Page 15 - Transformation Indaba Report

the stAte of trAnsformAtion in the south AfriCAn higher

eduCAtion seCtor, Post-soudien rePort

dAy 1, presentAtion 2 │ Associate Professor Nelson Mandela University, Prof Crain Soudien

ment levels during this period. Prof Soudien felt we still need
presenTaTion sTrucTure
to give more visibility and credit to the multitude of incredible
responses to the Soudien Report, for example, Transformation
- Introduction briefly summarises some of the main features
since 2008, when dramatic events unfolded at UFS and how Charters, T&L initiatives such as Fort Hare’s Grounding
he and many other colleagues were asked to analyse what Programme, and institutional culture initiatives such as UFS’s
was happening in the HE and submit a report. Phase 1: Courageous Conversations. HESA responded by establishing
2008 (= UFS events)– 2015. Phase 2: 2015 (= student strategy groups. DHET had various interventions such as HE
uprising) to present time. summits, inquiries, charters and, importantly, establishing an
- A sociology of the university/HE – talks to many of Andre’s oversight committee (TOC) in 2012, a direct result of the
issues he focused on. 2008 Report.
- A look at the transformation of the last fourteen years –
what happened during the 2 phases, especially from 2015 phase 2: 2015-presenT
onwards, and the TOC’s work where annual reports, ITPs,
and transformation reports were analysed. Suggested: we Student uprisings dominated the HE environment from 2015
look at individual or standout institutions and do case to 2018 (= 3-year period). The Transformation agenda took
studies. a significantly different turn at this time. Within institutions
- A Typology of where the institutions are. that were characterised by a focus on student well-being (an
issue universities are forced to respond to), GBV (a low priority
phase 1: 2008-2015 issue in terms of transformation), language policy, engaged
scholarship, decolonisation of the curriculum (in response to
student protests). USAf (formerly HESA) saw lots happening
Prof Soudien explained how Phase 1 was the phase where in-
around the Transformation Barometer (2016). At the DHET
stitutions were focused on responding to the Soudien 2008
level, we saw the 2015 Summit, transformation conferences,
Report. All institutions were found to have active programmes
ITPs, NGAP – transforming the demographics, and fee-free
of engagement as a response to the Report. General features
policies.
included what happened at the institution, HESA, and depart-
esTablishing TransformaTion offices

In response to effecting transformation, 11 HE institutions
established offices in 2016, and 13 institutions have no trans-
formation offices. Prof Soudien identifies resourcing of offices
as a significant issue because within budgeting processes; it is
difficult to justify spending funds on transformation issues if not
yet accommodated in planning. Many HEIs established trans-
formation offices with very minimal budgets. The question of
the well-being of transformation officers/staff themselves is very
important. TMF meetings served as counselling sessions due
to transformation officers’ experiences in some institutions, a
very complicated sociological space. (See the table on next
page).

NelsoN MaNdela UNiversity • traNsforMatioN iNdaba • 2022 9