He shares with the Unisa community his vision for the role of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, the experience he brings to the position, and the challenges facing Unisa in terms of Unisa’s increasing student numbers and Unisa becoming a leading ODL institution.
What is the role of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Unisa?
I believe that the Pro-Vice-Chancellor must have command as a generalist of many diverse functions in order to provide decisive, reliable and credible leadership in support of the Vice-Chancellor, and in leading, coordinating and steering of the academic cluster in particular.
What experience do you bring to this new role as Unisa’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, particularly your experience related to your previous position as Vice-Principal: Strategy, Planning & Partnerships?
I have vast and diverse experience in a range of senior higher education leadership positions spanning the past 15 years in a contact university, technikon and comprehensive ODL university. These have equipped me with the necessary solid range of experience, skills and leadership capabilities necessary to provide competent leadership in a complex and large institution such as Unisa.
I believe that my experience in strategic planning first at UWC and then as architect and main author of Unisa’s strategy since 2004, and various leadership and management roles at a senior level, have equipped me with a solid range of capabilities in leadership, strategy, policy development and high-level administration.
I have worked in the domain of academic development for eight years and have developed an intimate understanding of the teaching and learning challenges confronting higher education in South Africa. My doctoral research and numerous subsequent publications have been in the field of academic and institutional transformation.
My experience in an ODL environment spans almost 12 years. My experience in leadership roles has traversed the academic and non-academic sectors, and has included academic leadership, planning, strategic financial management, human resources management, quality assurance, international relations and partnerships, technology, research, organisational intelligence and management information systems, organisational architecture, performance management, and administration of considerable resources.
Unisa is the largest university and arguably the most complex in the South African higher education system. My experience here in various roles, and previous experience, has equipped me with demonstrable skills for the efficient leadership and management of this complex multi-campus and diverse institution.
I have also played many roles in professional organisations locally and abroad. Last year I was elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa in recognition of my contributions to higher education, and science generally. More recently, I was invited to present a keynote address at the 2011 Cambridge Conference on Distance Education, which attests to the international recognition I enjoy in this field.
What do you see as the challenges facing Unisa in terms of Unisa’s increasing student numbers and Unisa becoming a leading ODL institution?
With an increasingly diverse student body, Unisa is challenged to devise teaching and learning solutions which cater for a wide variety of student needs. A “one-size fits all” solution is not sustainable. A range of student development opportunities must therefore be available to cater for individual needs. Unisa provides an avenue of access to students from marginalised communities and those who work who find it difficult to access contact higher education. It is our duty to ensure that students succeed once we enrol them. Numbers cannot increase exponentially without impacting deleteriously on student success. Managing enrolments is therefore an imperative without it leading to unnecessary barriers. Diversification of the post-school sector will also help tremendously so that students who struggle at university will have other learning opportunities.
