MATERIAL RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES IMPACTING VALUE

Our financial system, KFS, detects and prevents irregular transactions involving NWU staff. We run anti-fraud awareness campaigns and promote ethical business conduct by applying the NWU Policy and Rules on Conflict of Interest. Staff are required to declare any potential conflict of interest, as well as any gifts offered to them. We also have an approved policy on the Prevention of Bribery, Corruption and Fraud and on Whistleblowing.

In dealing with disciplinary cases involving academic dishonesty, the NWU has a zero-tolerance approach. We use a secure process for drafting, printing and transporting examination papers.

Our focus in 2024 was on preparing the NWU to leverage the gains from the move towards the digital future and address the associated risks.

Strategic digital initiatives include the Student Information System (SIS), and Work Integrated Service Learning (WISL) system projects, as well as e-assessment and proctoring platforms/software and further development of the NWU learning management system.

To ensure the NWU is fit-for-purpose and manages its digital transformation to meet the demands of the 4IR, we are rolling out stable, scalable, hybrid, manageable and responsive infrastructure. Data centre resources will be as readily available as cloud services and standardised shared services will ensure business agility. We are also strengthening the security our digital environment and building the technology ecosystem that integrates students, partners, employees and the internet of things (IoT).

The NWU is focusing on business continuity planning, contingency planning for mission-critical processes and the implementation of our Digital Business Strategy. We also have a resilient compliance management process, conduct compulsory training for all staff on the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and are reviewing the Policy on Academic Integrity.

In addition, we are appointing an information governance coordinator and have commissioned Tata Consultancy Services to develop an institutional data and analytics strategy and operating model. A three-year roadmap has been suggested to implement the various recommendations.

The NWU has made it compulsory for line managers to conduct return-to-work conversations after each absence for sick leave in certain circumstances. Monthly reports are shared with line managers so that they can manage sick leave. We also hold monthly meetings with financial services and employee benefits company Assegai Strategic Investment (ASI) to ensure that potential causes are addressed.

We constantly update our financial impact model to include all variables that might impact on our financial performance. The NWU is also intensifying fundraising and endowment initiatives, ensuring we have reserves to cover one year's operational expenses, building optimal relationships with funders and facilitating the raising of start-up capital for companies with potential to earn third-stream income.

Our postgraduate funding model provides merit bursaries to qualifying students who received NSFAS funding during their undergraduate studies. Strategic funds are made available to a limited number of potential candidates. A special fund is being established to provide further funding.

Our budgetary process focuses on sustaining and enhancing the research function, and we use control sheets to monitor the spending of research funds. We have processes to detect and manage academic misconduct, conduct ongoing compliance audits on the Academic Integrity Policy and hold webinars and awareness campaigns on academic integrity.

The NWU uses the SCImago journal ranking tool to independently determine research quality before any research paper is sent for publication.

In November 2024, Council reviewed and approved the Policy and Rules on Academic Integrity, which has clear rules for interpreting and managing cases of alleged misconduct. In the student environment, academic integrity matters are dealt with collaboratively by the campus Writing Laboratories and the Student Judicial Office.

We are refining our capabilities to execute technical investigations, and have implemented in-house applications that focus on the style and register of writing. The deputy vice-chancellor: Research and Innovation hosts webinars on academic integrity in the research environment, and faculties also run awareness campaigns for students.

Environmental sustainability is entrenched in all our activities and we began implementing mitigating actions in 2022 with an environmental gap analysis and action plan. More recently, we have appointed an internal and external safety, health and environment (SHE) projects team and introduced a SHE system for benchmarking, development and implementation. A SHE system facilitates the management of SHE requirements and enables faculties and departments to manage and monitor their SHE risks/impacts.

We address remuneration disparities by strictly applying individual remuneration review guidelines. Clear position profiles for senior management describe roles and responsibilities. We also have guidelines for private work, and implement scarce skills allowances for academics and IT staff. Staff received a differentiated cost of living adjustment (COLA), with employees in lower job grades receiving a higher adjustment. We have finalised our succession planning guidelines, starting with mission-critical and UMC positions and then cascading succession planning to other levels, focusing on scarce positions and scarce expertise.

We conduct business continuity planning and contingency planning for key processes such as registration. Council has approved the Business Continuity Policy and we have removed redundancies in our business processes. The NWU implements the UMC Rules for Business Continuity Management and Administration, enabling risk integration and incorporating business continuity management into day-to-day organisational and business decision-making. Furthermore, the Cybersecurity Strategy has been approved and targets set to improve the NWU's cybersecurity capabilities.

Employment equity targets are part of the performance agreements of Senior Management Committee members. Through our Employment Equity Policy, we create equal opportunities for all employees and remove barriers to performance. We have finalised our approach to succession planning and introduced a control mechanism to monitor and approve non-designated appointments.

Our business continuity and contingency plans focus on key student administration processes such as registration.

Each section in the student administration lifecycle environment understands the university policies relevant to their environments and the structure and lines of operation on the campuses. The job descriptions of support staff are up to date.

We ensure there is clarity on roles and responsibilities. A quality manual has been approved and implemented, and regular scheduled meetings are held between the deputy registrar and executive deans. Staff and students are encouraged to exemplify the NWU values, and we use the NWU Organisational Citizenship Recognition Awards to honour those who do so.

The Institutional Budget Committee makes provision for infrastructure planning in budgeting planning. We have a space management project for teaching and non-teaching spaces across the university, and use an Integrated Work Management System (IWMS) to manage facilities-related processes.

All of these plans and processes take the NWU student enrolment plan (2020-2025) into account, ensuring facilities are matched with student numbers.