MINUTES OF THE CONVOCATION AND OLD RHODIAN UNION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN GRAHAMSTOWN ON 28 AUGUST 2010 AT THE GAVIN RELLY POSTGRADUATE VILLAGE, RHODES UNIVERSITY

1. Present: Dr MS Badat, Professor RB Walker, Dr S Fourie, Dr S Mabizela, Rev. LE Kelly, Mrs JP Kelly, Ms PJ Coetzee, Mrs KC Mills, Mr WD Mills, Professor JA Thomson, Mr X Nyali, Mr SJ Phamodi, Ms RS Mudarikwa, Ms TC Mullins, Ms KL Mullins, Mrs CA du Preez, Dr JS Claughton, Mr RW Embling, Mr BW Evans, Mr TI Mutenawa, Mr LD King’ori, Ms C Lukwesa, Ms B Jari, Mr TS Dlamini, Ms PP Mdangayi, Mr SP Yonzi, Mr ZM Matiwana, Professor JD Snowball, Professor GCG Fraser, Mr GL White, Professor ACM Webb, Professor GG Antrobus, Professor JR Midgley, Professor EE Baart, Mr AH Arnott, Mrs CM Arnott, Dr AE Russell, Mrs P Russell, Mrs E Rezelman, Mrs AW Macdonald, Professor IA Macdonald, Dr J Gambiza, Mr J Richner, Mr FG Heard, Mrs EJN Heard, Mrs RR Collett, Miss MWW Wood, Mrs RC Essex-Clark and Mrs JA Reynolds.

Apologies were received from Revd Dr Gqubule, Mr MP Mullins, Professor H Nel, Mrs R Vroom, Matthew Charlesworth, Professor P Terry, Ivan Schaffer, Linore Schaffer, Mrs T Neville, Mr R Buckland, Mrs L Andrew, Mr P Andrew, Isabel Alday, Hugh Eales, Anne Eales and Rosemary Palmer.

2. Notice of Meeting: In the absence of the Revd Dr Gqubule, President of Convocation, Professor RB Walker, welcomed those present and declared the meeting open.

3. Moment of Silence: A moment’s silence was observed in commemoration of the life of Jane Nqubule, the wife of the Revd Dr Gqubule, who had died recently.

4. The Minutes of the Fifty-Ninth Annual Meeting of Convocation held on 29 August 2009 were confirmed.

5. The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Old Rhodian Union held on 29 August 2009 were confirmed.

6. Vice-Chancellor’s Report: The Vice-Chancellor reported as follows on recent and unfolding events:

The Vice-Chancellor began by paying tribute to the Revd Gqubule, who had been part of the Rhodes University family for many years. On behalf of the University, Dr Badat expressed condolences to the Gqubule family on the death of Jane Gqubule.

Dr Badat congratulated Professor Eddie Baart, who celebrated fifty years with Rhodes University in 2010.

The Vice-Chancellor reported on current enrolment figures and future plans in this regard. The University had successfully managed the unforeseen additional growth in student numbers experienced in 2009 and was about to renegotiate and finalise its enrolment plan to 2014. In 2010, the University had a total of 7265 students. The revised enrolment plan proposed modest growth and a higher percentage of postgraduate enrolments, with no more than 7500 students in 2013. Rhodes University had committed itself to becoming more postgraduate and research-based.

There were some exciting recent developments in terms of academic programmes, including the introduction of a Master’s programme in Creative Writing in 2011, new programmes in Social Policy and PhD Studies, and reactivated programmes in Applied Computer Science and Bioinformatics. Growth in terms of new programmes would be largely or entirely at the postgraduate level.

In terms of infrastructural development, the new library was about to be brought to fruition with an official opening on 4 November 2010. The expanded library was a wonderful facility which made a huge difference to a University which was serious about knowledge. Dr Badat paid tribute to everyone who had been involved in the expansion project. An initial budget of R107 million had been brought down to R97 million and eventually completed at about R85 million because of excellent management, with every cent accounted for. For student accommodation, two new residences had been built on ‘the hill’ and Kimberley Hall renovated, using a grant of R36 million from the Department of Education. The University was confident that further funding would be forthcoming in this regard, which would break the back of the undergraduate accommodation problem. Another exciting development in terms of infrastructure was the completion of a new Environmental Learning Centre for Environmental Education, which was designed to incorporate Teaching and Learning, Community Engagement and Research elements in terms of its architecture. There were plans to provide additional space for the Faculty of Education using a grant for Teacher Education, keeping in mind the University’s commitment to preserving the environmental and aesthetic character of St Peter’s campus. Consideration was being given to the possibility of building postgraduate residences. The University was also hoping to build a new building for the Life Sciences.

A Campus Development Plan had almost been finalised. This plan incorporated green spaces and also made provision for space in case of national support for a second veterinary facility in the country. There had been thought about moving into the area of Marine Veterinary Science, building on existing experience in Ichthyology.

Once again, the University had been highly successful with regard to donor fundraising. Promising developments were emerging from a recent trip to the United Kingdom. There was also confidence that an additional grant from the Mellon Foundation, of 1.4 million US dollars, would be finalised. This grant would fund four Research Focus areas in the Faculty of Humanities, each of which would provide funding for two Master’s, two PhDs, one Postdoc, research and teaching assistance. The Mellon grant would also include a new programme for young and emerging scholars, drawing on the expertise of established, senior scholars, funding for women academics and postgraduates through WASA, and support for a programme in Jazz Heritage Studies. These and other exciting initiatives would ensure that Rhodes University did not stagnate and continued to advance knowledge.

Rhodes students had been shortlisted for five Mandela/Rhodes scholarships in 2010, winning 14% of the scholarships while comprising only 0.8% of the national student body. The University had also been successful with regard to Rhodes Scholarships and the Flanagan Scholarship and was generally doing well in the international scholarship arena.

In other research initiatives, there had been indications that most of the University’s research proposals submitted had been successful in an open competition jointly run by South Africa and the Netherlands. The University had also been approached by the Carnegie Corporation, an exclusive and prestigious player within funding circles. Carnegie had already provided half a million US dollars for the Research Commons in the new library and for research library staff training. The latest approach by Carnegie invited Rhodes to submit a concept document on building the next generation of academics and developing teaching and learning in Africa, with encouragement to ‘think big’.

While 95% of the University functioned very well, there were also areas of weakness. A critical and reflective document produced in the last few months aimed to spotlight areas in which improvements could be made. The Vice-Chancellor argued that we should not be shy to critique ourselves and that loyalty bought the right to address openly all matters affecting the University and its place in society.

Dr Badat was not a proponent of global University rankings, which usually demonstrated the worst possible kind of social science, with flimsy evidence and crude criteria. However, a sophisticated analysis had recently been produced in Franschhoek and included in the Summit on Higher Education; in this analysis, Rhodes had been placed in the best-performing category of universities in South Africa, along with Stellenbosch, UCT, Pretoria and Wits. Rival universities were not standing still and Rhodes needed to move with them, not by copying them but by building on its own strengths. The Vice-Chancellor was confident that could be done.

Professor Walker thanked the Vice-Chancellor for his detailed report.

7. Report of the President of the Old Rhodian Union:

Professor Walker reported as follows on the business of the OR committee over the preceding year:

Professor Walker reported on the Old Rhodian Union bursaries and thanked members of the Bursaries Sub-Committee. He also thanked Luyanda Bheyile for his hard work and ensuring that the financials were fully compliant. Professor Walker also reported on the Old Rhodian Awards and thanked those involved in this area. The ORU Committee was working closely with the Alumni Office to make contact with Old Rhodians visiting Grahamstown for the Arts Festival and similar events. An Old Rhodian bookshelf – consisting of books by alumni – had been launched and now comprised over 70 works. The Old Rhodian Union had also been involved in procuring environmentally-themed artwork from an alumnus for the new Environmental Learning Centre. In terms of fundraising, ‘MySchool’ cards were starting to bring in a little money. The Lucky Pot Lottery had however been discontinued; it had simply not been sustainable to comply with legal requirements and the audit fee. All those who had contributed had been contacted and some had opted to continue their regular contribution on a purely donation basis. There was clearly a need for the ORU to find new ways to raise funds. Professor Walker thanked members of the ORU Committee, the Ball Committee and the Alumni Office for all their good work during the past year.

Professor Walker was thanked for his report.

8. Financial Statement of the Old Rhodian Union: The Honorary Treasurer, John Gillam, tabled a report on the financial situation for year ended 31 December 2009.

9. Election of President of Convocation: The Revd Dr Gqubule was re-elected to serve as President of Convocation for the next two years, until 2012.

10. Election of Office Bearers:

The following officers bearers were elected for the period 2010/11: Professor RB Walker (President), Dr J Gambiza (Vice-President), Ms P Coetzee (Honorary Secretary), Mr JP Gillam (Honorary Treasurer), Mrs L Rautenbach, Mr D Munene, Ms F Chaiba, Dr D Parker and Professor R Kaschula. It was agreed that additional members would be co-opted as necessary.

THE MEETING ENDED AT 11H55