More than 1 000 Univen students, amongst them well-known traditional leader Vho Thovhele Gole Mphaphuli, enjoyed the sweet smell of success when they graduated during a ceremony at the university last week.

Those who graduated in different disciplines have laboured and sacrificed their leisure time for years and saw their efforts paying off when they received degrees, diplomas and certificates during the autumn graduation ceremony.

To many families, more especially the rural masses, graduation means an elevation from one social level to the next and calls for much celebration as evidenced by the ululations and praises from the audience when students ascended the stage to receive their awards. This year’s ceremony signaled the last to be officiated by the outgoing acting vice-chancellor of the university, Dr Jim Leatt, and was addressed by the newly appointed principal of the university, Professor Peter Mbati.

Mbati said the university, though relatively young, had reached a critical point in history when a lot is expected from it. He said all stakeholders, including government, students, staff, parents and alumni, demand that the university continue to accelerate the transformation agenda as captured in the Education White Paper Number 3 of 1997.

He said the university was well placed and could play a very important role in meeting the government´s broad strategic plan on the reduction of poverty by providing the necessary skills training in science, finance and management as well as technical and artisan skills. Mbati said for the institution to succeed, all facets of its business should be embedded in a culture of quality which will increase cooperation, giving students a voice that is heard, will provide a strong front for an institution in a competitive higher education world and will provide a context for change.

He said a strong quality culture encourages and enables change, champions innovation and allows staff to take risks, admit failure and to learn from their mistakes and thereby achieve academic excellence.

On allegations of corruption doing rounds on campus, Mbati also seized the opportunity to assure all stakeholders of good governance, saying that they had closed all loopholes and put a system in place to deal with it in a vigorous way. "All our processes are quality driven. We have strengthened our risk management and taken a serious approach to corruption," he said.

He also addressed the issue of load shedding that is affecting the whole university community, more especially the students who have to study under unacceptable conditions and sometimes have to write tests without preparing. "We will be looking at alternatives to supplement student power by purchasing generators and using solar energy," he said.

He also paid special tribute to the outgoing acting vice-chancellor, Dr Jim Leatt, who had served the university since 2005 and whose term ends in June 2008. "I wish to thank him on behalf of Council and the entire Univen community for the sterling work and selfless service to the university," he said. Leatt is attributed to have attracted more than R400 million to the university during his tenure at Univen.