The Durban University of Technology (DUT) will be hosting a Public Lecture and a Book Launch by the renowned expert in education, Professor Jonathan Jansen, at the DUT Hotel School Conference Centre, Ritson Campus in Durban, on Tuesday, 18 April 2023 at 17h30.
Professor Jansen is a distinguished Professor in Education at Stellenbosch University and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He will be launching his book titled: Corrupted: A study of chronic dysfunction in South African Universities. This book was published by Wits Press in 2022. In the same year, Prof Jansen also published a book titled: The Decolonization of Knowledge, which was published by the Cambridge University Press, with Cyril Walters.
Prof Jansen will also be delivering a Public Lecture based on his research work, which was focused on the politics of knowledge in schools and universities. He made headlines in 2009 when he became the first black Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State. He has made a name for himself for being vocal on matters of transformation, peaceful reconciliation and unity.
In an excerpt from the book Corrupted: A study of chronic dysfunction in South African universities, Prof Jansen speaks on the disturbing fact that those managing universities cannot trust each other to act with integrity. According to Prof Jansen, this is the situation playing out in some South African universities, sometimes with fatal results.
“The principal conclusion I reach in my book is that chronic dysfunction in a sample of South African universities can be explained by two intertwined factors. One is institutional capacity. This is the expert ability to lead, manage and administer universities. The other is institutional integrity – the steering academic values that buffer universities against instability. Where both capacity and integrity are weak, dysfunction is inevitable,” said Prof Jansen.
His focus is also on what happens when integrity is undermined. In addition, Prof Jansen highlights that the crisis of dysfunctional institutions arises when universities make compromised decisions on everything from tenders for infrastructure to appointments of key personnel. According to Prof Jansen, such decisions increase the risk of systematic failure and it is how the institutional dysfunction begins and is sustained through the breaching of institutional integrity.
Prof Jansen also points out the critical skill sets that are compromised by the appointment of friends and family members in crucial administration positions. Furthermore, the institutional integrity is questioned when non-deserving people are promoted to senior academic positions in the name of equity. He also raises concerns on the governance of the institutions that is placed at serious risk due to the appointment of junior council members who have never governed anything in their lives.
Looking at restoring institutional integrity, Prof Jansen recommends the appointment of smaller, professional councils without political interference. He said it demands competent leaders who must hold strong convictions about the importance of academic values in the gradual rebuilding of a university.
Pictured: Professor Jonathan Jansen.
Simangele Zuma
