Universities South Africa’s Strategy groups recap the outcomes of their sessions at the HE Conference

One of the intended outcomes of the recent Higher Education conference of Universities South Africa (USAf) was to come up with proposals to enhance the sector towards a sustainable future of the university in South Africa. One such suggestion, that arose after a rigorous debate, was for USAf’s Teaching and Learning Strategy Group (TLSG) to establish a subgroup that focuses on artificial intelligence (AI).

Having all determined the Conference agenda, each group had a dedicated session, out of which, it was envisioned, would emerge recommendations towards future courses of action. What follows is an edited version of the chairpersons’ accounts of the most pertinent issues highlighted in their respective sessions, and what they saw as a way forward. 

Professor Crouch reported on two TLSG’s breakaway session that were titled Teaching and Learning in the Future University and AI and Teaching and Learning in the Future University, respectively. He also touched on what emerged from the plenary that was dedicated to the Council on Higher Education (CHE) themed Insights into the Future: Learning and Teaching Scenarios in 2036. 

Explaining the connection between the TLSG and the CHE, Professor Crouch said in all meetings of the TLSG, the CHE has a standing slot during which they report on the latest developments within the CHE, with implications on teaching and learning. “In fact, the whole [HE] conference had to do with teaching and learning, which is a fundamental and pivotal part of any university,” he said.

These are some highlights:

• Dr Mandy Hlengwa, senior lecturer in education, and coordinator of the New Generation of Academics programme at Rhodes University, started with asking “What is it to be a university?” and it really is a vexing question, said Crouch. 
• Dr Albert Luswata, Senior Lecturer and Chair: Centre for Ethics at Uganda Martyrs University, had stressed the need to use technology, particularly AI, and encouraged universities to focus on reskilling their staff as part of reimagining the tech-driven future. 
• Professor Simon Gifford, CEO of Mashauri Ltd, presenting remotely from Madrid, had argued about the need to leverage on AI as opposed to seeing it as the demon in the room. He said chat bots could be used to measure outputs much faster.
• Professor Helen Nel, Senior Director for Institutional Strategy at Nelson Mandela University, extrapolated on the benefits of AI, which, she said, improves efficiency, adaptive learning, enhanced engagement and can help integrate content. These benefits notwithstanding, she  cautioned on AI’s potential to exacerbate inequity.
• Dr Sianne Alves, Director: Office of Inclusivity and Change at the University of Cape Town, had spoken about the impact of AI on inclusivity in higher education. 
• Dr Whitfield Green, CEO of the CHE: had launched the latest REconceptualising LeArning and TEaching (RELATE) Project report: Alternative Futures for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in South Africa – Scenarios for 2036, which included the need to look at the transformational imperatives of AI.
• Ms Doris Green, Director of the Institute for Futures Research at Stellenbosch University, expounded on the scenarios featured in the RELATE report. Professor Crouch said the discipline and improvement scenario was the most rational one to follow because it allowed one to plan by taking into account changes and pressures from outside. 

Professor Dube, who is also the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Central University of Technology, said deliberations had led to the delegates feeling that some of the strategies implemented at universities, especially in relation to promoting access to higher education, called for a rethink. She said instead of transforming societies, universities were “reproducing inequality.”  

Professor Mkhize had surmised that while the sector may have succeeded in achieving racial and demographic transformation, to some extent that transformation was increasingly eroding institutions’ capital – threatening their long-term sustainability.

The TSG therefore saw a need to address the quantity versus quality mandate. While increasing access to the previously disadvantaged groups, universities needed to revisit the long-standing question of differentiation and reverse the unintended gravitation towards homogenisation and re-examine systemic incentives resulting in institutions producing the same undesired outcomes.

Other points raised in the TSG session include:

• The need to think more carefully about record time to completion and academic support instruments as more students stay longer in the system.
• Universities need to produce academics competent in leadership as leading a university combines overseeing the academic project as well as institutional administration, and the two cannot be divorced from each other. 
• Technological advances can have huge advantages for social justice, but digital transformation will bring new forms of inequality if researchers think of these as separate domains. 

“Transformation is a long journey, and therefore the conversation is not over. The TSG will require further contributions from the sector to inform its advisory role to the USAf Board,” said Professor Dube.

Highlights from that session:

• Dr Olebogeng Selebi, Deputy Director: Centre for the Future of Work at the University of Pretoria (UP), spoke about the alarming youth unemployment and soft skills deficiency in graduates. UP has launched a MakerSpace where students can do problem solving and develop entrepreneurial skills.
• Dr McEdward Murimbika, Director: Centre for Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), and senior faculty at the Wits Business School, underscored the importance of transforming universities from high research environments to ones that foster innovation and entrepreneurship. He said some universities are not using technology transfer to capitalise on inventions; they file the patents but are not taking them to market.
• Mr Ronen Aires, CEO of Student Village, who has successfully placed over 100 000 students in 24 years, said industry is transforming faster than universities can adapt and suggested all universities should already be using ChatGPT. He said 24% of South Africans between the ages of 16 and 28 are already involved in a small-scale side hustle. The challenge is that these hustles are small scale. Attention should be turned on how to scale these up.

Having chaired the second WSG breakaway session on Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, Professor Thakur recalled Professor Kerrin Myres, Senior Lecturer in Ethics at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), bemoaning the fact that only 8% of South African youth are involved in entrepreneurial activities of any significant scale. The professor had gone on to say that the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) challenged universities to persuade youth to see entrepreneurial opportunities in them, rather than as mere research generators. Professor Myres had said that all MBA students at GIBS are required to address real world SDG challenges as part of their studies.

Ms Elona Ndlovu, a Chartered Coach at the Centre for Entrepreneurship at the Tshwane University of Technology, said the first thing entrepreneurship students ask her is: “Will I get a job when I graduate?” They see the programme as careerism, as paving the way for them to work for someone else. “So we need to change the mindset of our students, and to critically assess the outcomes of the entrepreneurial process,” said Thakur.

Professor Thakur said in a discussion that followed Ndlovu’s input, failures in entrepreneurship were highlighted as positive educational experiences encouraging the individuals concerned to get up and do it again. “The need to foster collaborations between universities and industry came up again and again,” said Professor Thakur.

The rest of the strategy groups’ summaries are captured in a supporting article: Cutting operational costs is one way public universities could survive, long-term.

Gillian Anstey is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.