Abstract
Higher education institutions are faced with many challenges in fulfilling their core mandate of teaching, research and community engagement. To achieve this, strong, sound and visionary institutional leadership is required, which should be embedded in sound corporate governance practices. The study aims to ascertain what registrars’ views on the effectiveness and value added by current corporate governance practices of higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa are. This was done through a literature review and supported by empirical evidence obtained from questionnaires addressed to registrars of public HEIs in South Africa, as well as follow up interviews held with participants. The study found strong support for sound corporate governance practices at HEIs in South Africa, and also indicates that these institutions are complying with and adhering to this, although room for improvement exists in certain areas. The value added to and contributions to corporate governance effectiveness by student representative council members and institutional forums were also investigated, and it was found that the evolving corporate governance role of the registrar, over and above the traditional academic and student affairs responsibilities, enjoyed much support. Additional reporting responsibilities, in accordance with current corporate governance developments, were identified as areas not meeting expectations.
Highlights
Institutions of higher education fulfil a critical role in society by encouraging the dissemination, advancement, development and application of knowledge informed by free inquiry (Nagy & Robb, 2008:1417)
According to the Ministerial Statement of Higher Education Funding (2006/7 to 2008/9) (MoE, 2006) higher education institutions (HEIs) should make major contributions to the social transformation of South African society and stimulate national economic growth and development. Through their student admissions, teaching and learning activities, HEIs can assist with the creation of a fairer and more just society for South Africa (MoE, 2006) and, thereby, actively participate in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA), which stresses a stronger focus on middle- and high-level skills development in order to ensure that an economic growth target of 6% between 2010 and 2014 is achieved (PWC, 2009:1; MoE, 2006)
This study provides a South African perspective regarding corporate governance at HEIs and makes a contribution to the limited body of knowledge that exists in this regard
Summary
Institutions of higher education fulfil a critical role in society by encouraging the dissemination, advancement, development and application of knowledge informed by free inquiry (Nagy & Robb, 2008:1417). According to the Ministerial Statement of Higher Education Funding (2006/7 to 2008/9) (MoE, 2006) HEIs should make major contributions to the social transformation of South African society and stimulate national economic growth and development Through their student admissions, teaching and learning activities, HEIs can assist with the creation of a fairer and more just society for South Africa (MoE, 2006) and, thereby, actively participate in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA), which stresses a stronger focus on middle- and high-level skills development in order to ensure that an economic growth target of 6% between 2010 and 2014 is achieved (PWC, 2009:1; MoE, 2006). These challenges require sound management, effective leadership, and strong governance structures (Bargh, Scott & Smith, 1996:2-3; Geuna & Muscio, 2009:94 & 108; Kezar & Eckel, 2004:371-372; Marx, 2007:106 & 120)
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