43 students registered
Last week was the start of the 2012 academic year for the new group of 43 participants in the Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development (PGD) – formerly the BPhil in Sustainable Development Planning and Management. The group is remarkably diverse – it is exactly evenly balanced between men and women and it is demographically representative. Furthermore, 13 out of 43 are non-South Africans (Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Austria, Botswana, USA, Namibia, Germany, Lesotho and Kenya) and the majority (26) work in the private sector. Even more significant is the discplinary diversity with at least 16 different professional disciplines represented.
The PGD comprises the course work component (8 modules) of the Masters’ Programme in Sustainable Development – the thesis component that follows is the core of the new 180 credit Mphil in Sustainable Development that also commences this year. The new Mphil has increased from 120 to 180 credits, and now includes two compulsory modules plus a thesis, with an option to select another two.
The five day Orientation Week ended with a visit to Main Campus on Friday and included a two day Writing Skills Workshop. The introductory Sustainable Development module is taking place this week, ending on Saturday with group presentations.