Conclusion: robust foundations and <strong>the</strong> diversity challenge 12
The growth in general research output during <strong>the</strong> past five years also shows that <strong>the</strong> underlying research base <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university has deepened tremendously, with a growing cohort <strong>of</strong> young, female and black researchers adding to one’s optimism that a robust academic capacity will continue to develop. New projects like <strong>the</strong> continued rollout <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blended learning model and <strong>the</strong> new academic orientation <strong>of</strong> first-year (and senior) students are likely to be decisive for <strong>the</strong> teaching-learning performance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> UFS in <strong>the</strong> future. Our leadership in community engagement continues to excite. New initiatives such as a possible engineering faculty adds to <strong>the</strong> sense <strong>of</strong> excitement about <strong>the</strong> future. The regeneration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> arts departments and <strong>the</strong> “new” Odeion String Quartet, and partnership projects like <strong>the</strong> Mangaung Strings Programme are a source <strong>of</strong> pleasure and hope. Sport commercialisation and development seem to be on <strong>the</strong> eve <strong>of</strong> great things. Compared to <strong>the</strong> financially depressing 1990s when few people saw a university or academic career at <strong>the</strong> UFS as an attractive option, a new era <strong>of</strong> hope appears to have dawned in <strong>the</strong> hearts <strong>of</strong> our academic staff as well as support staff. There is also a new sense <strong>of</strong> taking responsibility for <strong>the</strong>ir own future visible amongst staff. One can only be thankful for this change <strong>of</strong> attitude and <strong>the</strong> new creativity that is apparent at <strong>the</strong> moment. In general, taking a five-year perspective, a large number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> building blocks <strong>of</strong> being a very good university were systematically reconfigured, boosted and modernised. The approximately R100 million <strong>of</strong> discretionary funds for strategic application that became available annually as a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> financial Turnaround strategy, was absolutely instrumental in this process – aided by welldisciplined budgetary processes and financial management. As surveyed in Chapter 1, <strong>the</strong> projects cover many dimensions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university in faculties, in support service departments, and in student life. Most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> backlogs <strong>of</strong> Annual Review • 2007 61 Looking back at <strong>the</strong> year 2007 and <strong>the</strong> many splendid achievements by <strong>the</strong> staff <strong>of</strong> this <strong>University</strong> in such diverse areas <strong>of</strong> expertise, as well as in <strong>the</strong> support services, it clearly was a good year for <strong>the</strong> UFS. Especially <strong>the</strong> progress with <strong>the</strong> conceptual design and launch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strategic academic clusters, and <strong>the</strong> significant number <strong>of</strong> academics from many departments and centres already involved in <strong>the</strong>m, bode well for <strong>the</strong> future. One hopes that a growing number <strong>of</strong> academics will be drawn to <strong>the</strong> clusters, and that a growing inflow <strong>of</strong> third-stream income will see <strong>the</strong>se clusters develop into engines <strong>of</strong> academic growth and robustness. <strong>the</strong> financially depressing 1990s have been eliminated and significant new advances made. Today we are better <strong>of</strong>f in almost all aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university than ever before, evidenced by <strong>the</strong> increasing number <strong>of</strong> staff coming to <strong>the</strong> UFS from <strong>the</strong> large universities, including <strong>the</strong> large English universities. This also includes <strong>the</strong> remuneration <strong>of</strong> staff, where significant real increases (above inflation) have been achieved since 2000, largely eradicating our earlier competitive dis advantages vis-à-vis large metropolitan universities (despite lower costs <strong>of</strong> living in Bloemfontein). And, <strong>of</strong> course, we have grown from approximately 12 100 students in 2000 to approximately 24 700 in 2007. And <strong>the</strong>se students have access to learning facilities as well as sports and leisure facilities never available to students before. We have indeed been blessed. And I wish to thank all <strong>the</strong> staff and members <strong>of</strong> management who contributed to <strong>the</strong> necessary change processes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> last five years. Alongside <strong>the</strong> “academic project”, <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r major endeavour <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> UFS has been comprehensive trans formation. For many years <strong>the</strong> UFS has earnestly been tackling this complex issue, taking <strong>the</strong> lead nationally in many respects. The sequence <strong>of</strong> steps in this mega-project in <strong>the</strong> past number <strong>of</strong> years was described in earlier chapters <strong>of</strong> this review. Three major milestones were reached in 2007: <strong>the</strong> draft Institutional Charter, <strong>the</strong> fourth-phase Transformation Plan, and <strong>the</strong> breakthrough Employment Equity Plan. I wish to thank and recognise all <strong>the</strong> individuals who worked hard to produce and finalise <strong>the</strong>se documents. We have much to be proud <strong>of</strong>. If we continue diligently and