Page 24 - DUT Annual Report 2020

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DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2020
STATEMENT OF SELF-
ASSESSMENT OF THE VICE-
CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL
I pointed out at the start of this report that the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent national lockdown upended many of the ways in which we had been going about with our work and lives. Governments and organisations were not spared tension regarding how they had to maintain business continuity in the midst of uncertainty. While the twinned phenomena (outbreak of the virus and lockdown) certainly disrupted our operations, I am satisfied with how the University responded. Our response did not only focus on the immediate situation – it also involved casting our foresight into the future in anticipation of key driving forces that may shock humanity again in the future. With the strategic thinking processes we have been seized with in our attempt to prepare the environment for the implementation of strategy, I am certain that DUT will respond to future shocks with even greater agility.
I consistently made DUT people aware that my role as the chief steward of the University after Council was to lead the entire University in making it DUT: Different, Upended and Transformed. I repeatedly emphasised the importance of collaboration between
and amongst colleagues, University structures and different departments. No genius exists who can turn around any organisation single-handedly, let alone a large and complex organisation such as DUT. Four years on since my assumption of the role of Vice-Chancellor and Principal, I am happy that DUT and the world at large are beginning to see the soaring outcomes of the work we have been painstakingly and quietly doing.
A number of prestigious awards we received in 2020 are testament that our ENVISION2030 is alive and effective and has earned us a number of ‘transient impacts’.
There was a time in history when it was very difficult to hold anyone accountable at DUT. That mindset has now been uprooted, albeit some pockets of resistance remain. With the mandate that Council has given to us and the work that my colleagues in Executive and Senior Management and I do, DUT is well poised to stay in the top echelons of higher education.The outstanding results that the country and the world see and talk about are a function of DUT’s doggedness in its implementation of ENVISION2030 and all the attendant imperatives that ensure success. This demonstrates that everyone – especially the Right people – in the University from Council, Management, staff and students, are doing their part in favour of DUT’s brand and stature.
Professor TZ Mthembu
Vice-Chancellor and Principal