Abstract:

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was established with the merger of three former Technikons (Polytechnics) at the beginning of 2004. The newly established University went through a number of difficult processes in order to harmonise practices and cultures of the three former technikons. In addition to the integration of the different departments and programmes offered by the University, the qualification profile of the staff needed substantial transformation to meet the requirements of a university. In addition, the university also had to comply with the country’s employment equity act.
Until 2003 South Africa had a duel system for higher education when the then Minister of Education announced an extensive programme to merge a number of institutions with the formation of a single system whereby the former technikons were converted into universities of technology. Technikons were not expected to contribute much towards research and innovation and therefore the staff qualification profile of these institutions did not match those of the traditional universities.
The situation at the three former technikons and the strategies that were put into place in order to uplift the staff profile of the Faculty of Science at the new university will be discussed. The strategies employed included a progressive lecture relief and a sabbatical leave programme in order to allow staff to register for postgraduate studies. At the same time the strategy focused on the recruitment of experienced academics to facilitate the supervision and mentoring of both staff and students.
As a direct result of these efforts the Faculty grew from one with a very low research output of less than 25 scholarly articles in 2004 to over 100 in 2009 rendering the Faculty comparable with some of the established older universities in South Africa. In addition, the pass rate of students improved from below to just above the national average and the involvement of the faculty in community service increased to a satisfactory level.
The strategies, the problems experienced with the programme and the substantial progress made over the past 6 years in the Faculty of Science will be discussed.

Keywords:

staff development, staff profile, university of technology, merger.