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Pro Vice-Chancellor

The Role of the Pro Vice-Chancellor

  • In its original Latin meaning, the “Pro” in Pro Vice Chancellor means “in the place of” or “on behalf of”. The PVC thus stands in the place of the Vice Chancellor when he or she is not available.

  • UNISA is South Africa’s largest university with a geographical footprint in 50 countries and current student numbers of more than 350,000. This constitutes more than 30% of publicly funded students in South African Higher Education. This means that the PVC holds a position of significant local and international importance.

  • As Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof Baijnath often acts as VC of Unisa, either at official graduation ceremonies, or at the Management Committee of the university or, on official visits locally and abroad.

  •  In addition, the Vice Chancellor and the Pro Vice Chancellor act in concert on behalf of the university and often travel together on strategic visits.  The two offices are designed to work symbiotically to ensure that the vast enterprise that is the university functions coherently and optimally.

  •  The two positions are quite clearly delineated with the VC being the principal and CEO. The VC has ultimate responsibility for the strategic purposes and operations of the university as a whole. The PVC is delegated responsibility for cohering the ICT, Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL), Organizational Architecture (OA), Open Education Resources (OERs), Academic Planning and Procurement streams into a super-nexus that will take Unisa confidently into the digital age.

  • The PVC becomes pivotal in guiding the transformation of the institution to effectively respond to internal and external challenges while ensuring that the institution remains sustainable through the course of massive and unprecedented changes in technology and delivery modes in higher education.

  • The role of the Pro Vice Chancellor is to ensure that all activities that pertain to ODeL, OERs, OA, ICT, Academic Planning and Procurement at the University are executed in an integrated and coordinated manner, consonant with the University’s strategic objectives.

  • In addition to this the Pro Vice Chancellor plays an essential role in establishing value-adding partnerships and networks at a national and international level.