Words cannot express how it feels to be welcomed by the institution in this way. Since the announcement of my appointment as the next Vice Chancellor and Chancellor of the Universidad Tecnológica Central, I have received good wishes in the form of emails, SMS and WhatsApp messages from many individuals and colleagues at CUT and throughout the sector. This official welcome event is now the icing on the cake of these touching and kind gestures that have been shown to me.
Thank you also for your presence here today, members of the media; this association to inform and show the good that our sector of post-school education is doing. Not long ago we were collectively showcasing the achievements of matriculators and the Free State as the leading province in matriculation achievement!
Today I see my arrival here at the CUT as the beginning of a new dawn, a new path. And as we begin this journey together as a collective of the CUT community, I want to thank Council President Cllr Matthew Rantso, Council Members and university stakeholders for their trust in me to advance the university vision. to 2030, and I share the excitement for the opportunity for the CUT to have its first female vice-rector and director. These are laudable efforts on our path of transformation as an institution and in the sector. I want to thank everyone who was part of the process.
I have already been to the campus several times, listening and meeting everyone. Over time, I will quickly move around the campuses as my goal is to continue to hear from the university community, including the safety of our cleaners and messengers, their stories and what CUT means to them. To Professor Aldfred Ngowi, who has been the Acting Vice Chancellor, thank you for his leadership over the last two years and his tremendous contribution to CUT under difficult circumstances. Congratulations to the executive team for the many accomplishments on behalf of the university.
For a new leader in an institution of this achievement, big questions will always be asked: What is your value proposition? What is on the table that will make a difference?
How will you advance the CUT mission?
How are you going to drive into 2030?
And what is your vision?
Well, today, there is still nothing to share. I am currently listening and learning through my stakeholder engagements. As I look around our campuses, there are many pockets of excellence in our niche areas. In fact, I will apply my skills and abilities to build on the institutional values and achievements of this remarkable institution. There will also be more coming in the next three weeks towards my inauguration on February 17th. I can tell you that I will be a part of our college community every day, striving to make a positive impact on campus and our community. And I will work tirelessly with senior leadership and everyone to advance our mission and ensure that our students and staff have every opportunity to succeed through our support.
Through this change in leadership, we have a great opportunity to refine and reaffirm our identity and our ambition to be the leading Technological University in Africa. We have the opportunity to profile our quality academic offerings, research and innovation, and our great achievements in committed scholarship and the impact of our work on communities and future generations who are our students now, and whose graduate attributes will always prepare them for be responsive and responsible global citizens.
And we will do this with renewed effort and commitment and without prejudice to the current challenges that our sector has the capacity and skills to face; the energy crisis, the decrease in financing, the slowness of the transformation, governance and the challenges of ethical leadership, among others. As I indicated, I won’t say much at this time, but I look forward to engaging with you, and in particular with our key partners in the province, from our other partners in post-school education, to the business, industry and government level, and the university community. of the CUT, on these and numerous pertinent issues that should keep us up at night as major players in all sectors of this country.
Thank you very much again for taking the time to come to this welcome event.
