Inaugural National Higher Education Conference

The National Higher Education conference, hosted by Universities South Africa (USAf) from 2 to 4 October 2019, drew a wide range of presenters and participants from universities and national departments and entities, notably the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Council on Higher Education, the Department of Science and Innovation, the National Research Foundation, the Human Sciences Research Council, and the Water Research Commission.

International participants included the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the University of Oslo in Norway, and the Nairobi-based United States International University.

The overarching theme, Reinventing South Africa’s Universities for the Future, was a deliberate focus on the pressing issues that are likely to face South African universities into the future. The sub-themes were broadly aligned with the foci of USAf’s five strategy groups: transformation, teaching and learning, research and innovation, funding, and the world of work. There were nine plenary sessions and 15 parallel sessions in total, and over 200 participants which, taken together, contributed to the overall success of this inaugural event.