It goes without saying that we are all relieved that the year is over! The extent to which the virus will follow us into 2021 is anybody’s guess, but nonetheless, we are happy to wave goodbye to 2020 once and for all. The school’s Community Engagement Portfolio has pretty much been dormant this year, given the current situation. Some projects continued online, but most have to be postponed till next year. We have used this time to reflect and plan for the year ahead.

The school is now geared and ready for project implementation in the New Year. One of our primary objectives is to devise a CE project that we can roll out onto all three campuses simultaneously. Our Enterprising Women project has succeeded in doing so, but it is now the time to implement another. We are also looking at involving more of our students, both undergrad and postgrad student, to partake in our CE initiatives. This allows us to be more ambitious in our projects, and also allows the students to gain real-life experience by applying the knowledge and skills that they have acquired in class.

We would also like to see more of our colleagues contributing to our CE portfolio, whether it is in their personal capacity or as part of a project team. To date, many colleagues have avoided this area or have been quite apprehensive to partake. It is one of our main missions for 2021 to change this.