One of Professor Songca’s immediate priorities is accelerating the filling of vacant academic positions. She is acutely aware that MUT cannot pursue ambitious academic growth without ensuring that its faculties have the people, skills, and capacity to deliver quality teaching, learning, research, and innovation.
Already, there are encouraging signs that this commitment is being translated into action. This week, all vacant Head of Department (HoD) positions in the Faculty of Engineering were advertised, marking an important step towards addressing vacancies that have remained unfilled for years (www.mut.ac.za/vacancies).
In a reassuring message to the Dean of Engineering, Dr Richard Chidzonga, Professor Songca made it clear that academic leaders would not be left to navigate these challenges alone. “Dr Chidzonga, you are not alone in this journey. We are right behind you, and you will get your staff soon,” she said.
Her assurance reflected her determination to remove obstacles that have constrained academic departments and to ensure that faculties are adequately resourced to fulfil their mandates.
However, Professor Songca recognises that appointing the right academic staff is only one part of the solution. Equally important is strengthening the relationship between academic departments and the administrative environments that support them.
She wants to address a challenge familiar to many universities: departments operating in silos, sometimes without fully appreciating how their decisions, processes, and turnaround times affect teaching, learning, research, and the overall academic experience.
To this end, Professor Songca has prioritised direct stakeholder engagements with Finance, Committee Services, and other support departments to ensure that their systems, processes, and operational priorities are aligned with the University’s academic ambitions.
Her clear message is that the academic project is MUT’s core business, and every department, whether academic or administrative, has a responsibility to make it succeed.
The next chapter of MUT’s transformation will therefore be measured not only by the new qualifications the University introduces, but also by how effectively its people, systems, and structures work together to deliver on the promise of IGNITE 2030.