THE IMPACT OF MERGERS ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN

HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

7 – 8 October 2008

CSIR ICC

Content

Purpose Transformation agenda Mergers and incorporations Process Lessons Perceptions Success What next?

Purpose

The conference was intended to offer participants an opportunity to examine and share their peculiar experiences with regard to merger-related issues with an intention to draw lessons learned for the sector and the institutions.

Transformation Agenda

South African Government’s transformation agenda for higher education

White Paper 3: A programme for the transformation of Higher Education

National Plan for Higher Education– need to restructure the institutional landscape of the higher

education system in South Africa– key mechanisms employed for this purpose was to merge

some of the higher education institutions.

Mergers and Incorporations

National plan identified the following priorities as key for the achievement of the restructuring process:

– To reduce duplication and overlap in programme and service provision;

– To promote the joint development and delivery of programmes;– To enhance responsiveness to regional and national needs for

academic programmes, research and community service;– To help build academic and administrative capacity; and– To refocus and reshape the institutional culture and missions of

the institutions as South African institutions.

Business case

Imposed by legislation Mergers are prescribed Lock stock and barrel Equal partners regardless of size Interim management structures Short term; Medium to long term Speed

Process

Significant pre-planning Inclusive in nature / general buy-in Lack of trust Communication gaps Additional burden on staff and trauma Inconvenience to students Student and staff strikes Governance challenges: Senate, SRCs, EMCs Harmonization of finances Harmonization of student fees Harmonization of staff conditions of service Harmonization of finances Plans limited by financial resources (RR or Voksie)

Lessons

Access, success, quality, equity and efficiency Leadership key; Need to acknowledge man and women Less or no integration Merged institutions have not received sufficient support; e.g.

infrastructure, research funding “One-size fits all” no longer appropriate Type of merger does not guarantee success HE should not be the privilege of the rich Improving the academic profile of academics Too early to determine efficiencies and effectiveness Entrance requirements

Perceptions

Mergers have failed Universities have taken over technikons: comprehensive

universities Potential for academic drift:

– Academic staff– Technikon programmes are phased-out or under threat

Working conditions and salaries cause for attrition Student drop-out Lower success rate and graduation rate Merged institutions have not attracted established researchers

Success

Given the size and timing: success New institutions: college, faculty based Incorporations New governance structures New human resources policies and systems New infrastructure Promotion policies: Professorship New admission policies UoTs for developing indicators appropriate for them Elimination of programme duplication Strengthening of teaching, research and community engagement

What next?

Need to improve staff morale– Caring for staff and developing a new institutional culture

Racial issues, social cohesion, equity Development of a plan to produce a new generation of

academics Strengthen collaboration with government, industry and civil

society Review of the PQM Introduce and improve post-doctoral culture Respond to global shifts to multi-disciplinary programmes

Next steps cont

People: Them and us Review cycle, monitoring Look at non-merged institutions: What have they been up to? Communicate with communities public perceptions-through the media Relaxation of centralization Management of geographically dispersed/multiple campuses Extent of throughput and achieving DOE targets Intensive curricula transformation Institutional collaboration Definition and embedding of UoTs/comprehensives Guidelines for funding from NRF

Thank You

Thank You