Who We Are

School motto: Excel. Together.

Vision: To be a people-centric School of Excellence on the African continent and beyond in the discipline of civil and environmental engineering through strategic and innovative leadership in education and research.

Mission: Advance education and develop excellent graduates of the future and engage in research and innovation with global impact and local relevance within the broader context of social justice and long-term sustainability in the field of civil and environmental engineering.

Values:  Excellence  |  Engagement  |  Transparency  |  Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

• Excellence – we aspire to excel in teaching, research and innovation, and in our social engagements.
• Engagement – underpinned on collegiality, open-mindedness and mutual respect, the collective engagement with, and the contribution of every stakeholder including staff, students, industry, professional bodies and associations, and alumni is key to our success.
• Transparency – our engagements with stakeholders are underpinned on transparency and honesty.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – our strength is founded on the readiness to accommodate diverse views, ideas, interests, knowledge and persons from different backgrounds, and in the practice of equity in the sharing of duties and roles.

Strategic priorities:  Excellence  |  Sustainability  |  Transformation

Excellence

• Teaching and learning – aligned with the Wits Learning and Teaching Plan, we aspire to produce highly skilled and knowledge-thirsty graduates who are not only capable of providing innovative and sustainable solutions to the infrastructural needs of the society, but also sensitive to the immediate socio-economic diversity and global climate change challenges, and adaptable to the technological advancements.
• Research and innovation – we aspire to be a research-intensive School, focusing on multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary research and innovation with not only local relevance but also global impact. Our quest to be a research-intensive School is well-aligned with the University’s ‘2033 Strategic Plan’.

Sustainability

• Curriculum – in order to stay relevant, we continue to progressively review and align our undergraduate programme curriculum and postgraduate studies guided by societal and industry needs, and local and international trends.
• Resources – (i) Staff – the school aspires to not only increase its staff compliment but also attract and retain adequate and highly qualified, skilled and motivated academic, technical and administrative staff to sustain its teaching and research and innovation objectives; (ii) Teaching and research infrastructure – we aspire to ensure that our teaching and research facilities and laboratories are well equipped and resourced; (iii) Funding – to enable and sustain its academic and research projects, the school will encourage, support and engage in strategic partnerships that enable and sustain its academic and research projects.

Transformation

Transformation is embedded in every aspect of our work. The following are key focus areas:

• Diversity and Inclusion – our strength lies on the diversity of opinions, cultures, race, age, social origin, gender, nationality, religion, conscious, belief, social origin, level of education, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation and disability, among others. We need to harness the dividends of this diversity. We strive to be all-inclusive and to harness this strength by encouraging free professional and social interaction and expression without infringing on the rights of others, and tolerance within the staff-student population. Ultimately, the School has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination, prejudice, and conduct which assails the dignity of another person. The school will endeavour to create a safe and all-inclusive environment for all, and entrench diversity and inclusion at all levels within its structures and demographics.
• Diversifying the academy – the school will identify, support, mentor and not only encourage excellent postgraduate students from Designated Groups to pursue careers in academia. These students will also be exposed to the teaching and learning activities in the School. The ultimate goal is to develop the next generation of academics.
• Equity – in line with a performance-based management approach used in the school, the school will strive to ensure equity is implemented in all its structures including but not limited to workload allocation amongst all staff. This is critical in order to capitalize on our strengths and optimize output while not neglecting staff well-being.
• Social inclusion and justice – the school recognizes that each member of the school – students and staff – from diverse social backgrounds has agency, and strives to encourage awareness and consciousness in exercising it. Increasing the representation of, and support for staff and students from Designated Groups is a primary focus of the school.
• People development – career development and skills transfer are key to our advancement into the future. The school supports career development (including Early- and Mid-career Academic Transitions) and skills transfer initiatives including but not limited to developmental mentorship and continued education.
• Student success and throughput – underpinned on successful teaching, learning and assessment, the school will strive to ensure that systems and structures are in place to increase student success and throughput including tutoring and student mentorship programmes through the Student Council. Focus will also be placed on the employability of our graduates.
• Digitization and Efficiency of Administration – the school continues to exploit the use of safe and reliable digital tools available through the University to complete administrative tasks related to our academic and research projects. This will result in a more efficient work environment and a reduction of our carbon footprint e.g. by reducing the paperwork needed to implement administrative tasks such as signature approvals.