Walter Sisulu University Benchmarks with UKZN’s College of Health Sciences
Walter Sisulu University Benchmarks with UKZN’s College of Health Sciences
The College of Health Sciences (CHS), together with the UKZN Registrar’s office, recently hosted a senior management team from Walter Sisulu University’s (WSU) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS).
The aim of the visit was to benchmark and learn how health sciences programmes are managed – from selections, admissions, registrations, exams and all administrative processes.
The CHS team presented on academic services, student support services, decentralised clinical training, the overall structure of the College as well as public relations. Professor Blanco-Blanco, Head of the Health Professionals unit in the WSU FHS said, ‘We are excited to learn from colleagues at UKZN about their own experiences (in) managing health sciences programmes. It is important that we share information to ensure the successful implementation of our programmes. Without a strong, efficient support structure, the programmes will fail.’
Professor Fanie Botha, Director of Professional Services in the CHS, was excited to host the team from WSU. He said, ‘Benchmarking is exciting as we have common ground managing health sciences programmes. It would be good to form an administrator’s forum with all health sciences administrators in the country.’
Mrs Khanyisa Magwentshu, Institutional Deputy Registrar at WSU, was impressed with how efficiently the College model worked in the CHS. She commented, ‘Your College model is phenomenal and definitely working at UKZN. We too would like to decentralise many services to the Faculty, including human resources, finance, student support services and public relations. Thank you for sharing a wealth of information which we will use when drafting our own improvement plans.’
Mr Bruce Banda, Director of Student Academic Administration at UKZN, said even though universities compete for the best students in the country, they share the common goal of producing graduates who are competent and fit for purpose. ‘It is important to learn from each other. It is the only way to improve our professional portfolios to support the academic goals.’
Blanco ended the day with words of appreciation to the UKZN team, saying, ‘Thank you for providing us with full access to learn from you and for sharing both your strong points and your challenges. We felt the warm reception from the team and look forward to our future collaborations.’
Words: MaryAnn Francis
Photograph: Supplied
