Our strategy

Working towards impactful globalisation, we are enhancing the visibility and footprint of our research. This entails increasing publications in Scopus/ISI journals, strengthening research integrity, improving the NRF ratings of our researchers and offering joint degrees and co-publishing with researchers from reputable international institutions.

We managed the research activities of our 60 research entities, including those falling under the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI).

Funding pipelines were secured by successfully concluding the evaluations for research funding applications to the National Research Foundation (NRF), South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and other local funders.

We conducted training sessions on funding and ethics for researchers and students to advance research excellence. Library and Information Services (LIS) arranged workshops and webinars on open access and research data management.

Although still limited in 2022, access to communities increased as the year went on and new partners joined our campus-based community engagement (CE) forums. This will have a positive impact on student volunteering and opportunities for work-integrated learning and service learning.

From 2021 up to June 2022, 12 different organisational units reported on 754 community engagement projects. Outreach/volunteerism comprised 30% of the CE activities evaluated and teaching and learning activities 22%.

We refined the CE activity database to integrate engaged scholarship dimensions aligned with the APP and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the sphere of environmental responsibility, we plan to promote water conservation management among our students.

Improving student service delivery was a key component of developing a clearly differentiated student value proposition.

We strengthened our focus on student services such as psycho-social and primary healthcare, financial support, accommodation, academic development and support, and social welfare programmes.

A key area of improvement for 2022 was to standardise the planning and coordination of an aligned Student Life programme, presented by both staff and student leaders.

During 2022, student safety partnerships between the university and local municipalities, law enforcement agencies and community members continued to grow.

Staff and student equity promote social justice and diversity on all campuses. Our targets for staff equity are outlined in the Employment Equity Plan for 2021 to 2023. It focuses on removing barriers and addressing succession planning, retention strategies and an enabling organisational culture.

A leadership intervention has been successfully implemented for senior management to promote cohesion in executing university goals and objectives and embracing the preferred NWU culture.

In 2022, the NWU leadership team participated in an additional programme on self-mastery, work-life balance, leading with purpose and emotional intelligence.

The NWU Leadership Academy for Academics was launched in 2022 to support the next generation of academic leaders. Instead of emphasising conventional management training, it supports leadership development that aligns with the NWU values and strategy.

The Digital Business Strategy (DBS) was developed in the second half of 2022 to ensure the NWU is future-fit and digitally transformed and that staff and students are digitally literate.

The DBS optimises business agility through the rapid rollout of shared services and a technology ecosystem that integrates students, partners, employees and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The main advantage of the DBS is that it will enable the NWU to differentiate itself on customer experience and service quality, presenting new competitive advantages.

We use strategies, practices and processes to help us realise the competitive advantage of the NWU.

All policies and rules are drafted and reviewed in accordance with the 2017 NWU Statute, ensuring consistency.

We make sure that support services across all delivery sites function in an integrated and mature way.

Our integrated risk and compliance management model focuses on business continuity and disaster recovery strategies.

Through technology, we are future-proofing our operations. The digital experience gained during the pandemic has been invaluable.

The Next Generation Digital Environment (NGDE) is a modern integration platform supporting the delivery of various digital initiatives. The aim is to optimise and automate processes, create quality stakeholder experiences, enable new offerings and provide integrated reporting and analytics.

We are maximising business agility through rapid deployment of standardised shared services while ensuring a secure digital environment and building an integrated technology ecosystem.

In working towards delivering an exceptional stakeholder experience and establishing a responsive operating model in IT, our building blocks are flexibility, competent people, best practices, an innovative culture and well-looked-after staff.

We continued developing and implementing targeted communication platforms/channels to enable a positive stakeholder experience and create opportunities for beneficial stakeholder engagement, retention and loyalty.

The use of appropriate channels to interact with our stakeholders leads to intentional experiences that play a key role in building enhanced NWU brand equity.

During 2022, we focused on securing our cash flow management in the short term and financial sustainability in the medium and long term.

We continued implementing the infrastructure policy focusing on optimal space management. The preferential procurement strategy was reviewed to enable local participation in infrastructure projects.

We developed an energy efficiency strategy and implemented strategic pilot projects for energy management. In line with the NWU’s Environmental Policy, we developed an Environmental Sustainability Management strategy and guidelines.

Several automation projects continued in support of the Digital Business Strategy.