2002 Annual Report

A review of the work of the Council in 2002 must reflect above all the continuing and high regard in which the University is held, the significant progress being made in teaching and learning, and the University's sustained and growing record in research. We are pleased to report that the University has met and exceeded many of our goals in these areas, and that we continue to be the university of choice for so many of our country's brightest students.
The Senate's teaching and learning report and the report on. research, give evidence of this, and the work that is being done to address the challenges we face.
The year saw several highlights in the work of the Council itself: First, the Statute of the University, which replaced the now-repealed University of Cape Town Private Act of 1999 was approved by the Minister and published on 20 September 2002. The Council subsequently adopted a set of institutional rules dealing with matters not provided for in the Statute.

Secondly, a new Council took office for a three-year term on 1 July 2002. The Council confirmed its confidence in Mrs Burton and me by re-electing us to serve as its Deputy-Chair and Chair respectively. The Council meets monthly during the period February to December and does not have an executive committee. The Council - of 38 members - is a large body, and this demands active involvement by its members. The Higher Education Amendment Act, 2002 requires us to reduce our size (along with all other Councils of public higher education institutions) to 30 or fewer by the end of 2003, and once we have done this we will visit again the question of having an executive committee. I am deeply appreciative of the commitments of so many Council members to monthly meetings and active engagement in two or three Council committees.