CUT Annual Report 2013

Challenges of Governance and Management at CUT
With respect to governance challenges, the following occurred in 2013:
The De Bruin Commission of Enquiry
After the 13 August 2012 judgment by Judge Daffue against
the Minister of Education, the Minister lodged an appeal.
However, the appeal was withdrawn in May 2013.
At its meeting of November 2012, Council appointed Adv.
JP de Bruin, Senior Counsel (SC), to investigate various allegations
on which Judge Johann Daffue did not have much
information and evidence, and that he had recommended to
Council in his judgment for further investigation. The terms
of reference for this investigation were very broad and included
all the matters referred to Council by Judge Daffue,
as well as all other new matters related to those. The allegations
included the following:
Council composition
Maladministration, financial mismanagement, misuse of public
funds, violation of human rights and labour laws, violation
of CUT’s policies and procedures, a culture of intimidation,
fear and victimisation, and nepotism.
Adv. De Bruin invited all previous complainants to come forward
to share their complaints – also with regard to specific
CUT staff members. He also advertised the call for information
in the regional newspapers. The investigation was
completed in May 2013, and submitted to Council on 31
May 2013. Council accepted the findings and recommendations
at its meeting of 7 June 2013. In short, Adv. De Bruin
found no basis for the allegations that Judge Daffue had
referred to Council or for those that had emerged as part of
the broader terms of reference.
Having a full Council complement is critical for good governance. Some members of Council did not attend meetings on a
regular basis, as stipulated in the CUT Statute. The following Council members did not meet this requirement: Mr W Zama,
Mr Z Fihlani, Ms E Rockman and Mr M Maleka.
After receiving correspondence from the Council Chairperson,
reminding the Councillors of their obligations and the
consequences of non-compliance with Council regulations,
Mr WW Zama and Mr M Maleka had tendered their resignations.
Neither Ms E Rockman nor Mr ZL Fihlani had replied to
the letters sent to them regarding their absenteeism from
Council. Their membership was considered automatically
terminated, since they had failed to respond within seven
working days. The vacancies that resulted from these terminations
and resignations placed pressure on the remaining
Council members who had to participate in more than one
committee of Council.
Senate
Senate, as a statutory body, made an important contribution to the positioning of the Central University of Technology, Free
State aligned with Vision 2020 as a leading 21st-century university of technology.
Contributions by the various committees of Senate, namely
the Executive Committee of Senate; the four faculty board
committees; the University Academic Appointments and
Promotions Committee; the University Academic Planning
and Quality Committee; the University Engagement Committee;
the University Research and Innovation Committee; and
the University Teaching and Learning Committee, were discussed
at the four regular Senate meetings during the year,
with specific recommendations to Council.
Senate focused on the challenge of maintaining the university’s
academic excellence by providing excellent academic
The following were approved by Senate and, in terms of policies, recommended to Council for approval in 2013:
Policy on sabbatical leave
Policy on Vice-Chancellor’s awards
Admissions policy 2014
Student Assessment Manual 2014
CUT Internationalisation Strategy
Revised Senate standing committees and their supporting structures
CUT STEM Strategy
CUT Enrolment Plan 2014/15 – 2019/2020
Revised Senate section of the CUT Statute
Guidelines for open-book assessments
Phasing-out plan for learning programmes offered at the Kimberley learning site
Quality improvement plans for faculties
Reports by faculties, Senate committees and sub-committees
Public lectures
Academic appointments and promotions
CUT core curriculum
CUT graduate attributes
leadership and focused and relevant academic programmes
with high impact, as well as by approaching the core activities
on a multidisciplinary and intradisciplinary basis, so
that, during the past year, we were able to take giant strides
forward as far as the academic project was concerned. Matters
that received attention in Senate meetings included the
recommendation of a number of new academic programmes
for approval by Council; the recommendation of a number of
policies to Council; changes to the academic structure; and
the discussion of teaching, research and community activities
that are related to the academic project.
Senate approved the proposed qualifications to be offered at Welkom campus from 2014 to 2020, subject to the feasibility
of the programmes. In addition, the business plans for the programme Master’s of Life Sciences and the BSc in Environmental
Health were approved. Senate noted the approval of the Bachelor’s Degree in Radiography; the Higher Certificate
in Renewable Energy Technology; the Advanced Diploma in Agriculture Extension; and the Diploma in Design and Art to be
offered at CUT as from 2014.
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