September  2006

Company News

"Organic" Development Prioritised over Skills Acquisition 

The Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) is focusing on "organically growing" the skills base that is required to make the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) a success. 

JIPSA, a joint initiative between government, labour and business, aims to identify solutions to skills shortages in critical areas over the next few years. Its focal point is to develop and extract skills from the available resources of South Africans.

The ASGISA has identified six factors that constrain growth in South Africa. One of these is the shortage of skills. JIPSA will develop strategies for fast-tracking skills delivery in priority areas, so as to support ASGISA's objectives of promoting economic growth and halving poverty and unemployment by 2014. The initiative will further seek to bring equilibrium to South Africa's skewed supply-and-demand balance for scarce skills.

The clusters of skills that are viewed as critical to the achievement of ASGISA's aims are:

• High-level, world-class engineering and planning skills for the network industries that are at the core of government's infrastructure programme, such as transport, communications and energy
• City, urban and regional planning and engineering skills, required by South Africa's municipalities
• Artisan and technical skills, in particular those needed for infrastructure development
• Management and planning skills in education, health and municipalities
• Teacher training for mathematics, science, information and communication technology
• Tourism and business process outsourcing and off-shoring
• Local economic development skills for municipalities 

"Through our short courses and continued training interventions we provide a broad-based and affordable system for skills training. CE at UP's range of career path training courses, compliments the JIPSA and ASGISA indicatives and can be utilised as effective tools for skills development to broaden the skills base of the South African labour market," states Deon Herbst, Managing Director of CE at UP.  

University of Pretoria Hosts Southern African Regional Engineering Conference

The University of Pretoria hosted two significant regional engineering conferences on the 26 and 27 September 2006. This major event was aimed at promoting economic advancement by exchanging ideas on engineering education in the African and world context. The opening address was delivered by the Honourable Mr Mosibudi Mangena, Minister of Science and Technology.

Honourable Mr Mosibudi Mangena, 
Minister of Science and Technology and  
Prof Calie Pistorius, Vice-Chancellor and 
Principal, University of Pretoria. 

The 3rd African Regional Conference on Engineering Education, which was held together with the 4th Southern African Conference on Engineering Education, provided  engineers with the opportunity to learn more about the new developments in engineering in order to advance engineering as a profession on the continent. 

More than 50 papers were presented on themes such as the current state of engineering education, engineering education for sustainable development, foundation courses, student learning and success, and the interface with industry. 

The conference was followed by two workshops - Enhancing Engineering Education and Women in Engineering. Given the shortage of engineers in Africa, this conference addressed a very important issues that will have an impact not only locally, but across the African continent.

October 2006

11 October - Life Skills in the Workplace
12 October - Air Quality Management
12 October - Process Engineering in the Fast Lane
12 October - Negotiation Skills 
16 October - Contract Management
16 October - H.E.L.P Health Emergencies in Large Populations 
16 October - Operation of Water and Wastewater Treatment 
                    Plants 
18 October - Gender Mainstreaming 
19 October - Dispensing for Non-pharmacist Health Care 
                    Professionals 
19 October - Public Transport Systems 
23 October - Faithful Witnesses
23 October - Contract Management
23 October - The Investigation of Cyber and Computer-related
                    Crimes 
24 October - Advanced Trust Law 
24 October - Real-time PCR Course
24 October - Basic Laboratory Animals Care
26 October - Disciplinary Enquiries at the Workplace
30 October - Faithful Witnesses
30 October - Econometrics for the Practitioner
30 October - Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Training
30 October - HIV/AIDS Care, Treatment and Antiretrovirals

November 2006

06 November - Environmental Law
06 November - Venture Start-up: Principles and Management
06 November - Econometrics in Depth: Theory and Practice
06 November - Introduction to X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
                        and X-Ray Powder Diffraction
06 November - Business and Systems Analysis
06 November - Advanced Course in Business Analysis
06 November - Faithful Witnesses
08 November - Introduction to Property Management 
09 November - Dispensing for Non-pharmacist Health Care 
                       Professionals

An assortment of year courses across the full range of academic disciplines will be commencing in January 2007. For a detailed list of our year courses click on the "2007 year courses" button above.

Developing Management and Leadership Potential at all Levels

CE at UP offers management and leadership development programmes at all levels from general to executive and public management programmes. These programmes are presented by the University of Pretoria's Graduate School of Management (GSM), the Centre for Academic Development Programmes and the School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA).

The GSM's progressive range of executive education programmes are designed to develop management potential and competencies. These programmes are mainly aimed at managers who do not have the academic qualifications or the time to do a formal degree programmes, but who are still interested in management training and development. 

GSM's offering includes: 

• Senior Management Programme
• Management Development Programme
• New Managers Programme
• Finance for Non-Financial Executives
• Master Class in Finance
• Master Class in Supply Chain Management
• Master Class in Microfinance
• E-Commerce
• Microfinance Programme
• Programme for Microfinance Managers 

The Centre for Academic Development Programmes' general leadership and management programmes integrates business, personal and leadership skills with Whole Brain thinking by using the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI). HBDI is a unique, scientifically validated and internationally recognised tool that measures preferences in thinking styles. 

Programmes include:

• Personal Growth
• Tools for Leaders
• Integrative Leadership
• Balanced Leadership
• ComSIM Business Simulation for first line, middle and senior management

ComSIM is a simulated business and management training programme designed to enhance the understanding of how a business functions and how effective management, is a key driver for business success.   

The SPMA is focused on the provision of education and training in public management and administration. The School's aim is to produce a corps of professionals, ready to meet the challenges in public affairs. 

Public Management and Administration programmes include: 

• Public Management Development Programme
• Public Financial Management
• Public Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers
• Advanced Public Financial Management for Non Financial Managers
• Municipal Management Development Programme
• Management and Leadership for the Public Sector
• Supervisory Management in the Public Sector
• Public Service Excellence and Strategic Planning
• Change Management for the Public Sector

For further information on our management and leadership development  programmes, visit the Courses section of our website.

2007 Course Catalogue 

We are proud to present the CE at UP Course Catalogue for 2007! 

The course catalogue provides a broad outline of the more than 400 certificate courses on offer in the various training fields. To view a PDF copy of our Course Catalogue, click on the image above. 

Specialised Training Fields

Focus on Natural Sciences

Natural Science is the study of the physical, non-human aspects of the earth and the universe around us. Natural Sciences generally attempt to explain the workings of the world via natural processes. Natural Sciences include Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science and Physics. 

Mathematics

• Basic Mathematics; the course addresses typical problems experienced by first-year students and provides basic knowledge and applications considered important pre-knowledge for all study programmes at UP that include mathematics as a course.
• Introductory Calculus and Linear Algebra; this course focuses on differential and integral calculus and linear algebra.
• Real Analysis for Business and Economics; this course focuses on one and higher dimensions - linear and topological structure.

Agricultural and Food Engineering 

• Opaque Beer Brewing; contracted for the South African Breweries group of companies, the course is focused on providing beer breweries and distilleries with the required scientific and technical knowledge in order to perform their duties at an acceptable level of understanding.
• Wetland Training Course - Delineation, Legislation, Management and Rehabilitation; this course deals with the identification, classification and delineation of wetlands and wetland functions. Practical fieldwork sessions enable students to apply their newly acquired knowledge and to develop skills infield.

Food and Agriculture

• Irrigation Management; this course covers the basic principles of plant water relations and irrigation management. The various methods of irrigation scheduling available will be discussed, including practical guidelines on the use of these.
• Seed Science; the general objective of this module is to give the students a working knowledge of seed physiology, taxonomy, morphology and reproductive biology, seed pathology and genetics.
• Value Chain Analysis; the Top of the Class programme is designed to train South Africans about the workings of the fresh fruit export trade chain. The programme runs as an intensive two-week course spread over a period of two months.

Food Sciences 

• Six Steps to Sensory Evaluation; this three-day course is designed for the food professional who wants to understand and practically apply Sensory Evaluation in food and related environments. 
• Six Steps to Training a Descriptive Sensory Panel; the course demonstrates by means of practical hands-on exercises how to apply the six steps involved in training a panel for descriptive sensory evaluation.
• Consumer Sensory Evaluation: Step by Step; this three-day course is designed for the food professional in R&D, AQ/QC or Marketing who wants to learn through practical hands-on exercises how to obtain information on the acceptability of food products.
• Dairy Science; this course consists of a series of lectures in dairy chemistry focusing on the following aspects: lactose, lipids, proteins, indigenous milk enzymes, heat induced changes in milk, biologically active proteins and peptides, cheese science and technology and milk powders.

General  

• Introduction to X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy and X-Ray Powder Diffraction; the course is aimed at beginners in X-ray powder deffractomery, XRF Spectroscopy and users of XRD and XRF data.

For additional information on our Natural Sciences portfolio visit the Courses section of our website.

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