Building Stronger Pathways: FSEA Workshop Enhances Academic Alignment

The Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Agriculture (FSEA) convened a two-day workshop on calendar entry and academic structure from 11 to 12 August 2025 at Premier Hotel, Thohoyandou. The workshop brought together faculty leadership, including the Executive Dean, Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning, Faculty Manager, Heads of Departments, and administrators, alongside representatives from support units such as IPQA, MIS, the Department of English, Media and Linguistics, and the UNIVEN Risk Officer. The primary objective was to align the faculty calendar with the Programme Qualification Mix (PQM), the academic structure, and the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) database, thereby improving accuracy in module codes, credits, and prerequisites to facilitate smoother student registration and timely graduation.

The workshop commenced with introductions and welcome remarks from Prof Natasha Potgieter, Executive Dean of FSEA, who highlighted existing challenges in the PQM, such as outdated modules still listed and missing new modules. She stressed the need to merge departments offering similar modules with low enrolment to ensure programme viability. Heads of Departments were urged to rectify calendar errors and review module credits to better reflect the faculty’s academic offerings. Dr Odeshnee Naicker, Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning explained that the workshop aimed to correct inconsistencies between the calendar, academic structure, and HEMIS to prevent registration delays that have previously extended students’ study periods.
A presentation by Dr Mzamani Maluleke from the Department of English, Media, and Linguistics focused on the English Communication Skills (ECS1245) module, a service course designed to enhance students’ communication abilities during their transition from high school to university. The module is currently under review to better meet faculty needs. Subsequent sessions included detailed reviews of the PQM by IPQA representative Mr Emmanuel Thagwana and the academic structure by MIS representative Mr Zolani Fana, who identified common issues such as credit mismatches, inconsistent prerequisites, and misalignments between the faculty calendar and academic structure. Emphasis was placed on ensuring consistency across all academic documents.
UNIVEN Risk Officer Mr Tinyiko Sibiya addressed fraud and whistleblowing awareness, underscoring the human factors contributing to fraud and the importance of ethical leadership and transparent communication to mitigate risks. Throughout the workshop, participants engaged in hands-on activities to review and update calendar entries, including module credits, notional hours, and admission requirements. Heads of Departments were tasked with updating staff lists and verifying module descriptions.
On the second day, Faculty Manager Mrs Julia Sigama facilitated continued discussions and activities, with the Executive Dean acknowledging the progress made and encouraging the completion of calendar corrections before submission to the Registrar’s Office. Faculty administrator Ms Mukondeleli Masia reported several challenges affecting student application, registration, and graduation processes, including students enrolling in obsolete qualifications, mismatches between curriculum and academic structure, incorrect full-time equivalent credit calculations limiting module registration, and non-adherence to progression rules necessitating manual student promotions. Confusion regarding prerequisites and varying credits among elective modules was also noted as an area needing resolution.

The workshop concluded with collaborative efforts to finalise calendar entries, reflecting a com-mitted step toward enhanced academic governance, improved administrative processes, and strengthened support for student success within the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Agri-culture at UNIVEN.

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University of Venda
Tel: 082 868 2218 / 082 868 1811