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Mangosuthu University of Technology Annual Report
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TENDER APPEALS TRIBUNAL RULES:
The Tender Appeals rules are part of the SCM policy.
Council had delegated the responsibility to EXCO to
finalize the Tender Appeals Tribunal rules. EXCO had
approved the rules and they were being received by
Council for ratification. The meeting considered and
ratified the Tender Appeals Tribunal rules.
REPORT ON POLICIES STATUS
Councilreceivedareportonthestatusofpolicydevelopment
with the view to strengthening compliance at MUT. The
report also sought to hold each executive accountable in
ensuring that policies are presented to Council timeously.
Council resolved that all policies approved by Council
should be signed by the Chairperson of Council.
3.6 Academic Matters
ACADEMIC CHALLENGES AT MUT
Council considered the current academic challenges at
MUT.
MUT’s historical disadvantages within the SA Higher
Education Landscape (HEMIS Data):
a)
Unequal and/or unfavourable staff: student ratios
–MUT has the most unfavourable ratio among the
contact teaching universities in South Africa.
b)
Qualification and expertise of existing staff –
MUT has the lowest number of staff with doctoral
degrees.
c)
The Postgraduate enrolment in 2015 was 31.
d)
Total number of research outputs in 2015 was 14.73
units.
The following achievements show that in spite of the
above challenges, the University has been doing well.
MUT’S RECENT ACADEMIC SUCCESSES IN 2015
The Council considered and applauded MUT for the
following academic achievements:
a)
Four new qualifications were registered. MUT is
the first UoT to offer the following programmes in
the country: the Post Graduate Diploma in Nature
Conservation, the Advanced Diploma in Marketing,
the Advanced Diploma in Human Resource
Management and the BSc in Environmental Health.
b)
A letter of confirmation to offer the Master of Nature
Conservation was received. This would be the first
Master’s degree to be offered by MUT.
c)
ECP Programmes: The DHET has approved the
offering of the ECP programme in Biomedical
Sciences, Public Financial and Accounting, Building
and Surveying.
d)
The Teaching and Learning Colloquium was held on
07 May 2015.
e)
The Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Awards
held on 08 May 2015 to recognize academic staff
that have done well in their teaching activities.
f)
MUT has the lowest dropout rate in the entire
higher education sector.
g)
MUT had an average success rate of 83% which is
the highest among UoT’s.
h)
Mr Njabulo Gumede from the Faculty of Natural
Sciences was awarded a National Excellence in
Teaching and Learning Award by CHE. He is the
second staff member to receive the national award.
nGAP POSITIONS FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL
Council considered the nGAP project of the DHET
designed to assist in the development of the next
generation of academics by attracting young people into
academia. Council noted that the DHET had made funding
available for MUT for four posts to be created. Council
expressed appreciation for the nGAP programme, but felt
that the University needed to look at the pros and cons of
its impact financially and otherwise. After deliberations
Council approved in principled the creation of the
positions, subject to certain conditions, one of which was
that full details of the financial and other implications
(structural), that will arise as a result of the creation of the
new positions is provided. Subsequently, Council received
and considered how the funding of the four lecturing
positions would be provided when the DHET gradually
reduces its funding of the positions from the fourth year
onwards.
3.7 Operational Information
VICE-CHANCELLOR’S REPORT
Council considered the Vice-Chancellor’s Report and
recommended that rather than using input indicators,
the report should use output indicators. Improvement
is needed in the way the report is crafted, e.g. key
performance indicators need to be shown in the office of
the VC and Executive Director: OVC. Council suggested
that since some targets are quarterly; all targets should be
measured on a quarterly basis.
Council members were requested to interrogate the
report further and thereafter forward their comments for
improvement.
ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN (APP)
Council noted the report on the APP and recommended
that Management re-formulates the APP in line with best