Page 26 - Transformation Report 2023

vices (UADS) Office is to facilitate the provision of support Capacity building support was facilitated by UADS to According to the PG Research Scholarship (PGRS) policy, ventions were designed and implemented in collabora-
to students with disabilities. With UADS focusing on stu- guide students living with disabilities to integrate across South African students and permanent resident students tion with faculties to monitor PG student progress and
dents, staff with disabilities are assisted via Occupational the learning, teaching and engagements activities of the were eligible for full cost of study funding, which includes provide targeted support when needed. The number of
Health and the Employment Equity Office. The lack of University. These efforts created internal solidarity and a tuition, accommodation, living allowance and electronic workshops presented was 83, where over 815 PGs and
mainstreaming and embedding of Universal Accessibility sense of social cohesion amongst the students. In 2024, a devices. Two South African PG students challenged the 399 employees participated, 92% of whom were Black
principles and practices across all operations of the Uni- policy will be developed to promote universal access and implementation of the PGRS Policy by separately lodging and 60% were women. Training and statistical services
versity remains a challenge, which ultimately exacerbates reasonable accommodation. discrimination complaints with the Transformation Office. offered by the Unit for Statistical Consultation continued
the obstacles experienced by persons with disabilities Both students were eligible for PGRS but, because they during the 2023 academic year with nine 3-day block
within the University environment. were dependents of University employees, were exclud- courses and various online sessions presented.
A positive development is that procurement of digital PG Success Interventions ed from receiving PGRS funding and instructed to utilise
tools, platforms and packages in support of Universal the employee benefit which enables dependents of em-
Access and Disability services will be mainstreamed. An ployees to study for free at the University. This employee Language
investigation was undertaken to compare the variety of Nelson Mandela University, in 2023, began implementing benefit, however, only covers tuition costs. One of the
assistive options available commercially to support dif- a new PG funding policy, which seeks to advance social complainants had been a recipient of NSFAS funding for
ferent types of disabilities, including screen readers for justice, equality and inclusion by providing PG funding their UG studies because their parent earned below the A language revision policy working group was estab-
individuals with visual impairments, and alternative input as a lever to address the challenges of inequity of access, R350K threshold. NSFAS does not fund second and/or lished, led by Prof Pamela Maseko (Executive Dean Hu-
devices such as voice recognition software. success and throughput, in an ongoing effort to represent PG qualifications. The panel who evaluated the investi- manities), reporting to the DVC:LT as policy holder. The
gation report recommended that the PGRS policy provi-
excellence. Citizenship, gender and disability are consid- first draft of the policy was shared with the DVC:LT and
In another effort to provide disability support, represen- ered in the allocation of funding, with transformation of sions be amended to provide students the option to elect will serve at the Deanery meeting in April 2024. The policy
tation of disabled students in the Student Representative the PG cohort as the core objective. Financial need is in- their funding source. Alternatively, to align the staff bene- revision and consultations are planned to be finalised and
Council (SRC) structure was included in the SRC Consti- cluded as a criterion for determining the level of funding. fits for dependents to that PGRS policy, being mindful to approved in 2024. DHET allocated funding to work on the
tution. This important milestone recognises the need to Overall, 385 honours, 533 master’s and 334 doctoral advance the transformative objectives of redress, social implementation of the University’s language plan, that
ensure representation to advance advocacy for those stu- scholarships were awarded with funding from Council, the justice and equality. will be overseen by the DVC:LT and the working group.
dents living with disabilities – “nothing about us, without National Research Foundation (NRF) and other external
us”. funders . This represented a total of 1 252 awards com- Through the UCDG, the Office of Research Development Within the Faculty of Health Sciences, there is also a drive
conducted a series of research capacity development
prising 76% Black (African, Coloured, Indian and Asian), workshops for staff, postdoctoral fellows, and registered towards multilingualism through the building and devel-
The University is expected to respond through compre- 61% female students and 88% South African citizens and opment of a multilingual glossary.
hensive support for students with disabilities. To this end, permanent residents. Uptake of the awards is ongoing, PGs. Research capacity development and support inter-
the Ilitha Student Free Expression Space was estab- with 1 063 (85%) of the 1 252 scholarships initiated. Of this
lished to address any psychosocial challenges of students number, the proportion comprising Black, women and
with disabilities related to stress, anxiety and other forms South African citizens and permanent residents is 75%,
of physical/mental/emotional exertion, and that require a 60% and 87% respectively.
safe area for rest. This space is the first of its kind at the
University and signals a milestone in recognising diverse The Table 12 provide an overview of different funding
student needs. It services approximately 20 students dai- sources from which student bursaries and scholarship
ly and has moved beyond serving not only students with were secured.
disabilities, but also general students and staff for well-
ness purposes.

Table 12: Funding sources for student bursaries and scholarships for 2023, relative to 2022.

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