NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY
- Driven by the pursuit of
knowledge and innovation -
The North-West University (NWU)
is one of the most stable and successful mergers in the higher education
sector in South Africa and continues to thrive in establishing itself as
a vibrant and entrepreneurial university, with a balance between
teaching-learning and research. The
University officially came into being on 1 January 2004 when the
Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and the
University of the North-West merged and the staff and students of the
Sebokeng Campus of the Vista University were incorporated. Since the merger, student
numbers have grown, the University's finances are stable and viable, and
student pass rates and research output continue to rise. Today, the NWU
is a unitary, multi-campus institution with flourishing campuses spread
across two provinces, the Potchefstroom and Mafikeng campuses situated
in the North-West Province and the Vaal Triangle campus situated in the
Gauteng Province.
Our management team As a result of the geographical
distribution of its campuses, the NWU has adopted a two-tier management
model suited to its operations. This model consists of an Institutional
Office (IO) that ensures university-wide consistency in policy and
procedure, and the three campuses that operate as separate but
coordinated business units. Both the institutional and campus components
are represented on the institutional management team. Our vision and values
The vision of the NWU is to be
a pre-eminent university in Africa, driven by the pursuit of knowledge
and innovation.
The NWU values are the compass that guides the
institution towards achieving its vision. In 2007, four do-values were
identified by management, namely integrity, commitment, accountability
and respect. These do-values are seen as practical enablers in realizing
the goals of the NWU through the behaviour of all staff and students,
building trust and fostering a team spirit across the NWU.
Our
mission
Our mission is to become a balanced teaching-learning and research
university and implement our expertise innovatively. This the
institution will achieve as it:
lives its values,
strives for sound management,
pursues transformation,
while being locally engaged, nationally relevant and internationally
recognized.
This mission is made up of the following elements:
> Develop, educate and empower through
quality teaching and learning, well-rounded graduates who are able to
think laterally and critically in their service to the country and its
people;
> Grow high-quality, relevant and focused
research, supplying innovative solutions to challenges faced by the
scholarly community, the country, the continent and the world;
> Expand the implementation of expertise,
both commercially and community-directed, for the benefit of the
province, the country, the SADC region, the continent and ultimately the
world;
> Be a value‑driven university, striving
to make a difference in the pursuit of our mission;
> Aspire to be recognized internationally
as a well-managed and innovative university, with a client focus
embedded in quality, by creating an enabling environment that will
enhance and improve its core business and
remain a financially viable institution; and
> Transform continually in terms of
positioning, academic profile, unity, equity and redress; in doing this,
contribute to the transformation of the South African Higher Education
system to help meet the country's social, economic, developmental and
environmental needs. Our
academic offerings
The NWU
has a number of academic
offerings that cannot be found at any other South African university.
The University particularly focuses on
developing scarce and strategic skills, such as engineering, project
management and education. In nuclear engineering, a
discipline that is critical to meeting the country's long-term energy
needs, the NWU, for instance, is the only university in South Africa to
offer postgraduate degrees. In commerce, the NWU is
contributing to a groundswell of successful entrepreneurs through formal
degrees such as the BCom in Entrepreneurship and Business Management and
an MBA with a dedicated module in entrepreneurship and strategic
thinking. Furthermore, the NWU is the only university in the country to
provide a compulsory module in creative entrepreneurship to all
second-year students. With regard to education, the
NWU is one of the main service providers of well-rounded teachers to
provide in the country's needs in this field, In addition, the NWU has
one of the largest distance education programmes for teachers in the
country. In 2006, the NWU awarded 4 655 education degrees, the majority
to teachers who are looking to improve their qualifications.
Currently, the Centre for Animal Health Studies on the Mafikeng Campus
has the only B Sc Animal Health programme in South Africa that is
recognized for registration by the South African Veterinary Council. In
addition, the Centre offers the only residential programme for a Diploma
in Animal Health in South Africa which is also recognized by the South
African Veterinary Council.
Faculties
and programmes The NWU has the following
Faculties: Agriculture, Science and Technology (Mafikeng); Arts
(Potchefstroom) ; Commerce and Administration (Mafikeng) ; Economic and
Management Sciences (Potchefstroom) ; Educational Sciences (Potchefsroom
and Mafikeng) ; Engineering (Potchefstroom) ; Health Sciences
(Potchefstroom) ; Human and Social Sciences (Mafikeng) ; Law
(Potchefstroom and Mafikeng) ; Natural Sciences (Potchefstroom) ;
Theology (Potchefstroom). The Vaal Triangle faculty comprises the
following schools: Economic Sciences; Basic Sciences; Behavioural
Sciences; Modelling Sciences; Education Sciences, and Languages. Please
consult our webside for a detailed list of the schools at the Mafikeng
and Potchefstroom campuses.
Research
and Innovation Research,
innovation, and entrepreneurship are the lifeblood of the NWU, as the
following achievements show:
- A group of researchers from the Potchefstroom
Campus of the NWU are part of the international High-Energy
Stereoscopic System (HESS) group who won the much sought after
European Union Descartes Prize for Research for 2006.
- The NWU is involved in
developing the Heat Transfer Testing Facility for the Pebble Bed
Modular Reactor Group (Pty) Ltd, with this project being one of the
country's most important nuclear energy initiatives.
- The NWU earns more than R1,4
million a year from royalties and licensing income, spends more on
patents than any other university in South Africa, exports in excess
of R4 million of high quality machine components per annum and holds
six USA patents.
Our
many voices The
NWU's policy of functional multilingualism reflects the richness of the
diverse South African society and is based on the
needs of different campus constituencies. English and Afrikaans are used
as primary languages of tuition at the NWU, but the institution
acknowledges the realities of a multilingual society and a multilingual
university environment, thus additionally uses Sesotho and Setswana as
campus working languages.
To ensure maximum access to scarce and expensive
programmes, classroom-interpreting services are currently available on
the Potchefstroom and Vaal Triangle Campuses, and the University is also
looking into the possibility of offering interpreting services on the
Mafikeng Campus.
CONTACT
Institutional Head Office North-West University Institutional Building (C1) Hoffman Street POTCHEFSTROOM 2531 Republic of South Africa (RSA)
Postal Address:
Corporate Affairs and Relations
Private Bag X6001 POTCHEFSTROOM 2520 Republic of South Africa (RSA) Tel: +27 (18) 299-4931 Fax: +27 (18) 299-4938 E-mail: phumzile.mmope@nwu.ac.za Website:
www.nwu.ac.za
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The Mafikeng Campus offers a wide range of
undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in five faculties.
The NWU's Potchefstroom Campus is situated in the
North-West Province of South Africa.
The
first phases of an extensive building project at the Vaal Triangle Campus of
the NWU was recently completed. This project included the construction of
new academic buildings and student facilities.
Mafikeng Campus is the second largest of the NWU's three campuses, with 8
487 students enrolled in 2006.
With modern student facilities on campus the Potchefstroom Campus offers a
dynamic student life, shaped by a student spirit that no other university
can match.
Situated on the banks of the Vaal River in a proclaimed nature reserve, the
Vaal Triangle Campus boasts a unique environmental setting.
CONTACT
Institutional Head Office North-West University Joon van Rooy Building (Block F1) 11 Hoffman Street POTCHEFSTROOM 2531 Republic of South Africa (RSA)
Postal Address: Private Bag X6001 POTCHEFSTROOM 2520 Republic of South Africa (RSA) Tel: +27 (18) 299-4900 Fax: +27 (18) 299-4910 E-mail: hrgcfc@puk.ac.za Website: www.nwu.ac.za
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Students on the Potchefstroom Campus
The library on the Mafikeng Campus
Students on
the Vaal River, Vaal Triangle Campus
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