Another significant milestone of the Sacramento State University (Sac State) visit to Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) was the executive-level Roundtable, which brought together senior leaders from both institutions to discuss potential areas of collaboration.
The discussions, chaired with eloquence, institutional insight, and enthusiasm by Dr Kevin Ramsarghey, the Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences, reflected the growing momentum between MUT and Sac State to build a lasting international partnership. The Roundtable provided an invaluable platform for both universities to explore strategic initiatives that could transform their academic offerings and strengthen their global footprints.
One of the key topics on the agenda was MUT’s ambition to establish a Business School. Dr Ramshargey led a discussion on how Sac State could lend expertise and guidance to accelerate the realisation of this vision, noting the internal feasibility study undertaken to date by MUT and another one whose results will be received in January 2026. “Given the increasingly competitive higher education landscape in the region, we would like to see this collaboration giving the proposed MUT Business School a distinctive international edge.
During the session, one of the dynamic young members of the Sac State delegation highlighted the breadth of their own institution’s business programmes, remarking, “Our Business School even has a concentration in Business Analytics in Healthcare.” This comment resonated strongly with MUT’s leadership, particularly because Professor Nokuthula Sibiya’s professional background is rooted in nursing. Such interdisciplinary MBA concentrations are still in their infancy in South Africa, and the prospect of introducing similar innovations at MUT drew great interest from the attendees.
Beyond the Business School discussions, Sac State also expressed keen interest in the proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit, an initiative jointly supported by MUT and the eThekwini Municipality. The summit aims to explore how AI can help solve pressing societal challenges across sectors such as energy, water, food, climate, health, and education.
As the Roundtable concluded, it was clear that MUT’s journey toward internationalisation is gaining precision and purpose. More senior managers are actively identifying ways to globalise their divisions and faculties, signalling a new chapter of strategic partnerships and academic innovation for the university.