible."

Tevarus says the vision and mission of the TSC is aligned with that of the SU's Student Representative Council (SRC), to ensure their leadership direction is on the same page in order to “truly lead in unity".

“While there is a time and season for transactional leadership, our aim is to be transformative in nature. We may never see our outcomes come to life as students, but we believe we will play a pivotal role in building a strong foundation for future leaders. Continuity has been a consistent issue among leadership, and we plan to change this," he says.

Tevarus answered a few questions about his hopes for his leadership term, as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead:

What changes would you like to see on campus?

I would like to see more services being made available to students. Examples would be having shuttles that take students to destinations other than only shopping centres. Students from all over the country live on campus and not everyone has a car. Imagine studying in this beautiful city, but not being able to explore it?

I would like to see the university make provision for non-academic activities. The isolation of the campus is not conducive to a healthy mental state, and we also believe having more psychologists on our campus is of the utmost importance.

Additionally, we would like to see free internet – no explanation needed!

What do you regard as the main challenges on campus?

The gap between residence management and Faculty management. They run on completely different systems and clashes often result. This is frustrating because students bear the consequences of inadequate communication between the two structures. Communication between students and the TSC is also still a challenge. Often students are unaware of opportunities we make available to them.

What opportunities are lurking?

There is still much room for the formation of social spaces. There are also many opportunities for students to lead their own initiatives. This is ideal, as the TSC really believes that non-positional leadership has a significant part to play on our campus.

Your message to students?

Simply reach out to us when we reach out to you. We cannot amplify your voices if we don't hear them. We want students to give us constructive criticism moving forward. Only then can we lead in a value-driven manner.

And to staff?

There are many opportunities for collaboration. I would like to encourage the staff to be proactive in working and communicating with us. I would also like to thank those who have already involved us in projects that will shape this Faculty for the better.

And how does the rest of the Tygerberg campus student leadership team for 2017/'18 see their functions and challenges?

Sinethemba Toyo (MB,ChB IV)  – TSC Vice-chairperson

Main functions: Ensuring that the council works efficiently and to tirelessly serve the Tygerberg Student Union.

Challenge: Striking the balance between being stern and friendly with fellow council members.

Kevin Oira (MB,ChB V) – Media and Marketing

Main functions: Ensuring the image of the TSC is maintained in a manner appropriate for our campus, being professional but also approachable to all students. This is done mainly by means of social media or simple posters on walls.

Challenge: Reaching out to enough people is difficult. This is where innovation comes into play. By being creative, I hope I can get more students to participate.

Taryn Simeon (MB,ChB IV) – Social Impact & Critical Engagement

Main functions: Facilitating projects, events and outreaches pertaining to social impact and critical engagement to create a culture of student engagement and enrichment of the community. The social impact portfolio also entails having a close relationship with MGD (the primary health care community outreach committee) and thus broadening the influence we as students can achieve. Regarding critical engagement, we want to provide safe platforms for expression on a variety of student issues.

Challenge: Being innovative and remaining current with regard to projects and events to combat apathy.

Nokuthula Makhoba (MB,ChB IV) – Student Wellness and Development

Main functions: To improve mental wellness, residence pantries, student support relating to academic and emotional aspects, and to encourage students to pursue projects of interest.

Challenge: Overcoming the stigma attached to mental illness and reaching every student in need, regardless of their financial means.

Lebo Mohlala (BSc Dietetics IV) – Treasurer and Culture

Main functions: As Treasurer, to act as the financial manager of the team and allocate funds for events, as well as ensuring that all our money is spent well and within the budget. The aim of the culture portfolio is to provide the campus with optimal opportunities to direct the creative energy and to create platforms that explore all forms of culture and provide students with the opportunity to expand their personal interests.

Challenges: Regarding the culture portfolio, the main challenge will be to ensure that every space we create has an element of learning or provides students with the opportunity to acquire a new skill while having fun. Other challenges will include liaison with main campus' Culture Committee to ensure enhanced accessibility and opportunities for the Tygerberg community to partake in all the activities and competitions.

Vukosi Baloyi (MB,ChB IV) – Student Services and Sport

Main functions: I am in charge of engaging with shuttle services, the Tygerberg Student Centre and food services, and parking. This is a broad portfolio and it has to be run on a day to day basis according to the student needs on campus. I also oversee the sporting events on campus. This portfolio is close to my heart as I have represented campus for four years as a soccer player, therefore being a leader in the sport portfolio comes naturally to me.

Challenges: Working with different stakeholders in these portfolios can be time-consuming. But I think I have settled in and am already enjoying a functional relationship with everyone involved.

Raven Hannes (MB,ChB V) – Student Services and Sustainability

Main functions: I also work on the student service portfolio which includes, but is not limited to, food, parking, safety and security, printing and internet, as well as shuttle services. In terms of the sustainability portfolio, the aim is to raise awareness on the importance of conservation and preservation of natural resources.

Challenges: The greatest challenge faced with student services is continuously trying to address the constantly changing needs of the student community. Regarding sustainability, the biggest challenge currently is finding and creating innovative ways in which to conserve water and promote a sustainable usage of this precious resource among the student community in the light of Cape Town's water crisis.

Chiara Africa (MB,ChB V) – Secretary: General and Prestige

Main functions: As Secretary, administration and communication within the TSC are my main functions. The prestige portfolio's aim is to foster and promote a culture of excellence through acknowledging the achievements of students.

Challenges: The campus calendar has posed administrative challenges in the past, due to the lack of communication of important dates between the TSC, residences and the greater student body. We aim to avoid issues of the past by drafting a dynamic calendar, that we plan on releasing early in the new year so that students can remain up to date regarding important happenings on campus. Regarding the prestige portfolio, challenges that have been identified are a lack of involvement of the greater student body and a need to use the achievements of students on our campus to motivate others to achieve excellence in both the academic and non-academic setting.

Ex-officio members:

Ilana Van Niekerk (MB,ChB III) – Chairperson: Tygerberg Academic Affairs Council

Main functions: To function as the link between students and the Faculty in order to address urgent academic concerns, and help facilitate effective resolutions of problems experienced in teaching and learning.

Challenge: To aid in establishing open and transparent communication between the Faculty and students, as well as to facilitate students speaking out about academic related issues.

​Fatima Ouiza Mazari (MB,ChB V) – Chairperson: Tygerberg Societies Council

Main functions: To provide a platform whereby student leaders may represent, further and protect the interests of their societies, and subsequently of all Tygerberg students.

Challenge: We aim to propel the council forward into the digital age, and to revitalise it and its constitutional mandate. The challenges we face lie in the completion of large projects that have the capacity to directly address historic problems within the council, and the resources that they require in order to succeed.

Chitsadi Thulare (MB,ChB V) – Chairperson: Prim Committee

Main functions: The Prim Committee exists to zoom in on the collective Tygerberg student experience inside our residence and PSO (private student organisation) spaces. This includes identifying common challenges and sharing creative solutions.

Challenges: There are quite a few, including identifying vulnerable students in residences and to source support for food and basic necessities; creating positive environments that focus on student mental wellness; establishing open spaces for students to recuperate, study or socialise during the course of the day; incorporating social, sport and cultural experiences in residences and PSO communities to promote balanced student living; and to identify and empower student leaders, including non-positional leaders.

Eduard Roos (PhD Molecular Biology) – Chairperson: Tygerberg Postgraduate (PG) Student Council

Main functions: Being the voice of the entire PG community on campus and representing them at the different institutional structures.

Challenge: Integrating the PG community into the Tygerberg campus life, easing their accessibility and implementing the necessary support structures for them to thrive.

Stellenbosch University and Tennis South Africa (TSA) have announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement, with the aim of developing a new world class national tennis centre at the University.

The project, which is currently in the early planning stages, will operate on a co-funding basis and will see the new tennis centre:

• host some elements of TSA's high performance programme,
  
• act as a potential venue for local and international tournaments,
• deliver a platform for grassroots development in the winelands region; and
• provide a local tertiary education solution for talented young local tennis players who want to study, whilst furthering their tennis careers. ​
  
  

“Stellenbosch University is excited about the potential of the partnership to contribute to the development of tennis in South Africa, and especially in our region," says Ilhaam Groenewald, Chief Director: Maties Sport. “This type of initiative aligns well with our strategic objectives, and we are committed to working with TSA to develop Stellenbosch into a high performance centre for tennis."

Richard Glover, CEO of Tennis South Africa added: “This project is in its infancy and our shared vision is some years from being fully realised, but it signals an important step forward for our sport. Stellenbosch University is a world class institution and we believe our partnership will deliver a fantastic high performance platform for young tennis players from all communities across South Africa. This announcement is another exciting step forward for TSA."

The parties plan to launch an interim centre – using the existing tennis facilities at the University – in time for the 2019 academic year, with the full centre to follow in due course.

Further details of the project will be shared in 2018.

​Jody Lee Bell (24) has a lot on her plate: She's a full-time masters' student in the Haematology Division of Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine Health Sciences, works part-time at Tygerberg Hospital's biobank and made time to enter Miss Deaf SA 2017, where she was named second princess.

Even more impressive is that she manages 8-10 hours sleep every night, without compromising on her grades or commitments. “I learned time management skills early on, because focusing on listening all day takes 80% of my energy. By eight at night my brain is exhausted and needs re-charging," she says. Therefore, she simply had to learn to be productive in the mornings and fit in all her work before bedtime.

Jody was born with profound hearing loss, but was only diagnosed at the age of one. “My mother took me to various general practitioners, ear nose and throat specialists and paediatricians, but they all thought she was just being a neurotic mother. Nobody referred her to an audiologist." It was only when her mother read an article titled “How to tell if your child is hearing impaired", with references to Tygerberg Hospital's Paedo-Audiology Unit, that she embarked on her journey with hearing loss. Her mother stood firmly by her side.

Being hearing impaired came with many academic and social challenges for Jody. “I struggled in school, especially since I was 'mainstreamed' from grade 1. My hearing wasn't that great with just hearing aids." She was fortunate to receive cochlear implants – at age 16 in the left ear and at age 18 in the right. “This changed my life and my marks increased from an average of between 40% and 50%, to matriculating with 76%. The low marks weren't due to a lack of studying, but I couldn't hear properly to be able to understand and process information.

“However, I still struggled socially since I was the only hearing impaired student in all of my schools. Peers often don't have the requisite patience with or understanding of my hearing loss. Sometimes avoidance is simply easier for them."

Jody says it was only at university where she found that people truly accepted her and didn't mind adjusting their behaviour to make sure she was included. "Universities are also better equipped to support students with disabilities, because they have disability rights units."

In order to maintain her academic standards Jody made use of extra lessons, both at school and at university, to make sure she understood the work. Despite the implants, she still struggles to hear in large venues with many people where there are many background noises and interferences. “SU's Disability Unit provided real-time captioning for my lectures, so that I could follow them on my phone or laptop while the lecturer was speaking."

Although Jody realises that she is limited in certain aspects, she doesn't allow her disability to define her. “My mother was always my strongest motivator, telling me from an early age that I could do whatever I wanted. She built up my character to be a strong person and a go-getter."

Jody finds the societal stereotype of “deaf and dumb" one of the most frustrating aspects of her disability, and says this filters through to the employment sector as well. “Just because we have a hearing loss, doesn't mean that we are not independent or that we can't contribute to the economy and the country."

Although she enjoys her field of study and working on her masters' thesis (“Long-term urine biobanking: stability of urine biomarkers at -80 degrees"), she is still weighing her options regarding future professional plans. “And I like it like that. I would like to see how my career develops and seize opportunities as they arise!"

Jody does, however, want to continue trying to make life easier for South Africans with a hearing impairment and encourages all people with disabilities to be positive in the face of adversity and to accept themselves. “It's up to you to decide how to react and what you do with your circumstances."

Caption: FMHS masters' student, Jody Bell, was named second princess at the Miss Deaf SA beauty pageant.

​Stellenbosch University's fourth ordinary Council meeting of the year took place on Monday 27 November 2017.

Council was briefed on developments in higher education, reflected on the past year at Stellenbosch University (SU), and approved the University's latest institutional plan as well as the budget for 2018.

Two members of executive management – the Chief Operating Officer and the Vice-Rector: Strategy and Internationalisation – also updated Council on developments in their respective responsibility centres over the past year.

In addition, we received reports on the decolonisation of the curriculum and the implementation of SU's Language Policy, and adopted a motion to oppose any appeal against the recent court judgement upholding said policy.

More details follow below.

George Steyn
Chairperson: SU Council

State of the University and the sector

In his report to Council (click here), the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers, said SU was grateful to have successfully completed classes for the year as one of the top universities in the country and on the continent. Final examinations have almost been concluded, and we can look forward to eight graduation ceremonies in the week of 4 to 8 December 2017.

We are proud of the fact that our student success rate is among the highest in the country, that the qualifications we award display an upward trend, and that our position on major world university rankings continues to improve.

Prof De Villiers also provided feedback from a recent meeting of Universities South Africa (USAf), where vice-chancellors met with the new Minister of Higher Education and Training, Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize, and discussed the report of the Fees Commission released by President Jacob Zuma earlier in November.

Uncertainty in the sector remains high, as the government has neither pronounced itself on the recommendations contained in the report, nor made any announcements yet on funding to universities and students for next year. This is complicating matters, with universities having to finalise their budgets. SU remains committed to assisting academically deserving students in financial need to access university studies.

Institutional Plan 2018–2023

The Department of Higher Education and Training requires universities to submit an updated institutional plan (IP) by 15 December each year. In submitting the document to Council, the Vice-Rector: Strategy and Internationalisation (VR:SI) pointed out that it has gone through a well-documented, extensive, iterative and consultative process, involving all the relevant decision-makers and role-players.

SU's IP 2018–2023 is largely a revision of the 2017 plan, with the most recent objectives and targets added. The end product integrates the strategies and action plans of the three core functions of the University, and aligns the plans of the various responsibility centres, faculties and the professional administrative and support service (PASS) divisions with SU's seven institutional strategies. The plan and the integrated budget are also aligned with each other.

Council approved SU's IP 2018–2023.

Budget 2018

Each year, Council considers the University's integrated budget, including all revenue streams, namely state subsidies, tuition and accommodation fees, research contracts, philanthropic donations and commercial revenue.

The most significant recommendations in the 2018 budget submitted to Council are as follows:

• A general staff remuneration adjustment of 6% for 2018
• A general adjustment of 8% in student fees (undergraduate and postgraduate) for 2018, plus differentiated adjustments (to be phased in for new students only) in some faculties
• A student accommodation fee adjustment of 9,2%
• The introduction of an international tuition fee
• A progressive shift of institutional expenditure on bursaries to the fourth income stream (donations) in order to free up funds in the main budget
• A reduction in library expenditure on certain, less popular electronic databases
• An increase in main budget income from indirect cost recovery
• An allocation from the Strategic Fund to balance the main budget

This has produced a balanced main budget (first two income streams) for the next six years.

At the recommendation of its Executive Committee, Council approved the University's 2018 integrated budget. However, this is subject to final confirmation of the state subsidy for 2018. Council agreed that any potential amendments resulting from the confirmation of the state subsidy be approved by the Rector along with the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of Council.

Report of the Vice-Rector: Strategy and Internationalisation

Since the new position of VR:SI was only filled in 2016, this Council meeting was the first opportunity for the incumbent, Prof Hester Klopper, to submit an annual report. (Click here for the complete document; only a few highlights are covered below.)

This responsibility centre includes three divisions – Strategic Initiatives, SU International and, since 1 October, the Division for Information Governance.

Strategy

The University has started developing Vision 2040 and a Strategic Framework 2019–2024, which will replace the existing Institutional Intent and Strategy 2013–2018. The Institutional Planning Forum (February 2017) and the Executive Planning Forum (July 2017) were both utilised to consult management on the SU of the future. Five task teams are working on specific areas that will feed into the new vision and strategic framework. Council and senior management have been consulted on vision and mission elements, as well as the proposed new values. During October and November, students and staff were also called upon for their input on the University's values. A first draft is expected to be available for broad consultation early in the new year.

Internationalisation

Reorganisation of the Postgraduate and International Office into Stellenbosch University International and the Postgraduate Office was completed in October 2016. The new SU International, which comprises six centres, was launched in November 2016. During 2017, a position paper on internationalisation was drafted, which will form the basis for SU's strategy on internationalisation. An institutional advisory committee on internationalisation has also been established with representatives from all responsibility centres, faculties and PASS environments.

Information Governance

SU's Institutional Research and Planning Division recently joined the responsibility centre of the VR:SI. It will be renamed the Division for Information Governance and will comprise three centres – Institutional Information, Student Information System Support, and Business Intelligence. The overall purpose with this change is to position information as an enabler for the University.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer

At this Council meeting, Prof Leopoldt van Huyssteen, outgoing Chief Operating Officer (COO), tabled his last comprehensive annual report. (Only a few aspects are highlighted in this communication. Click here for the complete document.)

The COO is in charge of a multidimensional responsibility centre – Operations and Finance – which focuses on creating value for, and adding value to, SU's business. As an enabler for most campus operations, this responsibility centre plays a significant role in supporting the University to achieve its strategic goals. Its activities can be summarised by the following six roles and responsibilities:

• Strengthening of business processes for financial sustainability
• Integrated planning, budgeting and reporting
• Commercialisation of intellectual property and creation of business opportunities
• The pursuit of environmental sustainability
• Operation of the transport and parking system
• Selling dormant assets

Council accepted Prof Van Huyssteen's report with appreciation (also see “Personalia" below).

Decolonising the curriculum

A year ago, Council requested management to consider the matter of the decolonisation of the curriculum, and to make recommendations as to how the University should respond to it. At its meeting this week, Council received feedback from the Vice-Rector: Learning and Teaching, Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel, and the Vice-Rector: Social Impact, Transformation and Personnel, Prof Nico Koopman.

They tabled the document “In search for parameters for the imperative of the decolonisation of the curriculum", which elucidates and discusses key concepts and terminology that form part of the decolonisation discourse. (Click here for the full document.)

Holistic programme renewal has been identified as a strategic priority for the Learning and Teaching responsibility centre. This includes investigations into the decolonisation of the curriculum, taking note of the decolonisation task team's report issued under the auspices of Senate's Committee for Learning and Teaching.

Council took note of the work done in this regard, and welcomed the fact that the conversation on decolonisation and systemic transformation is set to continue throughout the University, including in faculties and student environments.

Report of the Language Committee of Council

The Language Committee of Council is tasked with overseeing the implementation of SU's Language Policy, which Council adopted in 2016 for implementation from 2017.

In its most recent report to Council, the committee recognised the significant growth in the parallel-medium offering (mainly in first-year subjects), which had in effect increased accessibility for Afrikaans-speaking students who did not have much proficiency in English.

Council also took note that undergraduate students were again surveyed in the second semester regarding the implementation of the Language Policy. The committee reported that the survey mostly confirmed the findings of a similar survey in the first semester, namely that the vast majority of respondents felt that the Language Policy was being implemented satisfactorily in all or most of their modules, as well as in the administrative and co-curricular environments.

Council thanked the committee for playing a valuable monitoring role in the implementation of the Language Policy.

Legal challenges against SU's Language Policy

Last year, the Gelyke Kanse group and eight other applicants launched a legal challenge against the Language Policy that Council had adopted with the concurrence of Senate. The University opposed the challenge. The matter was heard in the Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa, which handed down judgement in October this year, inter alia dismissing the application with cost. (Click here for the University's statement, including links to the complete judgement.)

The applicants have since applied to the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the judgement, and have also indicated their intention to apply for leave to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court. Council resolved that SU would oppose any appeal, and authorised its chairperson and deputy chairperson to take all necessary steps to this end. Senate had earlier taken a similar decision.

Personalia

This was the last Council meeting of the outgoing COO, Prof Leopoldt van Huyssteen, who will be retiring on 31 December 2017. Council expressed its deepest appreciation to him for his many years of tireless service to SU. He will be succeeded by Prof Stan du Plessis, who has been serving as COO designate since January this year.

Council also congratulated Prof Hester Klopper, VR:SI, on her election to the council of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), which is based in Washington DC.

Finally, the Council chair thanked the two Students' Representative Council (SRC) members who had served on Council for the past year, Ms Lynshay Julies and Mr Maxwell Mlangeni. They will be replaced by representatives of the new SRC in 2018.

Next meeting

The next ordinary meeting of Council is scheduled for Monday 26 March 2018.

At the Faculty of Science's first research showcase on Friday 17 November 2017 researchers and postgraduate students presented nearly 50 posters to an audience of over a hundred guests from industry, our alumni and academic staff from other SU faculties.

Prof Louise Warnich, dean of the Faculty of Science, says the showcase is one of the initiatives identified by the faculty's advisory board to build relationships with industry: “The Faculty of Science is acutely aware of its responsibility not only to equip and prepare students with the high-level skills demanded by the so-called 'Fourth Industrial Revolution', but also to push boundaries and to contribute to new knowledge. However, we cannot do this in isolation. The faculty has initiated various opportunities for staff and students to promote collaboration and enhanced visibility of our research. Today's showcase is an example of such an initiative.

“The aim of the showcase is to unlock new research and collaboration opportunities on multidisciplinary projects. We strongly believe that this approach will allow us to address the complex questions and challenges that we face in the world today," she said in her speech at the showcase, which was held in the foyer of the SU Music Conservatory.

Mr Kobus Viljoen, managing director of VASTech and a member of the faculty's advisory board, says he appreciates the university's and the faculty's efforts to reach out to industry: “My colleagues and I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction and we look forward to next year's showcase."

According to Prof Willem Visser, vice-dean research in the Faculty of Science, all researchers can also benefit from exposure to other disciplines, especially when that may potentially lead to collaboration on interdepartmental or interfaculty level.

Click here for a list of all the posters presented.

On the photo above: Several alumni, now working for industries such as Kansai Plascon, attended the research showcase. From left, Paul Reader (PhD in polymer science, 2014), Peter Hollis (MSc process engineering) and Reda Fleet (PhD in chemistry and polymer science, 2010). ​

​Prof Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak reflects on globalisation, the role of universities in educating students and planning for failure at IPSA's recent Gender, Politics and the State conference at Stellenbosch University.

“We should pray to be haunted by the other."

These were the words of Prof Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, a leading literary theorist and feminist critic from Colombia University, who is known across the world as the person responsible for a thorough and careful 1967 translation of philosopher Jacques Derrida's De la grammatologie into its English version, Of Grammatology.

Spivak was one of the keynote speakers at the conference hosted by the Research Committee 07 (Women and Politics in the Global South) of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) that was hosted by Stellenbosch University's (SU) SARChI Chair in Gender Politics, Prof Amanda Gouws.

Through the translation of Derrida's work, Spivak opened up deconstruction theory to many scholars across the world. Deconstruction, according to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy “is to take a text apart along the structural “fault lines" created by the ambiguities inherent in one or more of its key concepts or themes in order to reveal the equivocations or contradictions that make the text possible". 

Spivak was responsible for introducing a panel discussion at the RC07 conference focused on “The Vanishing Present at the Global University". The panel included Prof Vasti Roodt, an Associate Professor in the Philosphy Department at SU with a research focus on modern political philosophy and questions relating to the public/private distinction and the social contract, and Ms Lovelyn Nwadeyi, an SU alumnus, former radio presenter at 702 and a social justice activist who participated in the first wave of the #FeesMustFall movement in 2015.

“When I speak about the Global University, I am not saying 'think globally, act globally'," said Spivak, who was hosted in South Africa by the Stellenbosch University Business School. “The local is global and so we have to really rethink how we think about these words."

“I have taught teachers living on the Jharkhand border of India and PhD students at Columbia University in the United States and so my experience comes from the top and the bottom. I teach teachers in the poorest and most outback areas of India and I teach them in Bengali and some of my students there have never seen a white person, some have not even seen trains. So I talk of experience at both ends. And even there, in those poor forgotten areas, the situation is globalised."  

She also reflected on the university's inability to help shape enquiring minds who are able interrogate their own privilege and perspectives.

“Last semester I taught a group of seniors on the global university and I interviewed students for this course. What I found, is that because of the way that we teach now, many of those students did not know how to “read". They could describe and summarise what was in the literature we read, they could present their own thoughts and then cull examples from the text to support their own thoughts, yet they could not understand what was happening within the text. Even my best student, a senior at Columbia University, a bright student, he would give back the words I had just shared with him. So every week I would make them write a response paper based on what they had read and upon it, I would build my class.

“At the end of the class, this bright student came to my office and no matter how he tried, he knew he had still not mastered “reading", because he could not understand the other. He sat there crying and I looked at him and I said, I am not your mother and I am not your shrink, so I am not going to comfort you, but I am glad that you are not only responding with rage. He understood in that moment what he had lost by not understanding the other."

Reflecting on this situation and her own work as a literary theorist, Spivak said that she believed that the “humanities should cook the souls" of students and that literary analysis should flex the scholar's imagination beyond what is possible.

“Learning without character is dangerous. In order to be able to use any kind of learning you are obliged to have a soul that is prepared."

The vanishing present she referred to her in topic, said Spivak, alluded to “the limits of planning".

“As much as I believe planning to be important, we must always plan as if we will not succeed, because no matter what we plan for, something will happen or change along the way, but on the one hand, you need to plan as if you will succeed too. This is what I call the vanishing present, the future is not ever certain."

During her introductory remarks Spivak also engaged with comments from Roodt who touched on issues around the decolonisation of knowledge and the importance of not holding up some forms of knowledge as better merely because of where they originate from as well as Nwadeyi who reflected on her experiences as a student at Stellenbosch University only learning about knowledge produced by Western scholars.

“Based on the fact that education shapes our identity, knowledge that makes its way into the classroom and is then imparted to students already carries power and privilege based on its positionality. Therefore teaching knowledge only produced by one set of scholars reinforced the notion that people that look like, and sound like me, as a person of colour, do not produce knowledge. This in turn impacted mine and many others' sense of self as students of colour," explained Nwadeyi.

This form of learning at the university, said Nwadeyi, created the impression that persons of colour are not producers of knowledge, when in fact, examples like the Basotho game, diketo, played by young children, proved the opposite.

Quoting Zulumathabo Zulu from the Basotho Origins of Mathematics, Nwadeyi said: “The game involves the distribution of a bunch of stones between the players in the game and the hole in the ground where stones are played. This game is based on an algebraic formula f(x)=x-1. Five year olds play this game and understand the mathematical principle, but when Sotho children are taught maths in high school nothing about their lived experiences of playing this childhood game is incorporated into their learning of mathematics. So many black children grow up thinking they can't do Algebra or Cartesian maths because no one tells them that a version thereof exists in their own language or culture. This is why it's critical to make educational curricula relevant and reflective of the experiences of those who must internalise them.

“Of course the argument then is not to say that African knowledge is valuable because it comes from Africa, or that Western knowledge is valuable because it comes from the West. The argument is that it is critical for students to be able to find and situate themselves in the knowledge being imparted to them because of the way that knowledge consumption, production and application shapes the identity of students/learners and by extension society as a whole."

Reflecting on India's caste system and how even education is denied to the lowest classes, Spivak explained why she realised that teaching literature in the villages she taught in would prove fruitless.

“In India, in the area where I teach, even the right to intellectual labour is denied. There is no cultural programme there and even there, amongst the lowest classes, they are also riddled with class prejudices. So teaching literature there is useless, but by teaching them the literary, you are teaching the lowest of the low how to think and judge and think about democracy," explained Spivak.

“Democracy is not just about fixing, but also about equality of others who do not resemble me at all and who is not part of the nation state, the most marginal of the marginal.

“I am not interested in teaching literature and philosophy, I am interested in practising the literary, which is wanting to go as far as possible. To decide what is specifically good is a hopelessly evil thing. Who are you to know? In the literary you are asked to also hang out with murderers – yet I am not saying that murderers are good – but can you go there? The idea to be able to say yes to the enemy is the idea of the imagination.

“At the top, I say to my students, before you decide you are going to help the whole world, think about who you are helping and whether this is real help. They have this idea that those they help are just like them, that to be equal is to be the same. The first right is the right to refuse, but the idea of a ruling class is based on the idea of [of those in lower positions always] agreeing with them. So often, when they the ruling class are amongst the [poor], they take photos of their achievements, the things they have done for these poor people, and then walk off feeling good about themselves."

Spivak went on to describe how she also teaches the teachers she educates in India about the importance of agency. “Agency requires you to take into account that there is a future and that there are other generations to come and that whatever you are planning in good faith something else will happen. But how do you work for agency? If my students are going to vote, then they have to learn that democracy is not just me, me, me, but it is still a difficult thing to teach because I run their schools and pay their salaries," explained Spivak as she touched on the inability of the lower classes to have real agency in a situation where their income is derived from someone from a higher class who are also teaching them about agency.

“It is about moving towards those whose minds have been killed by knowledge management."

“We need remember that having a democratic structure does not produce a democratic country.

“National liberation is not a revolution, it is essentially where the failure of decolonisation begins."

The RC07 conference was the first to be held on South African soil and was attended by a number of high profile academics and delegates from Africa, Asia and Latin America specialising in gender politics.

Gouws, who is the Chair of RC07 and a Political Science professor that specialises in gender politics in the Political Science Department said at the start of the conference that it “was important because it brings together women from developing countries, or what is known in academic circles as the Global South, to talk about issues that are important to them".

Other than Spivak, keynotes were also delivered by Prof Josephine Ahikire, an Associate Professor and Dean in the School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University in Uganda; and Prof Gabeba Baderoon, an Extraordinary Professor in the English Department at SU and Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality and African Studies in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State University in the United States.

Photo: Prof Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (fourth from the left), a leading literary theorist and feminist critic from Colombia University, was a keynote speaker on a panel discussion focused on “The Vanishing Present at the Global University" and which included Prof Vasti Roodt (second from the left) from the Philosophy Department and Ms Lovelyn Nwadeyi (third from the left), a former BA International Studies student at SU. With the three participants are (from the left) Prof Nico Koopman, Vice-Rector: Social Impact, Transformation and Personnel at SU, Prof Amanda Gouws, who holds the SARChI in Gender Politics and was the organiser of the IPSA conference, and Prof Daniel Malan, Director: Centre for Corporate Governance in Africa at Stellenbosch University Business School. (Anton Jordaan, SSFD)

Stellenbosch University (SU) researchers have discovered that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) directly impacts the brain in the early stages of the infection.

It has long been known that many people with HIV also experience negative cognitive symptoms, such as depression, forgetfulness, etc. However, it was unclear whether it was caused by such patients' physical illness, or whether the HI virus had a direct effect on the brain.

“Our research shows that HIV does have an impact on the brain and that these low-grade cognitive symptoms are likely not just function loss due to patients feeling sick, tired or depressed," says Dr Stéfan du Plessis, lead author of a series of articles about the research published in AIDS and other international journals.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) – a type of brain scan that shows how blood flows to certain parts of the brain when someone is performing certain tasks or is experiencing certain emotions – Du Plessis and his team compared the brain activity of people with HIV to those without HIV while they performed certain tasks designed to stimulate specific regions of the brain. HIV-positive study participants were in good physical and mental health, did not abuse drugs, and had not yet started on antiretroviral treatment (ART).

They found that these participants had a decreased blood flow in the striatal region of the brain while performing tasks involving higher motor functions. They also observed little action and blood flow to the nucleus accumbens of HIV-positive patients while performing a task involving a monetary reward. This section of the brain is involved with aspects concerning motivation, apathy and enthusiasm for life.

“The fMRI scans show how the HI virus affects important parts of the brain involved with motivation. We theorise that this could happen to such an extent that patients are often simply not motivated enough to take their medication, or even get out of bed," explains Du Plessis. He conducted the research as part of his PhD in Psychiatry and was the first person to obtain a PhD at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences that focused on fMRI.

Finally, the researchers also studied the structure of the frontal cortex, a brain region that is known to atrophy in the context of HIV. They discovered a link between the levels of atrophy and brain functional impairment – the thinner the actual frontal lobe was, the lower the levels of function.

“The study highlights a previously unknown functional effect that HIV has on the brain. We hope that these results will stimulate further studies to test the effects of ARVs, or other interventions, that could improve brain function and therefore the lives and well-being of patients with HIV," says Du Plessis.

Earlier studies have shown that up to 50% of people with HIV may suffer from some form of cognitive impairment, ranging from subtle impairment detectible only through sophisticated cognitive tests, to severe psychosis.

Prior to the introduction of ART many patients developed severe HIV-related dementia. ART has markedly improved the symptoms of dementia in HIV-positive people.

Caption: Dr Stéfan du Plessis was the first person to obtain a PhD at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences that focused on fMRI.

Photo: Damien Schumann

A total of 211 scientists in South Africa – less than 1% of the country's scientific workforce – have been identified as being 'publicly visible' in a new study by researchers Marina Joubert and Lars Guenther at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University (SU). The study is published in the latest edition of the South African Journal of Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2017/20170033).

“These visible scientists are increasingly recognised as the new scientific elite, because their high public profiles allow them to spread their ideas, influence policymakers, defend science and promote a culture of science in society", Joubert explains. “In our society, they are also the role models that shape the public image of science."

Scientists may become visible in the public sphere for a number of reasons and in several ways. Some are thrust into the limelight when they win a major international science prize. Others achieve visibility as the result of a specific scientific breakthrough that attracts significant public and media attention. Some scientists cultivate relationships with journalists for many years and invest considerable time and effort into making their work publicly accessible, thereby creating and sustaining a public profile. In all cases, the involvement of the mass media, including social media these days, is required to achieve significant levels of public visibility in science.

Joubert and Guenther explored the institutional affiliations, fields of research and demographics of these scientists, who were identified as publicly visible by a panel of science media experts. More than half of these 211 visible scientists work at just four universities in South Africa. There are 37 visible scientists at the University of Cape Town, 34 at the University of the Witwatersrand, 20 at the University of Pretoria and 17 at Stellenbosch University. A closer look at the 211 visible scientists reveals that 78% of them are white and 63% are male. The 18 most visible scientists in the group were on average 52 years old. The need to increase the public visibility of black and female scientists is highlighted, along with the need to equip young scientists with public communication skills.

According to this study, the two most visible scientists in South Africa are Prof Lee Berger (University of the Witwatersrand) and Prof Tim Noakes (University of Cape Town). The study discusses some of the factors that have made these two scientists publicly visible. Prof Nox Makunga from the Department of Botany and Zoology at SU was identified as one of the 18 most visible scientists in South Africa. She works on indigenous plants.

Marina Joubert is a science communication researcher, associated with the SA Research Chair in Science Communication at CREST. Contact her on marinajoubert@sun.ac.za.

• Photo: Prof Nox Makunga in conversation with journalist Munya Makoni. 
  

​Mr Risenga Maluleke, a graduate of the Centre for Regional and Urban Innovation and Statistical Exploration (CRUISE) which is situated in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU), has been appointed as the new Statistician-General of South Africa and the Head of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). Maluleke completed an MPhil in Urban and Regional Science at CRUISE and was one of the first group of students to complete this degree at the centre in 2011.

“We are very proud that one of our graduates have been appointed to this position and that we have contributed to equipping him for this demanding challenge to lead Statistics South Africa in providing statistical systems for evidence-based decision-making," said Professor Manie Geyer, Director of  CRUISE.

CRUISE was established at SU in 2009 with the financial support of Stats SA and is part of a drive to advance science education in the Southern African region. The research centre is situated in the Geography and Environmental Studies Department and focuses on social and economic development issues locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Since its inception the centre has placed a strong emphasis on quantitative empirical research and has also maintained a strong output level. It is also part of the ISIbalo group of institutions whose main aim is to advance the use of statistics in research in Africa. While CRUISE is considered a research centre, it also has an important teaching function offering postgraduate programmes in both Urban and Regional Science and Urban and Regional Planning.

According to a press release issued by Stats SA, Maluleke's has extensive experience in the organisation, which is backed by his qualifications – a BSc in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Limpopo and an MPhil in Urban and Regional Science from SU. He has also completed Senior Executive Programmes with the Wits and Harvard Business Schools.

“In Risenga Maluleke I had a trusted and enduring partner with whom over a quarter of a century we engaged in the most daring of leadership missions to construct what has become the most iconic institution of the state.  Whilst matters of appointment of a Statistician-General are prescribed in law and are not for an outgoing Statistician-General, I am distinctly pleased by the choice the leadership has made.  I can now safely disclose what I said to Dr Benny Mokaba twenty one years ago after the panel interviewed and decided to appoint Risenga Maluleke in October 1996 to the Statistics Office in Limpopo. I called Benny and said to him 'today we have appointed a new head for the Central Statistics Service in the making'," said his predecessor Mr Pali Lehohla.

“In Risenga we have a well-grounded leader with balance, instilling fairness and justice in all his dealings, he has enduring strength, he imbues humility, he is a servant leader, a village boy who with agility adapts to metropoles of the world, and who is ready to take on any adversity with a singularly determined mind for finding solutions. My success in leading and building this mighty organisation would not have been possible if Risenga was not leading with me in the most treacherous of waters.  My relay is done I am passing the baton to a well-tested professional and leader."

Photo: Mr Risenga Maluleke, a graduate of the Centre for Regional and Urban Innovation and Statistical Exploration (CRUISE) at Stellenbosch University, has been appointed as the new Statistician-General of South Africa and the Head of Statistics South Africa.

Recently the 195 member states of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change at its 39^th session in Paris, France. Central to that process was one of Stellenbosch University's philosophy professors and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Prof Johan Hattingh.

Hattingh was invited by the Director General of UNESCO to be part of the Ad Hoc Expert Group that was tasked to formulate the draft text for the declaration. He was subsequently elected as the President of the Expert Group at its first meeting in Rabat, Morocco, in September 2016.

According to UNESCO the “declaration aims to help governments, businesses, and civil society mobilize people around shared values on climate change" and “sounds the alarm that, unless ethical principles become the basis of climate action, both climate change and responses to it could create unacceptable damage and injustice".

Since the Rabat meeting, the draft text was refined “in light of literally thousands of comments from member states". A second draft was distributed for further comments by Member States of UNESCO at an Intergovernmental Meeting in Paris.

"As President of the Expert Group consisting of 24 people representing different languages, cultures, nationalities and disciplinary fields ranging from international environmental law and climate science to social sciences, philosophy and ethics, my role was to help facilitate a consensus on ethical principles in a language that is clear, to the point, and able to communicate with a world-wide audience," says Hattingh.

"At the Rabat meeting we worked in English and French, assisted by interpreters, demonstrating there already that it is indeed possible to articulate shared ethical values related to a common threat facing everyone and every natural system on earth.

"At the Intergovernmental Meeting in Paris where the ownership of the Declaration shifted from the Expert Group to Member States, delegates from different countries developed a much broader consensus through robust face to face discussions over four days, while my role changed to that of expert advisor to the meeting. This just goes to show that nations states also can mobilize around shared values when faced with a global threat such as climate change compromising all life on earth".

Hattingh says that one of the key messages of the Declaration is that at its core climate change is an ethical problem. It also calls for global partners to mobilise around the principles of scientific knowledge and integrity in decision-making, solidarity, sustainability, justice and equity, and a precautionary approach. The Declaration builds on the previous work of UNESCO on ethical principles in relation to climate change that was undertaken over a period of a decade by the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST).

"I was a member of COMEST for two terms from 2004 till 2011, where I was part of a group that initially worked on environmental ethics, but given the magnitude and urgency of the problem of climate change we started to work on its ethical dimensions from 2007 onwards. Our first study on The Ethical Dimensions of Global Climate Change was published in 2010."

According to Hattingh the Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change reinforces and gives further momentum to the historical turning point in the response to climate change that was brought about in 2015 when the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement, were adopted.

“By making explicit the moral platform on which these international initiatives are based, the Declaration provides much needed guidance for the numerous and difficult choices that will have to be made urgently to implement the combined goals of sustainable development world-wide in a climate that does not threaten the future of life on earth."

"For instance, the Paris Agreement calls on nations states to substantively reduce greenhouse gas emissions so as to ensure that global warming on average does not exceed 2 degrees centigrades above pre-industrial atmospheric temperatures. These reductions need to be determined on a country-by-country basis (the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs), and within each country, reduction targets will have to be distributed between the sectors of society contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. It is at this level that reduction targets can start to require real sacrifices from people or groups, and it is in this context that many ethical issues emerge: Who will suffer, given certain reduction targets, and who will not? How should burdens and benefits be distributed? How can harm be avoided or minimized? How can we avoid to place additional burdens on the poor and vulnerable?

“Calling upon nations states, corporations, international organisations, but also individuals, groups and local authorities, among others, the Declaration was thus formulated to promote responsible decision-making on all levels and in all sectors of society in order to promote justice, global partnership, inclusion, and solidarity with the poorest and most vulnerable people when it comes to climate change action," says Hattingh.

"I think the most important contribution of the Declaration lies in its articulation of a broad international consensus that we seriously need to address the layers upon layers of harm and injustice flowing from the fact that those least responsibile for the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change are the most likely to become the victims of its adverse effects.

"Following from this, the Declaration states in Article 10 that in responding to climate change priority should be given to the needs of the most vulnerable. In the Preamble the most vulnerable are specified to 'include but are not limited to displaced persons and migrants, indigenous peoples, local communities, persons with disabilities, the elderly, youth, and children'."

Click here for a copy of the full declaration.

Click here for a copy of the 2010 COMEST study on The Ethical Implications of Global Climate Change.

Photo: Prof Johan Hattingh was closely involved in the process leading up to the adoption of UNESCO's Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change.

​

Recently the 195 member states of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change at its 39^th session in Paris, France. Central to that process was one of Stellenbosch University's philosophy professors and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Prof Johan Hattingh.

Hattingh was invited by the Director General of UNESCO to be part of the Ad Hoc Expert Group that was tasked to formulate the draft text for the declaration. He was subsequently elected as the President of the Expert Group at its first meeting in Rabat, Morocco, in September 2016.

According to UNESCO the “declaration aims to help governments, businesses, and civil society mobilize people around shared values on climate change" and “sounds the alarm that, unless ethical principles become the basis of climate action, both climate change and responses to it could create unacceptable damage and injustice".

Since the Rabat meeting, the draft text was refined “in light of literally thousands of comments from member states". A second draft was distributed for further comments by Member States of UNESCO at an Intergovernmental Meeting in Paris.

"As President of the Expert Group consisting of 24 people representing different languages, cultures, nationalities and disciplinary fields ranging from international environmental law and climate science to social sciences, philosophy and ethics, my role was to help facilitate a consensus on ethical principles in a language that is clear, to the point, and able to communicate with a world-wide audience," says Hattingh.

"At the Rabat meeting we worked in English and French, assisted by interpreters, demonstrating there already that it is indeed possible to articulate shared ethical values related to a common threat facing everyone and every natural system on earth.

"At the Intergovernmental Meeting in Paris where the ownership of the Declaration shifted from the Expert Group to Member States, delegates from different countries developed a much broader consensus through robust face to face discussions over four days, while my role changed to that of expert advisor to the meeting. This just goes to show that nations states also can mobilize around shared values when faced with a global threat such as climate change compromising all life on earth". 

Hattingh says that one of the key messages of the Declaration is that at its core climate change is an ethical problem. It also calls for global partners to mobilise around the principles of scientific knowledge and integrity in decision-making, solidarity, sustainability, justice and equity, and a precautionary approach. The Declaration builds on the previous work of UNESCO on ethical principles in relation to climate change that was undertaken over a period of a decade by the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST). 

"I was a member of COMEST for two terms from 2004 till 2011, where I was part of a group that initially worked on environmental ethics, but given the magnitude and urgency of the problem of climate change we started to work on its ethical dimensions from 2007 onwards. Our first study on The Ethical Dimensions of Global Climate Change was published in 2010."

According to Hattingh the Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change reinforces and gives further momentum to the historical turning point in the response to climate change that was brought about in 2015 when the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement, were adopted. 

“By making explicit the moral platform on which these international initiatives are based, the Declaration provides much needed guidance for the numerous and difficult choices that will have to be made urgently to implement the combined goals of sustainable development world-wide in a climate that does not threaten the future of life on earth."

"For instance, the Paris Agreement calls on nations states to substantively reduce greenhouse gas emissions so as to ensure that global warming on average does not exceed 2 degrees centigrades above pre-industrial atmospheric temperatures. These reductions need to be determined on a country-by-country basis (the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs), and within each country, reduction targets will have to be distributed between the sectors of society contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. It is at this level that reduction targets can start to require real sacrifices from people or groups, and it is in this context that many ethical issues emerge: Who will suffer, given certain reduction targets, and who will not? How should burdens and benefits be distributed? How can harm be avoided or minimized? How can we avoid to place additional burdens on the poor and vulnerable? 

“Calling upon nations states, corporations, international organisations, but also individuals, groups and local authorities, among others, the Declaration was thus formulated to promote responsible decision-making on all levels and in all sectors of society in order to promote justice, global partnership, inclusion, and solidarity with the poorest and most vulnerable people when it comes to climate change action," says Hattingh.

"I think the most important contribution of the Declaration lies in its articulation of a broad international consensus that we seriously need to address the layers upon layers of harm and injustice flowing from the fact that those least responsibile for the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change are the most likely to become the victims of its adverse effects. 

"Following from this, the Declaration states in Article 10 that in responding to climate change priority should be given to the needs of the most vulnerable. In the Preamble the most vulnerable are specified to 'include but are not limited to displaced persons and migrants, indigenous peoples, local communities, persons with disabilities, the elderly, youth, and children'."

Click here for a copy of the full declaration.

Click here for a copy of the 2010 COMEST study on The Ethical Implications of Global Climate Change.

Photo: Prof Johan Hattingh was closely involved in the process leading up to the adoption of UNESCO's Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change.

​

Lebogang Babedi received the prize for the best poster presentation at the South African Raman Workshop, held in Stellenbosch, 27-28 December.  

Lebogang is studying the effects of trace element substitutions into sphalerite crystal structure (i.e., in terms of changes to crystal structure, surface chemistry and ultimately geometallurgical response). The idea is to develop a fundamental understanding of mineral systems, in order to use this understanding to better design ore beneficiation circuits.

The work he received the prize for forms part of an interdisciplinary research collaboration between Bjorn von der Heyden (Geology) and Dr Pieter H Neethling (Physics). 

​Stellenbosch University will award 5 720 degrees, certificates and diplomas at eight graduation ceremonies in the  Coertzenburg Centre next week. It is 420 qualifications more than in December 2016, and 700 more than in December 2015.

 The December total includes 142 doctoral and 545 Master's degrees.

Click here ​for more information on the graduation ceremonies and a digital version of the graduation programme. Graduates and diplomats are reminded that they should arrive at the Danie Craven stadium two hours before their graduation ceremony commences to te set up in the procession. 

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​​​On World Aids Day (01 December 2017), revered anti-apartheid and HIV/AIDS activist Simon Nkoli's name and legacy became part of Stellenbosch University (SU). The university officially unveiled Huis Simon Nkoli House, after it was decided earlier in the year to rename its buildings at 39 Victoria Street after the late equality activist.

As part of SU's strategic positioning in building and sustaining an environment of inclusivity, transformation, innovation and diversity, the renaming of the buildings at 39 Victoria Street aims to celebrate Simon Nkoli's legacy and embracing the principles he stood for.

At the historic unveiling Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel, Vice Rector: Learning and Teaching at SU, reiterated the university's strategic positioning and added that it/institution is looking forward to carrying on the inspiration that Simon Nkoli brought. “The university has fully committed itself to promoting all fundamental rights and freedoms for every person on campus, including those who are marginalised in society and even at this university," said Prof Schoonwinkel.

The Soweto-born Nkoli was one of the first black male anti-apartheid activists to reveal tha he was gay and HIV positive. He was at the forefront in the fight for gay and lesbian rights during Apartheid. As one of the founding members of the first multiracial gay-rights organisation in South Africa, the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW), Nkoli was also given several human rights awards in Europe and North America. After being infected with HIV and living with the disease for 12 years, he died of AIDS on 30 November 1998.

In an emotional speech, Jaco Greeff, the Head of the Equality Unit at SU, said that they are very excited about the name change and the milestones the university has achieved in the fight against the oppression of the LGBT community and of those affected by HIV/AIDS.

“This has been a long road. Through working with HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, when I reflect upon the friends I lost, colleagues I have lost in the community and the university and health care workers, things are looking better. Our treatment options, options to care is better, in the Department of Health, and at the university," said Greeff.

The unveiling of Huis Simon Nkoli House also coincides with the birthday celebrations of the Equality Unit and the Disability Unit at SU, who together proposed for the name change and will continue to share office space in the newly renamed building.

• Read more about Simon Nkoli here: http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=5289
  
• For more information on the Equality and Disability Unit click here.
  

Photo: Dr Birgit Schreiber and  Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel at the unveiling of the Simon Nkoli house.

Photographer: Rozanne Engel

Other people might regard Mexico as the perfect after-exam holiday destination, but for Maties Parasport's Alani Ferreira it will be the place where the year's hard work and dedication will be put to the test.

This first-year BCom Management Science student and Paralympian left for Mexico City last week for the World Para Swimming Championships taking place in Mexico City from 2-8 December.

She will compete in the 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley as well the 100m and 400m freestyle.

The championships was postponed to December after a devastating earthquake hit the country in September, less than two weeks before it was scheduled to start.

The postponement and uncertainty around if and when the event would take place has had a negative affect on Alani's preparation.

“I am not in the same place as I was before the champs were meant to be held. Hopefully, when we start the journey I will be back in the same mood and ready for racing.

“I have not been able to train to the extent that I would have liked to these past two months due to some injuries along the way, so at this point my main goal is to see what I can achieve with the hard work that I was able to put in. To make a final is always a main goal of mine and hopefully I will be able to pleasantly surprise myself."

Alani started competing in Para Swimming in 2011, shortly after she was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that affects her eyesight. She competes in the S13 category for visually impaired swimmers.

Her biggest achievement thus far has been qualifying for the Paralympic Games and being selected to represent South Africa in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“My best swimming moment was when I swam my first qualifying time (200m individual medley) for the Rio Paralympics at the qualifying trials in Durban. I could not see the timing board to see if I had qualified or not, and when I heard my team mates and family shouting it was the most overwhelming feeling," she recalls.

Her main goal for the next few years is qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games where she would love to make a final and stand on the podium.

She trains approximately 12 hours a week.

“I have a weekly plan where there is space allocated specifically for studying. I try to put in most of my studying hours before training as I do tend to be quite tired afterwards. Time management and remembering what the end goal is are definitely key concepts."

• Maties Parasport's Christian Sadie, a first-year Theology student, will also compete at the championships.
  
  

​Due to an increased interest in this arthropod group, the IPM Initiative at the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology hosted a Collembola collection and identification workshop. This understudied group is being used more frequently as model organisms in studies ranging from agriculture and ecological indicators of soil health to physiological studies. Dr. Charlene Janion-Scheepers, whom is based at Iziko South African Museum, presented the workshop.

Participants had the opportunity to spend two days in the field practising different collection techniques, while they spend another two days in the laboratory acquiring skills in sample processing and identification of species. Participants have formed a network to exchange information, thereby expanding the taxonomic and distribution data of Collembola of South Africa.

The way in which Marianne McKay goes about teaching her students about different aspects of the South African wine industry has been commended in recent months through a series of awards – one of which is recognition as a Distinguished Teacher from Stellenbosch University.

One cannot help but notice the old-world charm of the JH Neethling Building at Stellenbosch University (SU) as one walks through its stained-glass doors and up a flight of brick-red stairs towards Marianne McKay's office. A hint of fermented grapes hangs in the building, which is home to, among others, the SU Department of Viticulture and Oenology (DVO). It conjures up images of Cape Dutch farmsteads and white-washed cellars where tourists and connoisseurs can sample the Cape's best wines.

It is, however, the flipside of this coin that lecturer Marianne McKay also wants to show her oenology and viticulture students, in the hope that they will develop into responsible employers and employees. “They should become true change agents in the South African wine industry," she says.

A module that McKay teaches to her second year students covers the history of South Africa's wine industry. It relies, in part, on a book written by Jeanne Viall, Wilmot James and Jakes Gerwel.

“Grape - Stories of the Vineyards in South Africa is a book that everybody in the wine industry should read," she states emphatically.

The module is about more than just the important dates and milestones in the history of the local wine industry. It also highlights how its development has had a carry-over effect into some of the social issues faced by many Western Cape communities.  

“Having to study these issues comes with a measure of discomfort to many of our students, and of course also to myself," admits McKay. “For learning to take place, it is however really important that one moves out of one's comfort zone, for lecturer and student alike."

McKay tries to embrace these feelings, because she believes this will eventually benefit the wine industry. Her approach is rooted in her belief about the importance of social justice and ethical responsibility. “These are attributes that must be instilled during the course of a student's education at SU, along with all the other 'normal' technical and scientific skills associated with winemaking," she explains.

At the University's recent annual Scholarship for Teaching and Learning (SOTL) three-day conference in Somerset West, she presented a paper on her experiences in teaching this module, and some of the theoretical underpinning of the work. It was titled “Inhabiting a more ambiguous self: Using Discomfort to explore issues of Social Justice".

McKay admits that she was pleasantly surprised when she received the Delegates' Choice award for the best presentation as well as one for the best paper overall. She even received a certificate of merit for its abstract.

McKay has been lecturing at SU since 2007. She is one of this year's recipients of a SU Distinguished Teacher Award, which commends staff members who go to great lengths with this important part of a university's mandate.

The awards that have come her way in recent months are not the first recognition that she has received. In 2015, she was presented with a National Excellence in Teaching Award from the Council for Higher Education (CHE) and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA). The award recognises excellent teaching at South African universities.

Over the past year, she has also been able to delve more deeply into the ways in which she interacts with her students through a Teaching Fellowship she received from the University in 2016. She has a keen interest in innovative ways of “Africanising" the science curriculum, and exploring engaged methods that help to make students work-ready, professional and “future-proof".

This lecturer of note believes in the value of practical experience that moves beyond the theoretical, and takes feedback from students and industry very seriously. That's why she helped to introduce wine-tasting and sensory evaluation in every level of training of the undergraduate degree of BSc Viticulture and Oenology students, with a longitudinal tasting portfolio (extending from the first to the third year) in which the students can record their own 'wine journey'. The programme as a whole received quite an overhaul in recent years to ensure that its engaged approach not only meets the professional development needs of the students, but also that of the wine industry.

As part of this, McKay included a Service-Learning component that forms part of the practical work that second year oenology students do. She has already published research about the service learning approach within a higher education context together with colleagues from the University's Division of Social Impact, and has spoken about it at conferences in South Africa, Ireland and the United States.

McKay's belief in the need for transformation extends further than just the wine industry to the so-called STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well. She is, for instance, part of a Focus Interest Group that includes members from various faculties, and was part of the SU Task Team that drafted a “Decolonising the Curriculum" document. Collaborations with colleagues across SU, including Arts and Military Sciences have also led to publications regarding social justice issues.

If this is not enough, McKay and colleagues from the DVO have been involved in the Pinotage Youth Development Academy. This NPO teaches vocational skills to young people from communities in and around the winelands of the Boland that they can use in the wine and tourism sectors. This includes learning basic laboratory skills, as well as the sensory valuation of wine, and winemaking skills. Independent evaluation recently showed that the SU training is a valuable component of the broader PYDA programme.

 “This is all about an excellent team, without their help, I wouldn't be able to do it," McKay says in acknowledging the invaluable contribution of her DVO colleagues to the PYDA.

McKay is also thankful for the valuable mentoring and support that she has received from colleagues in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, and the Division for Social Impact.

“This kind of work requires a thorough understanding of educational and social theories, and can be very challenging for a scientist to do without guidance," she adds.

Photo caption: Stellenbosch University oenology lecturer Ms Marianne McKay (middle) and her colleague Marisa Nell of the SU Department of Viticulture and Oenology with some of the students of the Pinotage Youth Development Academy (PYDA) that she also trains and mentors. They are Phelisa Ntsokotha, Simamkele Ncapayi, Masanda Mlanjeni, Yolanda Ngwevela , Yonela Zondwayo, Samkelisiwe Magwaza, Yolani Kaso, Mpontseng Ramathathaki, Emihle Ganyaza and Sisanda Samente.  Photo credit: Nomonde Kubheka