Dear UP staff and students,

The Council of the University of Pretoria has just completed its second meeting of the year and as part of our efforts to keep you as a member of the UP Community informed, we thought it appropriate to update you on some of the matters that were discussed and the decisions made.

As the University’s highest decision-making body, the Council of the University of Pretoria is responsible for governance, policy making and monitoring. The Council meets at least three times a year. And as a reminder, the Council is made up of members from the UP community, including alumni, donors, individuals from the private sector, persons appointed by the Minister or local government, students and staff. It comprises 30 members, 18 of whom are external members who are not employed by the University and 12 internal members. Council members are required to have knowledge, expertise and experience relevant to the objectives and governance of the University.

During our recent meeting, several important issues affecting the broader UP Community were discussed as part of the Council’s agenda, including the election of the new Vice-Principal: Academic, Prof Loretta Ferris. On behalf of the Council I wish her well in her new role. 

We also discussed the 2021 Annual Report, including the financial statements that were approved and presented to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The report gives an important overview of the University’s performance against the Council approved targets management has set during 2021.

I’m proud to say that the University registered strong and improved performance in key areas such as the number of graduates in scarce skills areas, the percentage of staff with doctoral degrees, the increase in the percentage of black staff and contact students, the number of students supported through financial aid, our major strategic breakthroughs and our technology-enhanced teaching and learning strategy.

The University’s financial performance was reasonable despite the pressure on our revenue sources owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline was fortunately offset by the cost-saving measures that were implemented and the institution is in a good position to weather the storms in the year ahead.

Closely related to the Annual Review but dealing with the period since the last Council meeting, is the report by the Vice-Chancellor and Principal. In his quarterly report, Prof Tawana Kupe highlighted some of the activities of the University, including the signing of partnership agreements, for example with the SA Guide Dogs Association, the visit of a delegation from Kenya, launch events (Centre for the Future of Work) and visits by foreign dignitaries and partner Universities.

The review of the mid-term enrolment plan was also on the agenda for this meeting. While the current enrolment plan covers the period 2020 – 2025, DHET requested universities in October 2021 to submit revised enrolment plans for the 2023 – 2025 academic years.

It is important that the revised input and output targets in the plan do not differ significantly from the approved targets. While the growth in our undergraduate numbers (UG) is in line with our approved targets, I’m pleased to say that there is a healthy increase in the number of postgraduate (PG) enrolments, which bodes well for our strategy of becoming a research-intensive university.

We were again reminded of the importance of managing our enrolments in line with the approved targets as well as increasing student success and the lowering of UP’s high academic staff-to-student ratio. The meeting agreed that these should remain two of the institution’s ongoing key priorities.

Students will always be one of the most important member components of our community. For this reason, issues affecting student life at the University always form an integral part of the Council’s deliberations. At the recent meeting, amendments of certain sections of the Constitution for Student Governance were discussed following consultation with the student leadership. The approved document will be made available to students on the student portal.

As Council, it is important that we continuously and regularly assess our performance in carrying out our responsibilities as the governing body of the University. While we have been doing this since 2007, the performance assessment form of Council was recently aligned to the DHET governance indicators scorecard. The indicators are purposefully designed for self-assessment by university councils to measure their practice in primary areas of governance.

I’m proud to say that the results of the 2021 assessment reflect that Council and its Committees are generally perceived to be performing at a level of good to excellent. The completed Governance Indicators Scorecard was submitted to the DHET after being approved by the Council.

The above is a summary of some of the most important discussions that took place at the Council’s meeting. There were also other matters, including amendments to the Statute of UP and to the Emeritus Professorship policy, which will be made available to the broader UP Community.

We will continue to update you after each meeting and encourage you to engage with us on issues that affect our students, staff and alumni. I believe that by working together, we ensure that our institution will continue to grow and prosper.

Regards,

Mr Kuseni Dlamini

Chairperson of the UP Council