OVER 6000 GRADUANDS TO BE “CAPPED” DURING MAY ONLINE GRADUATION

Owing to government’s national lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic, WSU, for the first time in its history, conducted a virtual graduation ceremony which was transmitted on the institution’s official Facebook page in May earlier this year.

Presided over by WSU Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Rob Midgley, the short ceremony witnessed the overall acknowledgement of the approximately 6 147 deserving certificate, diploma and degree recipients.

“Given the restrictions imposed on gatherings, the university held an online graduation ceremony to recognize the achievements of the graduating class of 2020. Even when the lockdown at that stage was lifted, it would have been unwise for thousands of graduands and their families to gather in our halls given the resurgence trends seen in other countries when lockdown was lifted,” said Prof Midgley.

Due to the massive number that graduated, the university elected to acknowledge, via a ticker-tape running across the bottom of the screen, only those that obtained the postgraduate qualifications of Doctoral, Masters and Honours Degrees.

For those whose names weren’t beamed, graduation programmes of all four campuses consisting of lists of all the graduates’ names were uploaded and available for viewing on Facebook together with the virtual graduation screening.

Addressing concerns about the impact of the government lockdown on teaching and learning, Prof Midgely said, in response to the crisis, the institution had established the Teaching and Learning Team, which was charged with coordinating academic business continuity, looking especially into the speedy rollout of teaching and learning services in a limited contact environment.

“We’ve identified three pathways to inform and execute our teaching and learning. First, we have made provision for technology-infused teaching and learning using Blackboard to facilitate learning. Secondly, we have adopted teaching and learning akin to distance learning, whereby provision is made for students who’re unable to access Blackboard and/ or have connectivity problems. Lastly, a comprised face-to-face contact teaching will ensure regardless of the pathway adopted by students” explained Prof Midgley.

Of the 6147 graduands that were acknowledged, four from the Mthatha Campus were conferred with doctoral degrees, 17 with Masters, and 108 with Honours. A total of 116 students obtained their qualification with a Cum Laude pass.

By Thando Cezula