Limkokwing University recently hosted renowned Swazi media man and managing editor of the Times of Swaziland newspaper, Mr. Martin Dlamini and six of his editorial management team on a first official visit to the Swaziland campus. The team toured the University facilities, and shared a light moment of updates from the university management on academics, students, public relations and marketing.

Upon arrival, Mr. Martin Dlamini and his entourage were amazed by breath-taking and exhilarating warm welcome by Limkokwing University Student Ambassadors and management.

As he signed the official welcome board and expressed his gratitude for the heartfelt welcome that was fit for a king, “This is humbling and exciting,” he said.

The Tour

Mr. Dlamini and his team started the tour of the university at the creative multimedia labs and walked in on a graphic design class in session. The managing editor had an opportunity to say hello to the students and ask them a few questions about what they were studying in that class.

As the tour continued, the Times of Swaziland team ensued to the library where they were introduced to the university’s E-library system that houses over 90 000 volumes of books which are easily accessible to students not only in Swaziland, but also in Botswana and Lesotho. This was noted as being another way Limkokwing University showcases its global perspective and that its standards are the same across the globe.

The E-library was of particular interest to Mr. Dlamini, he shared that “We are also planning to digitize our library system at the Times of Swaziland, it is humbling to see that a University of Technology is able to access books online – this should be something that you should share with us,” he said.

Mr. Dlamini was shown how the E-library service works by Mr. Sandile Ndzabandzaba, an Associate Degree in Information technology student.  Sandile showed the Times Editorial team how students access the EBsco host research engine which has various scholarly journals and articles that assist them in their assignments and in enriching their knowledge about current development in their respective industries.

The tour ended at the health desk office, which is also the University’s on campus clinic that assist students with minor illnesses and other health related matters. Here the campus nurse shared with the editorial team about a current study she conducted on campus about the students testing behaviour.

The study noted that at the females at the university test for HIV/AIDS regularly while the young male have shown some interest, but due to personal reasons and other pressing matters, they have not been able to test and are willing to test if the testing facility would be availed on campus.

To wrap up this historical first visit to the University, Mr. Dlamini and his team were updated on how the University is doing in terms of academics, students and public relations. Mrs. Welile Dlamini, university campus manager shared on Tan Sri’s philosophy; on why he has set up a campus in Swaziland. She quoted Tan Sri’s “Wings make sense when you want to fly,” denoting that Limkokwing University provides opportunities for its staff and students to greater heights.

Mrs. Stella Shongwe, the Assistant Head of Academics highlighted the current number of staff Limkokwing Swaziland has and give the statistics of the foreign staff and locals. She reported that Swaziland has staff members from: Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe and the Philippines.

Ms. Agnes Mugo, Head of Academics shared an update on the Limkokwing Entrepreneurship Acceleration Platform [LEAP] programme. Mugo highlighted the objectives of LEAP, she elaborated on the two types of LEAP that we offer as a University one being internal and the other external. She noted what internship for the pioneer group is about and what the University expects from this first cohort. Ms. Mugo noted that LEAP programme is the University’s strategy to shift the economy of Swaziland.

Thato Moruti also shared the Public Relations update on the 2012 Swaziland campus achievements, corporate social responsibility and some of the industry collaborations that the university engaged in. Moruti also noted the high regard that the University holds for the media. The Public Relations report revealed Limkokwing University’s plans for 2013 especially the LEAP programme promotion and the University’s plan on engaging in various industry collaborations which included the Times of Swaziland.

In his response to this first Official visit, Mr. Martin Dlamini gushed that him and his team were “speechless,” he said that he has been to the Malaysian Campus and was impressed by the fact that the Swaziland campus was true reflection of the founding ideals of the Malaysian campus. He noted that he and his team have now come to understand Limkokwing Swaziland and were pleasantly surprised that this campus is this effective.