2018 Annual Report

The University has a proud history and a sound foundation, but all of us appreciate that we cannot stand still. So many of the governance tasks undertaken by Council in the last year turn on Management’s continuing commitment to the UKZN
Strategic Plan (2017-2021) – and in particular, its institutionwide drive for Transformation. Even as we progress on the Strategic Plan, we have continued to enact and consolidate our efforts across the entire span of the University’s business
to pursue a Transformative Agenda, involving all stakeholders, acting in concert within the strategic framework. Work continues on all aspects of the UKZN Strategic Plan (2017– 2021) through disaggregated, specified responsibilities to ensure that the strategic vision can be realised against a rapidly changing operating environment. The challenges facing the University include a globalised “market” for students, staff and, external sources of funding and, more fundamentally, the ways
in which the generation and dissemination of knowledge has impacted the standing of universities everywhere of their once unique status. The goals of the UKZN Strategic Plan (2017-2021) cannot be fully achieved if they are conceived as a means of raising UKZN’s standards and performance against a static backdrop.