It is imperative for VUT to remain a profitable and well-managed university amidst the tough economic market conditions in South Africa, and in particular, the Southern Gauteng region.
If it is not sustainable, it doesn’t create a platform for students to be successful, and they will surely be set up for failure if they are not provided with the full experience. This is according to Prof Prakash Naidoo, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Resources and Planning at VUT, who says as an institution, it needs to understand its students education needs and goals.
“We need the understand the type of environment that they should be in, in terms of student enrollment, what their expectations are, and how do we provide the best 21st century education. In context, as much as we want to be the best institution we can be with the limited public funds, we have to pro-actively provide a value-added education for students, as stipulated by Government,” he adds.
To this end, Naidoo says the Resources and Planning division has an integrated strategy to ensure that VUT’s priorities are appropriately funded, whilst managing all operations very closely. “Importantly, I focus on sound financial plans for the future by evaluating strategic opportunities and reacting to funding opportunities. It is all about managing financial risks and the ability to allocate resources sufficiently to achieve strategies. Yet we have to assess the financial impact of staff costs, the overall cost of infrastructure development, as well as evaluate niche areas and areas that are contributing to VUT’s overarching vision,” says Naidoo.
With this in mind, the Resources and Planning Division focuses on increasing investment for new postgraduate programmes, recruitment of top quality research staff, infrastructure development, including the library and information technology. “It is all redirecting of resources from non-value adding projects to those that contribute to the vision and mission of the institution. The key risks are staff unhappiness about salaries, student unhappiness about fees and as a result losing them, possible corruption etc. It is really a balancing act,” he adds.
To achieve this, Naidoo says procedures and policies must be in place, the right staff with approval levels via lines of authority, as well as early warnings in place to track deficiencies. This includes strong planning and budget process as consultation with stakeholders about reasonable income estimates versus expenditure. “The Human Resources Division plays a huge part in this. We have to ensure that we attract and plan a world-class workforce, with appropriate recruitment and induction processes, ongoing training, as well as succession planning and change management strategies.”
This article originally appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper as an advertorial supplement