Page 41 - Transformation Report

As NSFAS only funds first qualifications, financial barriers prevent previously funded NSFAS students from registering for
postgraduate studies. To support postgraduate studies, the Council approved bursary funding and provided more than R60
million to PG students in 2019. However, this allocation was inadequate to provide for the number of academically eligible,
financially needy students. Therefore in 2020, there was a significant financial injection of Council-controlled funding for
postgraduate research in comparison to 2019. Year-on-year increases in allocations between 2019 and 2020 are reflected
according to qualification level: Honours students increased by 73 percent; Coursework Masters studies more than tripled,
increasing by 335 percent; Research Masters increased by 67 percent and Doctoral studies increased by 141 percent.

9.3 Improve student-centeredness of academic administration processes
An academic administrative improvement initiative was piloted in 2019. However, written assessments were scaled down in
2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and Continuous Assessment and online assessments were increasingly adopted. The
necessity for the continuation of this initiative, therefore, fell away. Guidelines were developed relating to the above initiative
but have not yet been approved by Senate. In the interim, general academic rules for assessments were revised and approved
by Senate and included the online assessment rules.

10. Increased Provision of Student Accommodation

In 2018 the University finalised a student housing delivery model and strategy which involves three complementary strategies,
namely: building own accommodation through DHET funds; working with the City to improve the quantity and quality of off-
campus accommodation and exploring innovative partnerships with credible providers to augment the existing housing stock.

Ongoing student enrolments in 2019 necessitated a concomitant expansion of student accommodation on and off-campus
(see Figure 1). In 2019, the University awarded tenders for the construction of new student residences in the George (200 beds)
and Gqeberha (1 800 beds) campuses. Towards the end of 2020, construction on the George Campus was completed and had
begun on the Gqeberha North Campus. Figure 1 Increase in Student Accommodation from 2018 to 2019

11. Estates and Facilities Management

As a result of the Organisational Redesign process, the Infrastructure Services within Estate and Facilities Management and
Technical Services were merged to form the Infrastructure Services and Space Optimisation (ISSO) Division as an integrated
approach to development and management of the University’s physical infrastructure stock. An Infrastructure Strategy was
commissioned at the end of 2020, with the view of reorientating the University’s approach to infrastructure, given the changing
higher education landscape. The reorientation to infrastructure would include the optimisation of facilities; revenue generation
activities using existing infrastructure; reduction in the need for traditional academic spaces due to increased digital delivery of
learning and teaching; and the repurposing of existing infrastructure into spaces that stimulate social cohesion and academic
collaboration, to further the University’s academic ambitions.

In terms of projects for which funding already had been granted by the DHET, all infrastructure projects were suspended during
the COVID-19 level 5 lockdown. However, the DHET has granted the Universities permission to proceed with infrastructure
development under strict prescriptions. All University contractors were requested to submit adjusted Health and Safety Plans
in alignment with specific COVID-19 requirements and contractors were able to re-start after these plans were approved.

The University is ranked among the top-tier performing institutions with regards to efficient and effective utilisation of
Infrastructure Efficiency Grants (IEG) made available by the DHET. Projects ranging from the 2,000-bed student residences,
Ocean Sciences Campus, the Transportation Hub on the Summerstrand campus cluster, and the extension of the Law School
Building are on course. Sustainability remains a University priority with the second Photovoltaic farm due to be commissioned
for establishment at the Missionvale Campus. Water security projects in the form of water recycling and waste “crisis”
management are ongoing.

41 TRANSFORMATION REPORT