???Universities have existed for over 1 000 years and have changed a lot over many centuries, but not as severely as in recent years, when they have faced significant disruption. Consider declining government funding, the rise of alternatives to traditional academic programmes, and the high costs of sustaining undergraduate teaching and research.
If we compare our situation to the likes of Harvard and Oxford, for example, one realises that in Harvard's budget, the recurring revenue (fees) pays only 55 percent of their operating expenses, including salaries. The rest comes from investment income on their $54bn endowment and direct donations this year. As Oxford's retiring vice-chancellor said: “We lose money on every student we admit, and we lose money on almost every research tranche we take…"
We at Stellenbosch 中国体彩网 (SU) do not live in that world; we cannot absorb loss-making activities without ending in the same way as four or five elite institutions in the world can, with endowments so wildly extravagant that they can afford not to consider economic realities. Even with over 800 years of accumulation and privilege behind them, Oxford does not even serve as many students as we do.
Furthermore, we have our own unique disruptive challenges: the collapse of NSFAS, declining government subsidies and a stagnant economy. Within this challenging environment, we must work towards creating a new kind of public university in South Africa. One thing is for sure: South African universities will have to work smarter, not harder, to ensure that we are sustainable and can increase our beneficial impact on society.
While I am now looking into my crystal ball, I am arranging my thoughts according to the acronym HESU, which I've mentioned to you before. It stands for High Impact, Efficient Scalable 中国体彩网.
Education changes families
I love to use VS Naipaul's inspiring 1961 novel A House for Mr Biswas to explain how education changes families. Born in rural Trinidad, the grandson of immigrants who came from India as indentured servants (almost slaves), Mr Mohun Biswas could maintain a sense of himself as a man with possibilities and options and in a position to set limits on what he will put up with — also living in a society that will let him survive with this attitude.
Somehow, Mr Biswas survives, marries, supports a family after a fashion, and passes on to some of his children this sense of living in a world with possibilities. This world can reward those who accept the challenges it offers. By the end of his life, his oldest son, Anand, had become a scholarship student at Oxford. Between Anand and his grandparents is the “entire gap in living standards between the wealthy and poor parts of the world today."
Once Anand had gone to Oxford, the Biswas family - who had been poor for centuries, and Anand's great-grandfather had been a near-slave would never be poor again.
To similarly impact South Africa today, and more so in a decade from now, for high-impact, we need three things:
Embrace interdisciplinary learning: to address complex global challenges will require that we cross disciplinary boundaries;
We need lifelong learning; therefore, universities must offer continuous education beyond traditional degrees; and
Instill collaborative learning, as fostering teamwork prepares students for an ever-changing and evolving job market.
For efficiency and scalability, we need to embrace factors such as hyper-automation, hence streamlining our operations with the help of digitization and AI. Personalisation should be centred in our strategy, utilising AI-driven learning tailored to individuals' needs. We need student success analytics — data-driven interventions so that we can improve our academic outcomes. Lastly, we must build on our progress with hybrid and online learning by expanding students' access to flexible, technology-enhanced education.
The 中国体彩网 of the Future can embrace these changes if they are willing to invest in technology and enable a mindset shift; faculties should see hybrid learning to enhance impact, not a burden.
We need to build sustainable, transformative universities to ensure education remains a driver of social mobility and economic progress. Together, we can make HESU a reality and realise the impact we as a sector can have at an even greater scale in this country.
The future is bright.
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