36 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 times, shorter lecture recordings, online discussion forums, tutor check-in sessions, whatsapp groups per module/interest groups and online consultations. A new qualification was launched this year, namely, the Advanced Diploma in Communication Management. This was a dream come true for many diploma students who wanted to continue with their studies at UJ but did not have a post diploma qualification. Through the hard work of Prof Maritha Pritchard, Dr Corné Meintjes and the excellent course coordination of Mrs Melanie Joubert, this qualification proved to be in high demand with a 95% pass rate. Another new qualification in the department rolled out this year, was the Extended Degree in Strategic Communication. Again Prof Maritha Pritchard did the preparations for this programme during her term as HOD. The first cohort joined the mainstream first year group lectured by Prof Elizabeth Lubinga and Dr Karabo Sitto. The programme coordinator was Ms Ester van Wyk (faculty support staff) who did a sterling job of guiding students and providing administrative support to colleagues. Applied and problem based learning programmes provided students with opportunities to interact within their local communities, tell their own stories and those of others around them. The interdisciplinary project in partnership with PRISA and Brand South Africa involved second and third year diploma students teamed with Law and Applied Information Services (AIS) students. Students were prepared to write and present their own stories carrying the Brand South Africa theme of “Play your part”. The Law students provided legal counsel while and AIS students developed online platforms to showcase the stories. AIS students further used the content to develop their various websites as part of their annual AIS Project Day which was held in October 2021. The academic team leading the project consisted of Prof René Benecke, Prof Roelien Brink (CBE), Mr Elton Hart (Law), Ms Seriane Morapeli and Mr Amos Nchabeleng. To view these stories you can visit: https://youtu.be/wPOOFn6inP0; https://youtu.be/yWi2glqFyXM https://youtu.be/wvXHqVLbJ6g; https://youtu.be/zf-k-9ZcNsw Honours and Course Work Masters (CWM) students were involved with two industry collaborations. Honours students did their research essays on the topic of Gender Based Violence while CWM students adopted Plastic Pact and Green Cape as their client. Their applied module involved developing a communication strategy for Plastic Pact while two of the CWM students will continue their research for their mini-dissertations on circular economy, partnerships, influencers and sustainability. Three permanent staff members enrolled for programmes to further their own learning. Dr Anna Oksiutycz and Prof René Benecke joined the Emerging Leaders Programme presented by the UJ Unit for Transformation while Dr Corné Meintjes enrolled for a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education, presented by Faculty of Education. She obtained distinctions in all her modules. Research The research journey the department embarked on this year can be regarded as one of the most productive and rewarding ones to date. A typical experience during any hike or walk is the unobserved progress made with each step. This was certainly the experience in relation to research this year. Although we made a concerted effort to discuss research interests and various research projects at every meeting it was only when Prof Padhma (Sam) Moodley (in her capacity as research committee chair: 2021) compiled a research output report at the end of October that the picture became clearer of the substantial progress we made. Articles submitted to OROSS: 9 Book Chapters submitted to OROSS: 3 Articles in print: 3 Book Chapters in press: 10 Conference presentation: 6 Book chapters non-DHET Accredited: 10 Forthcoming conference presentations: 3 Special Issue Journal: 1 Book Editor/s: 2 These research outputs offer a more comprehensive picture of the various research activities of the team compared to a report of accredited research units exclusively. A major achievement is the publication of the long awaited new book titled, “Strategic Communication Theory and Practice: South African Perspective” edited by Prof René Benecke. This book was started by the late Prof Sonja Verwey and will be published in December 2021 by Oxford University Press. Several colleagues contributed chapters to the book. Various research projects, including two NRF funded projects also started their three year cycles this year. The first one involves health communication under the supervision of Prof Elizabeth Lubinga and Dr Karabo Sitto. The second is on stakeholder engagement with Dr Corné Meintjes as research lead, together with three master students. Another research project
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