3.2. Vice-Chancellor’s Review

In 2020, I announced that I would be stepping down as Vice-Chancellorattheendoftheyearandsothisperiod was used to close an academic restructuring exercise which began seven years earlier. In broad terms, this restructuring has been reported on in previous reports. However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic shifted developments in quite significant ways and overshadowed what was meant to be a concluding year for the programme by forcing a whole series of new initiatives to address the challenges which are outlined in more detail in the report. In 2020, we once again moved closer towards our strategic objective of increasing postgraduate numbers with our total number of postgraduate students being just over 15 000 which is approximately 38% of our student body. Our throughput continues to increase gradually and over 9 500 students graduated in 2019. Due to the pandemic, the University’s academic programmeshiftedonlineforthemajorityoftheyear.Initially, there was debate about whether to shift to online learninggiventhedeepinequalitiesofoursocietyandstudent body. The University adopted the view that we cannot retreat to the lowest common denominator and halt the academicprogramme.Instead,weactivelymitigatedfor the inequalities in our community through the procurement and distribution of 4 000 devices to those in need. The University also provided mobile data to our 37 000 students and subsequently to our staff. This allowed us to shift our operations online in a significant way. The academic, professional and administrative staff, particularly those in our Information and Communications Technology Department, worked beyond the call of duty and we were broadly able to deliver the academic programmeonlineandcompletetheacademicyear.This process was closely monitored by the DVC: Academic and Faculties, and appropriately adjusted as and when required. The net effect of this intervention saw an increase in attendance rates of lectures and tutorials, and pass rates were broadly in line with previous years. Wits’ shift to emergency remote learning was one of the more successful in the system. With the onset of the pandemic, we anticipated a declineinresearchoutputduetoouracademicstaffplaying amoresubstantialroleinonlineteaching.Nevertheless, we are pleased to report that research output is broadly the same as the previous year. Our research impact can also be measured through our knowledge and social

leadership. This was reflected in how our Faculty of HealthSciencesparticipatedinthevaccineclinicaltrials, our students and staff manufactured face shields, our campus was used as a site for Covid-19 testing facilities, and our physics and science scholars were at the cutting-edge of predictive modeling through the creation of a dashboard which has been used by local and provincial government to predict the trajectory of thevirus. Ourleadershipalsoplayedafundamentalrole in public discourse and shaping government‚ response to the pandemic. All of this speaks to two issues that have been highlighted previously. Firstly, the plateau in researchoutputsuggeststhatweneedtodevelopanew strategy to enhance output which will be attended to by the new leadership. Secondly, our research productivity remains true to the research-intensive agenda of the Universityanddemonstrateswhyitisimportanttoguard our research-intensive universities in the South African Higher Education system. The University continues to drive transformation so as to ensure that our institutional make-up represents the diversity of our country and its history. As mentioned in the previous report, our eight-point strategic plan on Transformation underwent a review in 2019 as we had achieved many of the targets set and a new plan was developed for 2020. The eight pillars were reduced to five priority areas: diversifying the academy, institutional culture, institutional naming, curriculum reform, and language policy. An important element of our new Transformation Priorities remains diversifying the academy. By its very nature, diversifying the academy will take time and this vital project will continue. However, wehavemadeprogressonthisfrontoverthepastseven years. Overall, we have increased Black academic staff from 39.9% in 2013 to 47.9% in 2020 and moved from 50.5% male and 49.4% female academic staff in 2013 to 43.03% male and 56.9% female in 2020. Following the review of the diversifying the academy component of our transformation agenda in 2019, the University was awarded a further grant by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to advance transformation through strengthening the early-career pipeline. The University’sChancellorwillalsobelaunchingtheFemale Academic Leaders Fellowship fund in 2021 to further the development of female academics at the University. Our Institutional Naming Committee has been active in renaming our spaces and places, and our Language Board continues to implement the Language Policy. There have been several successful initiatives in terms of curriculum reform. In terms of institutional culture, the Transformation and Employment Equity Office has developed an active agenda for rebuilding the institutional culture as one of empathy, caring, agency and accountability. Transformation remains a priority for the University and will remain so over the coming years. Our financial income remains stable for now. Wits has been able to optimise its income from government subsidies and produce a break-even budget over the last few years. This, however, is unlikely to continue given the existing economic challenges and the consequent decline of tax receipts. The national and global economies are predicted to enter into a long and deep recession, increasing uncertainty and thereby pressurising an already fiscally constrained higher education sector.Itisanticipatedthatthesubsidyincreasein2021 is likely to be significantly lower than the inflation rate. In addition, new risks have emerged in the system and one of these is student historical debt. By the end of 2020, historical debt at the University sat at R1 billion. No institution can sustain this level of debt and there is anurgentneedatasystemicleveltobringthistoanend. This, together with a shrinking revenue stream, means that we need to tighten our belts and collectively work together to ensure the financial health and sustainability of our Institution and the sector as a whole. Our institutional partnerships have continued to grow over the past year. Wits has developed strong collaborations with institutions in both the Global South and North. Our partnerships with the private sector have beengrowingfromstrengthtostrength,especiallyinthe mining, energy, and digital sectors. We maintain excellent research relationships with universities across the SouthAfricanHigherEducationsector.Theestablishment oftheGautengResearchTrianglewiththeUniversitiesof Pretoria and Johannesburg is starting to initiate importantcollaborativeresearchprojects.TheAfricanResearch Universities Alliance (ARUA), which the University is a founding member of, remains an important organisation on the continent. The United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Fund collaboration with ARUA has proven successful for many of our Centres of Excellence since 2019 but as with many changes in the sector globally, the pandemic will have a financial impact on this partnership. Over the next few years, we will be focussing on key fundingprogrammesandincreasingouralumniengagements. The University’s Centenary Campaign, which aims to raise significant funds for the University to take itintoitsnextcentury,isinfullswingandwehaveraised

over R1.5 billion towards the R3 billion goal. These investments will be directed to both addressing the systemic challenge of financing “missing middle” students and enhancing our academic programme. The lockdowns around the world meant that local and international travel was not possible, but we shifted our donor and alumni engagements online which allowed us to engage with more alumni than we have before. We will be increasing the momentum as we head towards our centenary in 2022. Our infrastructural investments for 2020 were delayed due to the national lockdown, but significant investments are being made into our clinical training platform to expand our reach into underserved communities. Another highlight is the Wits Chris Seabrooke Music Hall which is set for completion in 2021. In addition, we are proceeding apace with our plans for the revitalisation of the University’s urban environment and the creation of a digital innovation precinct in Braamfontein. Overall, we had a successful year in 2020, despite the circumstances, and hope to continue improving on our key targets. However, with the current global pandemic caused by Covid-19, we are aware that the higher education sector is going to be impacted heavily. The entire sector must see this as an opportunity to come together and provide solutions and new ways of thinking for the academy. It is important for each part of the higher education systemtoworkoptimallysothatthewholesystemsucceeds.Wits,aspartofthissystem,iscommittedtoenhancing the entire Higher Education Sector, and working towards meeting the developmental agenda as enshrined in the South African Constitution.

The last few years have been a growth spurt for the University. It is important that research universities are present in South Africa, otherwise we cannot address the challenges of our time from an African perspective. The Universitycannotdothisalone.Thiscanonlybedoneinpartnershipwithgovernment,theprivatesector,andother stakeholders. If we do not address the systemic challenges that face us all then we risk losing research-intensive universities on the African continent and, more specifically, in South Africa. This would be a tragedy and the single most substantive failure of the post-apartheid government.

Professor Adam Habib Vice-Chancellor University of the Witwatersrand