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“Council found a way to take the university forward as an inclusive university where a focus on social justice forms part of all our activities, including our endeavour to grow in academic excellence.”

- Adv Johan Kruger, chairperson of Council


It belongs to us all

 

Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor, is delighted that Senate and Council have approved the new strategy and structure.

 

When speaking to NWU staff members on the campuses and at the Institutional Office, he repeatedly said that everybody involved with the NWU should take credit for the new strategy. “It is not my plan or model – it is ours and we should all take ownership of it.”

 

Having taken collective ownership of our new strategy and structure – and with our feet firmly on the ground and our eyes on our guiding stars – we are ready to set out on the new NWU path.

 

Our new structure:

the road beneath the stars

In addition to the new strategy approved by the NWU Council on 20 November 2015, a new structure was also approved.

 

Whereas the broader strategy and its different components are the guiding stars on our future journey, the change in the structure and operating model is the road we build to enable us to reach our destination.

 

In other words: to execute the strategy (our guiding star.), a new structure and operating model is necessary (the road we are building).

 

The structure was designed to enable much greater academic programme and standards alignment, integration and coherence, while taking into account the complexity of our multi-campus institution.

 

First steps

 

Everything cannot be changed overnight – we will follow a phased-in approach.

  • We will start by restructuring the institutional senior management and campus managements, the institutional and campus corporate services and the faculty management structures.

  • The second phase will be the restructuring of faculty schools, units, centres and other organisational entities in consultation with staff and student representatives and based on a realistic implementation plan.

 

In all cases, we will follow the legal route in terms of applicable labour and other legal prescripts.

 

A closer look

 

Let’s take a closer look at the new structure.

 

The operational head of a campus will in future be a deputy vice-chancellor. This post will not simply be a change of name from the current post of campus rector. The deputy vice-chancellor will have a strategic executive function which spans the whole university, for instance institutional research and planning, internationalisation or the like.

 

The executive deans, who will head a faculty spanning the university, will report to the deputy vice-chancellors of teaching and learning; and research and innovation.

 

For more information about the restructuring of the faculties, click on the text in the image below.

  • ​thebigger picture

    A single executive dean will head each of the eight aligned faculties, which will span all campuses of the NWU (instead of the current 15 campus-based deans and faculties).

  • ​theeight faculties

    Faculty of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Theology, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Faculty of Education Sciences and Faculty of Engineering.

  • ​Holding
    the reins

    The executive deans will report to the deputy vice-chancellor for teaching-learning and the deputy vice-chancellor for research, innovation and technology on strategic and functional matters. They will be responsible for the alignment of academic programmes and standards across the university (as opposed to the current structure where campus-based deans report to the campus rectors through the vice-rectors).

  • ​Faculty management

    There will be on-site managers such as deputy deans (or other senior academic managers, depending on the size and complexity of the faculty) on the campuses to ensure rapid decision making and responsive client services.

The NWU & U

 

Please send us your comments, suggestions and any other contributions you would like to make, for instance photographs or news snippets.

 

We value your opinions and input – after all, the NWU & U belongs to us all.

 

Front page

Poet Lesego Matheatau from the Potchefstroom community participated in the Spoken Word Festival organised by the NWU Gallery, which is part of NWU-PUK Arts on the Potchefstroom Campus.

​ Francois Lion-Cachet

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