In a bid to provide clarity and transparency to the university community regarding these latest developments, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Ruschiella Songca held a virtual address on Thursday 31 March wherein she carefully articulated and highlighted key features of the unfolding first phase of the R&C process. 

 

“The WSU current status is fragmented and one of the primary objectives of this exercise is to ensure that we have one identity; that we rationalize our faculties and consolidate our campuses,” said Prof Songca. 

 

After numerous engagements by the R&C steering committee with critical stakeholders within and outside the university, the institution eventually settled on reducing the faculties to seven, which are namely: 

• Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology (Potsdam Site, BCC)

• Faculty of Management and Public Administration Sciences (Butterworth Campus)

• Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences (ZMK, Mthatha Campus)

• Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences (NMD, Mthatha Campus)

• Faculty of Education (Masibulele, Komani Campus and NMD, Mthatha Campus)

• Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (Sisson Street, Mthatha Campus)

• Faculty of Natural Sciences (NMD, Mthatha Campus)

 

Prof Songca said the changes would have ramifications on student cohort on the different campuses, including Mthatha campus increasing its numbers by 100 to 14 200; Butterworth increasing by 200 to 7 500; Potsdam decreasing by 200 to 7 300; and Komani accommodating +-2000 (excluding Short Learning Programs). 

 

Integral to the R&C process was the engagement and consultation process, which saw the project’s steering committee traversing the length and breadth of the university’s four campuses all in a bid to solicit input from appropriate stakeholders. 

 

Internal and external stakeholders such as the Senate; unions; students; traditional leaders; municipalities; the Institutional Forum; the Joint Bargaining Forum; higher education and training department; Convocation; faculties; and provincial government, amongst others.

 

“The engagement and consultation exercise was critical in ensuring that we’re all on one page with regards to the rationalization and consolidation exercise. But also to ensure that there’s a common understanding, but most important of all was to ensure we give our stakeholders an opportunity to give us their inputs,” said Prof Songca. 

 

She said the R & C was steeped upon numerous fundamental principles of engagement, including no duplications of academic programmes: no replications of programmes; no reduction of student enrolment; no job losses; the reduction of faculties to six; and non-closure of any of the four campuses. 

In conclusion, Prof Songca said the university would give stakeholders two weeks to re-evaluate and engage with the latest draft changes as adopted in the envisaged first phase of the R & C project. The deadline for submission is 14 April. 

 

By Thando Cezula & Yanga Ziwele