NWU acting Vice-Chancellor addresses admissions and vaccination challenges
The North-West University’s (NWU) acting Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Linda du Plessis, NWU spokesperson Mr Louis Jacobs and Corporate Relations and Marketing Executive Mr Clement Manoko addressed the university’s achievements and challenges at the start of the 2022 academic year in a virtual conference.
Professor Du Plessis kicked off the conference, on Friday the 24th of February 2022, by discussing the admissions and registration process.
She explained that the university has an enrollment plan, which is a contractual agreement between the NWU and the Department of Higher Education and Training. The university is only allowed to deviate 2% from the target enrollment numbers “otherwise we [the NWU] are penalised in terms of our subsidy”. This relates to the university’s capacity to accommodate students across all three campuses.
There have been some cases where students received admission letters but were then rejected. Professor Du Plessis said “there were individual cases that we dealt with, and we accommodated those students”. For some students, some of the reasons why they were turned away were due to their final matric results or because they had not applied for funding and therefore had no financial means to register for the 2022 academic year.
According to Mr Manoko, the university received more than 150 000 applications for admission in 2022, across the three campuses. A total of 11 310 individuals are already fully registered as first-year students. The enrollment plan allowed space for 10 981 first-year students.
More than 40 000 senior students are fully registered. A little more than 3 000 students are still conditionally accepted due to varying circumstances, such as waiting for bursary responses or NSFAS feedback. This means 92% of all students have already been assisted.
On Covid-19 vaccinations, Professor Du Plessis said, “we have made it clear that we have a non-mandatory stance, but we are pro-vaccination”. She said this is because there are more than 40 000 contact students on the campuses, and more than 11 500 students staying in residences. Because this is a large number of people who are in very close proximity to one another, it means every event that the university hosts could potentially become a super spreader event.
The university will be able to adjust its Covid-19 vaccination policy and standard operating procedures when the Minister of Higher Education and Training publishes new guidelines. Mr Manoko continued that “all we are saying is that there are these national regulations in terms of occupational health and risk management and we are expected to comply with them”.
Professor Du Plessis said that the NWU now “has contact classes, but they are for smaller groups, and there are fewer of them, but obviously, that can change at any moment”.
The university has prepared approximately 80 venues for a “HyFlex” teaching and learning mode where some students can physically attend classes, and others may attend the same classes live online. This allows all students to attend the same class in a way that ensures purposeful contact.
According to Mr Manoko, in-person graduation ceremonies are being planned, depending on developments in terms of Covid-19 regulations.
Mr Louis Jacobs said, “depending on the capacity of a specific venue, we as the NWU will allow our graduates inside the venue, and then create another venue on the campus to accommodate our guests, where there will be live streaming. Providing a vaccination certificate [in order to attend] is not on the table at the moment.”