OUR STRATEGY TO CREATE VALUE
Throughout 2024, we implemented initiatives to strengthen our core academic business and align this with the priorities in the NWU strategy and annual performance plans (APPs).
The NWU strategy, Taking the NWU forward – 2024 and beyond, formed the basis for the 2024 and 2025 APPs.
For the new strategy cycle, we defined six key strategy pillars to guide us in focusing on the university's interests while also attending to stakeholder and community interests.
THE PILLARS
SUPPORTING OUR STRATEGY
OUR VISION
To discover new frontiers and opportunities that benefit society, advancing our relevance and impact.
OUR MISSION
To benefit society through the provision of knowledge, excelling in innovative teaching, cutting-edge research and focused engagement with the community.
VALUES
- Caring and inclusive
- Embracing diversity
- Transparency
- Excellence in all our endeavours
- Ethics in all endeavours
- Responsibility and accountability
- Academic freedom and freedom of research
PRIORITIES
- Impact
- Growth
- Diversity
- Partnerships
- Internationalisation
- Operational excellence
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
- Sustainability
- Transformation
- Digitisation
- Student centricity
- Valuing our people
We want to promote excellent student-centric learning and teaching at the NWU for relevance and knowledge generation.
Our proven student academic development and support initiatives continue to advance student retention and success.
We are systemically transforming and renewing the curriculum to equip graduates for 21st century challenges.
Our Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) uses research to inform best practices in teaching and learning.
The community benefits from our professional services and we explore opportunities to generate third-stream income through continuing education offerings.
We ensure that the PQM is responsive, viable and relevant.
We enhance the employability of our graduates through well-managed, effective work-integrated learning and service learning.
It is our goal to conduct research and innovation with a focus on global impact.
We manage the research work of 59 research entities to encourage high-quality, impactful research. This includes research by chairs in the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI).
Our programme to enhance the visibility, impact and footprint of our research continued. This includes publishing more in Scopus/ISI journals, strengthening research integrity, improving NRF ratings, and offering joint degrees and co-publishing with researchers from reputable international institutions.
Research grants and funding applications are well managed. In 2024, the evaluations for research funding applications to the NRF, SAMRC and other local funders were successfully concluded.
We made sure research funding opportunities were widely publicised on NWU online platforms as they were received.
Researchers and students received training on funding and ethics.
Community engagement that deepens relevance, impact, reputation and sustainability to develop a culture of active citizenship.
Six new formal community partners joined our community engagement (CE) forums on the campuses. This will have a positive impact on student volunteering and opportunities for WIL and service learning.
A total of 442 community engagement activities were registered in 2024.
The Potchefstroom Campus ran 44% of the registered activities, the Mahikeng Campus 31% and the Vanderbijlpark Campus 18%. About 7% of the registered activities involved inter-campus collaboration or were implemented by departments functioning across campuses.
Outreach/volunteerism accounted for 31% of our CE in 2024, followed by sharing of expertise at 27%. However, our objective is to undertake more impactful, structured, long-term projects.
While focusing on impact and sustainability, we balance long-term engagement with the flexibility to address immediate community needs.
- On 21 November 2024, we presented the NWU Community Engagement Excellence Awards. Details about the awards and award recipients can be found here.
We continue to develop a clearly differentiated student value proposition with a focus on creating an inclusive environment aimed at developing students holistically through structured and unstructured co-curricular programmes which are relevant, desirable and meet students' needs.
- Improving our service delivery to students is a key part of our value proposition. These services include psychosocial and primary healthcare, student financial support, student accommodation, student academic development and support, and social welfare programmes.
We keep accurate records of information on the curricular and co-curricular activities of students, as required by legislation.
A standardardised, coordinated Student Life programme is in sight. In 2024, we implemented the Prestige Leadership Development Programme and the Inter-campus Student Leader Liaison Tour.
We are benchmarking our strategy for transforming student leadership . In 2024 a student and staff delegation visited Rwanda for an international benchmarking exercise.
2024 marked the completion of another successful cycle of student leadership elections for Student Campus Councils (CSS) and subordinate structures. Nominations and voting were fully online.
In sport and the arts, our students participated regionally, nationally and internationally, delivering strong results.
Student safety remained a top priority in 2024 as strengthened our partnerships with local municipalities, law enforcement agencies and community members. NWU security staff and contractors were deployed on “Purple Routes” around our campuses.
We want to attract, develop and retain excellent staff by creating an environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive.
We are implementing the new Employment Equity Plan (EEP) for 2024 to 2026. It is aligned with the NWU's Employment Equity Policy and reinforces our commitment to institutional transformation, equity and access.
In 2024we prioritised cost-efficiency measures to enhance operational effectiveness and optimise staffing. Key actions included eliminating redundancies, reallocating resources to critical areas and abolishing vacant positions. We also streamlined structures and did strategic workforce planning to minimise overstaffing and address critical shortages.
Allowances were standardised and monitored to ensure equity and cost control across the university. We also developed a resourcing plan to attract and retain excellent staff.
The NWU culture is ethical, inclusive, welcoming and values-driven. In 2024, we reinforced a culture of feedback and encouraged continuous two-way dialogue on performance management.
Members of the University Management Committee (UMC) and Senior Management Committee (SMC) attended the emotional intelligence, digital transformation and managing remotely programmes.
Through the Women in Leadership Programme, we demonstrated commitment to diversity, inclusion and gender equity, as well as the empowerment of women professionals.
Three People and Culture roadshows were held in 2024 and the University Consultative Forum was established.
Information-sharing sessions were held with the three unions with organisational rights, namely the South African Parastatal and Tertiary Institutions Union (SAPTU), National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) and Solidarity.
It is our goal to advance and implement the Digital Business Strategy (DBS) to create a competitive advantage for the university and ultimately unlock alternative revenue stream.
The DBS directs digital transformation at the NWU and equips staff and students with digital literacy skills to participate fully in the digital future.
The strategy consists of digital initiatives to optimise business agility, such as rolling out shared services and a technology ecosystem that integrates students, partners, employees and the IoT.
Ultimately, the DBS’s digital projects and initiatives will present new competitive advantages for the NWU at a time when higher education is becoming increasingly commoditised. Institutions that differentiate themselves on customer experience and service quality stand out.
Govern, lead and manage in an agile, collaborative and integrated way towards an optimally digitised university environment.
We have established and tested measures to ensure the NWU functions as a unitary, integrated, multi-campus university.
This includes making sure that support services across all delivery sites work in an integrated and mature way, and optimise our support staff.
We draft and review all policies and rules in accordance with the 2017 NWU Statute.
Our integrated risk and compliance management model focuses on business continuity and disaster recovery strategies.
Establish a holistic and integrated university technology platform to provide a solid foundation for a digital future.
The ultimate purpose of technology is to future proof our operations and support the NWU’s positioning as a unitary institution of superior academic excellence with an ethic of care.
The next generation digital environment (NGDE) is the backbone of the future-proofed NWU. It supports automation, quality stakeholder experiences, new offerings and integrated reporting and analytics.
We are focusing on maximising business agility by rapidly deploying standardised shared services, ensuring a secure digital environment and building an integrated technology ecosystem.
Cultivate and deliver stakeholder-focused platforms to create and grow intentional experiences and brand equity.
We seek out opportunities for beneficial stakeholder engagements and positive stakeholder experiences. In 2024, developing and implementing targeted communication platforms/channels was crucial for quality interactions that enhance the NWU’s brand equity.
Ensure financial sustainability and optimal performance with due consideration of macro-economic conditions and the drive towards digital transformation.
The financial impact model that we developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is now an integral part of the process of compiling the three-year rolling budget for 2024 to 2026. This enhances our financial resilience, positions us for medium- and long-term sustainability and maintains the flexibility we need to manage cash flow and operational requirements in the short term.
The Annual Performance Plan (APP) is an important instrument to realise the NWU strategy and implement strategic projects.
These are projects with a significant impact on our ability to achieve our goals and realise our strategy.
In 2024, we commenced two new strategic projects, one on the implementation of the new strategy and the other on the 20-year anniversary celebrations.
The next table summarises the strategic projects we are implementing and their link to APP goals and enablers.
Goal 1 — Teaching and Learning
Promote excellent student-centric learning and teaching at the NWU for relevance to market and knowledge generation
Strategic objective/sub-goals
- Ensure good governance of teaching and learning.
- Support qualification and programme planning, design and development.
- Support and enhance excellent and innovative teaching and learning in an enabling teaching-learning environment.
- Attract, develop and retain excellent teaching-learning staff.
- Improve and support student success.
- Transform our curriculum to ensure that students exit programmes with adequate knowledge and strategies to contribute to 21st-century problem-solving.
Strategic projects
- SAICA Chartered Accountant of the Future framework
- Develop and deploy the Chartered Accountant of the Future project in financial reporting
- Student Entrepreneurship
- FENG Mentorship Programme
- NWU Centre for Sustainable Mining
- MoA/MoU between the NWU and JGU, Mainz (Germany) – student exchange programme
- MoA/MoU between the NWU and the University of Zambia – student exchange programme
- ISAP Staff and Student Exchange programme with Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- Strengthen the NWU Writing Centres for Student Access, Support and Success – A social justice approach
- Scaffolding learning through multi-structured tutorial intervention programmes – A humanities design
- Distance programme expansion and capacity enhancement for growth
- CTL – Student experience
- Continuation of Medical School Project
Goal 2 — Research and Innovation
Conduct research and innovation with a strategic focus on global impact
Strategic objective/sub-goals
- Generate new knowledge through high-quality publications and scientific leadership.
- Inspire and nurture the next generation of researchers.
- Improve the international stature and visibility of scholars and research outputs.
- Intensify research through international partnerships and collaborations.
- Support and sustain an ecosystem for conducive creation of intellectual property and commercialisation.
Strategic projects
- Green ammonia and hydrogen for sustainability of Hydrogen South Africa (HySA)
- Corpus-based research in the digital humanities at the NWU
- NWU Enterprises
Goal 6 — Digital transformation
To advance and implement the DBS to create a competitive advantage for the university and ultimately unlock alternative revenue streams
Strategic objective/sub-goals
- Revise the DBS in line with changing NWU strategic goals.
- Develop data and analytics capability to support artificial intelligence (AI) and decision-making.
- Build technical capability (Agility Hub) for AI and automation implementation.
- Support the successful implementation of enterprise digital solutions (Student Information System, human resources, learning management system).
- Implement a stable and secure IT and integration platform (NGDE) for NWU digital transformation.
- Implement institution-wide digital transformation (DBS, Dx) awareness and change management programmes across campuses.
- Build cooperation and collaboration partnerships with local and international trailblazer institutions for Dx knowledge exchange.
Strategic projects
- DBS
- Open Journal System (OJS) reengineering by SABINET
- NWU safety, health and environmental system
Goal 5 — People and Culture
Attract, develop and retain excellent staff by creating an environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive
Strategic objective/sub-goals
- Promote and enhance employment equity.
- Manage personnel cost-efficiency to increase institutional operational effectiveness.
- Attract and retain excellent staff.
- Cultivate and enhance an ethical, inclusive, welcoming and values-driven culture.
- Create an enabling and values-driven, transparent and engaged leadership culture.
- Implement the People and Culture digital transformation strategy through effective automation and digitisation.
- Enhance stakeholder relationships.
Strategic projects
- MoA/MoU between the NWU and JGU, Mainz (Germany) – staff exchange programme
- MoA/MoU between the NWU and University of Zambia – staff exchange programme
The NWU strategy, Taking the NWU forward – 2024 and beyond, sets out how we deal with major quality events such as the institutional audit by the Council on Higher Education (CHE).
The most recent institutional audit was in 2023. The NWU received the final audit report on 28 November 2023, confirming that our quality management systems consistently meet or exceed established standards.
Following the institutional audit, we submitted our institutional improvement plan to the CHE and are implementing and monitoring the improvements through Senate.
The NWU is strategically positioning itself to be effective and agile in the increasingly digital teaching and learning environment, where generative AI is transforming teaching and assessment practices. We have mobilised a working team to proactively engage the university community on AI issues.
Registrations for 2025 will be carried out on the new SIS. The NWU has embarked on a process to replace the current learning management system, and this process will further unfold next year.
WE ARE STEERING AI IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AT THIS UNIVERSITY”
NWU'S ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPERTISE IS SAFEGUARDING THE SANCTITY OF DEGREES
The NWU is committed to protecting the integrity of its degrees against the misuse of AI tools that can undermine students' ability to think critically and work independently. To ensure AI serves rather than hinders learning, the NWU has established a steering committee with representatives from across the institution.
“Our vision is to embrace AI in a fully aware, ethical way,” says Prof Anné Verhoef, head of the committee and director of the School of Philosophy. “We encourage staff and students to use AI but warn of the dangers. That is why we have systems to protect data and mitigate risks.”
As part of its AI framework, the NWU has implemented ethical guidelines to safeguard academic integrity. These guidelines are communicated to students, who are expected to use AI responsibly.
Prof Verhoef cautions that while AI will be a valuable research tool, it can also make it easier to cheat. Over-reliance prevents students from developing critical skills such as problem-solving, creativity, adaptability and independent research capabilities. This could leave graduates with a degree but without the skills needed to succeed.
The NWU’s proactive approach includes AI literacy courses and ongoing debate about best practices. “We are steering AI in the right direction at this university,” concludes Prof Verhoef.
INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT | 2024