Prof Dan Kgwadi

Message from

the vice-chancellor

Dear alumnus,

 

People often complain about all the bad news we receive daily via the media, but looking at the stories in this issue of NWU & U, it is clear that there are many good news stories in our NWU environment. For this we can be very thankful. Staff, students and alumni continue to give us reasons to smile.

 

One such reason is the recent 4-star award the NWU received from the international rating agency Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The NWU was awarded three stars in 2012. Our new 4-star rating confirms the NWU’s progress toward realising its dream of becoming an internationally recognised university in Africa.

 

Among the world’s top 5%

 

The NWU has also been ranked in the top five percent of universities worldwide. We rank at position 601-700 on the Academic Rankings of World Universities.

 

The QS rating system is a widely used international evaluation system that assesses universities and offers students an impartial, evidence-based rating which can assist them in selecting a university.

 

In the latest rating, the NWU was evaluated in the following categories: a specialist subject area; research; teaching; employability; internationalisation; facilities; innovation, and social responsibility.

 

Five stars for these

 

The NWU scored five stars in the teaching, employability, innovation and facilities categories. In the teaching category, students reported a high level of satisfaction both in their overall experience and with our teaching-learning offering.

 

For employability, the university received full points in the campus employer presence indicator. This is due to the more than 200 companies visiting the NWU’s campuses annually for employability activities.

 

NWU facilities are exceptional, with world-class sporting facilities and a good amount of student accommodation, as well as sound information technology infrastructure, student support facilities and a wide variety of student societies.

 

The NWU is an innovation leader, with at least 50 active patents, over 500 industrial research collaborations and at least five spin-off companies established in the past five years.

 

While this positive assessment is welcome acknowledgement of the work done at the NWU, areas were also identified where we need to improve. We can never be complacent. The competition is fierce and the challenges tough.

 

Be assured that we are constantly working at improving so you can remain proud of your alma mater.

 

 

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Prof Dan Kgwadi

Vice-Chancellor