Report of the Portfolio Committee on Education on Visits to Institutions of Higher Learning, dated 6 November 2001:
The Portfolio Committee on Education, having sent delegations to institutions of higher learning in May and August 2001, reports as follows:
A. Objective of visits
In a meeting on 28 February 2001, the Committee unanimously agreed that delegations undertake provincial visits to institutions of higher learning to assess the rate at which transformation was taking place and to give special attention to the following issues:
1. Implementation of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), to ensure that access by the poorest of the poor to higher education is improved.
2. Adaptation of entry requirements, bridging programmes and the manner in which entrance requirements are made public to all people, irrespective of language and cultural background.
3. How much the tradition and ethos of the institutions have adapted to new ethnically and culturally integrated student bodies, so that all students form an integral part of these institutions.
4. How much institutions have adapted their curricula to ensure appropriate output to satisfy the country's goals of economic renewal.
B. Delegations
1. Peninsula Technikon
The delegation was under the leadership of the Committee chairperson, Prof S M Mayatula (ANC), and included Dr J Benjamin (ANC), Ms D G Nhlengethwa (ANC), Ms E Gandhi (ANC), Mr R P Z van den Heever (ANC), Prof S S Ripinga (ANC), Mr S J Mohai (ANC), Mr K Moonsamy (ANC), Ms N C Manjezi (Committee Secretary) and Ms N Borotho (Committee Assistant).
2. University of Fort Hare, University of Transkei and University of Natal
The delegation, under the leadership of the Committee chairperson, Prof S M Mayatula (ANC), included Mrs M A A Njobe (ANC), Ms E Gandhi (ANC), Mr A M Mpontshane (IFP), Dr B L Geldenhuys (New NP), Ms N C Manjezi (Committee Secretary), Ms N Borotho (Committee Assistant) and Mr B Ntsong (Departmental Official).
Prof L M Mbadi from the UDM joined the delegation at the University of Transkei.
3. Wits University, Potchefstroom University and University of the North
The delegation, under the leadership of Ms P K Mothoagae (ANC), included Mr S B Ntuli (ANC), Ms P N Mnandi (ANC), Mr R S Ntuli (DP), Mr C Aucamp (AEB), Ms A Jojozi (Committee Secretary), Ms D Martin (Committee Assistant) and Mr M Mampuru (Departmental Official).
Mr L I Maphoto (ANC) joined the delegation at the University of the North.
C. Peninsula Technikon - 22 May 2001
1. Official view by Prof B Figaji, Vice-Chancellor
On arrival at the Peninsula Technikon, the delegation was warmly welcomed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof B Figaji, and the Management Board.
At the Technikon, they focus on providing an environment conducive to learning and on programmes that promote academic success for those serious about using the opportunity to obtain a tertiary qualification. The institution takes pride in providing for the holistic development of students - academically, spiritually, physically and culturally. Students are provided with technological education that prepares them for the world of work through experiential programmes.
The Senate deals with academic staff. The Student Representative Council (SRC) runs its own budget and meets with the Management Board on a six-weekly basis. There are good students and a very supportive staff.
At the time of the visit, they were building the R26 million Information Technology Centre, with 1 450 computers. They needed more funding to complete the project.
The Technikon shall be a centre of excellence for career education, to be recognised by the community, commerce and industry, as well as the public sector, as being responsive to the needs of society. It will be non-racial, non-sexist and democratic.
2. Implementation of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) - official view by Mr G Reynecke, Head: Financial Aid, and Mr T Titus, Head: Student Affairs
The Technikon has historically served a student population coming from socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Providing financial aid to students to ensure access of the poor to higher education has always been a priority. It is important to ensure sustained support to such students during their academic life. The scheme administers all financial aid - institutional funds from donors, nominated awards and work study programmes.
(a) Processes and procedures
Institutional policies governing the distribution of financial assistance is developed and reviewed by the Financial Aid Committee and the Financial Aid Forum. The committee consists of academics, support services and student leadership. The forum is a working committee representative of staff in the Financial Aid Office and the SRC. The input of students is canvassed through the forum to review, develop and implement policies governing the distribution of NSFAS funds. The forum has regular meetings to focus on the implementation of criteria developed and the assessment of appeals from student applications on matters related to the allocations of NSFAS funds.
Students are involved in all committees in the institution and participate fully in them. The Technikon at all times ensures the sustainability of the system.
(b) Criteria
Key elements in the selection of students are academic ability or potential and financial need. These elements are guided by an NSFAS policy document. Students are expected to pass at least 50% of their courses in order to qualify. They are also allowed one year longer than the prescribed minimum duration to qualify.
Financial need is broadly based on the income of the household and the number of dependants. Students or their families are generally expected to contribute towards their study costs, with the poorest making the smallest or no contribution at all. A maximum amount of household income is determined annually. Upon registration, a student must pay R940 upfront (this increases the next year). Only registered students are allocated money from the scheme.
(c) Costing of awards
The method of determining the size of awards is based on the NSFAS guideline: Study cost minus own contribution minus other awards equals NSFAS award. Study cost is made up of tuition fees, accommodation and meals (or private boarding) and books. As 60% of the students are from rural areas, there are systems to assist them.
(d) Application and selection process
Senior students apply during October/November. Once data is captured on the mainframe computer, selection is done as soon as possible after registration, usually during March. Upon completion of the required contracts, selected students are assisted by means of access to meals, books, photocopies and study material, even though it takes a while before funds are transferred to the institution.
First-year students apply during registration. Selection is done during May/June. The same process for senior students applies to them upon receipt of completed contract forms required. Only registered students can access the funding.
The selection process is systems-driven. Initial screening assesses basic academic ability and financial need of applicants. Further manual assessments are done to ensure that students have been treated fairly. All the processes and procedures are progressive, democratic and transparent.
A challenge shared with the SRC and other student bodies is to limit the abuse of funding on the one hand and on the other to congratulate the government for introducing this.
3. Entry requirements, student development and integrated language development - official view by Ms C Jacobs, Language Co-ordinator, and Mr L Himunchul
Peninsula Technikon is a higher education institution and the standard requirement is a matriculation certificate. It also has a Recognition of Prior Learning policy that facilitates access of mature students who do not meet the formal entry requirements, but bring a wealth of learning acquired via experience in the workplace and other learning environments.
The institution has also been involved in alternative admission processes like Headstart and Access Programme. These initiatives aim at preparing students for higher education by providing foundation work in areas like mathematics and science. Access Programme was also a vehicle for training and education of returning cadres in the early 1990s, to enable their reintegration into post-apartheid South Africa.
They do not have any bridging/foundation programmes. Compensatory programmes are integrated into the academic offering of departments. All departments have one or more of the following programmes: supplementary instruction/tutorial support; laboratory/practical assistants; language development tutorials; and academic consultation.
The effectiveness of peer collaborative learning has been well researched and documented. Early theories - Dewy, Piaget and Bruner - provided clear direction that led to the much valued peer collaborative learning. Developmental psychologists carried on the early research, and recent research in college student development and retention lent further empirical support.
The fact that only 24% of the students have English as their first language, presents a teaching and learning challenge for educators. Experience has shown that the only way to improve the success rate, is to recognise and confront the issue of language. Unfortunately, there is no easy or rapid, yet effective, remedial programme to correct the extent of the linguistic disadvantage the majority of students experience when they enter higher education. The Technikon has adopted a short-term support strategy for students and a longer-term change strategy for staff. These strategies are implemented together, but the two sets of outcomes are measured independently.
(a) Purpose of short-term strategy for students
The purpose is to improve their language skills by providing structured tutorials, offering computer-aided language learning courses, establishing and supporting peer study groups and providing more student-centred learning material.
(b) Purpose of long-term change strategy for staff
The purpose is to involve lecturers, through capacity-building training programmes and material development projects, to consciously think about how they teach, about the appropriateness of the material they use and about the need to consider the linguistic ability of their learners.
The US has donated R1 million for student support and staff development initiatives.
4. Curriculum change - official view by Prof H Fransman, Director: Educational Development Centre
The Technikon commits itself to develop academically, socially and technologically competent students, who are responsive to the broader need of society, by:
* Promoting an environment conducive to human development
* Facilitating appropriate tuition, co-operative education and support according to the academic needs of the students
* Encouraging staff commitment to quality education and service
* Offering programmes for educationally disadvantaged students
* Fostering lifelong learning.
The centre is intimately involved in providing support to teaching staff so that their efforts may lead to elevating the quality of student learning. Part of the support is given through intensive research into student learning. Research has shown that at school students learn too much detail, they have no time to think. The Technikon want to see students use their analytical ability more often. It was emphasised that students should become more concerned with the nature of evidence on which they base an argument.
Students learn a multitude of techniques in the different disciplines. These techniques are used to solve problems related to the discipline and the industry. Very often students do not question these techniques, as they believe that the lecturer is right. In the early stage of their career in higher education, students treat staff as the ultimate authority from whom they expect the answers. In order to cope with the workload, surface approaches to learning are adopted, i.e. the memorising of facts. The other issue is: HOW did the lecturer engage with the students and the learning material?
The new approach to curriculum development via outcomes, modularisation and continuous assessment, hopes to alleviate some of these problems. It was found by the centre that students preferred teachers with a similar cognitive style as their own. For example, students who are very dependent on the lecturer, would require more structural support provided by articulated forms of teaching. If the lecturer has not been able to determine the extent to which students are dependent, he/she will not know how to adapt the teaching.
The centre does research on student learning as an extension of previous research in an attempt to discover in greater detail what students' conceptions of learning are. While many students study, especially during examination or test time, very few learn. Areas to be covered, are:
What does learning mean to the student? What are their preferences for different courses? What are their preferences for different styles of learning (e.g. a holistic style, a serialist style, a deep approach, a surface approach or strategic approach to learning)?
The research is based on work done in the UK, Sweden, Denmark and the USA, and it has also been extended to the Technikon Northern Gauteng, the Eastern Cape Technikon and M L Sultan Technikon. The findings of the research will inform their curriculum development processes and the manner in which the Technikon teach.
5. Curriculum development - official view by Mr J Garraway
The curriculum development process has involved changing teaching in step with government policy. According to the National Plan for Higher Education (2001:9), one of the challenges facing higher education is the "mobilisation of human talent and potential through life-long learning to contribute to social, economic, cultural and intellectual life of a rapidly changing society". This is to be done through improving teaching programmes so as to produce students with critical competencies necessary to function in modern society, students who are information- and computer-literate, who are effective communicators, who possess analytical, problem-solving and knowledge reconfiguration skills, and who are team builders and networkers with negotiating skills. Overarching these developments are the policies of redress and equity outlined in the White Paper on Higher Education of 1997.
The Technikon has set about responding to the challenges laid down by the Department by changing teaching in the following two ways:
(a) Designing an outcomes-based curriculum
In 1999 technikons submitted outcomes-based, rather than subject-based, qualifications to SAQA for interim registration. This was a joint effort by all technikons. During 2000 lecturers in every Peninsula Technikon department worked on these qualification outcomes, as follows:
They broke the qualification outcomes down into smaller outcomes more specific to teaching and learning, in that they reflected the Technikon's particular teaching and learning fields of expertise. They then included the above critical competencies in the wording of the outcomes.
The lecturers added outcomes which reflected passing judgement on actions and changing behaviour to adapt to new circumstances.
The outcomes were levelled so as to reflect the stage of learning the learner.
(b) Designing integrated assessments
In 2001 lecturers began designing integrated projects so that learners could achieve the outcomes described above. These projects were characterised as workplace simulation activities, integrated across subjects and involving critical competencies. Projects were criterion-referenced, meaning that what lecturers were looking for in an ideal answer, including the critical competencies, was made clear to learners before they started the project. Furthermore, learners were expected to assess and monitor their progress in the project against the criteria as a method of encouraging life-long learning.
All programmes have advisory committees on course content. Most students are given the opportunity to look for jobs.
According to the President of the SRC, Mr T Damoyi, there are in-service training programmes for students. The academic board reviews programmes offered so as to update the curriculum.
6. Student development - official view by Mr E Sebokedi, Deputy Head: Student Affairs
A major challenge for the leadership development and student governance support segment was to develop capacity to train student leadership in accordance with identified needs, whilst at the same time continuing to provide support to student structures. Within the context of limited resources, they offer students leadership development programmes and give support to structures on campus.
The operation of the leadership development and student governance support segment was translated into key performance areas and key performance indicators.
The KPAs and KPIs for the SRC Administration office (Student Governance Support) were never finalised.
(a) Areas identified as scope of work
* Dealing with general student enquiries (providing information and referrals)
* Typing correspondence and reports for the SRC and student structures
* Mailing and registering correspondence, reception of calls and messaging
* Other related matters.
(b) Student leadership training and evaluation
The office organised 17 workshops during the year under review. The total number of participants in training workshops during the year was 510. The target groups for the workshop were divided into two cohorts, namely elected student leaders and non-elected leaders. The participants evaluated four workshops, namely those held for class representatives (Faculty Councils) and house committee members (Central Residence Committee).
The workshops conducted during the period of review partially met the two objectives:
* To facilitate learning about the roles and responsibilities of elected student leaders
* To train students in problem-solving skills.
The focus areas of problem-solving and systems orientation were adequately met.
(c) Leadership consultations
Over the past five years, an open-door policy for student leaders wishing to consult on a range of problems/challenges, was established. The general approach is to listen to the problem statement, to ask questions of clarification and to suggest possible options to deal with the matter at hand. It is consistently communicated to student leaders that it is their responsibility to take decisions and act upon them.
To accurately account for the impact of such consultations, presented a problem. It was therefore decided to get more accurate data on such consultations. The practice of recording data was not consistently followed during the period under review. The consultation focus areas were: 41% workshop planning; 17% enterprise opportunities; 41% project conceptualisation; and 17% others.
(d) Institutional promotion and student development
This office is currently engaged in three initiatives to promote student development:
* Drafting an institutional development plan
* Co-ordinating the first-year orientation forum
* Contributing to the establishment of a new IT Centre.
These activities relate to the department's objective of maximising resources for skills development on campus.
On drafting the student development plan, the student affairs division complements the concerted efforts for both students and staff.
D. University of Fort Hare - 6 August 2001
1. History and microscopic view of previous 18 months - official view by Prof D Swartz, Vice-Chancellor
The University of Fort Hare was established in 1916 and includes the Alice and Bisho campuses, with 5 200 students and 570 staff members. It is a rural, agricultural and research university with a huge potential, central to the political economy of the Nkonkobe region.
The name "Fort Hare" is internationally and nationally known and envisaged to be known as a Centre for Liberation Studies, a Centre for Leadership Development, and a Centre for Agriculture, Rural and Environmental Technology.
(a) Decline and crisis of 1990s
There was a massive structural and strategic shift in higher education due to the impact of globalisation on higher education and serious leadership weaknesses.
(b) Institutional crisis of 1998-99
The institutional crisis of 1998-99 revolved around three sources:
* A financial deficit of R90 million
* Academic viability - student numbers declined (in 1999 there were 2 500 students, which affected the macro-economic viability and university finances because of a radically reduced government subsidy)
* The failure of leadership at all levels.
(c) New beginning - 2000
The crisis led to the departure of the management and the appointment of an Interim Management Team and a New Council after six months. The university had remarkable stability on campus, with no boycotts or strikes.
The six-point plan was drafted, which included a stabilisation process, short-term liquidity, institutional review (to understand what was happening on campus), the advent of Strategic Plan 2000 (SP 2000), and management and leadership implementation.
SP 2000 sets out in broad strategic terms a new vision, mission, corporate goals and institutional activities aimed at laying a basis for comprehensively restructuring and developing the university in the 21st century. It was launched by the Deputy President, Mr J Zuma, in May 2000. (SP 2000 is available on website [email protected].)
(d) Vision
Fort Hare aspires to become a vibrant, equitable and sustainable African university committed to teaching and research excellence, building on its unique historical role and rural location to provide an enriching education service to its graduates and scholars.
(e) Mission
Its mission is to provide high quality education of international standard, contributing to the advancement of knowledge that is socially and ethically relevant, and applying that knowledge to the scientific, technological and socio-economic development of our nation and the wider world.
(f) Corporate goals
* Securing long-term sustainability and viability
* Becoming the Centre for Leadership Development
* Achieving teaching and research excellence
* Addressing the development challenges of the region and the nation
* Becoming a world-class university.
(g) Strategic objectives
The 10 strategic objectives, as mentioned by the Vice-Chancellor, are to diversify and expand the revenue base, to offer high quality and competitive programmes, to sharpen the teaching and research skills base, to refocus and realign academic programmes, to make strategic use of Fort Hare's human capital resources, to improve the quality of student and staff life, to increase the capacity, quality and efficiency of support systems, to forge new educational partnerships, to promote rural development in Nkonkobe and the Eastern Cape region, and to raise rural and development support for local industry, agriculture and development sectors.
(h) Implementation strategy - core interventions
* Vision, governance and leadership
Prof D Swartz is of the view that Fort Hare needs to involve people in order for them to be responsible. There is a need for corporate commitment to SP 2000 values and ethics, to promote service ethos, performance management and link-shared governance with individual responsibility.
* Academic restructuring
In January 2000, eight faculties were closed. Fort Hare had created four new faculties: Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; African and Democracy Studies; Science and Technology; and Management, Development and Commerce. The Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre was also established.
Their respective focuses would be:
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: The science of free-ranging animals, agronomics sciences, environmental science and land use planning, agricultural economics and rural development
African and Democracy Studies: Liberation studies, Eastern Cape studies, music and arts academy, Nelson Mandela Law School, theology of empowerment
Science and Technology: Indigenous resources management and development, developmental technologies, community health sciences, and analytical sciences
Management, Development and Commerce: Education management, public policy and management, business and accounting, developmental studies, and co-operative studies
The Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre will play a very important role in promoting research culture, building strategic research linkages, improving quality of research management, and developing rural and development infrastructure.
They also appointed Executive Deans and granted VSPs to 112 surplus staff. They phased out non-viable programmes and introduced new ones.
* Finance and revenue
This would involve updating financial records, introducing a new FMS, programme-based budgeting, training financial management, restructuring the Fort Hare Foundation and starting a major capital fund campaign to boost income.
* Support services
This would involve the refurbishing of buildings, modernising administration systems, improving student services, outsourcing non-core services, and upgrading IT infrastructure.
* Human resources
This would include introducing new HR policies, redeploying staff to new operational divisions and faculties, a skills development plan, performance-based management and an equity plan.
* Strategic partnerships
This would include the Nkonkobe Development Plan, the Agripart Initiative, the Daimler/Chrysler partnership, co-operative businesses, leadership (students at work), and the Rhodes and Unitra partnerships.
(i) Current plans
Fort Hare had plans on some important matters, according to Prof Swartz:
* Three-year rolling plan
* Business plan for new faculties
* Financial growth plan: five years
* Risk profile and risk management plan
* Establishment of consulting arm
* Major capital campaign.
(j) Achievements
There has been unprecedented institutional stability at Fort Hare. Their overdraft/deficit was reduced from R90 million to R49 million in one year, and they hope to be completely out of the red by the end of 2004. They did it on their own, without any help from consultants.
For the university to be a successful centre of academic excellence, it has to be smaller and more focused. There has been a major increase in student numbers: from 2 500 in 2000 to 5 200 in 2001 - growing market confidence in the future of Fort Hare and beginning of investment flows.
(k) Weaknesses and threats
The financial fundamentals are still weak - the income side requires serious attention. Further growth in student numbers imposes serious budget constraints. New faculties and programmes require time for consolidation and development. The management systems and processes still need to undergo major changes.
(l) Major challenges facing Fort Hare
* Maintaining internal support for SP 2000
* Securing financial support for SP 2000 (key role of the government, donors and alumni)
* Policy certainty (no mixed signals to the market)
* Consolidation gains made since 2000 and delivering on critical reform path).
(m) Regional collaboration, core and strategic missions
Prof Swartz said that key challenges in regional collaboration were stability, strategic orientation of the sector, viability and sustainability and meeting policy objectives. The higher education sector could be improved significantly - many changes have already taken place in respect of selecting the most appropriate instrument to meet particular challenges.
Higher education has two roles: a formal educational mission and a strategic educational mission.
* Formal educational mission
They can produce graduate skills for the economy and do research to advance the frontiers of knowledge
* Strategic educational mission
This includes the direct application of knowledge to socio-economic development, human capital development, technological innovation and valorisation of the economy
The core and strategic missions in respect of regional collaboration include the rationalisation of serious duplication, the audit process, the creation of common support services (IT, joint admission and on-line registration), the sharing of costly staff and courseware, joint enrolment and accreditation, and inter-institutional capacity building (research, management and teaching).
The strategic mission will also include striking long-term partnerships with the government and industry in the province, aligning the development strategy from sector to human capital in the province, directly stimulating the economic development process via strategic knowledge application, and accessing untapped revenue sources.
(n) Strategic clusters
Agriculture and biotechnology; Marine Conservation and Aquamarine Culture; Public Service Capacity Building; Development and Rural Management; Education Management; and Heritage and Cultural Tourism.
(o) Approach of Fort Hare on issue of "merger"
Fort Hare does not support a "merger" vis-à-vis UNITRA/Rhodes/Fort Hare. However, they are in favour of structured partnerships around strategic goals that are realistic, efficient and effective.
Fort Hare has numerous proposals on structured partnerships:
* To synergise core teaching and research missions or audit institutions in the region
* To expand the remittance of institutional resource-sharing
* To develop a strategy linked to regional economic development
* To establish an inter-institutional mechanism for ensuring commitment.
2. Fort Hare profile - official view by Prof R Bally, University Planner
(a) Introspection and goals for new Fort Hare
The present management of Fort Hare was appointed early in 1999. A strategic planning committee was formed, and existing staff rather than consultants were used in a participative, capacity-building process. The ruthless introspection culminated in the Review Report of 1999.
Fort Hare, as one of its main goals, aims for long-term sustainability and viability, being a world-class university with emphasis on leadership training, excellence in pertinent teaching and research, and contributing to national development.
The SPC implementation control centre, co-ordinated by Dr B Walter, has six implementation areas, each headed by a staff member:
(b) Vision and governance - Mr J Ruthman
Academic - Mr M Silinga
Support services - Ms Y Kambule-Soul
Human resources - Mrs N Mpete
Revenue and finance - Ms Z Ndlovu
Partnerships - Mr S Kobese
Approximately four to eight faculties, based on niche areas, were identified in SP 2000. The new faculty management structure is being implemented and Executive Deans have been appointed in the new faculties.
The new faculties represent a very significant step in the implementation process and the new levels of implementation (i.e. strategic plans/business plans are being produced at various levels - faculty, academic unit, institute and administrative unit level).
(c) Academic transformation
A new programme, driven by newly appointed Executive Deans in each faculty in line with SAQA requirements and SP 2000, interdisciplinary models, academic and financial viability, market and social needs and a viability template were developed, ready for application by the end of August 2001. The new programme was completed and submitted in terms of SAQA and CHE requirements.
(d) University support systems
These systems include marketing and communication, information technology, student support, and the quality of life of students, library and archives, residences, and sport and physical planning, as well as developing the two campuses.
(e) Projects and funding
It has been noted that much of the transformation should come from external funds. The SP 2000 identifies areas where funding is needed. The funding projects include:
Renovation: upgrading of residences, university frontage and sports facilities
New projects: proposed music academy and student computer laboratories
(f) Human resources
The entire new organisational structure had started with the faculty structure. There are totally new job descriptions and reporting lines involving union and staff negotiations and Labour Relations Act compliance.
Fort Hare envisages improved service provision to students and encourages staff capacity development.
(g) Finance and revenue strategies
There is expansion and diversification of the revenue base, with a view to:
* Increase student numbers, and retention
* Maximisation of subsidy
* Improved availability of financial assistance and revenue through research and consultancy
* Fundraising
* Alumni mobilisation
* Incentive packages for payment of fees
* Selling of excess capital stock
* Better use of under-utilised resources.
(h) Community issues
An integrated development plan was developed with Nkonkobe, based on the community and Fort Hare's need to support Alice as a university town. There is also a research action programme, funded from the Premier's Office for developing community projects.
(i) Partnerships
Fort Hare has partnerships with local and provincial governments, NGOs and communities to improve the quality of rural livelihood, specifically to reduce poverty. They have also earmarked the business development centre as a community-based project.
3. Fort Hare: forward to viability - official view by Mr P Cole
(a) Context of challenges
The major challenges are seen to be the rural setting, changing demographics and degree selections, students mostly coming from the low-income sector of society, and rapid changes in respect of student catchment areas.
(b) Rural setting - economy
As the university is located in the former Ciskei homeland, the local infrastructure is poor. There is a high rate of unemployment and local costs, and some student catchment areas experience declines in per capita income.
16% of the population lives in the Eastern Cape. 77% of those employed in the Eastern Cape earn a monthly salary of less than R2 501 (approximately R30 000 per annum). An average income per household per month in the Eastern Cape is R1 479 (R17 748 per annum). Of the total students currently registered at Fort Hare, 4 131 come from the Eastern Cape. The total annual cost of an undergraduate law degree at Fort Hare is R20 000.
(c) HIV/AIDS
There is a high percentage of HIV/AIDS in the Eastern Cape, and life expectancy is down to 40. This clearly means that graduates in the province can expect a working life of 15 to 20 years. The epidemic impacts both on graduates and on the university workforce.
(d) Areas of recruitment
These are: South Africa - 4 779; Zimbabwe - 235; Lesotho - 130; other SADC countries - 21; rest of Africa - 25; other - 11.
(e) Changes since 1999
1999: less than 1% were foreign students and over 70% were from the "Border Corridor". Student recruitment declined and female student ratios were low in some faculties.
2001: foreign students count over 9%, and students are recruited more widely (nationally). Student recruitment is increasing and gender ratios are achieving equity.
(f) Opportunities and risks
These are characterised by the funding formula tabled by the Department of Education in March 2001. This formula is driven by the cost factor and uses FTE (full-time equivalent) enrolment with a two-year lag, as FTE is always counting ahead. The 2001 subsidy was calculated from 1999's enrolment figure, and the cost-driven budget is adjusted downward.
At the time of the visit, the funding formula for the 2001-02 subsidy was R86,992 million. The view was that if 2001's enrolment was used, rather than 1999's, the subsidy would be R102,9 million. These are funds lost due to the lagged formula.
Fort Hare is not satisfied about how the funding formula is structured and implemented.
Proposed new funding formula: this formula will be driven by FTE enrolment, teaching and research outputs. It is not cost-driven - prices are set within budget resources. It is heavily weighted to higher degrees, not humanities.
NSFAS funding formula: the funds divided between institutions based upon enrolment are weighted by race. The awards allocated to students by institutions are based on a means test. In Fort Hare, there are more students and lesser funds. In 2000, the smallest average award was R3 757 - 55% of the average size for universities and 1,5% of all NSFAS funds.
There is a need for equity in respect of the NSFAS funding formula. NSFAS funds to Fort Hare have been and will be allocated as follows: 1999 - R7,91 million; 2000 - R7,2 million; 2001 - R7,9 million; 2002 - R10,12 million; 2003 - R13,7 million.
The main problem with the NSFAS is that it is very tough on students, many being turned away. There is an upfront payment of R1 500 for all students, and the student joins the system based on the arrangement with the NSFAS.
Fort Hare needs extra support from the government, as it is financially viable.
(g) Student enrolment and staff
1997 - 4 591; 1998 - 4 068; 1999- 3 903; 2000 - 4 459; 2001 - 5 190. Postgraduates comprise 9% of the student population (450), and include Honours students, 20 P.HDs and 120 Masters students.
There is an increase in postgraduates at Fort Hare, and there is a need for bigger institutions in the country.
Student ethnicity: African - 5 158; White - 23; Coloured - 19; Indian - 1.
Student gender: females - 62%; males - 38%; B Prim Ed (mostly female) - 1 200.
Academic staff equity: Black - 55% (non-academic staff mostly black); White - 45%.
Women remain under-represented at senior level, both in the academic and non-academic sectors.
(h) Personnel
The salary bill was drastically reduced over the previous two years. They have limited salary increases until 2003, with low average salary increases and rates in recent years. Fort Hare needs to attract and retain key academics with competitive salaries.
(i) Student debt
Students drop out for financial reasons. Fort Hare envisages a need for reform of NSFAS allocations. Although it is difficult to collect debt from students who have left the university, they have done major work on student debts. They targeted an increase in debt collection from registered students: 50% in 2001 to 70% in 2002 and 2003.
(j) Strategies - Fort Hare Viability
Strategies on Fort Hare Viability aim to:
* Accommodate the recent increases in enrolment in the existing formula
* Phase in the new formula
* Attain equitable NSFAS funding
* Continue control of personnel costs and student debt management
* Seize opportunities for additional income
* Manage improved performance and set targets for own income.
(k) Research and development
Research activity on masters and doctorate graduates, publications, patents, reports and artifacts was slow at the time of the visit. Postgraduate studies was being restructured, and the research and development function was centralised in the Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre.
Areas of research excellence included Agriculture (several nodes), Chemistry, Life Sciences (several nodes), Psychology, Languages, Theology and Law.
4. Residences and refurbishment of hostels - official view by Ms L T Ngalo-Morrison, Dean of Students
They have started renovations in an attempt to improve residences, as hostels must be conducive for learning. Students work on the hostel refurbishment project, for which R800 000 had been budgeted. Students took it upon themselves to repair and clean dilapidated hostels.
Six student residences which had to be closed down, have been reopened and renovated to meet booming student accommodation needs. They need to raise funds from donors to refurbish buildings.
5. Alumni - official view by Mr L Jacobs
For the past three years, alumni stood central to transformation work. Mr L Jacobs had visited North America, Gauteng, Cape Town and interim structures to provide information on a continuous basis.
6. Visit to archives - official view by Mr M Synders
(a) Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College: (SOMAFCO)
This school, opened in Tanzania in 1972, aimed to train young, black men and women to be the leaders, teachers and professionals of the new South Africa, after the end of apartheid. The main subjects during that time were politics, drama and art. When the school was closed in 1992, the ANC entrusted Fort Hare with caring for its archives. Along with papers from its missions around the world came a collection of papers, artefacts and student works from SOMAFCO.
The Hon G A M Mbeki donated his guitar from Robben Island.
Documents, like SOMAFCO papers, audio-visual material, federal seminary archives (the school closed in 1974) and university documents of the 1980s, are kept in a locked office.
(b) Meeting with institutional forum
The dlegation was welcomed by Mr Kobese, Community Partnership Co-ordinator. The institutional forum consists of political structures and stakeholders, like the SRC, student organisations, labour structures, members of academic structures, members of the Council, members of Nkonkobe municipality, members of Buffalo City, and members of management. It is viewed as Fort Hare's parliament.
Prof Mayatula gave a brief overview of the key functions of the Committee and the objectives of the visit.
(c) Challenges of national plan "to merge or not to merge" - official view by Mr A Gwabeni
The CHE report suggests a combination of some institutions; a combination of Fort Hare and Rhodes University was specifically mentioned.
The national working committee, led by Mr S Macozama, visited Fort Hare prior our visit to advise the Minister of Education on how to minimise the number of tertiary institutions.
A merger, according to Fort Hare, is a strategic and internally generated decision taken by organisations, not a superimposed solution. It is dependent on the sharing of a common vision.
Regarding their experience in South African institutions, the Silo mentality requires institutions to collaborate - with uneven distribution of resources, the funding formula must prioritise redress; sharing resources through the funding formula should be encouraged; and with artificial competition, institutions must focus on specific niche areas.
(d) Fort Hare views to merger
The institution is opposed to a merger, and feels that mergers must be decisions of individual institutions. Incremental and organic evolution of mergers are preconditions for success in the public sector. There is a strong view that collaboration is the short- to the medium-term solution, and there have been discussions with UNITRA, Rhodes and other institutions outside the Eastern Cape on concrete programmes for collaboration.
(e) Current and future areas of collaboration
Current programmes include library services, an IT infrastructure and health programmes, while future areas include a central admission office, course development, quality assurance and presentation of courses.
(f) Why opposed to merger?
* Fort Hare transformation project: The good work done may be undone, and its vision (which includes multiculturalism, new values concommittant with the new society they are building and nation building, which addresses socio-economic development and racial and gender equity) may be clouded
* Micro-economics of project: There is a possibility of the system imploding as a result of too much being loaded on it (a question of its ability to absorb new challenges)
* Economic implications of merger: It may cost more to set up and maintain the administrative systems, and there will be implications for local economies, which will have a direct impact on the shifting of the administration.
Fort Hare sees the higher education system in South Africa and in the Eastern Cape evolving organically on an incremental basis, with full support from the government, and collaboration as the short-term solution. A clear regulatory system must help align institutions to national priorities.
7. Student funding - official view by Mr L O Mabuyane, SRC president
Mr Mabuyane saw no need to compare Fort Hare's political context in respect of student funding with institutions that have been advantaged historically, like UCT and WITS.
The maximum number of 411 students for tuition (i.e. R4 120 per student) is seen as a serious threat, and the funding formula is also a problem at Fort Hare. Many matriculants with exemption who reside in the rural areas are sitting at home without any form of assistance because their parents are uneducated and unemployed and cannot provide any form of financial assistance for their children to further their education at tertiary level. R29 million is expected from the NSFAS.
Student quality of life also needs to be taken on board; it must be checked whether residences are user-friendly to all students.
The government and the NSFAS need to re-examine the funding formula to provide financial assistance for needy students. Fort Hare needs to attract academic staff. The more students on campus, the more funding the institution receives from the NSFAS.
Student debt
The SRC played a major role in convincing and encouraging those who were able to pay their fees, to do so. This made the SRC unpopular on campus. Student debt results from two main reasons:
* Dropouts are unable to pay the university, as most of them are unemployed
* No certificate is issued if outstanding fees are not paid in full, and students leave the system.
In this respect, the NSFAS have its own way of tracing persons.
8. Conditions of employment - official view by Mr N R Mboniswa
There was a very intensive bargaining process between Fort Hare and stakeholders. They compared salaries of academic and non-academic staff with those of UPE, UniVenda and UWC, and it appeared that their salaries were competitive in neither the labour market nor compared with other institutions of higher learning. The salary of the Vice-Chancellor is equivalent to that of a Dean at UPE. The implication of this was that the economy of Nkonkombe would be affected, should people leave the area.
Staff turnover
Reasons for staff turnover:
* Most staff were deployed by the government
* Fort Hare was unable to retain staff
* Salaries were not competitive.
E. University of Transkei - 7 August 2001
On arrival, the delegation was warmly welcomed by Prof N Morgan (the Administrator) and his management. The University of Transkei was established in 1975, and the medical school started in 1986.
The Minister had visited the institution five weeks before the delegation's visit. The nursery school and in-service centre were destroyed by a tornado. Due to financial constraints they were never repaired and were collapsing. Renovations will start with residences, which would cost R1,5 million.
1. Medical School
In 2001, there were 74 registered students at the medical school, and they were expecting an increase to 95 in 2002. The medical faculty had 749 medical students, of whom 34 were postgraduates. These figures formed the anchor of the university. They had also checked on which units were not viable, not giving a unit a chance to use the surplus of another unit.
Biochemistry laboratory: The building is a pre-fabricated structure consisting of two big rooms, used both as biochemistry and physiology laboratories. Due to insufficient space, students are divided into groups for lecture sessions, attending on different times each day. During examination times, both rooms are converted into examination rooms.
It only accommodates 10 students. Some students are from the Technikons, doing in-service training for six months.
There is no air conditioning in the laboratory, and there is always an unbearable smell. The Head of Anatomy, Prof N Baguma, appealed to the government to provide the institution with facilities to produce the best doctors in the country. Despite the conditions, the lecturers want to produce good quality doctors.
2. Science Faculty - official view by Mr B R Madikizela
The delegation visited the cold room, which had a fresh-water laboratory. Mr B R Madikizela, a P.HD student, worked on the water research commission project, doing water quality and faunal studies in the Umzimvubu catchment, with particular emphasis on species as indicators of environmental change. It was part of his P.HD. They produced the report for the water commission, indicating their observations.
The primary aim of the project was to establish a water quality database and an inventory of aquatic fauna in the Umzimvubu and its main tributaries. A secondary aim was identification of species sensitive to environmental threats which might be used as future indicators of environmental change. (This report is available on request from the Committee Secretary, Ms N C Manjezi.)
3. Zoology Museum
This museum was established in 1998. The high schools in the area visit it regularly and familiarise themselves with certain species. In the Botany Department, they have collected 4 000 indigenous plants.
4. African Archive
This Department has a wide range of South African indigenous and popular music. The equipment and about 30 000 records were donated to the Department. The video machine, television and computers were donated by the University of Maiz in Germany.
5. Unitra Sasol Library
This R3 million project was donated by Sasol, built in 1997, officially opened on 18 May 2000. It operates 24 hours a day. It houses literature for five faculties. There is an on-line digital catalogue, seminar and video conferencing, and students can access literature anytime. The former President, Dr R N Mandela, has his own reading room, which he uses when he visits the university.
6. Meeting with Administrator, Management, Deans, Representatives from labour structures and SRC - official view by Prof N Morgan, Administrator
(a) Vision
UNITRA aimed to be a leading university in Africa, focusing on innovative programmes addressing rural development needs.
(b) Mission
UNITRA is committed to excellence by offering relevant and effective teaching, research and community outreach programmes with specific emphasis on the promotion of sustainable rural development, while providing service to its clientele through optimal resource utilisation.
(c) Location
It is located in the poorest and most densely populated region of the Kei, Wild Coast and Drakensberg areas. The Eastern Cape has a rural population of six million people, and 65% live in rural areas. The rural Kei and Wild Coast districts have a population of three million, half the population of the province. 54% are females, and 60% of the rural people are female. In rural communities, youths make up to 60% of the population.
UNITRA is thus in a poverty-stricken area, households having an income of less than R352,52 per month. The rural catchment area of UNITRA has inadequate access to social and economic infrastructure and services: only 24% have running water; only 31% have flush toilets; 31% do not have electricity; 4% have access to telecommunications; there are 0,3 medical officials per 1 000, compared to the national figure of 6%; educational levels are the lowest in the whole of South Africa.
7. Institution indicators for financial sustainability
Future financial sustainability depends on State funding, diverse income streams (including consultancy and contract research), adequacy of student financial aid, based on NSFAS criteria, the ability to collect fees, and the ability to adjust budgets.
(a) Key issues and challenges faced by UNITRA
* Reducing fixed costs
* Ensuring full cost recovery
* Introducing financial discipline through devolved budgeting
* Fee strategies and collection.
In 1999, the university had a R100 million overdraft until March 2000. They received a subsidy of R104 million, which was regarded as insufficient.
(b) Some realities
There are limited funds from the Treasury. Restructuring will have to be deliberately engineered and managed if success is to be achieved. The notion of reducing the number of institutions does not mean reducing access to higher education. The sensibility of each arrangement must be determined on how it responds to the goals of the National Plan for Higher Education. Comprehensive technical intelligence about every regional site is a pre-requisite for the project to succeed.
Prof Morgan met with the Minister of Education on 4 June 2001, and the budget issue was discussed. Due to budget constraints, academic staff and 282 workers were retrenched. The Department of Labour was contacted for the social plan, especially for those students who were registered at the university. UNITRA also made a commitment to re-employ the workers who were retrenched.
(c) NSFAS funding
The university is under-funded by NSFAS. As a result, they intend to request a supplementary amount. The affordability in respect of the region is different from that of any other region. Applying the criteria for those who have applied, would require R24 million.
As a huge amount of R39 million is still owed by students, the SRC also assists with the collection of fees by broadcasting on UNITRA community radio.
(d) Viability in finances
The working committee needs to be assisted with technical expertise and quality technical information. The health centre needs to realise its current status in terms of viability.
Viability assessments were to be completed by the end of August 2001. Various departments could be closed and some could be strenghtened. The view is that if some departments are to be closed, there should be other forms of restructuring, and students can be transferred to other universities to complete their studies.
8. Faculty of Health Sciences - official view by Prof E L Mazwai
This faculty has 749 students in the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and the School of Allied Health Professions. Teaching takes place at three campuses in Umtata, East London and Port Elizabeth, which form part of the Academic Health Service of the Eastern Cape. In 14 years, UNITRA has graduated more than 200 medical doctors of a quality equal to, if not better than, many medical schools in the country.
(a) Teaching
Their strength has been their teaching philosophy, being problem-based learning and community-based education. This is now world-recognised - the faculty is a WHO collaborating centre. Students are exposed to community issues early in training (first year), including indigenous knowledge systems, such as traditional healers. In addition to the teaching standard, they have developed a computer-based teaching laboratory, a telemedicine unit and a professional skills laboratory to improve quality of teaching and graduates' competencies.
(b) Service
By its very nature, community-based education and training are decentralised from tertiary through to secondary and primary health care centres, and with teaching comes service. The teaching hospital in Umtata serves a population of 2,9 million, with more than 100 specialists. They have also initiated a postgraduate programme and training specialists in eight medical fields - they are trained at centres in Port Elizabeth, East London and Umtata. Medical registrars also improve the quality of care given to patients.
UNITRA and UCT have an agreement on training registered students in medicine and postgraduate courses.
(c) Research
As most tertiary institutions are judged on the basis of research output and publications, the faculty has had a limited output in this area. This has been mostly due to developmental and infrastructure restrictions in terms of laboratory and equipment. However, they do have an MRC unit (on carcinoma of oesophogus, with research in molecular biology). The university collaborates with the Department of Health and overseas universities on HIV/AIDS research. Most of the research is community-based and service-oriented.
(d) Infrastructure
The university plan was to increase the number of medical students from 90 to 120 per class over the following three years, and they wanted to add six Allied Health Professions - Occupational Therapy, Physiotheraphy, Speech and Hearing Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics, Radiotherapy and Medical Technology. They have plans and the potential to increase the number and mix of health sciences they train, but the major constraint is infrastructure, which needs financial input. Discussions with the Department of Education on a new medical campus adjacent to the hospital at a cost of R120 million have been put on hold to see what facilities could be developed on the existing campus at a reduced cost. As a matter of urgency, the development of the in-service training centre for laboratories for students and research, and also teaching, would be the most appropriate. UNITRA was able to achieve with very limited funding because of chronic under-funding nationally.
In the last four years, conditional grants from the Provincial Administration have helped to alleviate the situation. There has never been any major injection of capital for infrastructural development, either at inception of the medical school in 1986 or after the new democracy in 1994.
There are infrastructure issues that have not been attended to, and a merger will bring additional costs in the short term. Money needs to be injected for infrastructure. Staff never received increments, now they have become demotivated.
(e) Academic restructuring
All the programmes are complying with the mission. They revisited it in 1999 and in 2000, but there were no substantive shift. As UNITRA is the largest single employer in the region, they have spent R160 million per annum.
(f) Student enrolment
The student numbers in 2001 have grown to 4 500, compared to 3 800 in 2000.
(g) Governance
There is no council at UNITRA. There is an administrator who is in support of the management team of the university. There is a need to appoint a new Vice-Chancellor and a new council.
Due to the turmoil in 1999, the council resigned. Meetings were held with community and parents to inform them of ongoing progress. The Department of Education did not have any faith in the university and nothing happened to establish the council.
By the end of August, they were to start the process to establish a governance council. Prof Morgan informed the delegation that the Auditor-General's report and other reports formed the basis of the issue to be attended to on two levels:
* An intention to provide residence for students and lecture halls - a decision was taken to build the structures, as this money was not taken from the operational budget
* Internal controls - new policies to exercise discipline.
(h) Hospital
A positive development is the commissioning of the new Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital. It has 480 beds at a cost of R350 million. It will attract specialists to the area, especially South Africans, to teach and offer specialised services. There is hope to establish new specialities such as cardiology and cardiac surgery, radio physics and radiotherapy, vascular surgery and renal transplantation.
There was great concern that what they have achieved so far, has been done at great sacrifice in human cost, with no improvement in salaries or promotions for the last four years. If they are to prevent diminishing morale and retain staff against competition from outside institutions, capital injection is absolutely urgent. This way they feel that they can reverse the downward spiral, stabilise the Faculty, attract more specialists for specialised services, and improve on research and publications. With the increase in the medical student class and addition of the six departments in the School of Allied Health Professions, they have a capacity for 1 000 students over the next three years. All this can be done at a very modest cost, which the university management is currently formulating and calculating.
The delegation visited the massive site to see the new academic hospital, still under construction. This training hospital is built by the Department of Health (50% national and 50% provincial), and is expected to be completed by the end of March 2002. The estimated budget to run the hospital is R196 million per annum.
(i) Merger
The merger in a classic sense purposely targets areas of synergistic benefits - people seek deliberate benefits and synergies and manage these to new organisations. In respect of certain private companies, this was a failure. In creating a merger, according to Prof Morgan, the institution needs to address the issues with Rhodes, as they have a governance council.
* Negative aspects
Other areas of excellence, apart from medical science, which, because of the financial turmoil, have been neglected. Staff members had been abused for the previous five years in respect of promotion, increments and the taking away of other benefits. Everything the university is busy doing in this respect, will disappear if there is a merger.
* Businesses supporting UNITRA or other sources to improve finances
They had established links with the business community and received huge support from the community. There were ongoing meetings with business to address the finance issue.
Some historically disadvantaged institutions helped to improve the financial position. There was a need to equalise funding in order to address the gap between Gauteng, the Western Cape and their region.
(j) Payment of fees
Discussions were held with the student leadership about the commitment of students to pay fees. This was broadcast on the community radio, and there was a good response. Decisions were taken by parents and students to make arrangements to pay outstanding fees, but some did not honour this commitment.
(k) Retrenchments
These came about because of a shortfall in respect of the pension fund. The university made specific arrangements to develop retrenched staff and reskill them for new jobs. They also committed to the social plan those who wanted to study at the university.
(l) Issue of redress
They cannot tackle the issue of redress if there are institutional, financial and regional problems. This needs serious attention.
(m) Management of institution
There are few fundamentals and policies in respect of running the system. There is a need for strengthening middle management, training and capacity development of staff. Human resource and technical issues need attention. Although there is no council, they have an audit committee performing that managerial function.
Rev E Guwa had a very strong view of not closing historically disadvantaged universities down, as he was a product of those universities.
(o) Institutional forum
This forum was set up according to the statutory requirements, and was composed of all internal structures of student associations, labour and community structures.
(p) NEHAWU input
NEHAWU endorsed what Prof Morgan had said, and expressed disapproval on certain issues:
* Transformation was viewed as a most painful and difficult process. NEHAWU was not against retrenchment with benefits, but in support of change. There were structures in place to address those problems
* They viewed the sustainability and viability of the institution as very important.
(q) SRC input
The extent of the problems mentioned impacted very negatively on students. The SRC have made efforts to persuade students to pay their fees. The gravity of the problem has caused them to make history - it was indeed unusual to find a situation whereby the management and the students agreed that the latter would pay 50% of their debt before the beginning of the new term. This has shown the level of maturity of the SRC in understanding the dynamics of co-operative governance, particularly in regard to pulling the institution out of its financial mess.
They were against closure of the university, and moreover, not in support of a merger - it was not deemed as beneficial to the institution.
They also asked the NSFAS to increase the grant because most people in the area were unemployed and there was no industry to support the institution financially.
The SRC's view was that a merger would adversely affect those from historically disadvantaged areas.
F. University of Natal - 8 August 2001
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof B M Gourley, warmly welcomed the delegation at the Pietermaritzburg campus.
1. Overview - Prof B M Gourley
The University of Natal, located in KwaZulu-Natal and established in 1910, has an enrolment of 22 000 students, of whom over 15 000 are undergraduates. As such, it is the second largest residential university in South Africa. It comprises two centres, one in Durban on the coast and the other in the provincial capital, Pietermaritzburg, some 80 km inland.
The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine is part of the university, and is located on the Durban campus. In total, there are four campuses - Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Medical and Edgewood.
During the 1990s most students were white - approximately 13 500. Now almost 76% are black students.
It is one of the top-rated universities in South Africa in terms of research output and independent ratings by the National Research Foundation, and has formal links with some 240 leading universities in the USA, Europe and the Far East. It is known as a centre of excellence in Africa and is doing significant research into HIV/AIDS.
Many international students are studying here.
The governing structures are in hands of the academics on the Durban campus.
In the early 1990s the Durban campus alone housed 84 different NGOs, most of them refugees from the apartheid regime. Their presence on the campus profoundly affected the nature of the university and the conversation about its role in South Africa at this point in its history. Students were involved in working with the NGOs.
(a) Vision
The university's strategy is one of Quality with Equity. It dedicates its excellence in teaching, research and development to progress through reconstruction. It serves South Africa, and KwaZulu-Natal in particular, by delivering quality teaching, which enables students from all backgrounds to realise their academic potential and to obtain degrees of an international standard.
It undertakes quality research up to national and international standards, and provides development services which meet community needs.
It is a socially responsive organisation. At the time of the visit they were condusting an HIV research project (160 different projects), and many are placed in the networking centre.
KwaZulu-Natal has 80 000 teachers, of whom 30% are HIV-positive. They really need to launch a substantive campaign to attend to this issue.
(b) Mission
They strive to serve all sections of the community through excellence in scholarship, teaching, learning, research and development.
(c) Student numbers and composition
The size of the university has changed substantially over the last 10 years. There has been planned growth in the face of virtually no State support in respect of infrastructure. It has been made possible by making provision for loan funding for students with the potential to succeed but not the money to afford the fees.
(d) Research profile
The profile has changed over the years, as an entirely different set of policies came into effect to support new directions. These policies were designed to encourage not only a more entrepreneurial approach to research but also a more nuanced approach. They emphasise potential links between research and development and aim to find ways in which the research agenda could be influenced by development issues that are fed by the research agenda.
Initiatives that support the goals of regional and national agendas are actively encouraged. HIV/AIDS is a good example.
There is huge capacity for research and postgraduate studies in the region, and the percentage of undergraduate studies has increased. Most students are in the open learning mode on the Pietermaritzburg campus.
(e) Staff profile
The staff profile has not been changed as much as one would have liked. Both availability of staff and labour law considerations impact on this. Equity plans are in place.
(f) Race in 1990 and in 2000
There have been enormous disparities in respect of gender and race.
1990 - 54% White; 30% African; 3% Coloured; 13% Indian
2000 - 49% White; 25% African; 4% Coloured; 22% Indian
(g) Gender in 1990 and in 2000
1990 - 34% female and 66% male
2000 - 44% female and 56% male
A higher percentage of female students registered between 1990 and 2000 than males. An age/race profile of students in 2000 showed that undergraduate Coloureds, Indians and whites were younger than blacks.
Registration by area or specialisation - many study business and commerce. By 2001 the number of students pursuing a career in humanities had increased; the number in science and technology grew by 10%.
The university also encourages foreign students to enrol in order to improve the standard of education. It is important for the educational learning experience to have international students on campus.
(h) Distance education
They want to retain and control quality distance education. At present, there are between 4 000 and 5 000 involved in distance learning, of whom 2 500 are Africans.
(i) Merging
The university is opposed to a merger. They strongly believe they need to equalise the conditions of service and grant generous retrenchment packages, should there be a merger with Durban-Westville. As the two institutions have different scales, a merger will be disruptive to their administrative way of doing things, as they will have more students.
The university does not want to put donor and research funding at risk which it receives from the international community. The entire process has to focus on producing a better higher education system.
2. Transformation process - official view by Prof E A Ngara, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Students and Transformation
Prof Ngara played an advocacy role and sought to promote transformation in areas where they seemed slow to achieve the desired objective in respect of certain aspects of development. He had attended conferences and seminars where the view was expressed that the last group of universities to be transformed would be those that called themselves "liberal universities".
What is transformation?
The White Paper on Higher Education outlined the framework for change, making it clear that the higher education system had to be planned, governed and funded as a single co-ordinated national system. It identified the areas in which transformation should take place and outlined the principles that should guide the process of transformation, but stopped short of defining the concept.
It referred to a complete and fundamental change for the better, and suggested that transformation had to entail change from what was the norm to a new norm, from a culture and set of values and practices that prevailed in the past to a new culture and set of values and practices.
He identified four principal domains in which transformation should take place:
(a) Governance - it referred to the development of a more democratic system of power relations between the various sectors of the institution by, for instance, seeing to it that fundamental changes occur to ensure adherence to the principles of democratic governance, accountability, transparency and inclusiveness in decision-making. This was underpinned by compliance with the requirements of the Higher Education Act, the Employment Equity Act and other relevant legislation and policy documents.
(b) Demographics and equity - it referred to changes taking place in an institution to reflect the demography of the nation and the region. Enrolment figures and staff statistics should change to ensure diversity, race and gender equity, as well as representation of people with disability.
(c) Institutional/organisational culture - it referred to the degree of transparency and openness in the communication system and decision-making processes of the institution, the extent to which linguistic and cultural diversity was recognised, accepted and celebrated, the degree of sensitivity to diversity issues (i.e race, gender, sexual orientation and disability) and the extent to which there was a culture of debate and democratic disputation, as opposed to violent demonstration by students and decrees by authorities.
(d) The core functions domain - it referred to fundamental changes made in teaching, research, the community and national service to facilitate national, economic, social and political transformation, the key elements being curriculum, quality and growth, student development, knowledge production and responsiveness to national and community needs.
Transformation in respect of all these domains should be relatively easily achievable in organisations with a tradition of openness in their decision-making processes.
Prof Ngara further mentioned that while the university was normally classified as a historically white university, the Faculty of Medicine was historically black; it was the only medical faculty in a long time that was training African, Indian and Coloured doctors, before MEDUNSA was established.
Student numbers broadly represented the demographics of KwaZulu-Natal. These numbers, as at 24 July 2001, read as follows:
Race Number Percentage
African 10 620 44,81%
Indian 7 404 31,24%
White 4 995 21,07%
Coloured 665 2,76%
Other 25 0,10%
------ -------
Total 23 700 99,80%
------ -------
The university was not doing well in respect of the racial composition of staff. However, a few years ago a programme funded by the Mellon Foundation was put in place to help promising academics from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire postgraduate degrees to render them suitable for appointment to academic positions. Not all management members believed that this programme would help them move fast enough to accelerate the appointment of blacks, especially Africans, to the academic staff. They produced a document which they believed could help accelerate the process - it was still to be considered by the verious structures.
3. Curriculum development and access programmes - official view by Prof A C Bawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academics
Curriculum development is a defining characteristic of the university. It has constantly been supported through strategic investment of resources, the highest level of innovation in curriculum development and through teaching and learning. Every year, they make three Distinguished Teacher Awards, which celebrate its excellence.
Curriculum development is at the heart of the education process in that it is centrally linked to developing good citizens of a democratic South Africa. It is therefore critical that students have a sense of their role in the reconstruction and development of the nation and possess the skills and framework to lead ethical lives as they embark on careers requiring leadership and entrepreneurship.
The Strategic Initiatives Document states that student should not leave the University without a keen appreciation of:
* The values and concerns of the different communities in which they will be living and working
* Where they are in history and what responsibilities and leadership roles they may be expected to fulfil
* The ethics of their particular chosen careers and of making choices at this moment in history.
To facilitate this, they have created an Ethics Centre, a Leadership Centre and a Centre for Entrepreneurship. They have also established a significantly large Service Learning Project, which allows students to spend part of their study time working in communities and reflecting on that work. About 20% of the students have some form of exposure to service learning.
The university has committed itself to developing a set of core basic competencies in every student - these are taught through a set of core foundational modules.
The curriculum development process is strongly influenced by the need for multi-discipline, which is evident in undergraduate programmes. They have led the way in this regard in South Africa.
They have also established a Centre for Information Technology in Higher Education, which facilitates the optimisation of the role of IT in learning and teaching. They are ensuring that they have sufficient computers on an outstanding network to facilitate the development of a new learning paradigm, which involves the use of constructivism as a philosophy of learning.
The university has serious concerns about the impact of traditional learning paradigms on the underdevelopment of the "right brain", and has a large project under way to ensure more holistic left brain/right brain learning.
Access programmes
They have three kinds of access programmes:
* Students with matriculation exemption but without a sufficiently satisfactory pass for admission to degree programmes - they would wish to study science, engineering or medicine but do not have satisfactory passes in Mathematics and Science.
* Students with a senior certificate but without matriculation exemption and who show potential to succeed in higher education - they would generally be placed in one-year foundation or access programmes which would lead to access to degree programmes.
* Adult learners without senior certificates - they have not had the opportunity to complete their schooling but demonstrate a satisfactory level of numeracy and literacy.
The university also offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programmes in a mixed-mode format for working people.
In 2001 there were about 500 new students in access programmes in respect of science and engineering, 200 in humanities and social sciences, 500 in management sciences, 150 adult learners in open learning programmes and 5 000 workers in programmes designed for them.
4. Integrated student body - official view by Mr T Wills, Dean of Students, and Dr D Rajab, Dean of Social Development
The students fully embrace integration. 18% of them are married. The SRC is present at all levels of student governance - about 10 to 12 students for 10 000 students (they need to review this).
The institution has also been seen to encourage integration in sport. There is a wide range of sports, and students adhere to the sports policy.
They opened their residences in 1984; house committees see to the welfare of students. 25% to 30% live in residences, which were full at the time of the visit. Many come from metropolitan areas. There is no gender segregation.
The number of white students declined because mostly blacks live in the residences. The whites left because they felt uncomfortable staying with black students and could not afford the residential costs, which were expensive. Some black students who could not afford the costs, moved to cheaper places.
(a) Student Development
Student Development is located in the Division of Student Services, and is responsible for the conceptualisation, implementation and quality assurance of all student development programmes offered by the division. These include Student Counselling and Careers, Campus Health Clinics, Residences, Student Leadership Development, Sport, Administration, Student Governance, Clubs and Societies, Student Academics Affairs and Financial Aid. They put in a huge effort to support students.
Student Development aims to address development needs of all students at the university through professional services of the division. This involves an analysis of the special need of students within the context of higher learning.
It calls for strategic planning and implementation of systems that support developmental growth of all students in a dynamic and changing context.
The task of student service providers in the various sections is to set up structures that will provide opportunities for life skills learning in curricular and co-curricular activities.
(b) Student Development Plan - rationale
The rationale for the development of a strategic plan arose from the following realities:
* The university has a duty to address national needs. South Africa requires well-trained professionals who are well-rounded, critical and independent thinkers.
* The job market is competitive and demands excellent graduates with strong interpersonal and leadership skills and high levels of accountability, integrity and commitment to industry.
* It is a world-class institution with its reputation at stake when it comes to production of its graduates. Universities are also under pressure to maintain a competitive edge over other institutions.
* The imperative to address the diverse needs of students warrants a repositioning of student development initiatives from periphery to mainstream.
* The HIV/AIDS pandemic has widespread implications for student intakes, financial aid, health and support services, and training and counselling.
(c) Guiding principles
To address the developmental needs of a diverse and dynamic student population, the plan will encompass the following guiding principles:
* The holistic development of students involves a partnership with all sectors of the university community. This includes Academics, student affairs professionals, students and the general community.
* The application of a multi-pronged, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural perspective in the development of all programmes to address the needs of a diverse and dynamic student population.
* The introduction of systemic interventions encompassing institutional changes to facilitate the development of a new type of graduate in keeping with the changing demand of society.
* Quality with Equity. Effective utilisation of resources and the provision of support to enable learners from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed.
The Office of the Dean of Student Development is offering a new 10-week winter semester certificate course in collaboration with other academics and administrative departments on the Durban and Pietermaritzburg campuses for student services staff and graduate students who may wish to pursue a career path in student services. They have already trained 39 students in these courses.
5. Financial support - official view by Rev J Ngomane, Director: Financial Aid Service
The establishment of the NSFAS by the new democratic government is one of the most important initiatives that underpin the transformation of educational access in South Africa.
The stability the scheme has brought to campuses nationwide has been evidenced by the lack of educational boycotts and student unrest during the past three to four years. The government's visionary thinking regarding the NSFAS and continued support of these endeavors should be applauded. The appearance of the delegation from the Committee charged with consultation with all stakeholders indicates the dedication to the cause of educational justice for all in the new democratic South Africa.
(a) Background
The university has always been involved with the needs of poor students. Prior to the early days of transformation from 1984, the bursaries and scholarship office administered a means test to award the few bursaries from various sources at its disposal (e.g. bequests, deceased estates). By 1988 that office was receiving 5 000 applications a year from needy students.
The university responded by allocating funds from its limited budget (about R13 million in 2001) to the annual budget of the newly constituted Financial Aid Service. This was supplemented during the early 1990s by organisations such as Kagiso Trust, the IDT (Independent Development Trust), the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) and the Kelloggs Foundation.
By 1996 they had to limit the intake of needy entrants to 500 per year in order to manage the budgetary requirements responsibly. The number of active financial aid applications settled at about 3 500 per year. They are currently funding about 2 000 undergraduates.
About 13% of the student body is deemed sufficiently financially disadvantaged to receive benefits from the NSFAS. Therefore there is immense pressure on the university to increase funding for needy entrant. 50% of them are not paying any family contribution - the university and government are funding R22 000 per year.
Some key areas have been fundamentally important in the success of the NSFAS:
* The creation of the NSFAS as a statutory body and the subsequent establishment of its Board with representatives from higher education stakeholders and the community.
* The NSFAS loan recovery system and the quality of the administrative systems.
* The involvement of the Financial Aid Services/Bureaux of Tertiary Institutions in the administration of NSFAS loans is important. Financial Aid Officers process enquiries and applications forms from potential students. This can involve dealing with more than 1 000 students per officer.
* The NSFAS in consultation with Financial Aid Officers designed a tool called "The Means Test", which enables them to determine the relative financial need of any student applicant. This is very helpful in the administration and selection of students.
(b) Financial Aid Budget for 2001
The allocated budget for the NSFAS is R56 million, divided as follows: Bursaries - R5 million (needy students); scholarships - R12 million; and loans - R39,5 million.
(c) Challenges
Selection criteria related to the NSFAS hinder students from the poorest backgrounds from accessing tertiary education. The more immediate challenges are:
* Criteria focus on academic excellence and do not take into account rural school and family background. Alternative selection methods must be developed for educationally disadvantaged students.
* Hidden costs related to applying (e.g. access to phones, the post, photocopying of documents and direct costs (between R135 and R2 000 per application) average about R500, which the poorest of the poor cannot afford. A further R500 acceptance deposit is required after academic selection; even more if a residence deposit is required, which is often the case with rural students.
* A lack of consultation in respect of review and implementation of NSFAS policy and procedures, taking into consideration that the institution and officers are the backbone of the NSFAS success story.
* A lack of uniformity and monitoring of policies instituted by the NSFAS, while the university has aligned its financial aid policy to suit the implementation of NSFAS policies and procedures.
* Fund entrants only in the second semester.
* Only half of the recommended maximum is given, that has led to students withdrawing from studies before completion. The maximum limit of R16 000 for 2001 according to government guidelines was not being adhered to. In one institution the average size of an award to an applicants is R3 000.
* They do not use the means test to identify needy students and determine award sizes.
(d) Profile of South African student
White students live in houses close to the campus and are studying away from home by choice. They are usually not on financial aid, and invariably have part-time jobs as waitressws, shop assistants, etc, to earn pocket money and to contribute towards paying expenses. They are independent and self-assured. They are found in all disciplines, especially males in Science, Engineering and Architecture. There is some racial friction in clubs and societies, and to a limited extent in student government bodies, where blacks dominate. They participate a lot in sport.
Indian students live at home some distance from campus; they travel by public transport or by family car. Many privileged students have their own cars. Few are on financial aid. The wealthy ones study away from home by choice. They study and "play" in groups (good gender mix), and hardly participate in clubs and societies or student government bodies. They mainly study Commerce, Law and Medicine (both genders).
95% of black students live in residences, mainly on financial aid. They mainly study Law, Social Science and Humanities. Females study Nursing and Teaching. Especially the males participate in student government bodies. There is a high attrition rate.
The white student population has decreased because of perception that NSFAS funding targets the poorest. Middle-class families experience problems to qualify for NSFAS funding.
(e) Student debt
When assisting the poorest of the poor with financial aid, it is important to note that the Finance Division has reported that more than 704 students owed more than R100 000. The highest debt of any one student was R177 128.
(f) Existing administrative mechanisms for disbursement of NSFAS funds
The university has not experienced any difficulties with existing NSFAS administrative systems. The problem alluded to in a letter from the Minister of Education to the chairperson of the NSFAS Board (time between registration and disbursement of funds) was not a serious issue, as, according to the university's assessment, the scheme was being run in a very professional and highly competent manner.
(g) Size and coverage of loan
The maximum limit of R16 000 of an NSFAS loan did not adequately accommodate the actual study costs experienced by students at a residential university. Tuition and accommodation fees alone could be near R20 000 at 2001 rates, while the full costs, books and other necessary living expenses, could be nearer to R30 000. This clearly prejudiced the neediest students, who required loan funding from other sources to meet their obligations - funding which might not be offered on the favourable terms and repayments conditions applicable to NSFAS awards. A loan should be able to cover all fees at any of the institutions.
They have received petitions from students who were unable to repay loans due to unemployment, owing to them being black-listed by credit bureaux.
(h) Eligibility criteria
Based on their experience, they would like attention to be given to the following:
* Expand the range of post-graduate courses for which NSFAS awards may be made, while acknowledging the commitment of the NSFAS to assist talented and needy students to enter tertiary institutions.
* Consider making awards to permanent residents who are not South African citizens. The restriction prejudices students from other African countries who have South Africa as their home and have been accorded permanent resident status.
* Staff and students have experienced that while the most needy students benefit greatly from the application of the means test, certain categories of students are placed in a difficult position - small families with an income above R50 000 (often single parents with one breadwinner) often find that assessed funds are beyond their reach, and that they are effectively ineligible for funding.
Eligibility criteria should look at funding postgraduate students, in accordance with the National Plan outlined by the Minister.
There must be uniformity in the monitoring and implementation of the policy at all institutions, and NSFAS policies should be be reviewed continuously.
(i) Targeting priority fields of study
According to Rev Ngomane, it will be more appropriate and more effective for institutions themselves, rather than the NSFAS, to target priority fields of study in line with national policy. The discretion and flexibility that will be needed to successfully implement this aspect of national policy, would be very difficult to accommodate if driven by a centralised funding agency such as the NSFAS.
6. Excellence and relevance in research - official view by Prof S S Abdool Karim
(a) Research grants and contracts
The increase in grants is built largely on the university's reputation and on donations attracted by it: 1995 - R4 million; 1996 - R50 million; 1997 - R65 million; 1998 - R83 million; 1999 - R105 million; and 2000 - R165 million. International research grants amounted to R30 million.
(b) Research strategy
In response to a rapid changing research environment, their research support strategy reflects the imperatives of the South African national system of innovation within which the higher education system is located.
The university's research committee provides support to:
* Outstanding academics that undertake high quality basic and applied research and other creative work that produces academic publications or their recognised equivalent, like Dr N Ggaleni, Prof P Berjak (on seed technology); Prof J Moodley (on mothers dying during child birth because of hypertension); and Prof K Durrheim (racism and identity - geographies of racial exclusions).
* The centre of research excellence, which enjoys national and international recognition and draws on researchers in a broad range of disciplines across the university.
* Increased investment in attracting, retaining and training young academics to provide a new generation of researchers.
* Research with community partners.
Collaborations such as these strengthen the research ethos because they contribute to the university's commitment to socially responsive science and scholarships. They are now trying to address local demand to develop new knowledge.
(c) HIV/AIDS
They actively support AIDS research, both through the Africa Centre for Population Studies and Reproductive Health and the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division. It has been noted with concern that HIV/AIDS will have a serious impact on the ability of a large number of people to access higher education. The age group 18 to 24, traditional cohort of university students, is seriously at risk and disadvantaged communities particularly will be affected. There is a great deal of student awareness programmes on the pandemic.
G. University of the Witwatersrand - 6 August 2001
1. Official overview by Vice-Chancellor, Prof N Reid
Prof Reid joined WITS in 2001. The institution's priority is transformation and it has made progress, particularly with staff. They are working on schemes to fast-track the appointment of blacks to managerial positions. 50% of academic appointments have been blacks, but they were appointed to middle management. There are vacancies in some faculties but WITS is struggling to get South Africans to fill them (e.g. they are looking for a Zoology lecturer with a Ph D, but most applicants are from Asia).
WITS is committed to supplementing and assisting disadvantaged students and to ensuring that this be accessible to them. 57% of the students are black and 47% are female. 70% come from Gauteng and 30% from outside. There are students from SADC countries and from the rest of Africa. They hope to expand and admit students from beyond Africa so as to embrace the spirit of globalisation. The curriculum has to incorporate Africanism, bearing in mind the colonialism that Africa had experienced.
(a) Financial assistance
WITS has received R27 million from the government for 2000-01.
(b) Bridging programmes
WITS has for many years been concerned about student access to various faculties and about problems that students from a disadvantaged background experience when they are accepted into the university. This has resulted in a number of bridging programmes, some of which were initiated 25 years ago. These programmes were initially designed to bridge the great divide between school and university. The bridging courses served the purpose and helped many students who had been admitted.
More recently, with the changing demographics of WITS' student population, the fact that there were many students from a disadvantaged background and a very poor primary and secondary educational system, WITS realised that there was an urgent need to reassess student access to a tertiary education qualification. The faculties were restructured and reduced from nine to five.
(c) Faculties
The five new faculties are:
Commerce, Law and Management
Engineering and the Built Environment
Health Sciences
Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
Science
Each faculty has educational officers who establish mechanisms to facilitate and allow students into their academic programmes, students who would not automatically gain access because of their secondary school achievements.
2. Commerce, Law and Management
Mathematics and Science are entrance requirements for B Com Accounting. Few students enroll for this degree. Those who do not qualify to study B Com Accounting, are allowed to do a two-year bridging course.
(a) Commerce Development Programmes
Since 1996, the Commerce Faculty has experienced significant change in the constitution of its student body. Increasing numbers of African, Coloured and Indian students are being admitted, some of whom do not meet the automatic entry requirements and a number of whom are from previously disadvantaged educational backgrounds.
The Commerce Development Programmes unit (CDP unit) was formally established in 1997 to facilitate and co-ordinate the anticipated transformation in academic development needs of both students and staffing of the faculty. Thus far it has accommodated about 430 students, registered for the extended curriculum B Com degree. The registration figure for the Commerce Skills course for 2001 was 81 students.
(b) Graduation rate of CB402 students: 1997 intake
Data was collected and collaborated in a longitudinal study of students registered for CB402 for the first time in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The first CDP-extended curriculum students completed their four-year degrees in 2000. The student intake for CB402 in 1997 was 113. According to statistics supplied, 14 graduated, 64 dropped out, 12 students were excluded, 11 moved to other faculties and 18 were still completing their degrees.
(c) Extended Curriculum B Com degree
In contrast to other tertiary CDP initiatives, a bridging course for previously educationally disadvantaged students seeking entry to the faculty was not considered appropriate, hence a formal four-year extended curriculum B Com degree structure has been introduced. It is structured in such a way that first-level courses are split over two years. During the first year, a student is required to take a specially designed course in Commercial Skills.
The CDP assists with academic development of the annual intake of extended curriculum students. It also functions as a research and advisory resource for academic staff in teaching departments to address mainstream teaching and learning problems.
(d) Entry requirements
To meet the automatic admission requirements for B Com, an applicant needs:
* A total of 23+ points for matric subjects.
* Mathematics at higher grade or 60% (C) at standard grade.
To be accepted for the extended curriculum degree, an applicant needs:
* A total of 17+ points for matric subjects.
* To have come from a previously disadvantaged educational background. Preference is given to applicants from ex-DET schools.
* Those who do not meet the minimum mathematics requirements, are required to register for and pass Foundation Mathematics, a course designed to provide students with the knowledge and confidence to proceed to computational Mathematics.
(e) School of Law
The School of Law does not have a formal bridging programme, but offers an extended LLB to a limited number of disadvantaged students. This LLB is normally offered over four years. Courses offered are in line with the demand in the economy.
3. Engineering and the Built Environment
Learners are admitted into this faculty on the basis of their Grade 12 results. Common requirements for admission include mathematics and competency in English. With most of the schools, Physical Science is a further requirement for admission.
The faculty ensures that learners from disadvantaged backgrounds have a wide range of career opportunities. Selection and placement tests and interviews are held by the faculty to ensure that alternative admission is administered. If learners have lower points than required, this alternative admission system allows them to enter a different school in the faculty.
In some schools though, they can enter the Foundation Programme directly, while in others they can enter into the main stream directly and then be directed to the Foundation Programme after the first series of tests written in April. These programmes take the form of an extended curriculum, where the first year of academic study is extended over two years with a wide range of academic development programmes to develop competencies.
The faculty does recognise that Mathematics has a restricted number of candidates, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, for entry. It also recognises that Mathematics at secondary school level has not necessarily provided the required competencies for academic success. At the beginning the success rate of the special selection tests was 23%; now it has increased to 60%, especially for students from disadvantaged communities.
4. Health Sciences
There is a new curriculum for medical students doing practical in Primary Health Care. Arrangements have been made with North West, the Northern Province and Mpumalanga.
(a) Problems experienced
* Students from a disadvantaged background are not prepared to deal with the high pressures of tertiary institutions.
* First- and second-year students experience a 50% failure rate, due to the fact that they have a poor background in Mathematics and Science. WITS has had to change its entry requirements to medical school and this has changed the number of years one has to study for a medical degree to four intensive years. The curriculum has been changed as well.
* Students from disadvantaged schools have difficulty in asking questions in a large lecture hall. This makes it difficult to pick up problems they may experience. WITS has decided to make group small - about 8 students per class.
* WITS has developed contact with hospitals in Mpumalanga and the Northern Province for graduates to work there.
(b) College of Science
The College of Science was started in 1991. Every year about 130 students are admitted to the stream that leads to Science. The two-year programme also offers computer skills, library skills, etc. More students can be admitted, but most students do not do well in Mathematics.
5. Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
Entry requirements in this faculty have been changed. Curriculum specialists are located in the different faculties, who are involved in curricula review and restructuring of education diplomas and degrees. Many of the staff are involved in producing text books across the spectrum.
Five computer centres have been set up to allow teachers and students to have access to computers. Teachers have been allowed to upgrade themselves in their area of study or interest. For example, teachers without matric (PTC) but with many years of working experience may study certain courses.
Applicants older than 23 who do not meet the entry requirements, may study for the four-year degree or three-year diploma.
6. Faculty of Science
The faculty has the following branches: Biological Science; Molecular Science; Geo-Science; and Pure Mathematics.
An E in higher grade Mathematics is the entry requirement. Should applicant not have this, a special selection test is offered to allow them to gain access. Those who pass the selection test, are interviewed and potential is identified. 60 to 80 students are allowed to study through a foundation programme to improve their success rate.
WITS encourages organisations like Eskom to allow their bursars to do a two-year postgraduate degree in Engineering while being paid 75% of their salary.
7. University Institutional Forum
The forum has about 45 members (four members of the SRC; SASCO is also represented), and meets once a quarter or whenever there is a need. The term of office is three years. It advises the Council on issues affecting the university i.e. transformation and HIV/AIDS.
Most students are not aware of how the forum can assist them. It is planning on improving communication with students.
Plan of action
The Forum needs:
* To redefine the university's role.
* To improve its communication strategy.
* To improve staff morale.
8. Student Representative Council
The SRC has 15 members, five white, six black and four others. Issues that students deal with, are different from issues dealt by students in previous years. Some of these are HIV/AIDS, second language learning and media on campus. The SRC has delivered on their manifesto of promises. It has solved some of student governance problems. Students have been involved in restructuring and transforming the university. The SRC also ensures that the university does not exclude students.
9. HIV/AIDS
The SRC initiated the HIV/AIDS tests at WITS. Members of the Council have gone for HIV/AIDS tests but have not released their results. Their main goal is to have students go for HIV/AIDS tests. Enough condoms have been distributed and the university has been involved in formulating an HIV/AIDS policy.
10. Sexual harassment
WITS has employed a part-time sexual harassment officer; they cannot afford a full-time one. Those who feel that they have been sexually harassed, can consult the office. There are statistics available that suggest sexual harassment and rapes do occur.
11. Language
WITS is addressing the language problem and foundation courses are offered for disadvantaged students. A language survey to determine the language problem experienced by students has been conducted. The Department of Education does not consider sign language an entrant requirement.
12. Racism
Students are not willing to come forward and report incidences of racism, as they are scared of being victimised. WITS does not allow initiation of students.
13. Postgraduate students
They do not have a platform from which to raise their concerns, and they do not receive adequate funding for their studies.
14. Key people from bridging and foundation programmes
The needs of the students who do not meet entry requirements, are addressed. Students who experience personal and academic problems, are counselled.
15. Unversity Research Committee
Research in South Africa is funded by Science Councils. WITS is trying to identify black women academics. The research committee has proposed a capacity development scheme to support and promote blacks, women and the youth.
Challenges in increased involvement of Blacks/women
Academics are not paid well and this makes it difficult to attract them to the university. The pressure is on black graduates to contribute to their families financially once they are qualified.
The Faculty of Science, followed by Engineering, produces a number of publications. WITS has a system of senior mentorship, where experienced scientists are funded from outside to train young scientists. The Nuclear Physics Institute has signed agreements for exchange students with Zimbabwe.
It is difficult to access funds for a publication, as you have to be on a list of Research Journals, which have not been updated for five years.
The Faculty of Engineering is fully committed to research, but it is difficult for the university in general to retain black students to enter postgraduate studies, as they prefer to work after completing their junior degree, due to the fact that their parents or families expect them to pay towards the studies of siblings still at school. They either join the public or private sector because education institutions offer lower salaries.
16. National Plan Co-ordinating Committee - merging of institutions
The institution is not scared of change, and for the past three years has engaged in transformation. Informal discussions are taking place on a possible merger. However, international experience shows that a merger of institutions succeeds when there is enough time to do it, but does not succeed when forced. It has shown that institutions like WITS should strengthen its strategic alliance rather than merge.
WITS does acknowledge that Johannesburg needs more than one university, but is not sure whether a merger will address this need. The merger could be done at programme level. Their concern is that if pushed to merger, they will end up not addressing their problems and will not be able to focus on transformation. Nevertheless, WITS is willing to engage in policy discussions.
17. Postgraduate Association
Previously there was no way for postgraduate students to channel their grievances. The Postgraduate Association does not have a seat in the Senate. There are not enough funds to promote research at WITS, as the government is no longer funding the institution properly. This makes it impossible for WITS to sustain itself without proper promotion of research.
18. National Student Financial Aid Scheme
For many years funds have been allocated to needy students registering at institutions of higher learning. Since the inception of the NSFAS, WITS has administered these funds in accordance with criteria laid down by the NSFAS as well as WITS's General Rules of Practice for awarding University Administered Bursaries and Loans (for 2001).
(a) Size allocation per student
The maximum allocation to each student has increased steadily each year from R10 000 in 1996 to R16 000 in 2001. The maximum income level has been increased to R130 000 per year to assist middle-income students who face financial constraints. Lower income levels were from R10 000 to R15 000 per year. This enabled the extremely needy students to be assisted.
(b) Eligibility
* Students cannot access NSFAS funds unless they are registered. It is the Department of Education that has set this criteria. However, WITS does waver registration fees if a students is on the NSFAS, while other universities do not allow that.
* The duration of financial assistance is equal to the length of the degree plus one year (up to a maximum of seven years in the case of medical students).
* In certain circumstances where a student has already qualified for an undergraduate degree, he or she may not receive additional funding. However, WITS and the Oppenheimer Trust have established a loan scheme to be administered by the NSFAS.
* Difficulty is experienced by students who do not qualify for maximum funds but require additional funding for accommodation and subsistence. If a student is in a residence, the allowance pays for accommodation, so there are no surplus funds available for subsistence. If the student uses private accommodation, the allowance is used to payment the rent, and therefore no subsistence is available.
* In 2001 there were roll-over funds, which assisted 690 students who otherwise would have been excluded.
(c) Disabled students
WITS encourages access of disabled students, regardless of a lack of resources.
* These students experience specific problems as a result of their disabilities. In most cases they are enrolled on special/extended curricula which require that the period of study and thus the loan period be extended. The difficulty comes in where a student has surpassed the number of years allowed but has not finished the degree. Although they are denied funding, it is felt that a disabled student should be assisted to study further. However, there have been no funds allocated for this purpose. In addition, disabled students often require specialised material, which at this stage are not funded by the NSFAS.
* The Dean of Student Affairs discussed these points with Mr R Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of the NSFAS, who agreed to take the matter up with the NSFAS Board.
* Disabled students are assisted by the university's Roll-over Loan Programme. This programme was started in 1993 to assist needy students on financial aid who were unable to pay fees not covered by their packages. Since then the programme has grown from assisting only a handful of students to assisting 690 students in 2000-01. It includes the granting of additional NSFAS loans and is aimed at students who are unable to pay the balance of their fees at the end of the academic year. Provided they have passed and have not received the maximum NSFAS loans, these students' applications are reassessed and they are granted additional loan funding according to their financial need rating. Foreign students, including those with refugee status, SADC students (unless they become South African citizens) and part-time students are not eligible for loans.
The NSFAS requires that all students make some contribution towards their costs. Because of this requirement, all students applying for the Roll-over Loan Programme must have made a contribution towards their fees accounts, according to their individual circumstances. WITS also provides a Service Bursary Scheme, whereby students may work in departments within the university to assist them to make their own contributions. Wits also receive donated funds and funds from the University Council. These funds are used to top up student packages with bursaries. Students are not required to repay this portion to the university.
H. Potchefstroom University (PU) - 7 August 2001
1. Traditional ethos and transformation
The School of Theology was founded in 1869 in Burgersdorp. In 1919 the institution became a University College for Christian Higher Education (CHE). It became a University of South Africa College in 1921, being called a University College in 1951. The university has had one satellite campus since 1966. More blacks started studying at PU since 1967. Residences were opened to all races in 1990. There are about 2 000 students on the Vaal Triangle Campus.
2. Vision
A university of high quality with a Christian foundation, entrepreneurally orientated and responsive to the requirements of the age, the country and the nation.
3. Transformation
The transformation process started early in the 1990s. Prior to 1994 they met with different stakeholders, and various issues were discussed. Before transformation took place, there were tension and uncertainty among staff, and there are still tension.
In the mid-90s the composition of the council was changed, as it was dominated by whites. It contained 17 white males. 30% of the members were internal members and 70% were external. Three were Senate members.
In 1993 the council consisted of one principal, four vice-principals, two Senate members, one employee, one student and external members. An agreement was reached to enlarge the council to 23 members, consisting of 14 white males, seven black males and two white females.
In 1999 further changes with regard to gender and the number of employees were made in respect of the council. It consisted of 17 whites, six blacks and five females.
Principal - 1; Vice-Principal - 2; Management Committee; Senate - 2; Other employees - 1; Institutional Forum - 1; Students - 2.
(a) Student numbers
1919-1965 - students numbered about 2 000. In 2001 there were 13 327 students at PU and the Vaal Triangle - 75% white, 25% black, 43% males and 57% females. 45% are from North West and 55% from other provinces and other countries. Postgraduate students are 3 490 (about 26%) and undergraduate students are 9 837 (about 74%).
(b) Massification
The number of students increased as the years went by and telematic learning systems have been developed. PU's telematics results have been better than the results of students studying on campus (contact students). They are also better than those of students studying at UNISA, probably due to the fact that the majority of distance learners are mature and dedicated. Telematic, distant and contact students all write the same examinations.
PU has been used to develop a telematics learning system, and its learning centres quite often operate in concert with other institutions to enhance education. These institutions are all over South Africa: Northern Province - 7; Mpumalanga - 21; North West - 13; Northern Cape - 5; Eastern Cape - 12; Western Cape - 12; KwaZulu-Natal - 12; Gauteng - 1.
This programme is meant for students who, for whatever reason, cannot attend residential institutions. PU is trying to attract more black students to balance with the country's demographics. Black students who qualify for admission are not turned away. PU does not prevent students from other denominations (not Christian) to study there. They are satisfied with the results of telematic learning systems, and has taken steps to ensure that private providers make the programme a success.
PU has nine faculties and 13 research focus areas. They also offer outreach programmes - postgraduates engaged in community services. Research is conducted to assist communities in respect of nutrition, legal aid, etc. The Theology Faculty has more black students than any other faculty.
Twice a year school teachers enroll for diploma and postgraduate diploma courses offered by PU to upgrade them in Mathematics and Science. About 1 000 black teachers have been upgraded by them over the past four years. These teachers are allowed to use the university's laboratory facilities, as most of their schools do not have laboratories.
(c) Institutional culture
The language medium of PU is Afrikaans. About 6 000 students study in English. 90% of all textbooks are in English and lectures are in Afrikaans. All examination papers are in Afrikaans and English, and students may answer questions in the language of their choice. In the Vaal Triangle, 50% of the lectures are in Afrikaans and 50% in English.
Prof Zibi organised morning classes to teach management Setswana, which helped them to be sensitive to other languages. PU is opposed to the merger of institutions.
They have a negotiated statute, which came about as a result of transformation. The statute will be revisited in some technical respects once the private acts are scrapped. Lectures have never been disrupted due to unrest.
(d) Disabilities
PU has developed material to enable blind students to study. Different buildings have been made to cater for persons with disability (e.g. toilets, off-ramps, lecture halls, etc). Disabled staff members who cannot drive or use the computer, are assisted.
(e) Language
PU attempts to ensure that language is not a barrier for students. A language-assisting facility has been installed to assist students with reading skills. Computer courses are offered for all students. The university feels very strongly about Afrikaans, but will not exclude or discriminate against other languages. There are students trained to assist students who cannot cope with the content of courses.
Most students attending the satellite campus and distance programmes are working people with their own families to support, and thus cannot afford to attend full-time lectures.
(g) Student affairs
There is a high level of representation of students on different committees. PU regards students as equals in all committees they are serving on. SRC members are members of the Senate, the Executive Council and the Council. The management does not interfere with student politics, and students independently deal with their affairs.
(h) SRC
SASCO was not part of the meeting, as its members were picketing outside the premises when the delegation arrived. The delegation met with members of the Vaal Triangle's SRC and PU's SRC. There were tension on campus when the SRC chairperson started studying at Vaal Triangle. No one was prepared to address issues. Change began when students started questioning what was happening.
* Finances
Many measures are in place to assist students financially. It has always been a problem for students to pay for registration.
* Language
Students tried to establish a forum to discuss issues - a student parliament. This parliament sits once a term, depending on the need. Some programmes are offered in English. Evening lectures are mainly for part-time students, but full-time students are allowed to attend them. Study material is in both languages. Sometimes, at Vaal Triangle, students are allowed to decide on the language they prefer to be lectured in. They participate in lectures in a language of their choice.
Each campus has its own SRC. Potch has 18 portfolios and Vaal Triangle eight. The student body has eight portfolios, among others Sport, Culture, PRO, Secretary, Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. It is directly involved in assisting students.
* NSFAS
Funds are only made available to students after they have registered at Potch or Vaal Triangle. Students cannot access funds if their fees have not been paid. Students do not abuse the NSFAS, as the NSFAS targets needy students. Vaal Triangle is a small campus and it is easy to detect needy students. Both SRCs assist in identifying needy students.
* Residences
At Vaal Triangle, residence students are allowed to stay where they want. Most of them socialise with students of their own culture. Black students (five years ago) pressurised management to be accommodated in their own residences, but it was refused. Allegations exist that there is an element of racial discrimination at university residences. At Potch students are allowed to stay where they want, taking cognisance of the fact that mono-cultural residences have not been allowed to develop.
* HIV/AIDS
There is a support group that deals with AIDS. There are no condoms available on campus, as the distribution of condoms is regarded as contrary to a Christian value system.
(i) Dropouts
PU does not have readily available statistics on the number of academic dropouts. It has no record of students who dropped out because of financial reasons. Those who usually drop out after the first year, do not report or come back, which makes it difficult to trace them.
(j) Orientation/initiation
Initiation is done in a fashion that is comfortable to the students - it is a programme owned by the students.
3. NSFAS
The Financial Support Services Department at PU is the vital link between the NSFAS and students.
(a) State of NSFAS IN 2001
In 2001 PU received R14 133 522, and R11 209 355 was allocated. NSFAS 2001: R11 140 000; NSFAS Teachers Education 2001: R2 484 522; NSFAS x 2000: R412 000; NSFAS Thintana 2001: R97 000.
Total number of students assisted: 1 096; population distribution: 65% whites and 35% blacks receive the funds. 20% of black students and 7% of white students receive NSFAS funds. 96% of black first-year students studying towards a degree in education receive NSFAS funds for teacher education.
(b) Management of NSFAS at PU
The NSFAS is managed on a three-system approach - marketing, production and financial strategy.
To market the NSFAS, the university:
* Advertises in the student newspaper, Die Wapad.
* Holds meetings with Deans, Directors of Schools, lecturers, house committee members and the SRC to sensitise on financially needy students.
* Uses the Internet, e-mail and groupwise to inform students who have access to electronic media.
* Liaises with the Financial Department (Accounts) to identify students with financial problems.
* Makes first-year students aware of the NSFAS.
* Liaises with individual students to identify more financially needy students.
Students who receive NSFAS funds, receive funds that cover all academic costs. PU does not return roll-over funds to the NSFAS, as they are aware that at the beginning of every year there are students who need financial assistance. These students are allowed to access roll-over NSFAS funds for registration. Only students who meet the academic requirements, can access these funds. PU allocates between R9 000 and R12 000 to each student, but priority is given to the needy. The NSFAS is satisfied with the way in which their funds are administered.
2. Entry requirements, bridging programme and publication of requirements for access
(a) PU offers a Technical College Programme for students who do not meet entry requirements. These access programmes are offered in Rustenburg, Vereeniging, Van der Bijl Park, Springs, Benoni, Potchefstroom and Sasolburg.
(b) They offer Saturday classes (and has been doing so for a number of years) to assist Grade 12 pupils to pass so that they may meet the university's entry requirements.
(c) PU has Student Counselling Services responsible for selecting students, career guidance using psychometric tests, assisting students to cope with their studies psychologically, and offering special administrative tests for students who do not meet entry requirements.
Students who qualify to be admitted to study Engineering have a minimum of 21 points. Students who do not qualify are allowed to write a special admission test in Mathematics. Those who do not pass the test, are allowed to study a two-year course in order to register. About 20 students are allowed to register for a one-year course that will enable them to study Engineering. This course is expensive and costs the university a lot of money. Tests are used to select students to study Pharmacy, Theology and Social Work.
3. SADC students
PU does admit students from SADC countries, but their matric results have to be evaluated by the Matriculation Board. These students are from Zaire, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The university has students from Korea and Britain, who study through telematics. PU has prepared study guidelines that assist distance-learning students. Distance-learning programmes are good programmes, not secondary.
I. University of the North (UNIN) - 8 August 2001
UNIN is a rural university within a predominantly black population. The ratio is 99% black, other races making up the remaining 1%. 55% of the student body are female.
1. Academic sector
There are more females in the top managerial levels. There are more males (321) than females (141), more blacks (296) than whites (147), and only five coloureds and four Indians on the permanent staff of the main campus. On 1 July 2001, a new academic structure was established.
(a) Programmes
UNIN has various formative degrees and diplomas in the following directions:
Arts and Health Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Law
Agriculture, Health and Natural Sciences
Management Sciences
UNIN offers programme-based study directions within two faculties. These programmes will be housed in schools:
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Arts
Social Sciences
Education
Law
Management and Leadership Studies
Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences
Natural and Environmental Sciences
Mathematical Sciences, Computer Studies and Information Technology
Health Sciences
Applied Agriculture Sciences
Mining and Manufacturing Engineering
Research Development
A programme-based study direction was developed in response to the needs in community - UNIN has four research units. To date the focus has been on undergraduate programmes. Postgraduate programmes as well as research have always taken a backseat. UNIN now intends to increase efforts towards greater student intakes at postgraduate level. There are still more males than females, and UNIN wants to put mechanisms in place to attract more females into the research arena.
UNIN has experienced a drastic drop in overall student enrolment and is now in the process of developing strategies to deal with the situation. It identified the following as factors that caused the dramatic drop in enrolment:
* Instability within the institution as a result of the active involvement of its student body in national politics.
* Lack of viable marketable academic programmes.
* The opening of alternative institutions of higher learning, especially white universities and technikons, since 1994.
* The development of an increased interest in technikons, compared to universities. Lack of adequate financial support for students in need, especially first-time entrant and postgraduate levels.
* Low matriculation results, especially at university entry level in the Northern Province.
* Lack of student retention mechanisms.
* Lack of competitive recruitment strategies.
* Poor image of the institution.
(b) Disabled students
UNIN caters for disabled students and partially sighted students. It has the best equipped and running disabled students unit, which will accommodate the needs of the disabled. Plans are afoot to put up a special building to house the unit. Physical facilities around the main campus have been improved to meet the needs of this sector of the student community.
UNIN has a good programme for the deaf, visually and mobile impaired students. Funds have been raised to build a unit for disabled students. However, UNIN cannot afford to buy furniture for them, and appeal to the government to assist.
(c) Recruitment
To attract students, UNIN advertises in both the printed and the electronic media. It is difficult for the university to attract postgraduate students, as it cannot afford to offer bursaries in competition with traditional white universities.
(d) NSFAS - implementation and limitations
* Ideally the funding should enable needy students to overcome their financial difficulties and further their education. Regrettably this is not the case, as the NSFAS is not able to fund students to the full tune of what they require, since there are minimum and maximum allocations prescribed by the NSFAS Board. This means then it does not cater for all students' needs. Since its inception, the NSFAS has never been able to pay all fees for that particular year for students because of the limited funding and the number of students who qualify for financial assistance according to NSFAS requirements.
* NSFAS funds are allocated to 60% females and 40% males. Students who do not meet NSFAS requirements are not allowed access to the funds. NSFAS allocations are made after a student has registered.
* The success rate of students receiving NSFAS funds is about 60%.
(e) NSFAS -implication for UNIN
UNIN depends mainly on the NSFAS to fund students, as it does not have reserves like other institutions, especially historically advantaged institutions. It has been a trend that, since the establishment of the NSFAS, UNIN has not been able to pay the allocation prescribed by the NSFAS because of limited funding. The amount allocated to an institution is divided by the number of students who qualify for financial assistance. For example, in the academic year 2000, the maximum allocation recommended by the NSFAS was R14 600, but the maximum allocation that the university could make available, was R8 500 per student. This amount does not even cover the fees fully, let alone meals and book allowance.
The fact that students do not get an allowance for books, could lead to them failing or dropping out.
(f) Means test
* Most institutions use the means test; others use their internal local software as the cut-off point for income. This creates a problem in a sense that the means test is not compulsory, and thus funding to students is not uniform.
* It is not clear whether funding is really received by deserving (poor) students or not, since students do not provide true information about their parents' or guardians' income status. This makes it difficult to assess the authenticity of information given. There is no system which institutions could use to access the parents/guardians information. Most students submit pension slips, and UNIN depends on these submissions to select students.
* Students studying for a two-year diploma at UNIN, do not qualify for financial assistance. They struggle to get financial assistance, as UNIN does not have funds to allocate to them.
* The NSFAS sponsors undergraduate students and only a few postgraduate degrees and diplomas. UNIN has to cater for students who do not qualify for NSFAS funds.
(g) UNIN'S contribution
UNIN has its own Student Financial Aid Trust, established in 1996. The trust awards bursaries to needy students in Pharmacy, Optometry, Agriculture, Natural Sciences, Management Sciences and Medical Sciences. Since 1999, the trust has allocated bursaries to the tune of R600 000. At the time of the visit the trust hoped to raise R1 million before the end of 2001.
(h) Student Representative Assembly
* Students are not happy with the way NSFAS funds are allocated - these are allocated to students after they have registered. This means that students who cannot afford to pay registration fees, are unable to access funds and are not admitted.
* Funds (about R2 million) have been withdrawn from UNIN because they were not utilised by the university. UNIN's Finance Section did not have a mechanism to allocate NSFAS funds to students. This happened even though students were sent home because they could not pay the registration fee.
* Funding is allocated mostly to students studying Science and Technology - students studying other courses are neglected.
* Most students are black.
* UNIN has a programme to ensure that SADC students are recruited and attracted.
* The SRC is now referred to as the Student Representative Assembly, and its constitution has been changed.
* There is no clear mechanism to ensure that university debts paid by students go to the university and not to lawyers.
* UNIN is apprehensive of paying for first-year students, as there is no guarantee that those students will get a 50% pass.
(i) Administration and technical staff
* Funding allocated to UNIN is not adequate, and thus some students have to drop out.
* About 4 000 students applied to study at UNIN, but not all could register, as most of them could not afford registration fees. This has resulted in a significant drop in the numbers of students registered. Some staff members had to be retrenched, because there were not enough students to lecture.
* UNIN is unable to attract students with good matric results. It is only the funded traditional white universities that are able to attract such students, as they can offer them bursaries.
* UNIN is unable to attract students of colour, as meals offered at the university are not of good quality.
* 300 Pharmacy applicants were turned away because pharmacy laboratories were small and could not cater for many students.
* UNIN has 600 computers but not enough trainers to train students, as there are not enough funds to pay trainers.
(j) Concerned Lecturers and Academic Staff Support Group (CLASSG)
* Students are unable to access the NSFAS for registration. Most academically qualifying students cannot afford to pay registration fees, which makes it difficult for UNIN to attract academically viable students.
* UNIN offers a good bridging programme, UNIFY. The Senate has agreed to expand the programme to other fields of study.
* UNIN adheres to the National Plan on Higher Education.
* Students registered in 2001 are committed in studying because they are encouraged to make a contribution towards their studies. They have to make some payment to register.
* Politicians should assist UNIN to improve its culture of learning.
* UNIN offers a community outreach programme -students cannot graduate without doing community work.
* UNIN conducts research for the government.
(k) Entry requirements
It is important for students to understand the language used in different courses. For example, students studying Science have to attend a language course for Science to enable them to understand the course. This course has been offered since the 1970s. UNIN addresses issues of language and culture in cases where the medium of instruction is a second or third language.
2. Visit to experimental farm - offical view by Prof Fritzgerald, Administrator: UNIN
There is tension between UNIN and the Administrator. Prof Fritzgerald is working hard to ensure that this does not affect UNIN's functioning. According to him, the culture of learning has to be improved, and politicians could assist in this regard.
J. Recommendations
1. In keeping with the objective of specialist schools, centres of excellence and a focused vision, the above-mentioned institutions should look at placing greater funding and resources in the particular speciality towards which they seem to be moving:
(a) Peninsula Tecnikon is moving towards digital technology and engineering, thus it should specialise and make this their priority, with advanced courses being offered so that they can produce not only computer operators but also software and hardware technologists.
(b) To protect the valuable work kept in the Research Centre at the University of Fort Hare, it should be microfilmed and digitised.
(c) The funding formula for universities should be reviewed; the current year enrolment should be used as a yardstick, not the enrolment of two years ago. The formula should also provide for financial assistance for needy students.
(d) The Department of Education should review the formula for funding institutions of higher learning with the aim to find ways in which to address the neglect of previously disadvantaged institutions and to empower them to fulfil their missions.
(e) Special financial assistance to UNITRA is of the essence to upgrade their medical faculty.
(f) The Department of Education should substantially increase the NSFAS budget to accommodate more students and to effectively and realistically open the doors of higher learning.
(g) As students from SADC countries are not eligible for NSFAS funds, a clear policy in respect of assisting them should be developed.
(h) The University of the North needs to open a Mining Engineering Department or Faculty, as the entire Northern Province has a mining potential not fully utilised.
(i) History as a discipline needs to be prioritised to realise the authentic and correct history of our people in South Africa.
(j) African Languages need to be revitalised in our institutions of higher learning.
(k) The National Research Foundation should facilitate research and training of postgraduate students at historically disadvantaged institutions.
(l) Special focus should be given to Potchefstroom University in respect of language, gender, religion and representativity in order to speed up the process of transformation there.
K. Concluding remarks
The Committee observed with appreciation the general stability in the institutions visited. There seems to be relative co-operation between stakeholders, with institutional forums working together well. Most of them seem to be making significant strides in keeping up with transformation policies. All agree that the NSFAS plays a big role in facilitating many students from poor communities to access institutions of higher learning.
L. List of participants
Peninsula Technikon
Mrs V Elissac, Public Relations Officer
Prof B Figaji, Vice-Chancellor
Prof J Tromp, Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Mr G Reynecke, Head: Financial Aid
Prof H Fransman, Director: Educational Development Centre
Mr M Clarke, Chief Director: Finance and Administration Ms C Jacobs, Language Co-ordinator: Engineering
Mr E Sebokedi, Deputy Head: Student Affairs
Mr S Ndabezitha, Chief Director: Human Resources and Support Services
Mr J Garraway, Educational Development Centre
Mr L Himunchul, Educational Development Centre
Mr T Titus, Head: Student Affairs
Mr B Jodwana, SRC: Engineering Officer
Mr T Damoyi, SRC: President
Adv L Harper, Special Assistant to Vice-Chancellor
University of Fort Hare
Prof D Swartz, Vice-Chancellor
Prof D O Okeya, Executive Dean: Science and Technology Mr M S Silinga, Academic Cluster Leader
Mr N Ruthman, Co-ordinator: Vision, Mission and Governance
Ms Z Ndlovu, Co-ordinator: Finance and Revenue Strategies
Prof R Bally, University Planner
Ms L T Ngalo-Morrison, Dean of Students
Mr S Kobese, Community partnership co-ordinator
Mrs A H N Mbete, Director: Human Resources
Mr L Jacobs, Director: Marketing and Communications
Mr L Sogayise, Rural Action Programme Co-ordinator
Mr M Moodley, Technology Support Centre
Mr A Gwabeni, Institutional Forum Administrator: Academic Cluster
Mr P Cole, Economic Development Consultant
Mr N Dladla, Dean; Management, Development and Commerce Mr L Mabuyane, SRC President
Mr N R Mboniswa, Administrator
Mr M W Magwa, SPC member
Institutional Forum
Represented by General Student Council, South Africa Student Congress, United Democratic Students' Movement Organisation, National Tertiary education staff union, Pan Africanist Student Movement Association, Azanian Student Congress, NEHAWU
Ms Memani-Balani, Mr S Muzamba, Mr S Vamva, Mr N L Lufefe, Mr S P Sitole, Mr V T Gqube, Ms L D Khoabai, Mr M P Mhlanti, Mr V Peter, Mrs Bokwe, Ms T Heshlula, Mr L M Jakatyana, Mr S R Matshoba, Mr A B Magoloba, Mr E Maki, Mr S M Goqwana, Mr B Sixaba, Mr T L Bhengu, Mr L M Bara, Mr S Tini, Mr L S Toti
University of Transkei
Prof N Morgan, University Administrator
Mr P O Chabane, Special Assistant to Administration
Prof C Z Gebeda, Manager: TELP
Dr S M Matoti, Planner
Prof J M Noruwana, Vice Principal
Prof E L Mazwai, Dean: Health Sciences
Prof N J N Mijere, Acting Dean: Faculty of Arts
Prof A Coetier, Acting Vice Dean: Arts
Prof M Mahabir, Dean: Faculty of Economic Sciences
Mr P K Gqulu
Mr L H Kentane, Vice Dean: Education
Prof S V S Ngubentombi, Dean: Education
Rev Dr W M Guwa, Dean of Students
Mr F H Mbali, Member of IF
Dr W M Kwetana, NTESU
Ms S N Nkanyuza, President: NTESU
Prof J A Faniran
Prof B S Nikani, Dean: Science
Ms K Kirishanlal-Gopal
Mr B Mabentsela
Mr A W Anderson, UASA
Mr N P Tyamzashe, Nehawu
Mr Z Madlongolwane, Nehawu
Mr M Somkoko, Nehawu
Mr M Mboni, SRC
Mr V P Zoko, SRC
Mr M Sodlodla, SRC
University of Natal
Prof B M Gourley, Vice-Chancellor
Mr P M Malgas, Registrar
Dr D Rajab, Dean of Student Development
Prof S S Abdool Karim, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Mr T M Willis, Dean of Students
Prof E A Ngara, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students and Transformation)
Prof A Bawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics)
Rev J Ngomane, Director: Financial Aid
University of the Witwatersrand
Prof Max Price, Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences
Mr Makhukhu Mampuru, National Department of Education
Ms Wendy Orr, Wits Transformation and Employment Equity
Prof Charles Landy, Acting Dean, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
Mr Tony Lelliott, Acting Dean: Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
Prof Colin J Wright, Dean: Faculty of Science
Prof David Solomon, Acting Dean: Commerce, Law and Management
Prof Norman Reid, Vice Chancellor
Mr John Kuhn, SRC UF Deputy Chairperson
Mr Steve Lebelo, Wits Foundation
Prof James Fisher, Senate
Ms Jillian Carman, UF Secretary: Convocaetion Executive
Ms Barbara Buntman, Lecturer: Art History
Ms Margaret Orr, Director: Centre for University Learning, Teaching and Development
Ms Kathy Munro, Director: Wits Plus Centre for Part-time Studies
Ms Michele Aucock, Director: Commerce Development Programme
Ms L Murray, Academic Planning Officer (Registrar's Office)
Prof C Eales, Representative: Faculty of Health Sciences
Prof F Maraicano, Representative: Faculty of Science Representative (National Plan Co-ordinating Committee)
Prof L Nongxa, Chairperson: University National Plan Co-ordinating Committee
Prof J Feddenhe, Faculty of CLM
Prof H Janks, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
Prof H M Marques, Faculty of Sciences
Prof Y Ballim, Faculty of Engineeering and Built Environment
Mr D Young, Lecturer and Member of Senate
Ms N Jappie, Support Services, Member of Senate and Dean of Students
Mr A Adamjee, SRC Treasurer
Ms S Goga, SRC Media Officer
Mr I G T Moroeng, Internal Vice-President
Mr J Huddle, SRC Secretary
Mr J Kuhn, SRC Vice-President
Mr N Letshoene, Deputy Chairpersoon: PSA
Mr T Odhiambo, PGA: Projects and Campaigns
Mr M Y Cajee, SRC President
Mr V Black, Head: Financial Aid
Mr A de Wet, Executive Director: Finance
University of Potchefstroom
Mr T Eloff, Principal Designate
Mr A J Viljoen, Vice-Principal
Mr W E Scott, Vice-Principal
Prof M S Zibi, Vice-Principal
Mr Theo Venter, Institutional Forum
Mr P J J Prinsloo, Vice-Principal
Prof H J Reyneke, Dean of Students
Mr J S du Plooy, Head: Financial Support Service
Prof P du Plessis, Director: Academic Services
Prof H N Kotze, Head: Student Counselling Services
Mr T Cato - Deputy Director - Academic Administrator
Mr H Stavast, Director: Student Affairs, Vaal Triangle Campus
Mr S Nsibanyani, SRC Chairperson: Vaal Triangle
Ms H Mulder, SRC Chairperson: Potchefstroom
Ms B Basson, SRC Vice-Chairperson: Potchefstroom
Ms C Dikotsi, SRC: Social Intergration
Prof P Potgieter
University of the North
Prof A L Mawashe, Assistant to the Administrator
Ms K M A Hlane, Acting University Registrar
Ms N O Kwenaite, Public Relations Co-ordinator
Prof P Fritzgerald, Administrator
Mr M C Makhambula, Academic Administrator
Prof N M Mollel, Caretaker Director: School of Social Sciences
Prof S Louw, Languages and Communication Studies
Prof P F Breed, Caretaker Director: Management Sciences
Dr P W Mashela, Caretaker Director: Physical and Mineral Sciences
Adv Phindela, Caretaker Director: Law
Prof G T Mncube, Quality Assurance Manager
Mr W E S Thema, Acting Executive Director: SD and SS
Dr D S Hiss, Caretaker Director: School of Health Sciences
Prof P E Franks
Dr N M Mokgalong, University of the North Academic Staff Association (UNASA)
Mr M J Theman, Caretaker Dean: Humanities
Mr M E Thangeni, Caretaker Director: Mathematics and Sciences
Mr M F Ralenala, School of Education
Mr M M Lemao, NEHAWU
Mr M P Madidimao, NEHAWU
Mr Eric Maimela, Post-Graduate Society Chairperson
Mr T Musolwa, SRA Secretary-General
Ms Sheila Mmusi, National Tertiary Education Staff Union (NTESU)
Mr K D Malele, Deputy President: Internal SRA
Ms N Pitje, Administration and Technical Staff
Mr V D Mabuza, BSA
Mr C I Khanye, Administration and Technical Staff
Mr G M JJIA, National Tertiary Education Staff Union (NTESU)
Prof NL Nkantini, National Tertiary Education Staff Union
Prof P R Franks, University of the North Academic Staff Association (UNASA)
Mr M A Ngoepe, Concerned Lectures and Academic Staff Support Group (CLASSG)