Update on the Restructured Higher Education Landscape

1
Update on the Restructured Higher Education
Landscape

• Presentation to the
• Portforlio Committee on Education National
  Assembly
• 20 February 2007

2
Restructuring the HE Landscape

• November 2002 Cabinet approves proposals to
  restructure the HE landscape
• December 2002 Minister informs Councils of
  affected institutions and provides opportunity
  for comments
• October 2003 Minister announces name of new
  institution, its address and date of
  implemenation and membership of interim Council
• November 2003 Formal gazetting of mergers and
  incorporations
• Mergers effected in 2004 and 2005 with pre and
  post merger support to designated institutions
• Reports to Portfolio Committee in May and
  September 2006

3
Restructured HE Landscape

• Restructuring in 2004
• University of KwaZulu-Natal
• North West University
• Tshwane University of Technology
• University of South Africa
• Restructuring in 2005
• Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
• Cape Penninsula University of Technology
• The University of Limpopo
• The University of Johannesburg
• The Walter Sisulu University for Science and
  Technology, EC
• Restructuring in 2006
• The National Institute for HE in Mpumalanga and
  the Northern Cape were established.

4
Restructured HE Landscape

• Campuses of the former Vista University were
  incorporated into the University of Pretoria, the
  University of the Free State, the University of
  Johannesburg, the Nelson Madela Metropolitan
  University and the Central University of
  Technology
• Univ of Fort Hare incorporated the East London
  campus of Rhodes University and the University of
  the Western Cape incorporated the Dentistry
  faculty of the University of Stellenbosch
• 11 Universities 6 Universities of Technology
  which offer mainly career and vocationally-focused
  programmes and 6 Comprehensive Institutions,
  which will offer both university and
  technikon-type programmes.

5
Support to Merged Institutions

• A Merger Unit has been established in the
  Department. This Unit is closely monitoring the
  merger process, as well as providing technical
  support, guidance and assistance to institutions.
• The Government has allocated R3,018 billion for
  the restructuring process, to be disbursed over a
  period of six years (2003 2008).
• The financial support covers three distinct
  areas, (i) re-capitalisation of institutions that
  are under-capitalised. This is for all higher
  education institutions that qualify (ii)
  reimbursement of direct merger-related
  expenditure and (iii) to meet costs associated
  with any restructuring of personnel that may be
  considered necessary to meet the operational
  requirements of the new entity.
• In consultation with National Treasury, strict
  criteria have been developed to inform the
  allocation of resources to institutions.

6
Financial Support to Merged Institutions

• Major financial support has been provided for
  direct merger costs and for re-capitalisation of
  institutions, subject to approval of
  Institutional Operating Plans
• Re-capitalisation payments and commitments to
  date totaling R625 million have been allocated to
  the University of Fort Hare (R100m), University
  of the Western Cape (R170m), the Durban Institute
  of Technology (R162m) and University of Free
  State (R23m), the Tshwane University of
  Technology (R87), the University of Zululand
  (R46m) and the University of Venda (R27m)
• The University of Limpopo, the Walter Sisulu
  University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
  University are also due for re-capitalisation
• Re-capitalisation support has enabled the
  institutions to stabilise their finances and to
  begin addressing areas that have been neglected
  owing to financial constraints.

7
Investement in infrastructure at merged
institutions

• University of KwaZulu-Natal - R150 million for
  improving and relocating teaching and leaning
  facilities, primarily on the Westville campus.
• University of Fort Hare - R30 million for
  deferred maintenance, including student
  residences
• University of South Africa R100 million for
  improving teaching and leaning facilities through
  strengthening teaching and leaning centres
• University of Zululand - R25 million for
  improving teaching and leaning facilities,
  including deferred maintenance for student
  residences
• Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University R1.5
  million for improving teaching and leaning
  facilities, by upgrading the chemistry
  laboratories at the former Vista campus.

8
Investement in infrastructure at merged
institutions

• North West University - R47 million for improving
  teaching and leaning facilities, including
  deferred maintenance for student residences at
  the Vaal Triangle and Mafikeng campuses.
• University of the Western Cape - R3.8 million for
  teaching and learning facilities in clinical
  health sciences.
• Tshwane University of Technology R36 million
  for for deferred maintenance, including student
  residences
• Cape Peninsula University - R 18 million for
  harmonization of teaching and learning
  facilities.
• University of Venda - R 132 million for improving
  teaching and leaning facilities, including
  deferred maintenance for student residences and
  ICT facilities.

9
Governance and Management

• All merged institutions have substantive Councils
  and substantive Vice Chancellors.
• The appointment of the substantive management has
  given rise debates about the internal or external
  advertising of these positions. Institutions have
  approached this matter differently with due
  regard to the imperatives for transformation,
  especially race and gender equity, fairness and
  the prescripts of the Labour Relations Act.
• Walter Sisulu University and the University of
  Limpopo are still to appoint substantive
  managements as the Vice Chancellors have only
  recently been appointed.
• Institutions established in 2005 are finalising
  their institutional statutes.
• The Boards of the National Institutes in
  Mpumalanga and Northern Cape have been
  constituted and are operational. NIHE in
  Mpumalanga has advertised for a CEO and a CFO.

10
Student Govenance

• All merged institutions have institutional SRCs.
• Initial conflict between SRCs of constituent
  member institutions, leading to a prolonged phase
  of interim structures.
• Institutions have developed with the assistance
  of the Department student governance models that
  are appropriate to multi-campus institutions. In
  this regard, there is often an Institutional SRC
  and campus based SRCs.
• The Department of Education is also developing
  guidelines for SRC constitutions to assist
  institutions and currently working with
  institutions on SRC inductions at the start of
  the academic year.

11
Academic Intergration

• All institutions in the interim to retained the
  status quo with respect to academic programme
  offerings pending the finalization of long term
  plans on the academic profile, including academic
  structures for the new institution.
• The interim policy is to ensure a measure of
  continuity in programme offerings for pipeline
  students.
• All multi-campus institutions intend to review
  and possibly consolidate faculties across
  delivery sites. The University of KwaZulu Natal,
  Tshwane University of Technology, Nelson Mandela
  Metropolitan University and the University of
  Johannesburg are the most advanced in this
  regard.
• The Department and the Higher Education Quality
  Committee of the Council on Higher Education
  continue to provide institutions with support in
  the development of a new academic organizational
  and programme structure.
• The establishment of comprehensive institutions,
  the UNISA, NMMU, UJ, WSU, UZ, and UV should
  enhance the articulation and mobility students
  within the system. The Minister has also
  developed a unitary qualifications policy, the
  Higher Education Qualification Framework.

12
Restructuring the HE Landscape

• A New Institutional Landscape for Higher
  Education comprises of twenty-one higher
  education institutions (11 Universities, 6
  Technikons and 4 Comprehensive Universities) and
  two National Institutes for Higher Education.
• Restructuring and consolidation of the
  institutional landscape will in part, lay the
  foundation for the transformation and
  reconstruction of the higher education system.
• Good progress being made towards realising
  strategic objectives of the restructuring process
• New institutional identities
• Transcting the divisions of the past
• Focus on the provision of quality education
• Enhancing good practice in educational and
  management practice