University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) Faculties and Schools

University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) Faculties and Schools

Wits University has 5 faculties encompassing the Sciences, Commerce, Law, Management, Engineering, Health Sciences and Humanities with 33 schools offering over 3000 courses.

• Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

CLM offers professional development in the business and legal areas of expertise as well as educational programmes that compare with the very best globally.

A wide range of qualifications are offered at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels by:

• School of Accountancy
• School of Economic and Business Sciences
• School of Law
• Wits Business School
• Wits School of Governance
• Wits Plus, Centre for Part-Time Studies

These research entities provide students with exposure to ongoing research and activities that expand their knowledge and learning beyond the confines of pure academia:

• Mandela Institute
• Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS)
• Centre for Entrepreneurship
• Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development Programme (CSID)
• African Microeconomic Research Umbrella (AMERU)
• Institutions and Political Economy Group (IPEG)

• Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

EBE (Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment) has the highest number of endowed professorships or chairs at the University of the Witwatersrand, and is home to seven schools:

• Architecture and Planning
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering
• Construction Economics and Management
• Electrical and Information Engineering
• Mechanical, Industrial & Aeronautical Engineering
• Mining Engineering

We maintain strong links with industry through student bursaries, scholarships and internships, and offer a range of programmes which includes information engineering and biomedical engineering (within Electrical Engineering), and environmental engineering (within Civil Engineering).

Degrees in the Built Environment address the social, spatial and infrastructural needs of a transforming South Africa.
This includes the degrees in Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, Property Studies and Quantity Surveying

• Faculty of Health Sciences

There are seven schools in the Faculty of Health Sciences

School of Anatomical Sciences

The school was established as the Department of Anatomy in 1919 and is one of the oldest divisions of the university. The School currently comprises of three academic divisions, namely morphological anatomy, structural biology (histology), and biological anthropology.

School of Clinical Medicine

The school teaches the practice of clinical medicine through the subject areas such as surgery, radiology, emergency medicine, internal medicine and psychiatry.

School of Oral Health Sciences

The Faculty of Dentistry was formed in 1926 out of the Faculty of Medicine. From January 1, 1997 the two faculties were amalgamated once more as the Faculty of Health Sciences. The old dental faculty is now the School of Oral Health Science, an equal partner with the other schools in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

School of Pathology

The School of Pathology’s mission is to provide excellence in pathology in the form of service, teaching and research.

School of Physiology

The School is the largest entity teaching physiology in South Africa, and probably on the continent. It plays a significant role in the training of physiologists; some of its graduates hold high-profile and prestigious appointments in South Africa and throughout the world.

School of Public Health

This multi-disciplinary school produces skilled public health practitioners appropriately trained to address the range of public health needs and challenges within South African and African settings.

School of Therapeutic Sciences

The school specialises in nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy studies and physiotherapy.

• Faculty of Humanities

There are five schools in the Faculty of Humanities

Wits School of Arts (WSoA)

The school combines critical inquiry with artistic practice in ways that engage in transformative ways with our contemporary urban, African and global contexts.

Wits School of Education (WSoE)

The school offers education degrees in diverse subject areas for in-service teachers as well as an online short courses.

School of Human and Community Development (SHCD)

The school offers a 4-year BA programme in Social Work (B Social Work) and Speech and Hearing Therapy (BA SP & H). Majors include audiology, speech and language pathology, psychology and linguistics. In addition, there are units in related medical, educational, linguistic and psychological areas that contribute to the students’ necessary background knowledge.

School of Literature, Language and Media (SLLM)

The school contributes to the vibrant literary and intellectual life of the university and offers students the opportunity to explore the implications of social and cultural diversity through the study of language, literature, writing, media studies, policy and regulation in the electronic communications and Internet sectors.

School of Social Sciences (SoSS)

The school offers the disciplines of History; International Relations; Philosophy; Political Studies; Social Anthropology; and Sociology.

• Faculty of Science

There are nine Schools in the Faculty, clustered in four groupings: the Mathematical Sciences, the Physical Sciences, the Earth Sciences and the Biological Sciences.

School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences

Studies focus at the level of living things and their interaction with the environment.

School of Chemistry

Describes the world around us from a chemical, biological and physical point of view.

School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics

The application of advanced mathematics & computational techniques to real-world problems.

School of Geography, Archaeology & Environmental Studies

The School is one of the most productive research units at Wits.

School of Geosciences

Involves the study of the Earth – principally its solid part (rocks), but also how this interacts with the air, water and life.

School of Mathematics

The quantitative and logic structure that forms the basis of all analytical science.

School of Molecular & Cell Biology

Focus areas: Biochemistry & cell biology, Genetics & developmental biology and Microbiology & biotechnology.

School of Physics

The School of Physics is one of the most productive research structures in the country.

School of Statistics and Actuarial Science

Offers a leading-edge curriculum that combines both business and mathematical subjects.