This new division at the NWU is the result of the restructuring of the registrar’s functions at the three campuses. Prof Manie Spamer is the chief director of SALA and reports to the registrar, Prof Marlene Verhoef.

 

Administration phases: covering A-Z

 

The subdivisions of SALA include all administrative phases of a student’s career at the NWU. They cover everything from applications to admissions, registration, curriculum control, assessment, class timetables, study guides, study material and graduation ceremonies.

 

Manie says SALA has taken over all the functions of the former registrars; at campus level, these functions are handled by three SALA directors. They are Lourens Kruger on the campus in Potchefstroom, Franco Nkoana on the campus in Mahikeng and Neels Vermeulen on the campus in Vanderbijlpark.

 

Certain SALA functions are centralised, for instance applications, exams and higher degrees, to ensure they are the same on all three campuses. “Each campus still has a help desk to support students.”

 

Another change is that support staff who were placed at faculties now fall under and report to SALA. This means the number of staff who report to the registrar has increased by about 350, and they are managed by Manie and the SALA executive team.

 

Align systems and processes

 

Student systems such as the marks system also fall under SALA and are currently being aligned on all three campuses. Manie says good progress has been made with this and regular discussions take place with stakeholders to implement the aligned processes.

 

The main objective of SALA, he says, is to ensure that all students at the NWU, including distance students, comply with the same processes and policies. “All exam papers on the three campuses will also now be the same, and regardless of the campus at which students study, they will receive the same qualification with the same content and outcomes.”