Page 73 - Transformation Indaba Report

Need to focus on the implementation of transformation of institutional culture. Implementation remains a real problem
in all we do (nationally). Quantification and measurement of transformation needs attention. We could codify M&E, like
how the Finance Department operates. Acknowledging that many escape routes exist to avoid measurement and M&E
of transformation.

o Apathy and disinterest:
Identify root cause of a high prevalence of apathy and disinterest - in our institutional culture and the Mandela name
challenge - amongst our students (especially amongst UG students)? How do we remedy and navigate this apathy?
Students perceive lecturers as apathetic as well. Apathy is found in all kinds of institutions. Reproductive theories tell us
that many people in an institution will have apathy.

o Living up to our name:
Problem: Assuming a powerful name like Mandela automatically sets a standard against which the public will measure/
judge us. Advice from Prof Soudien: The iconisation of Mandela shouldn’t make the burden of carrying the name too
heavy to bear. Suggestion: Let’s rather use the name as a ‘horizon’ and let’s mobilise around a set of values imaged in the
icon of Mandela. It can help build a more cohesive institutional identity. ‘Striving for’ preferred over ‘living out’ the
Mandela name.

KEY POINTS MADE DURING B/A DISCUSSION entrench them. E.g., ubuntu and excellence demonstrated
regardless of where you are. Values can bind us together.
• A scientific study looking into what people think the focus Maybe focus on one value per quarter?
area for institutional culture work could be. We all have • All the segments Andre mentioned are important but how
anecdotal ideas. do we implement transformation in the culture?
• Main areas/elements of institutional culture we could focus • How do we demonstrate where we want to be? How
on: do you ‘codify’ M&E like how the Finance Dept operates?
• This work has been developed through consultation and Quantification and measurement of transformation to be
including many voices. given more prominence.
• André’s analysis is great. It has all the segments of trans- • African identity: part of arriving at a shared understand-
formation we need to look at. ing, which isn’t automatic, we are addressing individual
• Drill down to figure out what implementation is required / and social identities of the various groupings in the insti-
what needs to be done in practice. tution. It’s a major stumbling block - on one hand we pay
• Consultation with students was a weakness in terms of lip service, but it requires a huge introspection at both
ICEP. Are students currently part of institutional commit- individual and social level.
tees inside faculties, post-FeesMustFall? • How do we bind the various identities around a much
• Multi campus system: what glue can bind us all together, higher identity/different kind of identity as an institution?
regardless of location/campus? What is the common • Iconisation of Mandela: institutions will posture them-
thread holding us all together, in terms of institutional selves according to the figure they are named after.
culture? Survey questions were persuasive
• Instead of being characterized by the different disciplines/ • How ready are we to step outside the figure of Mandela
functions. Institutional culture – what is it that defines us and become more than that?
irrespective of where we are? Values usually define us. • We tend to use the figure of Mandela without doing what
How to make them come alive, live them, launch them, we are supposed to do.

NelsoN MaNdela UNiversity • traNsforMatioN iNdaba • 2022 67