Petersen emphasised that "the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that no institution or individual can take on the economic, environmental, social, and technological challenges of our own world on its own. But the COVID-19 pandemic also provided an opportunity for the University to rethink and re-imagine higher education. Petersen says currently, a governance project is in place to revise and/or to update the remits of all Council and Senate committees, and to ensure alignment with Faculty committees. He says although some work has been done on postgraduate funding and support, together with postgraduate governance, mainly through the postgraduate school, and also a doctoral review by the Council on Higher Education, will be a key area of focus in 2021".

“Although we know 2020 was an immensely challenging year, it allows us to set the scene for the New Year, which is 2021. Against the background of the UFS strategic plan, the 2018 to 2022 strategic plan, the Integrated Transformation plan, the Seven Vice-Chancellor Strategic Projects, and the Institutional Multi-stakeholder Group and the Institutional Risk Register, the focus of 2020 was on ‘Delivery on Track’. In this regard, the Directorate for Institutional Research and Academic Planning (DIRAP) has played a critical role in tracking the progress of the implementation. And I can say to you today, that we indeed are on track”, Petersen says.  

He further adds that while higher education has increasingly embraced online education over the past decade, the sudden pivot to remote education has been a steep learning curve for many institutions and their faculty members. Petersen says he believes as a university, with the able support of the Centre for Teaching and Learning and the commitment of their staff, both their academic staff as well as their support staff, the University of the Free State has done very well.

“We must be enquiry-driven, and at the same time, learning and community-focused. We must be professionally attuned, but humanely informed, taking our global responsibilities seriously. In this regard, we have restructured the vacant Vice-Rector portfolio to now focus on Institutional Change, Strategic Partnerships and Societal Impact,” Petersen adds.

Petersen says the University will refresh its focus in 2021 to continue to deliver an innovative, superior contribution to the Academic Project.

OFM News/Blaine Jones