1. building caring institutions
whereto from here? a future perspective on the way forward for higher education in south africa
building caring institutions

2. #FeesMustFall #RhodesMustFall
some thoughts and reflections going back to basics

3. Universities are Social Institutions
they are involved in the knowledge industry – production, application and dissemination they exist within contexts which are simultaneously intensely local and intensely global they are complex social spaces they intersect with other social spaces

4. purposes of higher education
Creating active citizens Meeting the needs of the economy Producing new knowledge Generating social mobility Nation building Building new cohorts of intellectuals Critical thinking Systemic thinking Problem solving Working in diverse teams Ethical reasoning Effective communicating Innovating

5. challenges
chronic underfunding and its impact language usage fractured schooling system legitimacy gap/deficit creating meshes between society and universities students and universities staff and universities students and curriculum complexity universities are complex, multi-layered institutions need systemic approaches as we design interventions lots of gentle nudges

6. at the institutional level – through deliberate design
a strong social justice agenda – as a sociopolitical rubric
access and success
research and innovation for development
graduate employability/entrepreneurialism
intellectual, social and emotional student development
building new communities of intellectuals
through placing students at the centre
and
engagement

7. starting point….. who are our students? what do they come with?
what are their strengths?
what/how are they reading?
how will they adjust to life on campus and off campus?
what is their socioeconomic condition?
design the university around our students?

8. 26 universities in South Africa
The question is: how many South African universities are there? what I would like to argue is that the identity, role and function intertwine to help us define what a South African university is? ENGAGEMENT IS A KEY ELEMENT IN DEFINING THIS IDENTITY THROUGH ROLE AND FUNCTION

9. the centre of gravity of the global knowledge system is
somewhere in the mid-north atlantic question. how do our universities enter the global knowledge system on their own terms? must define our knowledge project independently must define a knowledge project that is simultaneously intensely local and intensely global?

10. raison d'être of the South African university?
In addition to all the public and private goods expected of universities globally they must assume the responsibility for a. producing and disseminating knowledge of the context in which they are located b. embedding this knowledge in the global knowledge system This requires engagement.

11. Examples: Clinical research in South Africa
Mduduzi Mokoena’s fermentation project

12. What this does not mean
Does not mean that African universities should not be engaging in global knowledge projects.
Higgs Boson or the Top Quark or Quantum Computing
Global warning and climate change
Does not mean that we should not be collaborating with other universities in unearthing knowledge about our context.
Does not mean that we should not be studying other societies and other contexts.

13. What it does mean
We must assume the responsibility of producing knowledge about our context. We must become anchor institutions. We must be engaged.

14. Thank you