Corporatising universities and the increased need for funding from the private sector pose a direct threat to academic freedom – and universities ignore this threat to their peril, said Professor Fran Baum.

Professor Baum is the director of Stretton Health Equity – an institute that leads high-quality scholarship on the social and economic determinants of health and health equity at the University of Adelaide in Australia. She delivered the 56th TB Davie Memorial Lecture titled, “Activism and the corporate university: incompatible or possible?” on Wednesday, 24 August.

The annual lecture, hosted by the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Academic Freedom Committee, honours the memory of former UCT vice-chancellor Thomas Benjamin Davie – a fierce defender of the principles of academic freedom. Davie passed away in 1955.

“I feel privileged to follow in the footsteps of all those who have [delivered] the TB Davie Memorial Lecture since 1959,” Baum said. “Over my time as an academic I’ve watched universities become more corporatised and less open to the defence of academic freedom, and to the ability of academics to become defenders of the public good.”

A lived experience

Baum told the audience how, during her time as a distinguished professor at Flinders University in Australia, she witnessed how the university’s commitment to equity and social justice waned. Since 2017, the institution executed three processes of restructuring “in which people were treated poorly”. Baum and several colleagues had explicitly verbalised their concerns about these decisions and the new direction the university had taken.

But in September 2021, soon after she became the first academic at that university to receive the National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Fellowship, she received a life altering letter from the university’s executive. It stated that because of a “reorganisation” process in the College of Medicine and Public Health (her academic home), the role she occupied had been “disestablished”. She was one of four academics to receive this letter. The “disestablishment” also affected 15 research staff members.

“All four of us [academics] had resisted the changes in the culture of the university and [had] spoken out about the unfairness of previous reorganisations and the increasing expectations of excessive workloads as the norm,” Baum said.

“We will never know the behind-closed-doors conversations that concerned the fate of the four of us. But we are sure that this would not have happened before the university was corporatised. [This process meant] that I could say that I was no longer a distinguished professor, but an extinguished professor.”

A not-so-safe space

In the last few decades in Australia, Baum said universities have moved from institutions of “public good” to corporatised entities whose values largely align with large corporations and the private sector.

“Universities now operate more as businesses and less [as] public good institutions … I hope to convince you that the increasing corporatisation of universities is part of the reason the space for academic freedom and the ability to be an activist academic is closing down,” she said.

Baum highlighted the six signs of a corporatised university:

• growing the executive class
• reducing staff and student involvement in governance
• frequently restructuring
• increasing contract and casual staff numbers and reducing the number of tenured staff
• engaging in the international education market
• partnering with national and transnational corporations.

Baum said an increasing number of senior executives have taken employment positions at Australian universities. These executives, she added, are detached from the core functions of teaching and learning and research, and many have none or very little university teaching and research experience.

“This class of managers treat the university as a profit-making business. [They use] directive and non-participatory management styles borrowed from the corporate world that undermine academic tenure and collegiality, and adds to staff stress,” she said.

Celebrate academic activism

As Baum prepared to wrap up her lecture, she said universities that encourage academic freedom lay their foundations in the interest of the public good and are suspicious of their involvement with businesses or any other interests that might threaten their independence.

“Our task is to imagine a university that is decolonised, decorporatised and encourages academic freedom so that academics can be bold and brave in their critiques of society,” she said. 

She said Public Universities Australia – an alliance of organisations and individuals concerned about the current state of Australian universities – has proposed a University Model Act. The act requires that university vice-chancellors be elected from among its academics. Further, she said their vision is to adopt an approach where students and academics are meaningfully involved in decisions about the shape of the university’s teaching and research projects. Their aim is to ensure that the focus of the university is on serving the community, rather than acting as a business.

“The university [should] actively encourage staff and students to be engaged in advocacy about equity, human rights and fairness. Academic activists [should] be celebrated for the contributions they make to positive change, rather than viewed as a threat to the corporate university,” Baum said.

Guard academic freedom

Baum believes that society loses out when academics become too “fearful to be frank and fearless” in their advocacy of the public good. She urged academics to ask more probing questions that relate to the “invisible strings” that certain funds come with, and whether “these strings” will affect academic freedom.

She also encouraged both students and academics to become guardians of academic freedom, and to speak up when management practices and partnerships restrict and threaten these freedoms.

“I know how hard these freedoms have been fought for in South Africa and I would hate to see the apartheid system replaced by a creeping corporate control of the academic world,” she said. “I am confident that TB Davie would have been vigilant about protecting academic freedom from the incursion of corporations. And I am sure he would’ve spoken out to defend activist academics.”

SUPPLIED| UCT

GLOBAL chemicals and energy giant Sasol says that applications are currently open for its all-inclusive bursaries for the 2023 academic year.

Sasol said it is inviting high-performing mathematics and science learners/students to apply for an all-inclusive bursary to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degrees at approved South African public universities.

“For more than 30 years Sasol has been awarding comprehensive bursaries to top-performing maths and science learners. Sasol is currently one of the larger bursary providers in South Africa with an extended bursary pool and annually awarding a significant number of bursaries, with 387 bursars currently in the programme.”

The group said that its undergraduate bursary programmes cover not only bursars’ tuition fees, accommodation and meals, but also an annual predetermined amount for textbooks and pocket money. Bursars also receive allowances for study tools such as laptops and calculators.

The bursary will also provide psycho-social support to help students succeed during their studies. Students applying for STEM-related degrees will need to refer to the Sasol bursaries site for application criteria.

For the 2023 academic year, Sasol will award over 200 new bursaries in the following categories:

Sasol Bursaries

Bursaries will be awarded in the fields of cyber security (postgraduate), electronic engineering, mining engineering and chemical engineering (postgraduate) for students currently at university.

Sasol Foundation Bursaries: STEM and non-STEM

These bursaries are for learners who are planning to study full-time towards an undergraduate degree to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers.

Priority will be given to degree studies that are in line with future needs including specialisations in study disciplines such as engineering & technology, mathematical and data science, agricultural science, environmental & medical sciences, construction & manufacturing;  and financial and accounting sciences among others.

Non-STEM bursaries will also be awarded to students from Sasol’s fence line communities, children of Sasol Khanyisa shareholders and Sasol employees.

Sasol Energy Bursaries

Bursaries in this category are for studies in STEM disciplines. They will be granted to learners from the Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape.

“At Sasol, our CSI projects are inspired by our purpose, which is to innovate for a better world,” said Monica Luwes, manager of the Graduate Centre at Sasol.

“As technology continues to transform the way we live, we see strong demand in the workplace for people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills and qualifications. STEM professionals are key to the country’s future growth, and we’re proud to harness and support the incredible talent and potential that will propel the technological industry even further,” said Luwes.

Students can apply for its bursary programme by:

• Registering online at: Sasol Bursaries
• Answer a few questions regarding your field and level of study.
• Log in and fill in an online application.
• Alternatively, you can find more information on how to apply here:  http://www.sasolbursaries.com/how-do-i-apply

BUSINESS TECH

VHEMBE TVET College officially launched their very own Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) STREAM Laboratory at the Makwarela Campus on Thursday, 11 August. The students at the college will now be able to get real work experience to prepare them for the outside world with a theoretical laboratory and on-the-job training in 4IR skills, said TVET Principal Ms Basani Hlekane.

Hlekane was joined by Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, Director General for the Department of Higher Education and Training, the CEO of the Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA, Ms Nombulelo Nxesi, Thovhele Gole Mphaphuli, some councillors from both the Vhembe and Thulamela District, and other role players in the education sector.

“In 2019, ETDP SETA funded our college to establish a fully inclusive artificial intelligence laboratory. Vhembe TVET College is ready to heed the call for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to create an environment where every student can enjoy the highest levels of human development. For the college to be able to create such an equitable and inclusive future, we must adjust our mindset and our institution,” said Hlekane.

The laboratory currently has four state-of-the-art machines, namely an industrial production line, a robotic arm, a 3D printing machine and a soldamatic welding simulator.

Dr Nkosinathi Sishi was very excited to finally launch the programme, which was commissioned by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, in 2019. Nzimande has appointed a ministerial task team to investigate the implementation of the 4IR to respond to the challenges and opportunities that students might be facing.

“Some of the opportunities that must be embraced with the establishment of the 4IR require our education and training systems to become much more agile and to engage people much more actively in lifelong learning as societies and transformed economies. New skills will be required to create, maintain and leverage these new technologies,” said Dr Sishi.

“It is vital that the education and training on 4IR is visible, and more importantly, available at the level of higher education to ensure that learners adapt and learn to become and remain relevant to this fast-changing world through the understanding of 4IR,” he said.

Zoutnet

THE state believes that its new higher education draft policy, which will lead to all South African institutions of higher learning being classified into three types, is not the major disruption some perceive it to be.

The reaction to the Draft Policy for the Recognition of South African Higher Education Institutional Types, published in the Government Gazette of 8 August 2022, has ranged from shock to caution. Yet the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) says if the implications of the draft policy were being measured as an earthquake, it would be a minor tremor.

Mahlubi Chief Mabizela, Chief Director responsible for Higher Education Policy and Research Support in the DHET, said last week that the draft policy was minor in magnitude compared to the mergers of public higher education institutions of about 20 years ago, which reduced them from 36 to, initially 23, and now 26 universities. That would have ranked a major to severe impact of about 6 to 8 on the Richter Scale, which, although no longer operative, remains the famous phrase to refer to the magnitude of an earthquake. In comparison, this draft policy was about a 3 or 4, which, in earthquake terms, signified being felt by many, but recording no damage.

“What is major about this draft policy is the introduction of two new types of institutions: higher education colleges and university colleges,” he said. Higher education colleges can offer undergraduate degrees but have no mandate to do research, and university colleges are transitional, that is, universities in the making.

“The only ground of the universities being shaken is the definition they didn’t have before. But the criteria are things they already do: research, community engagement, quality teaching and learning,” he said. “And that’s what we want from them – to produce postgraduates. The few existing institutions that will be worried are those that don’t produce enough postgraduates,” he said.

The public has until September 8 to comment. To assist this process, Universities South Africa (USAf), together with the DHET, will host three online webinars for people to ask questions and get clarification on details of the draft policy. The first, on August 31, is targeted at private higher education institutions. The second, on September 1, is for public higher education institutions including vocational education and training, and other colleges. The third, on September 2, is for the general public.

The policy is a draft and Mabizela said they expected it would adapt before it became final.

Besides the participation in the forthcoming workshops and the comments that would be submitted in writing, the other significant input towards any possible changes would come from the Council on Higher Education (CHE). This would happen towards the end of the process via a panel of wide-ranging experts the CHE would appoint.

Ahead of the upcoming workshops, Mabizela clarified some key aspects of the policy.

The background

A media statement released on August 11 said the policy had developed after “an extensive research and consultative process carried out by the Department which began in late 2018”.

Mabizela said the consultation had started a little earlier when two new universities, Sol Plaatje in the Northern Cape and the University of Mpumalanga, had been established in 2013. “It was a question of lessons learned,” he said. One of these lessons was the realisation that a new institution should first be affiliated with an existing university, “a concept that is used internationally”, he said. That led to the department embarking on a process of reviewing the Higher Education Act and the need to factor in university colleges, a step in the journey of establishing a new university.

They then started to wonder if they needed to expand this to accommodate other types of institutions as well, which led to the three in the draft policy:

• higher education colleges, which have a relatively limited range and scope, focusing on undergraduate and skills development programmes;
• university colleges or universities in transition; and
• universities.

These three types of institutions were named in the revised Higher Education Act 101 of 1997, as amended in 2016. The Act stated the Minister would establish their criteria, and discussions about that had started in 2018. So, this was not a policy that had sprung up out of the blue, he said.

Who was responsible for the consultative process?

The department usually develops a policy by establishing a committee of experts who do their research and consultations and then draft a document for discussion. This policy happened differently. They already had two expert committees to assist with establishing Sol Plaatje University and the University of Mpumalanga. Each committee’s report had included recommendations for such future processes.

An internal departmental committee – headed by Dr Diane Parker, the former Deputy Director-General of DHET’s University Branch, and comprising Mabizela, the other two chief directors (responsible for governance, and teaching and learning at universities) and relevant colleagues — had assessed these recommendations. They had also considered the CHE’s submission to the Minister about the experience, a report of which is not in the public domain.

Another key input into the policy came from “number crunching”, said Mabizela, of data on the enrollments, programmes and research including data from private higher education institutions.

This policy allows private institutions to qualify to be called universities

Until this policy, private higher institutions have been barred from registering and being known as universities. Now, if they fulfil the requirements, they can. Mabizela said these private institutions had been unhappy about the restriction, but the policy was not relaxing it as a response to pressure from them. It was rather an obligation to classify the higher education system appropriately and to fulfill the demands expected from our higher education system in South Africa.

That prohibition had existed for a reason, he said. Bogus institutions calling themselves universities had flooded the market in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

The policy is not about punishing universities that are less research intensive and community orientated

The draft policy defines universities as institutions that engage in undergraduate and postgraduate higher education, knowledge production (research) and community engagement. Could these criteria be a way of punishing some existing institutions for not focusing enough on all these areas?

“The policy is not intended to force any institution in whichever direction,” said Mabizela. The department understood the South African university system was not uniform but varied and was still living the legacy of apartheid. They could not change this overnight, so their approach and focus were always developmental.

Existing policies such as the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP) and the Sibusiso Bengu Development Programme (SB-DP), the latter focusing on eight specific institutions, had been designed to bring greater satisfaction to historically disadvantaged institutions. “Our institutions need to have the reputation of being a university and a university that offers quality – quality education, quality research, and quality in its teaching and learning as well,” he said.

Complexities of university colleges being affiliated to existing universities

In terms of the draft policy, for a university college to be upgraded to a university, it needs to be affiliated with an existing university. But do university colleges want to be affiliated with universities? And do they have the resources to do this? Who is going to take responsibility for this nurturing and guidance, presumably at no additional pay?

Mabizela pointed out a university college was not a new concept in South Africa. The University of the Cape of Good Hope, created in 1872 by an Act of the Cape Colony’s Parliament, had been affiliated with the University of London. After the country’s unification in 1910, it was renamed the University of South Africa (Unisa), relocated to Pretoria, and became responsible for overseeing university colleges across the country. These colleges were the forerunners of many of today’s existing universities. 

But this had been in the early 20^th century, and they had to bring the concept of university colleges into the 21^st century.

Mabizela said they also had to look at the nitty-gritty practicalities of this affiliation. “Will university colleges require the department to be the mediator? Is it something that they can do on their own?” he said.

There was also the question of whether the affiliated university had to be one in South Africa. “The policy is quiet on this, but will we accept it if a local institution is affiliated with a foreign university?” said Mabizela.

A university requires a certain percentage of postgraduate programmes

The policy states that for a university college to become a university, at least 5% of its enrolments must be at postgraduate level. Mabizela said people could ask “Why 5%? Why not lower?”. If there were a problem, the department would help push them to 5% “unless there is a compelling reason supported by evidence”, he said.

“But let’s not stick to the excuses. Let’s work on those issues. So, if an institution says, ‘I don’t have capacity’, then how do we capacitate you?” he said.

What about specialised institutions?

According to the draft policy, a university college “shall focus on undergraduate teaching and learning providing a holistic approach to education and training in a relatively broad number of cognate fields or domains of study, compared to Higher Education Colleges, and must provide a holistic approach to education and training”.

How would this affect institutions that offer specialised fields of study, yet mostly undergraduate ones?  Where do such specialised institutions fit into these three types of institutions?

The key, explained Mabizela, lay in the word “holistic” in terms of the approach to education, and also in other functions of a university such as research.  “If you, as an institution, are specialising in a particular field, and that particular field doesn’t traditionally produce postgraduates, you have got to work towards producing post-graduates and research publications,” he said.

Where existing universities might not fulfil the requirements, it was not about bringing them down but working together.

“It’s not a question of ‘are you going to take us down’? No, absolutely not. It’s a question of ‘how do we go there together’?” said Mabizela.

USAF

A learner from Sovetjheza Secondary School in Siyabuswa, Nkangala District in Mpumalanga province will be representing South Africa’s National Volleyball team in Malawi.

Sarah Karabo Mnguni is set to represent the country in December 2022. Mnguni started playing volleyball at a young age.

“She started playing at a tender age and participated in the Volleyball League Games at the age of 13,” the Department of Education in Mpumalanga said.

Mnguni was subsequently selected to play for the Mpumalanga under 15 Team.

“Through her hard work, she was selected to play in tournaments which were staged in Mozambique, Lesotho and this year’s selection became a cherry on top for her.”

The Department said that Mnguni is an inspiration to young girls.

“She is truly an inspiration to other young girls who are from humble beginnings seeking an opportunity to make a name for themselves in sports.”

The Department took to its Facebook page to congratulate her and to wish her well in the tournament in Malawi.

“You Go Girl, the sky is the limit,” said the Department.

INSIDE EDUCATION