Prof Mashudu Davhana-Maselesele
Prof Mashudu Davhana-Maselesele originates from Ha-Davhana, a rural village in the Limpopo Province. She began her career as a nurse and midwife at the then Venda Nursing College, subsequently working as a Professional Nurse at Donald Fraser Hospital. Later, she transitioned to a teaching role at the Venda Nursing College. Throughout her academic journey, she earned various qualifications, including a BA(Cur) in Nursing Education and Community Health Nursing Science (UNISA), Honours BA(Cur) in Nursing Education (UNISA), Diploma in Primary Health Care (University Johannesburg) with cum Laude, Masters in Nursing Education (UNISA), and a PhD in Programme Development (University of Johannesburg). Additionally, she pursued postdoctoral studies at the University of California (Los Angeles, USA) with a focus on trauma research, specifically Gender-Based Violence. She also did a Postgraduate Diploma in International Research Ethics in Southern Africa (IRENSA) at UCT in 2007.
Her academic career started at the University of Venda between 1998 and 2007, where she progressed from Junior Lecturer to Senior Lecturer, teaching nursing programmes from undergraduate to postgraduate levels. Subsequently, she spent a decade at North-West University (NWU), holding key academic leadership positions, namely; Executive Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Vice Rector for Teaching/Learning and Research, and Campus Rector of Mafikeng. She later moved to the Eastern Cape Province where she served as Rector of the Mthatha Campus at Walter Sisulu University for two years before becoming Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic Affairs and Research for two years.
During her tenure at NWU, she played a pivotal role in raising funds for capacity development, establishing research collaborations, and creating doctoral sandwich programmes for young academics. Her research primarily focuses on Gender-Based Violence and vicarious trauma among caregivers, particularly in the context of HIV and AIDS. As a passionate advocate of Problem-Based Learning, she has conducted training on the use of PBL as a teaching strategy in collaboration with Mc Master University (Canada). She has supervised and co-supervised 24 Masters and Doctoral candidates and published articles in accredited journals nationally and internationally. She also mentored Post-Doctoral Fellows in collaboration with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Presently, she is actively involved in a 5-year project for Sustainable Academic Capacity Building for Excellence through Research and Training (SACERT) Programme developing research capacity amongst young academics pursuing their doctoral studies in South Africa, collaborating with the following institutions: UCLA (USA), NWU, SU, UCT, UL, UNIVEN,WSU and HSRC.
She served as Editor-in-Chief of CURATIONIS, an accredited journal, and was a member of the South African Nursing Council (SANC) for a decade. She has been involved in programme development and reviews nationwide through participation in the Council on Higher Education (CHE) activities.
She has since been appointed as Deputy Vice Chancellor: Teaching and Learning (DVC: T/L) in January 2024. She will be responsible for intellectual and strategic leadership in the areas of Teaching and Learning.