Future outlook for the NWU

Consolidate successes and reposition for new opportunities

The inauguration of Dr Bismark Tyobeka as the third vice-chancellor of the NWU is the start of an exciting new journey for the university.

On this journey, we will consolidate the NWU’s successes and reposition the university to discover new frontiers and opportunities, nationally and internationally, and play a key role in finding solutions for societal problems and unlock opportunities for our stakeholders.

Key issues to focus on

Our focus in the medium to long term will be on key issues such as raising funds for the missing middle and postgraduate students, increasing graduate employability and entrepreneurship development.

We will also accelerate curriculum decolonisation, internationalisation and Africanisation and secure the sustained impact of our research and community engagement programmes.

Through strategic collaborations, the NWU will work towards improving food security within the North West Province, while exploring sustainable mining excellence and deploying innovative energy and water solutions for our campuses.

Other key initiatives are to build public-private partnerships, diversify income streams, optimise internal staff cost, establish medical and veterinary schools and improve the quality of student leadership.

Finally, we seek to make an impactful contribution towards building the capacity of the state through partnerships such as the one we have with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and strengthening relations and cooperation with local government.

Development of indigenous languages

The NWU will invest more funding in developing Setswana, Sesotho and isiZulu to the level of maturity required for them to be languages of instruction. The language policy that the NWU adopted a few years ago clearly sets out how our functional multilingualism should enable access and inclusion, and not impede it.

Promoting excellence

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has demonstrated the immense potential and benefits that institutions of higher learning can gain in leveraging digital technologies. The NWU’s Digital Business Strategy (DBS) aims to leverage the opportunities presented by digitalisation and digital transformation to deliver on our core strategic goals and ensure sustainability.

Through the DBS, we aim to use digital technologies to enhance business operations, and extend and transform teaching and learning in innovative ways that improve the student experience while promoting equity and access.

The implementation of the DBS will result in:

• efficient, automated and highly optimised business processes;
• self-service-inclined student and employee engagement;
• learning environments that leverage data and technology;
• an inclusive, digitally adept workforce and student community;
• a next-generation technology platform that is integrated, secure, stable and responsive.

In summary

In 2022, we continued positioning the NWU as an institution of superior academic excellence with a commitment to social justice.

We continued conducting novel research and sharing this new knowledge to benefit society. We renewed our commitment to the communities we serve, nurtured our new and existing relationships with national and international partners and sent a new generation of graduates into the world.

Our future focus is on finalising and implementing a new strategy and successfully rolling out a digital workplace environment.

We are optimistic about the future, while realising that load-shedding, higher education funding and funding for the missing middle are critical areas of concern.

Click on the links below to access several annexures to this report.