Akademia announced the launch of an exciting short course platform, namely Akademia et al., at a special event at Leriba on 18 October 2022. Academics, well-known businesspeople, and friends of Akademia attended the event to drink a toast to the institution’s short course platform. Akademia also celebrates its tenth year of lecturing.

Akademia et al., operating under the auspices of Akademia, was established to offer practice-oriented short courses with an academic foundation to individuals and/or businesses. These short courses are presented by handpicked academics and experts and are put together to focus on the needs of the workplace as well as academic depth.

The short courses are presented for certificate purposes, over and above the qualifications accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) that are currently offered by Akademia. The training platform offers the opportunity for individuals to develop themselves, to deepen their knowledge and to equip themselves better for the workplace (whether they completed a formal CHE accredited qualification beforehand.)

The “Akademia” in the name refers to the family ties with the mother institution, Akademia. Et al. is the Latin abbreviation of “et alia (things plural) / et aliae (feminine plural) / et alii (masculine plural)” and refers traditionally to “other things” or “other people”.  “In the Akademia context Akademia et al. refers to ‘other courses’ that will be presented by our own lecturers or possibly external lecturers or institutions as our partners, thus also ‘other partners / and others’,” said Dr Rachel Maritz, the dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and the manager of the Akademia et al. platform.

She is of the opinion that the expansion to short courses again placed the emphasis on the importance of continuous learning. “Individuals who continuously and deliberately keep on learning by completing short courses, get the opportunity to refresh their knowledge, insight, self-confidence, values and interpersonal skills. Continuous learning is therefore important to the individual, but even more so because it creates a more productive and creative workplace and community,” said Maritz.

According to Maritz, Akademia decided to take on this new short course platform since the institution makes use of specialist knowledge and skills of academics and other experts to serve the broader community. “We aim to offer relevant future-oriented short courses across a wide variety of academic disciplines. Short courses will be presented via two formats, namely online on the modern Akademia learning management platform or via physical contact sessions.”

Dr Tienie Ehlers, independent business consultant who focuses on strategy, management, and leadership development, was the guest speaker at Akademia et al.’s launch event. He is of the opinion that Akademia et al.’s values, that include community development and the educational ideal, make the short course platform unique. “Akademia et al. does not only want to achieve results but also delves deeper into the community to bring change.”

Akademia et al. offers a variety of short courses to meet the individual’s needs. New short courses will be added continuously to the list. The first ten short course that are rolled out by Akademia et al. are:

• Introduction to forensic linguistics
• Introduction to business ethics
• Introduction to litigation techniques
• Art of sales: SPIN questions
• Middle- and low-level management: Decision-making and planning
• Middle- and low-level management: Decision-making and planning
• Information security
• Economic and fiscal policy
• Teaching Afrikaans as an additional language
• Economic and monetary policy

These courses will be offered in Afrikaans only. However, Introduction to forensic linguistics will be offered in Afrikaans and English.

Marthinus Visser, managing director of Akademia, said in his speech at the launch that it was a great privilege to drink a toast to a lovely event and the brand new Akademia et al. “It is critically important that we establish Akademia for the community and today we celebrate this new short course platform,” concluded Visser.

Be at the cutting edge of your industry. Make Akademia et al. your home for relevant, future-oriented, practice-oriented and enriching short courses. Visit etal.akademia.ac.za to find out more about Akademia et al. and the short courses that are available already.