Advisory Board:

The Advisory Board consists of the Chairperson of the Strategy and Steering Committee, the Chairpersons of the Academic Committees, the Presidents (or nominees) of the South African Mathematical Society and South African Statistical Association, as well as representatives of stakeholders that have been identified by the Academy. These include Universities South Africa, the Department of Higher Education and Training, the National Research Foundation, as well as individuals from Private and Public Sectors that are users of mathematical and statistical sciences and (potential) employers of graduates in these disciplines. The Advisory Board will provide advice on the plans and highlight opportunities to leverage support and partnership and networking opportunities. The membership of the Advisory Board may change from year to year depending on the availability of representatives from stakeholder groups.

The Strategy and Steering Committee:

This committee is the executive authority for National Graduate Academy and consists of:

• Three representatives from the Mathematics Academic Committee;
• Three representatives from the Statistics Academic Committee;
• Two members nominated by the South African Statistical Association and the South African Mathematical Society;
• A representative of the host institution (ex-officio)

The members of the Strategy and Steering Committee can co-opt no more than two additional members if they believe that there is a need to fill a gap in expertise, or satisfy any other strategic imperatives that have been identified. The members of the Committee will elect from among themselves a Chairperson who will preside over meetings and be the liaison person between the Academy and stakeholders of the Academy. The term of office of members of the Strategy and Steering Committee may be up to five years. The role of the Strategy and Steering Committee is governance and oversight of all the activities of the Academy. As such, it will be responsible for ensuring that the Academy meets its objectives of serving the mathematical and statistical sciences communities and the South African university sector. It will draw up proposals for the short- and mid-term objectives of the academy.

Academic Committees:

The Strategy and Steering Committee will, from time to time, establish sub-committees that will be given responsibility for some of its tasks. There will be three Standing Sub-Committees,

• Mathematics Academic Committee;
• Statistics Academic Committee; and
• Data Science Academic Committee.

The membership of these sub-committees will be determined by the Mathematics and Statistics communities respectively. The role of the Academic Committees is to exercise oversight and intellectual leadership of the academic activities of the NGA(MaSS).

Project Advisory Committee:

The modus operandum of the Academy will be to identify opportunities to support the objectives of the Academy and to develop plans to leverage resources. It is envisaged that the Project Plans will be developed in response to emerging opportunities and, depending on the expectations and requirements of funders and partners, projects will be led and managed by different institutions. Each project will/may require the establishment of a Project Advisory Committee that will work closely with the lead-institution and provide a link between the lead institution and the Academy.  The composition of the Project Advisory Committee will be determined jointly by the lead institution and the Strategy and Steering Committee of the Academy.

Node Leaders:

Each participating or member institution will identify a node leader who will serve as the contact person between the institution and the National Graduate Academy.

Annual General Meetings:

The annual conferences of the South African Mathematical Society and the South African Statistical Association will include a special session dedicated to matters from the Academy. This will include an update of the activities and programmes for the year, a presentation of plans for the following year as well as a discussion of any strategic issues that may arise. The meeting would also confirm any changes to be made to representatives of SAMS and SASA to the committees and sub-committees of the Academy.