A short-term timeline reflection of Unisa’s notable moments

As a university that believes in positively contributing to society's progress, Unisa continues improving the lives of its stakeholders, including previously disadvantaged communities. The enormous university that invented distance learning globally celebrates its 150^th anniversary this year. This feature illustrates a timeline of notable events and innovations in the past few years.

Unisa has been committed to redressing the imbalances of the past through its broad transformation agenda, including improving access to education. Therefore, in 2016, the institution saw an increased number of graduates from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, especially black students, join its alumni. Concerning the academic project and scholarship, the highlight during that year was when the Council approved the new Unisa Language Policy. The policy informs the use of language in all aspects of the university's communication, including teaching and learning. Therefore, the number of students who choose to write examinations in their home languages, including indigenous languages, has increased. The significance of this milestone is that using home languages increases the chances of successful learning.

The following year, Unisa welcomed a venerable Chancellor, Former South African President Dr Thabo Mbeki. His inauguration was merged with the university's 2017 academic opening. In the same year, Unisa availed more than R90 million for student bursaries at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels as it firmly believes in shaping futures in the service of humanity.

It was an epic moment for the pan-African university in 2018 when it celebrated its 145th anniversary. That year, three Unisa College of Accounting Sciences academics were nominated to the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants' (SAICA's) Top 35-under-35 competition. The competition recognised chartered accountants in South Africa, both nationally and internationally, who brought notable contributions beyond their working environment. To date, Unisa remains the highest contributor to the chartered accountant profession in South Africa.

Continuing with its transformation agenda, in 2019, Unisa renamed some of its buildings as part of an initiative that supports the institution's concerted Africanisation and decolonisation efforts. The buildings were named after South African late anti-apartheid activist and politician Dr Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Unisa's late Professor Nkoana Simon Radipere, and South African activist and founding President of the African National Congress Youth League, Anton Lembede.

In 2020, the global community was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting all sectors, including the higher education landscape. However, that year, Unisa developed 283 undergraduate modules across all its colleges to ensure the implementation of its Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) business model and curriculum transformation for teaching and learning into undergraduate modules. In addition, regardless of the constraints posed by the pandemic, outstanding progress in innovation and technology transfer during that year included 20 newly granted patents, 24 intellectual property (IP) disclosures and over 1 300 students and staff registered for innovation training (Business Model Canvass).

In 2021, it was a herstoric moment for Unisa when Professor Puleng LenkaBula assumed office as its new Principal and Vice-Chancellor, becoming the first woman, the first black woman and the third black person to be appointed in the position since the university's existence. LenkaBula has been hailed as an outstanding academic and courageous leader.

A thriving institution, in late 2022, the globally respected and widely referenced Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, which rates over 1 700 universities across 104 countries and regions, placed Unisa's engineering disciplines across the board in joint first place in South Africa. In addition, Best Global Universities Rankings, an authoritative publication of US News & World Report, placed Unisa among the top 10 higher education institutions in South Africa and the top 900 globally, moving from 851 (2021) to 821 (2022) in the global rankings, with a global score of 42.5.

Furthermore, COVID-19 did not cease Unisa's researchers and innovators from producing groundbreaking research throughout the pandemic. The university recently held its 12th annual Research and Innovation (R&I) Awards in recognition of more than 100 exceptional academics who exemplified African research excellence in 2021/2022. The categories presented included six Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Research, doubling the number of recipients from 2022, and the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Innovation, presented for the first time in the history of R&I Awards. The Chancellor's Award is the highest award for research at Unisa. Among other prominent Unisa researchers who received National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings, it was exhilarating when Professor Extraordinarius, Michelle Fine, received an A-2 rating.

As a university that educates and empowers its staff and students to prioritise sustainability, Unisa National Student Representative Council (NSRC) members continue to support a fund-raising campaign to reduce student debt. Eight of its members contribute R100 monthly towards the student debt campaign until the end of their term in August 2023. They encourage fellow students, staff, alumni and donors to contribute to the campaign to ensure students can graduate and progress in society.

Unisa remains a sustainable university educating its students and society for sustainable development and offering relevant insights on urgent societal challenges and solutions through groundbreaking research and community engagement efforts.

#Unisa150

* By Nancy Legodi, Acting Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement