Stellenbosch University (SU) has a certain rhythm. And a year after he took over as Dean in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), Prof Stan du Plessis believes he has come to understand the rhythm of being Dean here.
However, Du Plessis did not simply sit back and observe what was happening around him this past year. To the contrary. He launched a number of initiatives and he admits there are a few things he is especially proud of.
Under his stewardship the Graduate School for Economic and Management Sciences (GEM) was established. He started work on making this School a reality in 2013 and in 2014 the first full-time PhD students started work on their 3-year research projects. The initiative was further expanded in 2015 with the Graduate School for Staff in Economic and Management Sciences (STEM).
"GEM offers financial and organisational aid to students and helps them with the substance of their studies in order to obtain a semi-structured PhD over three years. STEM is also a semi-structured programme which gives personnel employed in the Faculty an opportunity to work on their PhDs part time over four years," explains Du Plessis.
"Our students at GEM include people from other African countries and the Graduate School is therefore an investment in training the next generation of academic leaders of Africa in the broader management sciences."
According to Du Plessis there have traditionally been very few opportunities for EMS personnel to study for a PhD full time. And when personnel did register for a PhD, it took quite a long time to complete their studies because of the part-time nature thereof.
In 2014, 10 students registered for GEM, and in 2015, the intake was 11 new students. 12 members of staff registered for STEM.
"I am impatient and want to employ as many PhD graduates as possible in the Faculty. My expectation is that with each new appointment, the staff member has to obtain a PhD within four years."
Du Plessis says he is proud of other achievements of his EMS colleagues. Last year the US Business School (USB) obtained triple accreditation – or the Triple Crown as it is known in the world of business schools: from the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), AMBA (Association of MBAs) as well as five-year accreditation of Equis (European Quality Improvement System). The USB is the only school for management in Africa to obtain this achievement. The University of Cape Town and the American University (Cairo) only has three-year accreditation.
"The Triple Crown places the USB prominently on the world stage," says Du Plessis. "Stellenbosch's new Rector, Prof Wim de Villiers, who will take up his position officially in April, last year said that SU is healthy. I want to add that this university is more vibrant than ever before and that EMS makes a huge contribution to this success story."
In 2014 the Faculty delivered 17 PhD students – the largest number of PhDs yet to graduate in one year. EMS also represented about half of all magister degrees at SU, 40% of honours degrees and 30% of B degrees.
The Faculty's Bureau for Economic Research which celebrated its 70th year in 2014, is renowned globally for its quality of independent and authoritative economic research and forecasting.
The African Centre for HIV/Aids Management annually reaches thousands of people through its community projects and the MPhil programme aimed at managing the risks of MIV/Aids.
"The Faculty has reason to be proud. When its predecessor, the Faculty of Commerce was founded by the Senate in 1925, it was a brave experiment, but one that quickly proved its worth. Today, 90 years later, it is one of the most highly acclaimed faculties of its kind in the country. One can scarcely imagine a university without such a faculty. We will celebrate this illustrious history on 18 April with a banquet in Paarl," says Du Plessis.
"As was the case with the other faculties at SU, 2014 was a difficult financial year for EMS. We have an ongoing challenge to maintain our status as a leading public university in an environment where state subsidies continue to shrink in real terms, and economic realities prevent us from making up the shortfall with excessive tuition fees. Nonetheless, the Faculty implemented a new budget model in 2014 and with the co-operation with the University, our finances are in a very healthy state."
Another challenge is to implement parallel medium teaching successfully in the Faculty.
"We have many modules and there are specific challenges in making the content available in two languages by, among other things, utilising interpretation services. However, there is a lot of enthusiasm from personnel who make a huge contribution to help create a multilingual Faculty."
What other challenges lie ahead?
"The tasks of a Dean include ensuring that the staff – the Faculty has over 200 academic and about 150 support staff – is managed well and that people work together efficiently. In some respects I have made mistakes regarding people management, but I have also learnt valuable lessons. It is extremely important to me that the management has to be as transparent as possible and that each staff member understands exactly what we are busy with and what their role is. This is why I continuously talk to different groups in the Faculty in order to help establish a shared vision and to acknowledge each one's contribution."
Another challenge is to promote the Faculty on the highest level.
"Deans are members of SU's management and it is quite tricky to promote your Faculty's interests on that level without creating conflict with other environments. The word and the university environment are changing rapidly. We cannot say with certainty where we will be in ten years. However, we do know that the next decade will throw up fundamental challenges in the university sphere and that these same challenges will supply us with opportunities to be even more outstanding.
"We also know that the composition of students and academics will be different. Our challenge is to share SU's world class infrastructure with students from all corners of our country and continent. It is not only about formal access to infrastructure in order for an individual to apply, but also about empowering them to make that choice and the desire to come to this university because the student will truly feel at home here. Besides all the initiatives already mentioned, we are also launching an ambassador programme this year through which we will encourage students to study here. We will also do work on our physical spaces – lecture rooms and portals – to better accommodate students and to ensure that everybody can identify with our beautiful campus."
