The need to transform and renew the cohort of senior academics, has led to the University of Johannesburg (UJ) establishing its Accelerated Academic Mentorship Programme (AAMP), an initiative seeking to affect institutional change in terms of race and gender within the academic staff profile.
Earlier this year, Prof Rory Ryan, Executive Director: Academic Development Support (ADS) explained how this Programme will work.
There are three Levels in the Programme. Level 1 consists of 102 candidates who are preparing their doctoral theses. Level 2 consists of 102 candidates who have completed a doctoral degree and are preparing for applications to Associate Professor, Level 3 comprises of 28 Associate Professors preparing to apply to become Professor.
As candidates achieve their objectives, they are accommodated in the next Level.
Dedicated senior academics mentor these candidates. Prof Shireen Motala, Executive Director: Research and Postgraduate Studies; Prof Elizabeth De Kadt, Consultant: Academic Development and Support; and Prof Thaddeus Metz (Director {GES}: APK DVC Research, Internationalisation, and the Library) coordinate the three levels of the AAMP.
To document this initiative, Prof Ryan, together with Prof Motala, Prof De Kadt, and two of the Programme’s candidates (Ms Sadi Seyama in the PhD level, and Dr Barnabas Gatsheni in the Associate Professor), outline the Programme.
WATCH – Some of the coordinators and the candidates of the AMMP:
Prof Rory Ryan is steering the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Academic Development Support division which is responsible for and is the custodian of the Accelerated Academic Mentorship programme (AAMP).
Prof Shireen Motala explains the AAMP’s PhD Level 1 and how candidates receive dedicated mentorship
Prof Shireen Motala is coordinating the Accelerated Academic Mentorship programme (AAMP) Level 1, which consists of 102 candidates that receive academic mentorship to go up the academic ranks at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Her role entails making sure that the PhD candidates are groomed well to become the University’s future senior cohort of academic staff driving UJ’s academic endeavours.
Ms Sadi Seyama speaks about her experiences as a candidate in AAMP’s PhD Level 1
Ms Sadi Seyama is a Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Somatology Department in the Faculty of Health Sciences. She has been selected to be part of the 102 candidates who are receiving academic mentorship in the PhD level of the Accelerated Academic Mentorship programme AAMP at UJ.
Prof Elizabeth De Kadt is coordinating the Accelerated Academic Mentorship programme (AAMP) Level 2, which consists of 102 academic candidates that are in going through mentorship to become Associate Professors. Level 2 prepares the candidates to familiarise themselves with the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) academic direction and culture, thus enabling them to apply to become fully-fledged Professors later.
Dr Barnabas Gatsheni speaks about the AAMP Level 3 for full Professorship academic guidance
Dr Barnabas Gatsheni, a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department: Applied Information Systems, is a candidate in the group of 102 academics that are going through the Associate Professor mentorship in Accelerated Academic Mentorship programme (AAMP) Level 2.
