Good governance is vital in higher education

Published On: 18 October 2024|

Leadership and governance are inextricably linked, says Dr Jane V Usher, MBA Programme Coordinator at Boston City Campus. 

“Strategic leadership is made up of individuals who have a commitment to ethical and responsible behaviour, who are authentic and transparent and who see themselves as stewards who practise servant leadership and who are the epitome of Ubuntu leadership. The question they have to ask themselves is whether they have the grit and resilience to make it a practice to always do right and not what is easy,” she said.

Dr Usher (right) was addressing delegates at the recent 3rd Higher Education Conference Plenary Session that focused on Higher Education leadership and management HELM. Speaking alongside Professor Ihron Rensburg, former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg and a leadership coach and mentor, she said that governance in the sector was complex — influenced by the country’s political history, legal frameworks and severe socio-economic challenges.

“Universities have had to navigate areas such as transforming the sector to be more equitable. They need to manage financial sustainability (not an easy task); inclusivity; academic autonomy and student activism, all while grappling with constantly evolving government policies. However, both public and private institutions are part of the highe education system and need to be held accountable to society because of the critical importance of education.”

Governance structures

Dr Usher listed the various governance structures and mechanisms in place to regulate governance.

  • There are university councils who oversee strategic governance, financial management and policy formation and they are the highest decision-making body.
  • The Vice-Chancellor and executive leadership are responsible for implementing the strategic direction set by Council.
  • The university Senate is responsible for academic governance including curriculum development, research policies and academic appointments.
  • Students have their say through the student representative councils.
  • Private higher education providers also have governance structures in place such as the academic board, advisory boards, the EXCO team, registrar as well as other committees – depending on the institution.
  • Overarching all these areas is the Department of Higher Education & Training (DHET) and the Council on Higher Education (CHE). All institutions are required to report annually to the DHET.

She said despite all these structures there have been persistent governance failures over the past two decades – in both public and private institutions – which has led to a significant distrust in the sector, said Dr Usher.

“There is a responsibility to ensure accountability for the use of public funds or student fees. We have to safeguard the reputation and integrity of the education sector; therefore all institutions must answer for their decisions and actions, both to their immediate stakeholders, communities and broader society,” she reiterated.

However, independent assessors, appointed by the minister, have found serious challenges regarding management and administration. Some problem areas include:

  • Internal divisions and factionalisation Councils have been rendered ineffective because of this.
  • Internal and external council members appear not to understand their roles and responsibilities in the council. They make decisions that are self-serving or curry favour with friends and acquaintances.
  • Rules and procedures are not followed. A chairperson’s decisions are promptly overturned after meetings. Codes of conduct are not followed and are disregarded.
  • Recycling: A major problem is recycling people who have been found to have undermined the governance mechanisms. They are merely moved to other positions, or if they are unable to move on to another institution, they are given a “golden handshake” and their unethical behaviour is never addressed. 

She said many of these issues can be summed up in two problem statements: lack of role-clarity and inadequate leadership, resulting in failure of councils to provide strategic leadership.

This was, however, not all doom and gloom, Dr Usher said, acknowledging some positives to celebrate.

“We have good and robust policies, structures and procedures in place, designed to enhance governance. In response to some of the ongoing problems, the DHET has developed a very detailed and comprehensive set of guidelines for good governance and is working on a project to strengthen and support these.”

These good governance guidelines take a multifaceted and comprehensive approach and incorporate the following:

  • The size of councils and their composition. People on the councils have to deeply understand the sector.
  • Criteria for all roles and functions of each area of the council. For example, specific positions such as the chairperson, deputy, secretary and registrar need to have very detailed criteria as well as personal competency frameworks. Selection of those chosen to fill the roles is critical and they must have the right skills and competencies.
  • Training and development of council members as a requirement. Further to this are the introduction of competency frameworks for the council, plus personal competency frameworks for all. Ongoing training and development may well give council members more confidence in their roles.
  • Performance assessments of Council and its sub-committees.
  • Streamlining all these new processes through assessments. To measure or track governance, performance indicators need to be both qualitative and quantitative and need to cover the core areas of teaching, learning, research, community engagement and use of resources. This exercise needs to be kept simple and easy to use; it must limit performance indicators to more than 20. These performance reports would be submitted annually to the DHET.

In conclusion, Dr Usher posed two questions to the conference delegates: “Do we have the appetite to embrace leadership and governance as a community? Do we have the courage to start on an individual level in our own circles? Good university governance does not simply happen. It is the product of informed, selfless and concerted efforts of all those involved. ‘Ultimately, governance models are created by people to govern people. They are only as good as those who devise and apply them, as well as those who live by them’ (Trakman 2008:77).”

Janine Greenleaf Walker  is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.