Statement by the Unisa Council on the Independent Assessor Report

1. Unisa will be turning 150 years old in a month’s time on 26 June 2023. Throughout the fifteen decades of our existence, we are proud to have made an indelible mark in the space of ideas, civilisation, and the improvement of the human condition here at home, Africa and globally. We are very fortunate to be alive at this moment to witness a truly remarkable human achievement! 
   
   
2. The Unisa Council has noted the public’s interest in the state of the university since the release of the Report of the Independent Assessor into the affairs of Unisa (the Report) by the Minister of DHET, Dr Blade Nzimande, on Friday, 12 May 2023. 
   
   
3. Although Unisa is still processing the Report and preparing an official response, the Council saw it fit to meet the expectations of the numerous internal and external stakeholders who have a legitimate interest in the affairs and future of the university. 
   
   
4. The Council of Unisa is committed to the principles and values of good governance and the rule of law. Consistent with this commitment, the university will prepare a comprehensive response to the Report in the next coming days. 
   
   
5. Council wishes to confirm that the fundamentals that inform and constitute the university remain intact and these are: learning, teaching, research and engaged scholarship. Further, the university’s financial viability remains strong, and its quality assurance systems are rigorous and confirmed by both local and international quality assurance authorities in the public sector and industry. 
   
   
6. The university has serious governance and operational challenges, however, it is far from collapsing or being a university in chaos. The allegations made against any of the officials of the university will be tested through relevant internal processes designed for such purposes or through the legal systems of our country.
   
   
7. Over the past five years, Unisa has been experiencing growth, improvements successes on a range of key indicators. Verified data at our disposal which forms part of reporting and evaluation systems, and standards show the following:
   
   
   1. Unisa attracts over a million applications per year, and at 345 000 provisional enrolments in 2022, Unisa enrolls over 33% of all public Higher Education enrolments in South Africa.
      
      
   2. Unisa’s numerical dominance of the sector’s enrolments is also replicated in the graduations that are realised. On average Unisa produces over 20% of the sector's graduates (with a high of 27% in 2020). Provisional student graduates for 2022 are 46 502, this is based on provisional data which should be much closer to the 2021 figure once audited.
      
      
   3. Unisa retained 8th position with regard to 2020 overall publication output since 2017. However, the number of publication outputs were slightly lower for 2020 relative to 2019 (1323,22 vs. 1366,60) but still higher than the 2018 total of 1 299, 
      27.
      
      
   4. In terms of research Masters and Doctoral Graduates Outputs, in 2016, Unisa had the largest number of Masters graduates (n=655). Although there was a slight decrease in the subsequent years, a noticeable positive growth is seen particularly in 2020 (n=643). In 2019, Unisa recorded the most significant number of PhD graduates (n=551), followed by 2017 with (n=532) graduates and 2020 with (n=422) graduates.
      
      
   5. Notably, Unisa moved up two places from 4th position in 2019 (n=334) graduates to 2nd position in 2020 (n=422) doctoral graduates output. With regards to sector comparison, Unisa’s ratio of PhD graduates to academics with PhD (2019-2020) was 0,42; this was above the sector average ratio of 0,36. Compared to the sector, Unisa moved one place to the 7th position from having 551 graduates in 2019 to 643 in 2020.
      
      
   6. In terms of Sector Comparison of Total Research Output Units, 2018-2020, Unisa moved back to 7th position with regards to total research output units for 2020, after dropping to 8th position for 2019 outputs. UKZN retained 1st position wrt total research output, followed by UP retaining 2nd position, SU 3rd position, WITS 4th position, and UJ 5th position.
      
      
   7. In terms of Weighted Total Research Output Units per Capita, 2016-2020, Unisa’s weighted total research output units increased from 1.63 in 2016 to 1.83 in 2020. With regard to sector comparison of weighted total Research Output Units per Capita, 2018-2020, Unisa went up one place to 11th position.
      
      
   8. In terms of Sector Comparison of Permanent Academics with a Doctoral Degree (%), 2018-2020, Unisa went up eight places from 16th to 8th position with regards to academics, with PhD as the highest qualification in 2020. UP and WITS retained 1st and 2nd positions respectively, whereas UCT moved down from 3rd to 5th position with regards to the proportion of academics with a doctorate as their highest qualification. UKZN regained 4th position, pushing RU to 5th position.
      
      
   9. In terms of NRF Rated Researchers by Rating Category B2, C2, Y1 and Y2, Unisa increased by 100,0%, 4,2%, 33,3% and 5,4% respectively.
      
      
   10. For the 2022 NRF Ratings, of the 70 NRF rating applications submitted to the NRF in 2021, 68 new ratings were confirmed by 20th May 2022.
       
       
   11. In terms of the Times Higher Impact Ranking 2022 results, Unisa achieved an overall score of 68 out of 100 placing the university in the top half globally in the 401-600 band out of 1 406 ranked universities worldwide. This performance should be considered against the background that despite an almost doubling of the number of ranked universities from 768 in 2020 to 1 406 in the 2022 ranking, Unisa improved in ranking from the 601+ band in 2020 to the 401-600 band in 2022 and more importantly from a score in the range of 9,5 - 46,6 in 2020 to a score in the range of 65,0 - 71,9 in 2022.
       
       
   12. In 2022, Unisa won the Zairi International Award for Research Impact. Over 90 nominations from 31 countries were submitted. The Award is a formal international recognition of outstanding performance for Higher Education institutions worldwide in specific areas pertinent to research, digital transformation, community engagement, etc. and to those who successfully addressed global educational challenges.
       
       
   13. In 2021 alone, Unisa had 41 Patent applications that were filed. This figure comprised the following:
       1. • Three (3) new provisional applications,
          • Six (6) complete ZA applications
          • Two (2) PCT applications,
          • 24 National phase Applications
          • Regional phase Applications (4 – Europe, 2 – ARIPO)
          • This reflects a 585% growth in the number of applications processed compared to 2020.
            
            
   14. In terms of engaged scholarship, Unisa continues to be very engaged with the community it serves over the past five years. There were over 100 registered community engagement programmes across various areas, including economic stability, education, environmental sustainability, health, human rights, social matters, and vulnerable groups. The number of Community Engagement projects on various focus areas included: Education (73 projects), Unemployment (14 projects), and Human Rights (14 projects). Provincial Community Engagement projects: Gauteng (46), Limpopo (17), and KZN (15). Two projects had a global reach.
       
       
   15. Unisa has recently been invited to partner with the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP). The African BioGenome Project is a coordinated pan-African effort to build capacity (and infrastructure) to generate, analyse and deploy genomics data for the improvement and sustainable use of biodiversity and agriculture across Africa. This is important for the achievement of some of the goals of Agenda 2063 – the long-term vision of Africa.
       
       
   16. Unisa researchers in Agriculture and, Science and Technology managed to advance a new solution to tackle multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. The focus of the research was the chemical design and synthesis of new TB drugs and biological investigation into several medicinal plants as a cradle of novel TB drug leads.
       
       
   17. In terms of financial viability, based on provisional unaudited data, the University is financially healthy and remains a going concern entity that is able to meet financial obligations as they fall due in the foreseeable future. The university has achieved an unqualified audit opinion for the 2021 financial year, including previous years. For the 2022 financial year, which is still subject to audit, against a projected R11.2 billion income, the University had expenses of just under R8.8 billion, which reflects a projected surplus of R2.3 billion. 
       
       The University has also in the last two years, managed its investment portfolio with great results despite the ailing global economy. This is demonstrated by the growth of the investment portfolio from just under R10bn in 2020 to a projected reserves of R15.8 billion by the end of the 2022 financial year and the previous few years.
       
       Furthermore, efforts are underway to address the long-term financial sustainability of the University and as a result, MANCOM has already approved the University’s financial sustainability strategy of the University which will guide the University’s efforts to secure the future of Unisa in the long-term.
       
       
8. In the view of Council, this important African asset which celebrates 150 years this year, remains an academic institution that meets national and global quality assurance standards and remains viable administratively and operationally.
   
   
9. Once more, the University wishes to appeal for patience and cooperation as it prepares a comprehensive response to the Assessor’s Report. Unisa will respond to all the matters with facts and verifiable performance and related data.
   
   
10. For more details on the state and performance of Unisa, please click here for the summary of facts that make up Unisa.