As everyone slowly eases into the New Year, it is already all hands on deck for the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Even though the University only officially opened on 9 January 2023, some members of the faculty were already in the office last week. Manager in the Dean’s office, Zakhele Khumalo, said they were preparing for the two crucial meetings that the faculty had this week off-campus. This is when the faculty put together plans for the year ahead.
The Acting Dean of the Faculty, Professor Roger Coopoosamy, said that “in terms of the vertical development of programmes, the Faculty is engaging with each department to develop postgraduate qualifications in their respective programmes”.
Professor Coopoosamy said that the exercise aimed to ensure that all departments offer postgraduate qualifications, which is in line with the university’s development. He said it was to be borne in mind that the reclassification of universities will consider the offering of postgraduate programmes as well as the research output.
Professor Coopoosamy highlighted the need for the University to have more postgraduate qualifications. This is an expectation and a must.
“Ultimately, within the next five years, all departments should be offering a Master’s qualification and some offering a Doctoral qualification,” Professor Coopoosamy said. So far, the faculty’s Department of Nature Conservation is the only one that offers a Master’s qualification at MUT.
According to Professor Coopoosamy, there is a task of engaging with each programme and identifying what is needed and what needs to be changed/added/deleted/amended so that the offerings are in line with what the country needs.