Page 10 - DUT Annual Report 2020

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DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2020
been planned as a physical meeting, and it took the University a while to make provision for all members of the Council to be able to attend a virtual meeting. However, the Executive Committee of Council (EXCO) met on numerous occasions, as it was compelled to play its oversight role and to make urgent decisions on behalf of the Council, all of which were ratified by the full Council when it met. The commitment and resilience shown by all members of the EXCO was inspiring to me as Chairperson of the Council, and I thank them profusely.
Some of the issues that required EXCO to play its oversight role and decision-making included:
Receiving regular reports from joint meetings of the Executive Management Committee (EMC) and Executive Committee of Senate (SENEX), which were chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and Principal.
Approving the amended 2020 academic calendar.
Ensuring that the multimodal blended online learning was operational, and that the provision of data for staff and students was prioritised.
Oversight of the University’s health and safety protocols and guidelines, led by the University’s CO VID-19 Response Team.
Making input on a revised budget for 2020 which upon completion was subsequently submitted to the relevant Committees, to ensure oversight over the finances of the University.
Making input on plans to deal with the various categories of staff working on the campus and those working remotely.
Approval of various decisions that would need later ratification by the Council.
The Council Risk Committee continued to perform its critical oversight on matters of risk. Regular risk reports prepared by our Chief Risk Officer were received and discussed at Risk Committee meetings. An important initiative endorsed by the Risk Committee is the Lessons-Learned Tracking Tool, which most organisations call an Incident Management Reporting System. Because of its bottom-up driven nature, once fully socialised this initiative contributes immensely towards strengthening the control environment within an organisation and supports the collective drive towards mitigating risks.
The Human Resources Committee, chaired by the Vice-Chair of Council, ably performed its oversight role in matters relating to HR. In this area one of the critical
matters over the lockdown period was decisions on leave arrangements and strengthening of the University’s staff recruitment activities utilising technology-based platforms. The Committee also received reports on roll-out of the Performance Management System (PerMS) to lower levels of staff. At present there has been significant buy-in from academic staff members as well as by middle managers in the administrative and support sections of the University. However, there are currently some obstacles to the roll-out of performance management to all staff members, owing to staff unions discouraging staff from participation in this important initiative. We remain confident that they will be persuaded to buy into the system.
This Committee initiated an aggressive campaign with respect to discouraging sexual harassment and committed to deal with offenders swiftly. The Committee also identified the issue of mental health as a major concern in respect of our staff and students. The Committee is encouraged that Management is pursuing the practice of conducting exit interviews and surveys for employees who leave the University for other job opportunities. This practice could assist DUT to improve its business processes, so as to attract and retain suitably qualified candidates from previously disadvantaged communities.
The financial practices of the University are scrutinised in detail through the oversight of the Finance Committee and the complementary role played by the Audit Committee through regular reports received by these committees. The Council also plays a major role in its oversight of the finances by the thoroughness of the attention it shows to such matters. Evidence of good financial management can be seen in the unqualified Annual Financial Statements contained in this Annual Report.
STRENGTHENING
GOVERNANCE
Meeting with the Institutional Forum (IF)
As part of Council’s initiatives to strengthen relationships with all other governance structures, the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of Council met with the newly appointed IF leadership in March 2020. The meeting discussed the expectations of Council on the roles and responsibilities of the IF relative to the work of Council. It was further agreed at the aforementioned meeting that the Registrar would identify a person with the necessary expertise from the higher education sector to facilitate a workshop for the new leadership of the IF.