Since the advent of the #FeesMustFall campaign that foregrounded the sector funding challenges, Mandela University has sort to work closely with students in collectively identifying challenges and co-creating solutions through various task teams and working groups.
The multi-stakeholder groups – which include the Financial Aid Task Team, Safety and Security Task Team and the Reintegration of Services Functions and new Business Model Reference Group (the latter including unions and service workers) – are mechanisms of bringing together all university stakeholders to surface the issues affecting the institution, and the sector in general, and jointly crafting solutions.
As students start making their way to campus ahead of the start to the 2018 academic year, energies are now focused on working out the practicalities of government’s pronouncement on higher education funding through continuing engagements internally, and externally with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), NSFAS and with Universities South Africa (USAf).
Internally, the Financial Aid Task Team has begun tackling issues relating to funding relative to the new national dispensation on student funding and through the University’s own financial aid concessions, while the Student Access Working Group attends to admissions and registration matters.
Externally, the University is in liaison with, and awaiting feedback from NSFAS to enable students to register net week. The financial aid scheme is hopeful that it will release the relevant information shortly.
Registration and other support
Online registration at Nelson Mandela University opened on 15 January, with computer stations set up across the various campuses to help students access this form of registration. About 2000 students have registered online to date. Students can follow the link www.mandela.ac.za/Registration to register online.
Assisted registration at the University’s North, South, Missionvale and George campuses runs from Monday, 22 January, until Friday, 2 February.
The First Years’ Welcoming Ceremony takes place on Saturday 26 January.
The University has put additional systems in place to support students who will be registering at various campuses next week.
Following the announcement of the new DHET bursary scheme for first time entering (FTEN) students – classified as those enrolling at a university for the first time – the University has set up an online tool to help students identify what category they fall into, and what financial aid options are available and applicable to them.
This is particularly to ensure that those students accepted by the University, who did not apply to NSFAS because they fall into the category of students whose annual household income is between R122 000 to R350 000, do not miss out on the new bursary scheme.
Students will be required to submit all the necessary certified supporting documents. Once this process has been completed, and the applicable financial aid secured, students will be able to proceed with registration.
Conclusion
The University is working hard to finalise student placements and ensure that admitted students are successfully registered and able to formally begin the 2018 academic year when lectures start on Monday, 5 February.
Details and documents are avaibale here: http://finaid.mandela.ac.za/