Gino Fransman - University of the Western Cape, South Africa

University of the Western Cape
Private Bag X17 Bellville 7535 South Africa Telegraph : UNIBELL
Telephone : +27 021 959-2662 / 2107 Fax : +27 021 959-2399
email: gfransman@uwc.ac.za




01 August 2006

To: Whom it may concern.

Testimonial- Mr C. Rounds.

Dear Sir/ Madam.

This letter serves as testimony to Carlton Rounds’ sterling involvement with student development at the University of the Western Cape, my alma mater, and place of employment. It references my contact with Mr. Rounds as one of his students, as well as a renegotiated relationship (as an educator myself) dealing with Mr. Rounds while conducting scholarship searches in South Africa.



I have been privileged to be assigned as one of Mr. Rounds’ students through the Programme in International Education (PIE), which he was the programme manager of. Within his daunting responsibilities to the programme and the myriad international students he was responsible for, Mr. Rounds also managed to simultaneously secure prized additional scholarships, as well as highly sought after internships for various students. My own attendance at the New York Stage and Film Summer School Programme at Vassar College was only made possible by the extraordinary lengths to which he was willing to go to secure not just a placement for myself in 2002, but also a sustainable relationship that has seen others able to gain placement in the ensuing years since. With a knack for locating study and learnership positions that stimulate students’ academic and personal interests, Mr. Rounds is an astute negotiator who more often turns resounding refusals into accepting welcomes for those he represents.

As a Departmental Head, now also teaching at the institution he encouraged me to stay at, I have also been fortunate to work with Mr. Rounds in my own country. Here, it is evident that it is not only through his involvement in the aforementioned Programme that Mr. Rounds has maintained contact with past UWC students, while selecting new nominees for scholarships to the United States. Throughout his annual renewal of contacts with this institution, he has always maintained relationships with those students he had previously assisted. Building solid relationships in disparate South African communities, he has continued this mentoring endeavour, even after vacating that position. He has also identified student candidates normally denied chances of prestigious scholarships, who have excelled and returned to UWC, bringing a passion for building capacity further.

Mr. Rounds displays a holistic cultural sensitivity rarely found in any individual, and brings a wealth of experience to any position requiring interaction with people. A top administrator with a flair for managing people and processes, he also brings a temperament geared to changing the lives of those who wish for that opportunity, and yet have been denied it for whichever reason.

Finally, as a gay man myself, it is testimony to Carlton Rounds that I was able to reveal myself to those I thought would shun me professionally, as well as socially. Through his support and cross-Atlantic monitoring of this process, his truly enabling nature makes pride in yourself a facet of daily life, and inspires those he helps to do better in an effort to do his life’s work justice.

As someone who has tangibly benefited from having his input, I can unequivocally support Mr. Rounds for any position he applies for. This is due to seeing him perform miracles for students he hardly knows, and his having the foresight to relish the prospect of enabling potential still left untapped.

Any queries can be directed to the contact list above, and will be responded to immediately.

Best regards,


Gino Fransman (MA)

Head: Foundation Programme in Arts/Law

University of the Western Cape
South Africa