Page 12 - DUT Annual Report 2023

REPORT OF
THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL ON MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Professor T.Z. Mthembu
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Introduction
The year 2023 marked the last year of the Different Phases of ENVISION2030, the 10-year-horizon strategy that University approved in 2019 for implementation by 2030. Our strategy is segmented into three periods, each with clear outcomes/impacts that measure our progress towards the ideal state in 2030 (and beyond). According to the three periods of our Strategic Plan 2030, the period between 2021 and 2023 is our Different period. Sections of this report will provide evidence of performance that supports how DUT has become truly Different. This phase laid the foundation for DUT to move to the Upended period between 2024 and 2026, a period during which DUT will institutionalise and embed emergent systems that have already made it Different. Ultimately, during the last 3 years, 2027 to 2030, which is our Transformed period, we will have ample evidence of ‘contributing to the lives and livelihoods of the broader society’ and ultimately ‘transforming our societies and their economies’.
We started 2023 with the completion of DUT’s Self- Evaluation Report (SER) in preparation for the Council of Higher Education’s (CHE) institutional audit, which was scheduled for mid-May. Prior to 2022, the last CHE institutional audit, conducted by its Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) was undertaken in 2007. We used the HEQC Audit Report, published in 2008, to review how DUT had responded to its recommendations and how it had thus become a different DUT since then. The evaluation also helped to gauge the progress we have made in implementing ENVISION2030.
The concept of ‘frugal reporting’ has, by now, been well-established at DUT. Thus, this report will not be as
elaborate as previous ones. In that vein, the next sections focus on the four interconnected perspectives of our strategy, namely, Stewardship, Systems and Processes, Sustainability and Society. Only high level and strategic outcomes/impacts are presented.
Stewardship
The Stewardship perspective is one of the two ‘enabling and effecting’ perspectives. It is the most foundational of the four perspectives and comprises three interdependent strategic objectives, namely, Lived Values, Institutional Culture and Creativity.
For the period under review, we provide highlights of initiatives we implemented to reduce deep chasms in the levels of cohesion, unity, and common purpose among our people as revealed by our annual ENVISION2030 Tracker Survey. Challenges across race, gender, age stratifications, and in our multi-campus system remain gaping. The insights helped us craft purpose-built initiatives that built and strengthened the university’s unique social compact. For instance, there are discernible and improved relations between and among stakeholders. The Labour Management Consultative Forum (LMCF), despite one minority union’s failure to abide by its terms of reference, continued to function effectively.
The Transformation Statement (page 70) provides examples of initiatives we implemented in pursuit of Lived Values and Institutional Culture. ENVISION2030 sees Lived Values and Institutional Culture as two sides of the same coin. Thus, our hope is that our people’s commitment to live in accordance with our Living Values Framework (LVF) and usher in a new DUT Way will eventually culminate in
10
DUT ANNUAL REPORT 2023