Words cannot express the feeling of being accepted by the institution in this way. Since the announcement of my appointment as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Central University of Technology, I have received good wishes in the form of emails, SMS and WhatsApp messages from many people and colleagues from CUT and all sectors. This official welcome event is now the cherry on top of the kind and pleasant gesture shown to me.
Thank you also for being here today, members of the media; This partnership is to inform about and share the good that the post-school education sector is doing. Soon, we shared the achievements of matriculates and the Free State is the leading province in the achievements of matriculates!
Today I see my arrival at CUT as the beginning of a new dawn, a new journey. And as we embark on this journey together as a collective of the CUT community, I want to thank the Chairman of the Council, Cllr Matthew Rantso, Councilors and university stakeholders for their trust and confidence in me to drive the university’s vision forward. for 2030, and I share my excitement for the opportunity for CUT to have the first female vice chancellor and principal. This is a laudable effort in our journey of transformation as an institution and in the sector. I want to acknowledge everyone who was part of the process.
I have been around the campus many times, listening and getting to know everyone. At the moment, I will be rushing around the campus, because my goal is to continue to hear from the university community – even security cleaners, and messengers – their stories and what CUT means to them. To Professor Aldfred Ngowi, who has been vice chancellor, thank you for your leadership over the past two years and your great contribution to CUT in challenging circumstances. Congratulations to the executive team on their many achievements on behalf of the university.
For new leaders in these accomplished institutions, the big question will always be: What is your value proposition? What is on the table that will make a difference?
How will you advance CUT’s mission?
How will you lead to 2030?
And what is your vision?
Well, today, there is nothing to share. I listen and learn now through engagement with stakeholders. As I look around our campus, there are many pockets of excellence in our niche areas. Indeed, I will apply my skills and abilities to build the value of the institution and the achievements of this outstanding institution. More will also come in the next three weeks leading up to my inauguration on February 17th. I can tell you that I will be a part of the university community every day – striving to positively impact the campus and community. And I will work hard with senior leaders and everyone to advance the mission and ensure that students and staff have the opportunity to succeed through support.
Through this leadership change, we have a great opportunity to refine and reaffirm our identity and ambition to be a leading University of Technology in Africa. We have the opportunity to present our academic offerings, quality research and innovation, and our great achievements in participating scholarships and the impact of our work on the community and future generations who are now students, and the attributes of graduates will always prepare them. to be a responsive and responsible global citizen.
And this will be done with new efforts and commitment and despite the current challenges, which our sector has the ability and skills to overcome; energy crisis, reduced funding, slow transformation, governance and ethical leadership challenges. As I said, I will not say much now, but I look forward to engaging with you and especially the key partners in the province, from other post-secondary education partners, to business, industry and government levels, and the CUT university community – about this and many important things that should keep us up at night as important players in the sector in this country.
Thank you again for taking the time to attend this welcome event.