Leadership and Communication

Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe sent out a series of initial emails that showed concern for the well-being of students and staff in the face of the looming pandemic. Then, the Executive implemented practical measures, in consultation with the higher education community, through entities like Universities South Africa (USAf), the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and the Council on Higher Education (CHE).

There was a commitment to continuing classes online and ensuring that students had devices, connectivity and mobile data bundles to access information on the web. In rare cases where this was not feasible, the University arranged other means such as printed material and telephone contact as part of a broader commitment to staff and students to finish the academic year by the end of 2020. Professor Kupe continued to communicate a caring attitude as well as planned procedures to the University community throughout a challenging year.

UP designed a dedicated website, ‘COVID-19 updates, information and analysis’4 .

The University of Pretoria is closely monitoring the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. The safety and well-being of our students and staff are paramount, and we are taking proactive steps to help ensure that we have a plan of action in place. We have established a task team to assist with the implementation of our plan of action. Visit this site regularly for all UP news updates on the situation. The site has resources for students, staff, and the media. It focuses on well-being, the fund-raising project, communications from the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, contact details for testing, advice on behaviour to prevent infection, good links to outside sources where more information can be obtained, and frequently asked questions about when the University will reopen, how disadvantaged students will be assisted, learning online, continuing with research, and other pertinent issues.