Download the Annual report 2011 - Unisa

SRC Elections: 2011 marked the election of the
2012/13 SRC. The SRC Constitution, the Electoral Policy,
and the Directive: Recognition of Student Organisations
and Structures were revised and approved by
Council in September 2011 prior to the hosting of the
elections. In terms of the Policy, Management also appointed
an Independent Electoral Commission and constituted
the Election Tribunal.
Candidates were allowed to stand along party-political
lines and the elections were reasonably successful. Electronic
and manual voting systems were used and about
9% of the Unisa student population took part in the
elections. This was a significant increase from the 0.1%
participation rate in 2009. The new National Working
Committee of the NSRC for 1 January 2012 to 31 December
2013 was elected. The regional representatives
were inaugurated in 2011 while the appointment and
inauguration of the National SRC was deferred to 2012
because of time constraints occasioned by the examination
period and year-end activities.
Alumni Relations
Unisa has regular and effective communication with its
alumni across the globe through chapter meetings, the
Unisawise magazine and an alumni website. During
2011, the university hosted 32 events which facilitated
the opportunity for alumni members to engage with
one another inter se and with the university. It is gratifying
to note that the attendance of these events has
doubled from 2010.
January 2011 saw a concerted drive from the Alumni
Office to make contact with Unisa’s more than 430 000
alumni members to verify their contact details. The updated
alumni database currently includes 81 453 alumni
members and the project is ongoing. The magnitude of
the project and limited resources were the primary reasons
that it could not be completed in 2011.
Unisa alumni are embarking on different community engagement
projects in collaboration with the regional offices
and over R600 000 has been raised from the
alumni chapters as their contribution to Unisa.
At the annual Chancellor’s Gala Dinner and Calabash
Award Ceremony, Unisa paid tribute to the excellence
and achievements of alumni as well as other South
African educators. Awards were presented to Professor
Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Mr Selaelo Seboni for
their exceptional contributions to education and research
development in Africa. Professor Kader Asmal
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(posthumously) received the Outstanding Alumnus
Award.
Unisa Foundation
The Unisa Foundation working with the alumni office
has been instrumental in raising third stream income for
the University. Unisa is the first tertiary institution in
South Africa to establish a chair in electoral studies in
Africa. The Brigalia Bam/WIPHOLD Chair in Electoral
Democracy is funded by Women Investment Portfolio
Holdings (WIPHOLD) to the value of R7 466 million
over a five-year period, and is a partnership with South
Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
The Management of Democratic Elections in Africa
(MDEA) project is a strategic project aimed at building
and enhancing capacity for effective and responsible
management of elections in South Africa and the rest of
Africa. The project is a partnership between Unisa and
the IEC, SA and is funded by the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) to the value of
$3.1m over a five-year period.
The Unisa Library successfully hosted the inaugural
African Library Summit in collaboration with the International
Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). The
summit was made possible by generous donations of
R613 670 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
R232 676 from the Carnegie Foundation, R38 160 from
the International Federation of Library Associations and
R30 000 from suppliers to the Unisa library. Themed
The future of African librarianship, the summit provided
a platform to debate how libraries will have to adapt in
order to stay relevant in the 21st century.
International and inter-institutional
relationships
Erasmus Mundus Partnership Programme: One
Unisa staff member was awarded the SAPIENT-Erasmus
Mundus Fellowship in 2011 and is currently furthering
her doctoral studies at the University of Sienna in Italy.
Unisa International Fellowship Programme: In 2011,
13 staff members were awarded fellowships – eight
were black males, one a black female, one a white male
and three white females – to study/research abroad. All
participants are required to present their work either
independently or in collaboration with the partner
university in line with Unisa’s strategic objectives.