Launched in August 2013, the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) is one of the first public universities to be established in South Africa since 1994 and stands as a symbol of the ambitions of the new South African society. It is also the first university to be established in the Mpumalanga province.
UMP is a comprehensive university with two campuses – the main campus is in Mbombela and the second is in Siyabuswa.
Since its establishment, UMP has had two chancellors of high stature and standing, namely South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa (2016–2021) and Deputy chief Justice Mandisa Maya (2021 to present). Maya presented the Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Trust Annual Lecture on moral and ethical leadership at UMP on 25 November 2022.
The first and founding vice-chancellor of UMP, Thoko Mayekiso, was appointed in 2014 to provide leadership and management in the establishment of the university and is currently in her second term of office as Vive-Chancellor of the university.
Over its nine years of existence, UMP has experienced massive growth in student enrolments, the number of accredited academic programmes and new infrastructure development. The university enrolled the first cohort of 169 students in 2014 in three qualifications, namely Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase Teaching; Bachelor of Agriculture in Agricultural Extension and Rural Resource Development; and Diploma in Hospitality Management. In 2022, the university enrolled 7 100 students in 49 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
The plan is to offer 65 programmes (two higher certificates; five diplomas; 13 bachelor’s degrees; seven advanced diplomas; four postgraduate diplomas; 17 bachelor’s of honour’s degrees; 12 master’s degrees and five doctoral degrees) and increase the enrolments to about 9 000 students in 2023.
The philosophy adopted by the university is that teaching is theoretically informed, pedagogically appropriate, and sensitive to diversity in all its forms in the educational environment. Its teaching emphasises the interconnectedness of teaching and learning, research and engagement. The development of its qualifications and curricula is context-sensitive. The curricula and co-curricular activities expose students to different ways of knowing and to the value of indigenous knowledge systems.
The university has made significant strides in its contribution to the research agenda of the country and received the National Research Foundation Excelleration Award on 1 September 2022 in recognition of improved research performance. The university’s niche research areas are youth development and empowerment; environmental and socio-economic sustainability; post-harvest management and food security; biodiversity conservation and development; ICT for development; ethics and governance; and early childhood development, education and training.
The vision of UMP is to be “an African university leading in creating opportunities for sustainable development through innovation”.
In advancing the vision, it is committed to the development of an innovative culture and to play a catalytic role for innovation in industry and for society at large with a definite bias towards Africa. The university has established a Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubator to offer students opportunities to develop or enhance their entrepreneurship mindset.
The mission of the university is to offer quality educational and training opportunities that foster the holistic development of students through teaching and learning, research and scholarship and engagement, in collaboration with strategic partners.
In addition to the academic programmes, the focus is also on co-curricular activities to promote the cognitive, physical, personal, social and aesthetic development of the students.
In line with its vision and mission, UMP has established a number of national and international strategic partnerships. UMP has numerous international partnerships – seven in Africa; eight in Europe; three in the US; two in Australia; and nine in Asia. UMP recently signed a partnership with the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Romania, on 10 October 2022, and Save University, Mozambique, on 22 November 2022.
UMP’s efforts to promote equality and equity at the institution were recognised at the Standard Bank Top Women Awards ceremony on 10 November 2022 when it won Top Women Business Icons 2022 – an honorary legend of empowerment and transformation. The social cohesion and transformation agenda have always been part of its pioneering journey – ‘luhambo lwemhlahlandlela’ – and it is committed to the betterment of the country, the continent and beyond.
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