We understand that it is not easy to study in isolation. The good news is that we have created a student support culture which serves the needs of our students. These are some of the services we provide to ‘take the distance out of distance education’. You can reach any of these people by phone if you call +27 11 234-4440 and ask for them.
General Help
For any general support requests that do not pertain to the specific categories below, please contact Grace Sikhosana at the following email address: [email protected]. Grace is thoroughly familiar with most of SATS’ operations and is eager to help.
Enrolment
Before you enrol you are welcome to contact our efficient Enrolments’ Officer, who will assist you with any questions you may have about our courses, RPL, fees, etc. She will also be the first person to see your application form when you enrol. Call her on 011 234-4440 or email her at [email protected].
MySATS
If you need help with the MySats e-learning platform, Ruan Huysen is available to assist you. Contact him at [email protected].
Library
If you need help accessing or using the electronic library holdings, our Librarian, Tawanda Maenzenise [email protected], is available to help you.
Our electronic library provides our staff and students with online access to approximately 180,000 e-books and 16,000 academic journals. You have unlimited access to those holdings. You can loan e-books just as you would loan books from a physical library; the only difference is that you read on a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone. You can save the chapters you want to keep for future reference — the publishers of most e-books have the limit set to either 60 or 100 pages that can be downloaded. Our e-journal holdings provide you with full-text access to thousands of journals and hundreds of thousands of scholarly articles.
You can access all these holdings from the comfort of your own home. All you need to use them is an Internet connection and an electronic device on which to read them (e.g. laptop, tablet, or smartphone).
Bursaries
We offer a limited number of partial bursaries for those who simply cannot afford to study. A special bursary fund exists for students from the Eastern Cape. To apply, please email [email protected]. Depending on the availability of funds, applications will be considered three times per annum, namely, in June, September, and December.
Mentoring
Our research shows that students who have mentor support in place generally work through their studies faster and attest to a more meaningful and successful learning experience. The SATS staff can regularly contact students, motivating and encouraging them to persevere with their studies, but it is the local, personal friend, or pastor who will fulfill the role of personal support. Jabu Mnguni and Michelle Mari coordinate the mentoring programme.
Partner Support
If you are a student at a partner ministry and you need help with administrative processes, please contact [email protected]