Page 107 - UniZulu Annual Report 2020

RESEARCH NICHE AREAS
UNIZULU’s research niche area development process is an important route to channel research efforts to institutional positional strength for the advancement of its impactful competitive advantage. Both the University and the NRF agreed at the beginning of 2017 to channel strategic efforts towards this objective. The faculties of Education, and Science and Agriculture had made notable progress in identifying and defining their niche areas. The Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law are yet to finalise their decisions on this task. The proposed niche areas for the mentioned faculties are as follows:
• Faculty of Education:Teacher Education for Rural Settings (TERS)
• Faculty of Science and Agriculture: Health and food security for enhanced sustainability, sustainable natural resource utilisation and management, and Big Data
ACADEMIC RISKS (RESEARCH)
The COVID-19 pandemic has added an unexpected strain on the delivery value chain. From a research and innovation standpoint, there are four critical risks that warrant institutional attention:
• A slowing postgraduate throughput rate
• Deteriorating postgraduate funding regime
• Unresolved teaching and research (postgraduate
supervision and publishing) workload distribution
• Research skills gaps, as emerging from master’s and
doctoral examiner reports
The slowing postgraduate throughput is linked to several internal and external factors, most notably the following:
• Supervision capacity issues
• Academic readiness of postgraduate students
• Socio-economic and funding challenges facing postgraduate students
In light of these findings, the Research Office has opened a discussion with faculties and supervisors to attend to the identified supervision shortfalls, and also to tighten control of the postgraduate supervision contracts. The postgraduate funding challenge, with unpredictable sustainability forecasts, has also become complex. To illustrate, the NRF funding capabilities have shrunk in 2019 (without any warning), resulting in a major strain on the fate of postgraduate students. Going forward, the University will need additional funding to keep its postgraduate programmes going.
SPECIFIC PROJECTS
The Research and Innovation Unit has since 2018 been driving the development of an electronic research and ethics administration system and has engaged a service provider to help realise this objective. The final quarter of 2020 was earmarked as the testing phase for the system prototype.
COMPOSITION AND SIZE OF THE
STUDENT BODY
UNIZULU receives a significant number of applications yearly. From the 96 982 applications received for the 2020 intake, 8 420 offers were made. As with previous years, walk- in applications were considered in faculties that did not meet First-Year quota targets. It was recommended that walk-ins also use the clearinghouse for both the Central Applications Office (CAO) and DHET Central Applications Clearing House (CACH). A total of 1 640 applications were processed by the Admissions Office of students who had interrupted their studies. UNIZULU’s registration for the 2020 academic year commenced on 13 January 2020 for all FTENs, however, the web online system was also open for senior and postgraduate students to register online. Registration for returning and postgraduate students commenced on 20 January 2020. The closing date for registration, excluding registration for all master’s and doctoral students (excluding master’s coursework), was 31 January 2020 and lectures commenced on 3 February 2020. Registration for Honours and master’s coursework closed on 7 February 2020 and all master’s and doctoral students remained open until 29 May 2020. Despite the schedule, the University agreed to extend the registration period for another two weeks till 14 February 2020 to address any additional issues that students experienced, especially related to funding. UNIZULU’s target for FTENS was 3 823 with a total enrolment target of 17 240.
An overview of the 2020 Student Web i-Enabler registration for the undergraduate cohort of students reveals that there are still several interventions that will require further consideration for the 2021 registration cycle. A statistical overview of the 2020 registration reveals that 15 821 (99%) out of a total of 15 875 undergraduate students, at both the KwaDlangazwa and Richards Bay campuses, registered via the Student Web i-Enabler system. This indicates a 23% increase on the 76% overall Web i-Enabler online registration during the 2019 student cycle.
1 0 5
UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND ANNUAL REPORT 2020