Download the Annual report 2011 - Unisa

UNISA ANNUAL REPORT 2011
STATEMENT BY THE
CHAIRPERSON OF COUNCIL
DR N MATHEWS PHOSA
The role of Council is prescribed by the Higher Education Act of
1997. As members of Council we are required to govern the institution.
While the Act does not define the concept of governance, the fundamental
value proposition of good governance is clearly spelled out in
the King III code and it embraces (i) ethical leadership, (ii) co-operative
governance, and (iii) sustainability, which includes the triangle of people,
the planet and fiscal propriety.
The challenge that I have this morning, however, regards how we can move
to the next level, in other words move from being just a ‘great’ Council to
an ‘excellent’ Council. As a Council our role concerns strategic leadership and
direction for the organisation. We hold this office at a time when scrutiny of
the role of and expectations for transparency and ethical conduct in organisational
operations has never been higher. Public intolerance of corporate
misfeasance is reaching a peak – new rules, controls and quality assurance
standards are being legislated because individuals cannot always be relied
upon to distinguish between right and wrong. The promulgation of the Consumer
Protection Act of 2008 will certainly impact Unisa, and the Minister
of Higher Education has also set his sights on governance entities and made
a clear proposal to regulate the conduct of members of Council (and staff)
at public higher education institutions.
Excerpt from the address by Dr Phosa at the Council Induction Workshop in July 2011
Institutional value
The Council of the university is accountable for institutional governance and the proliferation
of legislative, regulatory and policy obligations that are relevant to effective, efficient, and
ethical governance – all, to a greater or lesser extent, impact on the good leadership and
control of an institution such as Unisa. Unisa is as complex as it is large, with a global
reach that covers the world. It is this character that makes it such an exciting entity to
lead. However, the distinction between the strategic leadership of Council and the operational
leadership of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor and his senior Management
team (the Management Committee) must be underscored. They always remain accountable
for matters of management and administration, whilst the Senate remains
the conduit to Council on all matters of an academic nature as defined in the Higher
Education Act, 1997. To the credit of the institutional leaders, the synergy between
the different accountability organs has been seamlessly maintained and ensured.
| 15 |