College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2023 26 supported by the UJenius Club. The number of 575 UJenius students in 2022 unfortunately decreased to 494 in 2023. This decrease indicates that senior students seem to struggle in keeping their UJenius status after the first year. In 2023 the first-year students with Orange Carpet status were 338. The conclusion is thus that more efforts are needed to ensure that the Orange Carpet students keep their UJenius status throughout their study years. This sustainability is possible if schools and departments engage with UJenius and create opportunities to make students aware of the advantages as well as the prestige of the club but also the support of peers who can keep the UJenius status. TOWARDS TEACHING AND LEARNING FUTURE AGILITY Activities initiated in respect of teaching and learning, and community engagement in the areas of decolonisation, the 4IR or 21st century skills, or the integration of SGDs into curricula are seen to prepare agility in students and enable students to become ready for the future. Curriculum renewal and transformation initiatives are largely undertaken at school and departmental levels under the stewardship of directors of school and heads of department. In this regard, 15 new continuous education programmes (CEP) on 4IR were added bringing the total to 22. Moreover, 10 new CEPs are added to the sustainability development goals (SDGs) bringing the total of these programmes to 13. Initiatives in the academic projects on 4IR and the SDGs were added to 40 and 22, respectively. Although the awareness and engagement with SDGs are relatively new, the uptake seems to be positive and directly linked to the critical thinking skills that students are empowered to apply to solving the complex problems of the future. GOING FORWARD In November of 2023 the Vice-Dean: Teaching and Learning’s term ended. Prof Sivan Chetty leaves a legacy with an organised teaching and learning platform for all staff members to access. This platform contains the practitioners’ notes, policies, and templates for documents that all staff require for teaching and learning. In his farewell letter to staff, he remined all about the lyrics of the song, ‘The Greatest Love’, which is befitting for the way forward. The lyrics go: ‘I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside.’ Prof Thea Tselepis who was appointed in November of 2023 as the new Vice-Dean: Teaching and Learning will echo these sentiments with a teaching mission ‘towards responsible students’. This mission is about creatively unlocking the ‘beauty’ or inner power of the students on becoming responsible. To be able to respond to the challenges of the future is the proposed way forward for students and a teaching methodology towards sustainable societal impact. Doctoral and Cum Laude Master’s Graduate Acknowledgement
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