Welcome message from the Executive Dean 2022

College of Economic & Management Sciences

Professor Thomas Mogale
Executive Dean: CEMS

I want to welcome all of you to the 2022 academic year on behalf of the management of the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS).

It is now almost two years since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic and despite valiant efforts from the world-wide medical fraternity to eradicate it, it is still with us. With large sections of populations vaccinated, we are learning to live with the virus. Tragically, lives continue to be lost and its pernicious impact on the national economy continues to be felt. We are now under adjusted alert level 1 and with periodic reviews, we hope conditions will improve and that we will be able to perform our tasks under some form of normalcy.

Despite these troubling reminders, the College is prepared for the 2022 academic year. CEMS’ staff – administrative and academic – are ready to reach some important milestones. For one, Unisa is upgrading to Moodle – a new student portal to replace myUnisa – that will improve our communication with students, give them instant access to the study material and provide them with more flexibility and convenience.

CEMS is an early pioneer of business education and built a strong brand and reputation as a leading South African and African economics and management college of choice. This was strengthened by Unisa’s position among the top brands in South Africa and on the African continent with a brand index of 80%. In 2020, commissioned research showed that our graduates and their employers think that the college’s qualifications are of good quality and credible. According to the survey, 86% of employers employed CEMS graduates because of the quality of the qualifications, 88% because of the credibility of the qualifications and 85% because of the reputation of the qualifications.

But while we take pride in these achievements, we realise that we cannot rest on our laurels. Our students, employers and our partners and stakeholders are demanding more from us. Locally and globally they want us to stay relevant with an emphasis on quality, flexibility and responsiveness to stay relevant. Advances in technology such as digitisation, big data, data science, and emerging business models such as shared economies, present both challenges and opportunities for CEMS and business in general. Locally, we are facing more competition as Covid-19 has forced universities to change the way in which they deliver their programmes. At the same time, higher education institutions are under pressure to transform and demonstrate their social and economic relevance and give meaningful and practical expression to their African identity while remaining globally relevant. They are also expected to adopt sustainable financial models, respond to national policy changes and effectively engage numerous and increasingly assertive stakeholders.

During 2022, we want to cultivate new attitudes and behaviours in the College that will enable us to perform better and to be more agile and proactive. Amongst others, we want to focus on strengthening our relationships with different stakeholders and developing and building an entrepreneurial culture among our staff and students. We also realise that we will have to plan and communicate better and that we need to watch the College’s financial stability and work smarter, manage costs and find new revenue sources. We completed our planning in the beginning of the year and are ready to pursue our goals.

Finally, I want to thank everyone, especially staff, students and stakeholders, who made sure we keep on delivering a major portion (more than one third) of all graduates in economic and management sciences to employers in the public and private sector in South Africa. With your assistance, we disproved the sceptics and upheld the image of Unisa and the College as a credible institution that delivers quality economic and management education.

Thank you and best wishes for the 2022 academic year.

Thomas Mogale

Executive Dean: CEMS

Last modified: 2022/02/10