Foreword 1 - University Of KwaZulu-Natal
ContentsForeword1THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL3Strategic ALIGNMENT5Maintaining Strategic MomentumStrategy 2017-2021813Purpose13Values13Pillars for Delivering on the Purpose13Mission Statement15Vision16Strategy Statement17Strategy at a Glance18UKZN Strategic Plan (2017–2021)19A. Institutional climate and culture as a catalyst20B. Goals for benchmarking achievement21C. Enablers as Strategic Success Factors24Delivering the Strategic Plan28Appendices29Appendix 1: Institutional Planning in the context of the Strategic Plan30Appendix 2: Annual Planning, Monitoring and Reporting Cycle31Appendix 3: Reporting Framework32Produced by:Corporate Relations Division University of KwaZulu-NatalTel: 031 260 7958 Facsimile: 086 535 3339www.ukzn.ac.zaDate: September 2017
ForewordFrom the Vice-Chancellor and PrincipalIt is a pleasure to present the University of KwaZulu-Natal(UKZN) Strategic Plan 2017-2021, which outlines theinstitutional culture, goals and enablers we have identifiedto help the University realise its full potential, and to inspiregreatness in our stakeholders. The process of formulating anew Strategic Plan at UKZN gave us the opportunity to takestock of our achievements and failures and to determine ourfuture in light of the challenges that lie ahead.This strategy demonstrates our commitment to achievingtransformation and excellence through our core functionas a knowledge agent, as well as through our engagementwith stakeholders and communities. Transformation andexcellence are both pervasive elements that are deeplyentrenched throughout the strategy to shape the future ofthe University.The strategic goals aim to enrich the learning experiencefor students, to cultivate a commitment to lifelong learning,and to empower students to flourish as innovators andentrepreneurs. We shall continue to engage in cuttingedge research not only to make an increasing intellectualimpact internationally but also to benefit society in termsof addressing immediate challenges and societal needs. Bygrowing intimate relationships with public and private sectorpartners as a vehicle for achieving the above objectives, theUniversity will pursue its core purpose – to inspire greatnessin everyone it touches.To facilitate the delivery of our strategic goals, UKZN iscommitted to growing a deep service culture across theInstitution, to delivering excellence within an enablingenvironment, and providingworld-class infrastructureto support a vibrantknowledge community.At the heart of the serviceculture is our value systemthat all at the University willaspire to live by on a dailybasis.I would like to thank the Task Team who worked tirelesslyfrom the start of the process in 2015, facilitating at Universitycommunity consultation sessions, and compiling andoverseeing the development of numerous drafts of the newUKZN Strategic Plan 2017-2021. My sincere appreciation andthanks are due to the Strategic Plan Task Team.The UKZN Strategic Plan 2017-2021 represents the collectiveinputs – a wide array of contributions and thoughts – fromthe entire UKZN community. In this regard, I would like totake this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting thiseffort and for providing your inputs during the extensiveconsultation process. As the UKZN executive team, we lookforward to working with you and all our stakeholders tovigorously pursue our collective ambitions for the University.Let us work together in taking collective responsibilityto oversee and monitor the implementation of this newstrategy. By investing in the future of UKZN, we are investingin a future KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.Dr Albert van jaarsveldVice-Chancellor and PrincipalSTRATEGIC PLAN 2017-20211
2UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL
The University ofKwaZulu-NatalThe University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has swiftly establishedits credentials as a rapidly transforming and research-intensiveinstitution, and has become one of the leading universitiesin Africa. UKZN is the only merged South African university that hasconsistently featured in global university rankings over the last fiveyears. Established in 2004, with roots originating in the erstwhileUniversities of Natal and Durban-Westville (founded as UniversityColleges in 1910 and 1960 respectively), this reconfigured Institutionis now one of the largest residential universities in South Africa.UKZN’s Strategic Plan 2009-2016 began the journey towards AfricanScholarship with its vision of UKZN becoming a Premier University ofAfrican Scholarship, a journey that enhanced the research character ofthe University. This enabled UKZN to be ranked as one of Africa’s mostprominent universities in terms of its academic quality and researchimpact.Rich in tradition, UKZN has a proud heritage of academic excellenceand a history of making a transformative impact regionally, nationally,and globally. The recent publication 100 Years of Academic Excellence,1910-2010 celebrates this tradition and heritage. UKZN remains deeplycommitted to advancing African scholarship and being an Institutionof Choice for staff and students. As a transformative university whichnurtures and develops academic talent and diversity among itsstudents and staff, UKZN aspires to create a deep service culture thatinspires greatness across the Institution, in its partners, and also thecommunities it serves.UKZN currently has five campuses across the two metropoles ofeThekwini (Durban) and Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) – which serve asthe main hubs of its academic activities. The greater Durban area is fastSTRATEGIC PLAN 2017-20213
urbanising and has a port which handles large volumes ofshipping and general cargo for the African continent. Durbanis one of the largest commercial and industrial centres inSouth Africa.The student population at UKZN is representative of regionaldemographics, and has grown significantly to a numberover 45 000. While this student body size is approachingthe limits of space and university resource constraints, thereis still capacity to increase the proportion of postgraduateenrolment, which is currently just under 30% of the totalstudent population. UKZN’s research centres and researchinstitutes are thriving, and have positioned the Institution asa university with the highest number of published researchoutputs in 2013 and 2014 in South Africa. Accompanyingthis success is the maturing of UKZN’s intellectual propertyand knowledge-transfer office, InQubate, which is thedriver for the management and commercialisation ofUKZN’s intellectual property, and which acts as a hub for thegrowth of student entrepreneurship and industry-universitycollaborations. The Centre for World University Rankings(CWUR) presently ranks UKZN fourth in South Africa, andthe University is placed within the top 500 universities in theworld.The devolved College model – a fundamental outcomeof the 2009-2016 Strategic Plan – has matured and nowpromotes the rendering of effective strategic direction interms of resource utilisation and improved management and4UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATALadministrative support functions. As part of its institutionaltransformation, UKZN has embraced symbols that areconsistent with the vision of being a Premier University ofAfrican scholarship. The transformation symbols includethe new anthem iHelele, and academic dress and corporatebranding which reflect the Institution’s African roots.University planning is a continuous process that must beresponsive, and must adapt to the constantly evolvinglandscape of the Higher Education sector and the changingneeds of wider society. The UKZN Strategic Plan 2017–2021builds on the current strengths of UKZN and seeks to makefurther improvements. It also aims to strengthen UKZN sothat it can pre-emptively address internal challenges andpro-actively seize on opportunities arising from the externalenvironment. The new Strategic Plan provides an aspirationaland robust framework for UKZN to continue to thrive in theuncertain but exciting period that lies ahead for the tertiaryeducation sector in South Africa. Furthermore, it serves as abasis for the development of annual operational plans.The UKZN Strategic Plan 2017-2021 is the result of acomprehensive consultation process across the University,and its implementation is the responsibility of everyone atthe Institution. UKZN leadership looks forward to workingwith all stakeholders to achieve the Strategic Plan’s objectives,and to ensure the sustained success of the University. Deepgratitude is due to all who contributed inputs during thePlan’s development, drafting and refinement.
Strategic AlignmentThe UKZN Strategic Plan 2017–2021 builds on work alreadyunderway and launches several new initiatives. Whilemaintaining continuity with the normative standard ofAfrican scholarship within a global context, the plan takesadvantage of UKZN’s distinctive features – including itsheritage, refreshed academic portfolio, research strengths,and its geographical location as a coastal university on SouthAfrica’s eastern seaboard with a significant presence in themidlands of KwaZulu-Natal. The intention is to strategicallyposition UKZN as a locally engaged institution with a strongglobal presence in selected research areas.The Strategic Plan will steer UKZN through a period thatis likely to be characterised by a rapidly evolving andincreasingly competitive Higher Education environment,high expectations from students, and also significantfinancial pressures.The following strategic and environmental factors formthe backdrop for the strategic choices underpinning thestrategic plan:»» People and Institutional ClimateStrengthening of the current institutional climate withinUKZN is one of the overarching intentions of the plan.The leadership at UKZN has already started working tocreate a climate within which the University can inspiregreatness by demonstrating that Higher Education isabout compassionate human development and byimparting values that empower all people to reachtheir full potential. As part of advancing scholarshipand knowledge, UKZN advances mutual understanding,social cohesion, and peace. Therefore, the leadership hasembraced the ideal of servant leadership, where moralconsciousness is appreciated and accessed through waysthat inspire trust, pride, and mutual confidence.»» The Challenge of ScaleThe size and shape of UKZN is a key strategic issuerunning through this document. The University has morethan 45 000 students (approximately 42 500 full-timeequivalents), 4 400 staff, over 148 370 alumni (8 785 ofwhom are now international), and an annual budgetthat exceeds R2 800 million. The current infrastructureaccommodates the academic activities in the fourColleges (Agriculture, Engineering and Science; HealthSciences; Humanities; and Law and ManagementStudies) as well as all student academic and recreationalfacilities. These are distributed across five Universitycampuses (Edgewood, Howard College, Medical School,Pietermaritzburg, and Westville).The ongoing development of a Campus Master Planserves as a guide for the future growth, improvement,and repositioning of UKZN. The Master Plan will becontinuously revised over the lifespan of this StrategicPlan in order to reflect the changes in UKZN’s size,organisation, and business priorities. This will ensurethat the University grows as a comprehensive, collegebased, research-intensive institution – with a world-STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-20215
renowned research profile and distinctive and alignedundergraduate and postgraduate teaching portfolios.A critical step over the next five years will therefore beto plan to scale, in order to realise UKZN’s academicambition and to offer students and staff the widest rangeof opportunities, including critical public and privatesector partnerships, global mobility, and linkages withworld-renowned research and university partners. Theprinciples of equity and opportunity in participationby both students and staff will inform this strategy.Increasing the availability of scholarships and residentialaccommodation, together with targeted investmentsin student support, will be required to encourageparticipation by students who experience disadvantage.Within this context, the quality of the student experiencewill be paramount. This will need investment in theexpansion and improvement of teaching and learningthrough digital technologies, and in the creation ofsupportive learning, social, and residential environments.The strategy assumes that classroom teaching andcampus life will remain core to UKZN but would requiredigital enhancement.Therefore, UKZN’s growth parameters have beenprioritised as follows: The growth of the Institution will be restricted tothe current geographic spread between the cities ofeThekwini (Durban) and Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg).An exception will be the provision of programmesin the Health Sciences, where there is a need for anextended platform into rural areas for the provision ofhealthcare training and services. UKZN will also makeprovision for extended online education and other6UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATALprogrammes for experiential learning, in order to meetthe needs of communities far from our campuses. A cap in the growth of the headcount in studentenrolment at 50 000 for the period leading to the year2030. A growth in postgraduate enrolment up to 30% oftotal student enrolment.»» GlobalisationUKZN remains committed to the trajectory commencedin 2009, in terms of advancing African scholarship withina competitive, global, Higher Education environment.Internationalisation has been identified as one of the keygoals underpinning the Strategic Plan, in order to meetUKZN’s aspiration to be a globally connected Universityof African Scholarship.As one of the key drivers for change, global mobility willgrow for students, academics, and University brands. Thiswill not only intensify competition but will also createopportunities for more meaningful global partnershipsand expanded access to student and academic talent.UKZN will have to strengthen its efforts to increasethe international mobility of both students and staff –especially within Africa.UKZN will need to respond to the increase in theavailability of “knowledge” – especially online – which isdriving the expansion of access to university educationglobally. This driver of change will intensify as digitaltechnologies continue to transform the media, retail,entertainment, and other industries, including HigherEducation. The national phenomena of an agingresearcher cohort and the continued decline in the
per capita funding of Higher Education will be majorconstraints for the internationalisation agenda, especiallywith regard to UKZN’s world-ranking aspirations.The idea that the world is currently entering the FourthIndustrial Revolution is gaining traction. This FourthIndustrial Revolution builds on the Third – the digitalrevolution that has been prominent over the last halfcentury. This has seen a fusion of technologies that isblurring the lines between the physical, digital, andbiological spheres, resulting in changes that are evolvingat an exponential rate and which are disrupting almostevery industry in every country on Earth.This rapid change, however, presents countlesspossibilities for billions of people across the worldconnected by mobile devices – with unprecedentedprocessing power and storage capacity. Emergingtechnology breakthroughs in fields like artificialintelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, biotechnologyand materials science, energy storage, and quantumcomputing, will all amplify these possibilities.The breadth and depth of the above changes will heraldthe transformation of entire sectors of society and resultin positive gains in terms of efficiency, productivity andsafer and more rewarding jobs. However, the changesmay also lead to undesirable consequences such asgreater inequality in societies and the displacement ofworkers by technology.»» National PerspectiveNationally, the Higher Education landscape will continueto see changes in national policy, including reformsto the regulatory environment. The Higher EducationAmendment Bill, passed by the National Assembly andNational Council of Provinces at the end of 2016, willgive the Minister of Higher Education and Training newpowers to, among other things, determine policy ontransformation goals, articulation, and also recognitionof prior learning within Higher Education. There is likelyto be a regulation of tuition fees or further extensionof Higher Education for the poor and financial aid forstudents from middle-income families.The demand for free, quality and decolonised HigherEducation may escalate and create an unstableenvironment for the running of universities in SouthAfrica. There will be increasing pressures to find new andinnovative means to engage students who feel alienatedby institutional cultures that are underpinned by normaluniversity governance and democratic processes,echoing increasing dissatisfaction with wideninginequality in South African society. This is within thecontext of a growing trust deficit among ordinarypeople across the world with regard to mainstreambusiness and political establishments. UKZN carries aheavy responsibility to create a culture that promotesengagement, dialogue, and tolerance for different values.The challenge for University leadership is to provide anengaged, open, and connected form of leadership thatpractically serves and meets the needs of students asthe Institution’s major partner. UKZN’s primary aim is toshape a future that works for all by putting people firstand empowering them to cope with the evolving world.For students and staff, UKZN should be a place of newand original thoughts and ideas that will shape a bravenew future.STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-20217
A number of exciting opportunities are emerging. Theseinclude the continued commitment of the Departmentof Higher Education for the funding of infrastructuredevelopment at universities and the introduction ofthe University Capacity Development Grant for generaldevelopment within an institution.The UKZN Strategic Plan 2017–2021 aligns with: theNational Development Plan 2030: Our Future – Make itWork (2013); the Provincial Growth and DevelopmentStrategy for KwaZulu-Natal (2011); and the White Paper forPost-School Education and Training: Building an Expanded,Effective and Integrated Post-School System (2013).»» Regional and Local ContextAlthough it is true that Higher Education around theworld faces disruptive forces such as MOOCS (MassiveOnline Open Courses) that will increasingly provideinternational platforms for education and training, thevalue of a residential university that simultaneously offersglobal connectivity and access while also being deeplyembedded in its local community, is less susceptible todisruption. Key to this strategic approach is the strengthof partnerships and the degree of entrenchment in localcommunities, the public sector, as well as in industryand corporate partners. It is the intention of UKZN tobecome a tertiary education institution that is highlyconnected or “plugged in” to its regional partnerships,and to create an inviting culture for regional partners onall our campuses.»» Transformation and Excellence: UKZNCommitmentsTransformation and excellence are key mutually8UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATALreinforcing drivers for delivering on the purpose of theStrategy – Inspiring Greatness. They are complementaryconcepts at UKZN and will be monitored using a numberof key performance indicators scattered throughout theStrategy document. The commitment of the University toachieving transformation and excellence simultaneouslyis unwavering and also entrenched in the UKZNTransformation Charter and the UKZN REACHT principles.Maintaining Strategic Momentum»» AchievementsThe implementation of the Strategy is a journey andbuilds on the momentum and achievements of previousstrategic initiatives – specifically the UKZN StrategicPlan 20
KwaZUlU-natal t he University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has swiftly established its credentials as a rapidly transforming and research-intensive institution, and has become one of the leading universities in Africa. UKZN is the only merged South African university that has consistently featured in global university rankings over the last five years.
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inquiry-based instruction supported 5E learning cycle . In the instruction based on 5E learning cycle method, teaching and learning activities and lesson plans were designed to maximize students active involvement in the learning process. The topics included in the lesson plans were about the three units of fifth-grade sciences book; they included: hidden strangles (microbes, viruses, diseases .
