Q & A SOL PLAATJE UNIVERSITY
In student development, we’ ll integrate employability, entrepreneurship and work-integrated learning into every programme to ensure real-world experience that translates into meaningful careers or ventures. Overall, SPU’ s greatest opportunities lie in being ambitious. Leveraging our youth as an institution as well as our regional context and agility, we must design modern, impact-driven solutions for teaching, research and student success.
In your experience, what makes a university truly transformative for both its students and the wider community?
For a university to be truly transformative it must produce graduates who are problem-solvers and ethical leaders; it must deliver not only publications from impactful research, but also products and policies that add value to society. A university should have a meaningful and reciprocal relationship with its communities and stakeholders, too. Transformative universities articulate their beliefs and values and then align their actions accordingly. Sol Plaatje University’ s innovative and future-focused curriculum, our Northern Cape-aligned research and development, as well as our premise based on social justice demonstrate that we are a transformative university by design, one that purposefully changes lives and societies.
What are your key priorities when it comes to strengthening SPU’ s research, postgraduate programmes, and overall influence?
They are to build a focused research identity, nurture a strong postgraduate pipeline, leverage collaborative partnerships, and ensure SPU’ s visibility as a leader in the production of various branches of knowledge, innovation, and regional development. These efforts will elevate our research output, grow our postgraduate community, and ensure the University’ s influence continues to expand locally, nationally and internationally.
Which measures are essential to ensure SPU’ s research drives tangible societal impact?
To ensure that our research delivers tangible societal impact we must prioritise research aligned with regional and national needs. We must strengthen partnerships with government, industry, and civil society, and invest in research support systems – including postgraduate development, infrastructure, and translating knowledge production into ethical publications and beyond. Impactful research is collaborative, purposeful and supported by an ecosystem that turns data into action.
In a rapidly evolving higher education landscape, how do you approach digital transformation effectively?
Advanced technology must amplify human potential and support SPU’ s mission, so we employ digital tools that enhance teaching, learning, research and institutional efficiency and productivity. We prioritise technologies that improve student success, expand access and support high-quality academic work. The successful uptake of these technologies depends on people feeling confident and empowered, which means investing in staff training, digital literacy for students, and change management processes that ensure adoption, not just implementation, of available technologies. Digital transformation must be anchored in responsible data governance, which is why we focus on data-driven decisionmaking which helps us understand student needs, improve responsiveness and design evidence-based interventions.
What advice would you offer emerging academic leaders aspiring to executive roles in universities?
To lead a university is a privilege; a chance to shape lives, facilitate the generation of new knowledges and contribute to national development. Those who gain access to such an opportunity and avail themselves of it should do so with humility and purpose. They should aspire to blend intellectual depth with strategic insight, empathy with courage, and innovation with ethical stewardship. ■
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