institutional highlights of 2001

Introduction

In terms of scope, diversity and reach, Unisa has firmly secured its status as one of the world’s 12 mega-universities. It serves an enormous student body, totalling 134 706 in the year 2001, and has awarded more than 191 400 degrees and diplomas in the past 35 years.

With 65 teaching departments, 428 examination centres and 36 bureaux, centres and institutes, Unisa generates an enormous amount of intellectual activity. During 2001, the university’s staff delivered a total of 602 papers at international conferences, another 533 papers at national conferences, and published articles in 288 accredited academic journals.

Top judge inaugurated as Chancellor

Justice Bernard Ngoepe, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa, was inaugurated on 22 May 2001 as Unisa Chancellor. Justice Ngoepe has served as a Constitutional Court Judge, was a member of the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and has chaired several judicial reviews, including the Councils of Review for Capital Offences and for Serious Offences.

Principal brings human rights focus

Dr Barney Pityana, former Chair of the South African Human Rights Commission, took up the post of Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor in November 2001. Dr Pityana is a Unisa alumnus, having graduated with a BA in Law in 1975 and with a BProc in 1976. Admitted as an attorney of the High Court in 1995, he was awarded a PhD in Religious Studies by the University of Cape Town. A member of the Geneva-based International Human Rights Policy Council, Dr Pityana has served as a director of the World Council of Churches Programme aimed at combating racism worldwide.

New management appointed

The new top management team, led by Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Dr Barney Pityana, is committed to ensuring that Unisa becomes Africa’s most affordable, accessible, credible and flexible distance-learning institution.

Apart from placing greater emphasis on student affairs, research and institutional change, the new management structure paves the way for a more coordinated approach to the merger between Unisa, Technikon SA and Vista University’s Vudec. The management team also reinforces the university’s capacity in finance, human resources, information technology, legal services and marketing and communication.

Integrated marketing approach

Previously fragmented marketing activities at Unisa have been pulled together into one coordinated department that sends out one consistent message - that Unisa is flexible, affordable, accessible and credible.

Following the appointment of an Executive Director of Marketing, Unisa now has a clear, consistent visual identity that reflects the university’s status as Africa’s leading open and distance education provider. Progress on the marketing front during 2001 included the appointment of marketing officers for each of the six faculties, and the restructuring of the Corporate Communication and Marketing department to support Unisa’s rapidly rising national and international profile.

The marketing drive has resulted in a steady increase in student registrations, which rose by over 16% in 2001. Although most of Unisa’s students live in South Africa, the university has 7 294 students in the rest of Africa, most of them from SADC countries. These numbers are growing significantly in countries such as Mauritius, where registrations with the faculty of science increased by 20% in 2001 alone.

Unisa Foundation raises R17 million

The Unisa Foundation, the university’s social investment funding wing, raised funds totaling R17,3 million during 2001. The Foundation, part of the Corporate Communication and Marketing department, ensures that funding is used for projects that deliver quantifiable research results and measurable benefits that can be replicated throughout South Africa and the rest of the continent.

In one of the biggest investment milestones of the year, the Carnegie Corporation of New York donated R8 million for the establishment of the Unisa Centre for the Improvement of Mathematics, Science and Technology

Education, dedicated to doing systematic research into technology education and promoting the development of grade 10 to 12 in-service teachers.

Strategic alliances formed

Unisa has formal ties with 43 institutions in over 18 African countries. During 2001, a number of groundbreaking collaborative agreements were signed to reinforce Unisa’s collaborative drive.

• Western Africa: An agreement was signed with the Nigerian company MET (Management Education and Training), making tutorial and administrative support available to existing and prospective students in West Africa.
• Sudan: In July 2001, Unisa signed a memorandum of understanding with three Sudanese universities, Juba, Dongola and Al-Sudan Al-Alamia.
• Angola: Building on the start made by Unisa’s Department of Advanced Nursing Sciences in 1998, a fully-fledged cooperative agreement was signed with Angola’s University of Afghanisto Neto. This allows forextensive collaboration between all departments of the two universities.

Top ratings for Unisa degrees

Based on research conducted by the Professional Management Review (PMR), Unisa’s degrees are highly rated by South African employers. PMR, conducing research through personnel agencies and human resources executives across the country, has consistently placed Unisa among South Africa’s top three universities in terms of academic excellence. The Graduate School of Business Leadership has been named the best in the country overall. During 2001, two Unisa faculties received PMR awards for excellence:

In the category for the best-rated degrees and degree courses offered at universities, the Faculty of Arts received;

• Golden Arrow for BA (General and Humanities): Historical Studies/History
• Silver Arrow for BA (General and Humanities): Governance and Political Science
• Silver Arrow for BA (Humanities): Industrial, Organisational and Labour Studies.

The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences received three Golden Arrow Awards:

• Golden Arrow (overall) for Distance Learning (Human Resources and Finance)
• Golden Arrow (specialised) for Distance Learning - Human Resources and Finance
• Golden Arrow for Business School (offering MBL via distance learning)

Graduation ceremonies

A total of 10 555 students graduated with degrees or diplomas at Unisa’s autumn graduation ceremonies of 2001. Graduation ceremonies were held at 12 towns and cities, including Windhoek in Namibia and Harare in Zimbabwe. Some of the high-profile graduates included:

• Queen Inkosikati Sibobela, first wife of King Mswati III of Swaziland, who obtained her second Unisa degree, an LLB. Queen Inkosikati has since registered for her Master’s degree in Constitutional and Indigneous Law.
• General Siphiwe Nyanda, Chief of the South African National Defence Force, who obtained his BA degree.
• Ely Kadisang, education and transformation officer of the National Students’ Representative Council, who obtained a BIuris degree.

Unisa accredited by top US body

Unisa has been formally recognised by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) in the United States, the only African university to have received this accreditation.

The benefits of membership include the right to use the DETC seal on our learning material, as well as continual quality assurance and peer review, ensuring consistently high standards. The accreditation is valid for five years, after which Unisa will be re-assessed against 12 criteria developed by DETC, which is the United States’ national accrediting body for distance education institutions.

Unisa spearheads development of African accountants

The Department of Applied Accountancy was selected from all South African universities by the Association of African Universities (AAU) to assist universities in Southern Africa in establishing departments to train Chartered Accountants. A grant of $125 000 was given to the department as financial support to establish a network system in Africa.

ABET Institute leads world in training

Unisa’s ABET Institute has produced more ABET instructors than virtually any other institution in the world - 30 000 adults have been trained since its inception seven years ago. The Institute’s qualifications are now recognised by the Council for Higher Education and the national Department of Education, and are accredited by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA).

R19 million invested in new books

With more than R19 million spent on new books and periodicals in 2001, the Unisa library has one of the most valuable and extensive book collections in Africa. It currently stocks 1,7 million volumes of books and periodicals, aswell as 5 100 current journal titles. During 2001, the library recorded 561 751 issues and loaned almost 21 000 items to other libraries.

Coveted collection for science library

Twenty-six volumes of the world’s most coveted scientific books have been added to Unisa’s science library, whose book collection is already unique in Africa. The new titles, the latest in the Gmelin series, followed a donation

by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation, which has a long-standing relationship with Unisa. The library, which has already been awarded international status as a signatory of the Chemical Abstracts Service, is the only one in Africa with a complete Gmelin collection.

Special guests hosted

Unisa hosted a number of top South African leaders and international academics during the year, including:

• Tito Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, who received the Department of Business Management’s annual honorary award for Excellence in Managing the South African economy. This was in recognition of his role in breaking South Africa’s 30-year cycle of inflation and for passionately defending the Rand. Professor Mboweni also holds an honorary chair in economics at Unisa, a three-year position that will see him delivering an annual public address on topical economic issues.
• Mr Sipho Pityana, Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who delivered an address on the millennium Africa recovery plan.
• Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Executive Mayor of Pretoria, who officiated at a graduation ceremony hosted by Unisa’s ABET Institute.

Funding assistance for students

Just over R32,5 million in bursaries, scholarships and study loans was provided to Unisa students for the 2001 academic year. Unisa itself funded bursaries and scholarships worth R2,78 million, with outside bodies and employers contributing another R2,2 million. In the case of loans, Unisa spent R1,9 million from its own funds, while loans from organisations such as TEFSA accounted for R25,5 million.

Blazing new trails

• HIV/AIDS Counselling and Care: Offered for the first time in the second semester of 2001, this multi-disciplinary module has already attracted over 2 000 students.
• Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET): In 2001, Unisa’s ABET Institute introduced the new Honours B Ed (ABET), an offering that is expected to significantly enhance the career paths and prospects of adult educators.
• Science access: introductory and access courses in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics were developed for students who did not pass or take Physical Science and Mathematics at matric level. Passing these courses allows students to register with the Faculty of Science for BSc courses.
• MA in Communications: One of the first degrees of its kind in South Africa, this MA in Organisational Communication Research and practice was due to be offered from 2002.