FACULTY OF HUMANITIES RESEARCH REPORT: 2008
The Faculty of Humanities consists of the following Schools and Research Entities:
School of Social Sciences (SOSS)
History Research Group (HRG/ History Workshop)
NRF Research Chair in History
Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP)
School of Literature and Language Studies (SLLS)
School of Human and Community Development (SHCD)
School of Education (WSoE)
Education Policy Unit (EPU)
Wits School of Arts (WSoA)
Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER)
Graduate School for the Humanities and Social Sciences (GSHSS)
The Faculty is also the leading player in the recently instituted Centre for Indian
Studies in Africa (CISA) which has a major research dimension.
1. Introduction: Synoptic account of activities and achievements:
According to the Times Higher Education’s World Rankings of Universities, the
University of the Witwatersrand’s ranking in 2008 was 319. The University’s ranking
in the Arts and Humanities category was 221 and in the Social Sciences category was
248. The performance in these categories, into which most of the disciplines in the
Humanities fit, reflects the Faculty’s contribution to the standing of the institution
both nationally and internationally. And a central pillar in this contribution comes
from research. The Faculty of Humanities has in recent years put increasing its
research contribution, including increasing postgraduate research degrees, at the
forefront of its activities.
In 2008, the preliminary record suggests journal publications are a little down on the
previous year, but there was a significant increase in the number of students receiving
post-graduate degrees. Most importantly, 2008 is characterized by the publication of
the book, which in many disciplines in the Humanities is the gold standard for
measuring achievement. In the School of Social Sciences six authored books were
published as were seven edited books. In the School of Human and Community
development three books were published. In WISER (the Wits Institute for Social and
Economic research) one notable edited book was published by Achille Mbembe and
Sarah Nuttall entitled Johannesburg: The Elusive Metropolis. This has already
received a great deal of attention in the local press. In the School of Education two
authored books were published while in the School of Literature and Languages two
authored books and one edited book were published. In the Wits School of the Arts
one authored book was published as well as one edited book by Grant Olwage entitled
Composing Apartheid: Music for and against Apartheid.
Although the Faculty of Humanities is yet to embrace fully the NRF rating system,
staff continue to apply for rating with good success. Professor Isabel Hofmeyr
received an A-rating bringing the contingent of A-rated researchers in the Faculty in
2008 to five, the largest number in the University. During the same period two other
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members of African Literature received B-ratings which adds up to a most
distinguished contribution by a very small group of scholars.
During 2008, further applications were made for NRF Research Chairs. It has since
been confirmed that one Chair has been granted in “Mathematics Education”, to
Professor Jill Adler. Together with Professor Bonner’s Research Chair in “Local
Histories, Present Realities”, the Faculty now has two Research Chairs.
A number of staff received local and international acclaim in 2008. Most notably:
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Professor Claire Penn of the School of Human and Community Development
won the 2008 Shoprite Checkers/SABC 2 Woman of the Year Award in the
category of Science and Technology.
Dr Lucy Allais paper “Kant’s Idealism and the Secondary Quality Analogy”
was awarded the prize for best article published in 2007 in the prestigious
Journal of the History of Philosophy. The award was made in 2008.
Professor Thad Metz of Philosophy was the winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s
Award for Research.
Professor Malcolm Nay and Carlo Mombelli from the Wits School of Arts had
their CD recordings titled Trio Hemanay and I Stared Into My Head
nominated for South African Music Awards.
The book Grounding Globalisation: Labour in an Age of Insecurity by
Professor Eddie Webster and Dr Andries Bezuidenhout together with
Professor Rob Lambert of the University of Western Australia, was awarded
the prize for the best book in labour studies for 2008 by the American
Sociological Association.
The Faculty participates in a number of research thrusts. One of these is the South
Africa-India Research Thrust. The expanding activities of this thrust led to the
creation of the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) in 2007. The research
activities emanating from these two entities began to flourish in 2008. Together the
two entities have drawn together over 30 Wits academics, representing a diversity of
disciplines, and have overseen a high profile series of research projects, teaching
programmes, conferences, public lectures, literary festivals and publications. In May
2008, Professor Dilip Menon, a most distinguished academic from Delhi University,
was appointed as the Chair of Indian Studies. Prof Menon will help expand CISA’s
teaching and research activities even further.
During 2008, as before, the Faculty hosted a number of international scholars of note.
Amongst those hosted by the School of Social Sciences were Professor Peter Evans
(University of California, Berkeley), Professor Ching Kwan Lee (University of
California, Los Angeles), Dr Thomas Isaac (Minister of Finance, Kerala India), and
Professor John Blevins (Emory University). Professor Thomas Cushman of Wellesley
College was hosted by WISER. He presented a series of public lectures on ‘The
Sentimental Bases of Human Rights’. Amongst the international visitors hosted by the
School of Human and Community Development were Professors Ian Lubeck, Erica
Burman, Jane Callahan and Brinton Lykes.
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As normal the Faculty also hosted a number of nationally renowned scholars and
important public and governmental figures. Indeed, one of the highlights of the year
was a Public debate hosted by WISER between the Minister of Housing and Professor
Arjun Appadurai, of the New School for Social Research, New York. Speaking to an
audience of over 400 people (both academics and members of the public), Appadurai
engaged the Minister on housing and its relationship to the possibility of hope,
nationally and international
One of the hallmarks of an intellectually engaged faculty is the holding of
conferences, symposia and festivals. Amongst the many hosted by the Faculty in 2008
are the following:
CISA hosted a literary festival with panels combining leading Indian and South
African authors, entitled Words on Water: India and South Africa in Conversation.
The literary festival was part of a broader cultural exchange called Shared Histories
organised by the Government of India’s diplomatic representation in South Africa and
the City of Johannesburg. WISER hosted conferences on South African Literary
Studies: A Provocation on the State of the Field and The Life of the Corpse’. This
conference involved a mix of international and national scholars who grappled with
the symbolic centrality of death in the production of ethical, political and cultural life,
and the place of mortality more generally as a horizon of meaning in this country and
the wider world. A conference on Responsibility was hosted by the Philosophy
Department and was attended by many prominent South African-based philosophers.
A conference on the Democratic Developmental State was co-hosted by Sociology,
COPAC and RLF, and a conference on Labour Crossings: World, Work and History
was co-organised by the History workshop, the Centre for Sociological Research
(UJ), the International Association for Labour History Institutions and the
International Conference of Labour and Social History. A conference organized by
the International Relations Department in conjunction with colleagues from the
Department of Sociology and African Languages was held on Conflict Resolution in
Kenya. A number of events were hosted by the Forced Migration Study Programme
(FMSP) including a conference on Migration in Southern Africa and a conference on
Political Economies of Zimbabwean Displacement.
The Faculty also takes seriously its responsibility to the wider society. To stimulate
intellectual debate and public engagement, the Faculty initiated and in partnership
with The Weekender newspaper, hosted a series of public debates that were well
attended by the public in Gauteng as well as by staff and students at the University.
The panel debates which include audience participation were held on the following
topics:
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The Zimbabwe Elections and Beyond
What Africa means to Obama: What Obama means to Africa
After Mbeki: Whither South Africa?
Is our democracy under threat?
A faculty’s research accomplishments include not only those of its more established
researchers but also those of its younger generation of researchers. The Faculty has
puts considerable effort and resources into interventions aimed at building a solid core
of able young researchers. In addition to programmes at the discipline level and
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structured doctoral seminars in WISER and SWOP, the Faculty has several crosscutting programmes, co-ordinated by Professor Sue van Zyl in the Graduate School
for Humanities and Social Sciences (now renamed as the Graduate Centre). These
initiatives include a comprehensive series of training workshops for postgraduate
students and writing retreats aimed at improving the writing skills of researchers and
increasing the publication rate of young researchers.
In 2008, seven writing retreats were held under the auspices of the Graduate School at
various venues including Otters Haunt in Parys, the Wits Rural Facility in Limpopo
and Mangwa Valley, just outside Johannesburg. Some 23 academic staff members
and 20 postgraduate students participated in these writing retreats representing various
Schools in the Faculty. We are very pleased to note that participants on the 2008
retreats produced 10 journal articles in print or in press, 5 other journal articles were
accepted for publication while another 4 were under review. In addition, 3 book
chapters appeared in print and a further 3 are in press. This is a most commendable
output exhibiting the unquestionable success of this sort of intervention.
Members of the Faculty edit a number of local and international journals including:
Politics and Society, African Studies, Journal of Contemporary African Studies,
Voluntas, English Studies in Africa, South African Journal of Psychology,
Ergonomics SA
In addition, members of the Faculty continue to serve on an impressive number of
editorial boards of local and international journals including:
British Journal of Industrial Relations, Politics and Gender, International Journal of
Feminist Studies, Politikon, Democratization, Philosophical Papers, Journal of
Southern African Studies, Labour Capital and Society, Labour History, LitNet
Akademies, South African Review of Sociology, Theoria, Work, Employment and
Society, English Academy Review, Acta Germanica, SAMUS: South African Music
Studies, International Journal of Bilingualism, Journal of Social Issues, Ergonomics,
Open Ergonomics Journal, Behaviour and Information Technology.
As this selection of activities and accomplishments reveal, the Faculty works hard at
maintaining its reputation as one of the leading centres for research and graduate
studies in Africa.
2. Faculty Priorities:
The Faculty is fully committed to growing its research activities in accordance with
University strategy. To this end the Faculty has identified several key areas to focus
on in an effort to improve its research profile. The key research priority areas are:
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Building a strong research culture
Developing a younger generation of academics and researchers
Increasing the number of staff with PhD’s in the Faculty
Improving research output, measured by quality as well as quantity
Increasing the number of postgraduates registered for advanced research degrees
Improving research infrastructure within the Faculty and the University
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3. Financial Aspects:
3.1 Available Research Funding in 2008
All figures in R’000
Internal
Funds
URC
devolved
(70%)
WSOA
WSOE
SHCD
SLLS
SOSS
Grad
School
WISER
General
Faculty
Totals
2008
Faculty
Totals
2007
Internal
Funds
URC
centrally
allocated
(30%)
237
344
93
421
653
37
External
Funds
NRF
External
Total
Funds
available
Other
grants and
contracts
Foundation
at 31/12/08
161
876
208
289
3937
383
435
735
232
870
1990
1459
833
1955
533
1580
6580
1879
87
0
0
87
5015
1872
5854
5721
13447
7792
6540
22527
3928
1742
3274
7706
12722
22208
4171
205
164
838
2817
Grants and Fellowships
Grant funding is an area in which the Faculty of Humanities has historically lagged
behind other faculties. In part, this is because researchers in Humanities are generally
unlikely to seek funding for expensive research items such as equipment. However,
changes in funding patterns nationally and internationally are beginning to change the
historical situation. Increasingly Humanities researchers seek large multi-year grants
to support fieldwork, graduate student bursaries and research assistants. To this end
Faculty staff are encouraged to attend NRF roadshows organised by the Research
Office. And they are encouraged to apply for funding now available as a result of
changes in NRF funding priorities and the broadening of categories of funding, for
example the recently introduced “Blue Skies” programme. In the past year there has
been a significant increase in the number of large external grants won by senior
researchers in the Faculty and we expect to see more growth in future years.
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Major Grants obtained in 2008 include:

Annual Research Training Institute on Women and Citizenship (Political
Studies, led by Shireen Hassim and Sheila Meintjes), funded by IDRC (R6
million, 2008-2010).

South Africa-Switzerland Bi-lateral research grant for a three year project
entitled ‘Safeguarding Democracy: Contests of Memory and Heritage’
(Department of Political Studies and History Workshop, led by Professors
Sheila Meintjes, Phil Bonner and Patrick Harries). This is a collaborative
research project with the History Workshop and the Department of History at
the University of Basel in Switzerland. (Approx R1.9 million).The first
meeting was held in December 2008. The money includes grants for two PhD
students in Political Studies, and involves meetings in both Switzerland and
South Africa.

The Sociology of Work unit began new research projects in 2008 for which it
received collaborative support from the International Labour Organization
(Research on Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in South Africa, led by
Professor E Webster) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the National Union of
Metalworkers of SA (Workplace Restructuring Project on Work and
Production Changes, led by Professor E Webster).

$600,000 Mellon Grant to the Faculty of Humanities. This grant, spread over
five years is to help shape the generational transition from a group of senior
ageing (mostly white) scholars, responsible for a substantial proportion of the
Faculty’s publication record to a younger generation of academic staff
significantly more diverse both demographically and intellectually. $500,000
will go towards short terms fellowships for distinguished scholars whose role
would be ‘to inspire, stimulate and introduce new thinking in cutting edge
research areas in the Humanities’. The rest would be used to fund recent
PhD’s turn their theses into publishable articles.
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3.2 FRC Budget 2008
Research Entities:
EPU
Operation Costs
HISTORY RESEARCH
GROUP
Operation Costs
Salaries
SWOP
Operation Costs
Salaries
WISER
Salaries
Claims staff(academic)
FRC:
Conferences
Ad Hoc & Research
Promotion Grants
RINC
RINC rollover from 2007
New Professor’s fund
Printing & Stationery
Catering & Sundry
Expenses
Incorrect allocations
Unallocated
Budget 2008
Expenditure
R300,000
R398,708
R20,500
R77,451
R2,362
R77,451
R65,000
R925,576
R41,321
R1,024,584
R1,343,614
R50,000
R1,302,765
Budget 2008
R206,004
Expenditure
R718,864
R430,000
R850,000
R439,771
R60,000
R10,000
R2,000
R675,296
R427,076
R30,384
R5,983
R1,268
R5,420
R232,797
Rollover from 2007 to 2008 R1, 842,104
Rollover from 2008 to 2009 R2, 062,570
As can be seen, the major portion of the FRC budget (on average at least 60%) goes to
fund the salaries of some members of the research entities. This is problematic for a
number of reasons. Firstly, in terms of publications produced, on average the research
entities together account for only 10% of the faculty’s accredited DE Units. This goes
against the policy that research allocations should track research contributions.
Secondly, the effect of this imbalance is to limit the amount of money available to the
individual researchers whose performance accounts for most of the funds allocated to
the faculty. This effect is felt in at least two areas: with respect to money available for
travel or conference funding; and with respect to the money available for RINC. This
latter effect is the most important. RINC acts as both an incentive for research and,
more importantly, a resource for funding research related activities or needs (for
example, books, computers, conference travel or top-ups and possibly teaching buyouts). (It is sometimes maintained that research is an obligation that academics take
on with their jobs, and so should not be incentivised or rewarded. There are problems
with this view. Of course research is an obligation on academics, but any view on
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RINC needs to take into account an academic’s overall remuneration package. Most
academics battle to make out with the necessities of life let alone with the requisites
for research. RINC as a resource for research related needs perhaps would not be
necessary if the remuneration of academics was substantially better. But given the
salaries actually received, RINC is an essential factor in increasing research activity
and productivity. It is not an accident that many competitor institutions offer more
rewarding equivalents.)
Though, the research entities do badly measured against their share of the Faculty’s
DE accredited units, it is clear that their value cannot be assessed only in this way.
One needs to look at their larger contribution (see below). But what remains clearly
true is that the research productivity of the entities which house full-time, very often
senior researchers, needs to be substantially improved.
On the other side, it is imperative that something is done to improve the individual
researchers’ share of the FRC budget (see more on this below).
As can be seen, the spending does not match the allocation. This is mostly attributable
to the fact that the RINC allocation is unlikely to be spent in the year allocated. Most
researchers save their RINC allocations until such time as they have sufficient funds
to purchase expensive items (like computers) or to support more extensive activities
(like conference or research travel.) This postponement of expenditure is entirely
reasonable and effective in supporting research related activities.
4.1: Research data:
a) Research output: Raw data
SOSS
SWOP
HRG
SHCD
SLLS
WSOA
WSOE
EPU
WISER
Total
Journal
DOE
Submitted
Journal
Other
35
5
24-30
12
2
18
15
8
16
52
27
6
31
4
13
173
95
Book
Chapter
DOE
submitted
14
2
2
21
12
8
5
7
17
88
Book
Chapter
other
Research
Report
Books:
Authored
Books:
Edited
Total
6
1
1
7
5
97
25
5
93
57
37
61
21
30
426
11
2
1
2
11
7
2
7
31
12
2
1
3
1
13
14
8
b) Research output: DE Units - Estimate without chapters and books
DE UNITS PER DEPT IN SCHOOLS
3 YEARS (2008 Estimates)
2006
DE
Units
2007
2008
DE Units
DE Units
ESTIMATE
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES, SOCIAL SCIENCES &
EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Education Policy Unit
TOTAL
30.41
5.17
35.58
38.26
2.97
41.23
26.99
2.79
29.78
SCHOOL OF HUMAN & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
23.52
39.28
34.78
SCHOOL OF LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE STUDIES
31.95
24.01
21.83
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
History Research Group
Sociology of Work Unit
TOTAL
29.73
0.00
8.13
37.86
43.47
0.00
7.87
51.34
32.30
0.93
1.75
34.98
WITS SCHOOL OF ARTS
11.95
15.38
6.50
GRAD SCH OF HUMAN & SOCIAL SCIENCES
WITS INST FOR SOCIAL & ECON RESEARCH
19.10
17.58
13.57
9.89
4.00
7.00
177.54
194.70
138.87
FACULTY TOTAL
c) Research output: DE Units - Estimate including chapters and books
DE UNITS PER DEPT IN SCHOOLS
3 YEARS (2008 Estimates)
2006
DE
Units
2007
2008
DE Units
DE Units
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES, SOCIAL SCIENCES &
EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Education Policy Unit
TOTAL
30.41
5.17
35.58
38.26
2.97
41.23
31.28
3.48
34.76
SCHOOL OF HUMAN & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
23.52
39.28
35.33
SCHOOL OF LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE STUDIES
31.95
24.01
23.70
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
History Research Group
Sociology of Work Unit
TOTAL
29.73
0.00
8.13
37.86
43.47
0.00
7.87
51.34
45.71
2.60
4.54
52.85
WITS SCHOOL OF ARTS
11.95
15.38
10.94
19.10
17.58
177.54
13.57
9.89
194.70
4.32
9.49
171.39
GRAD SCH OF HUMAN & SOCIAL SCIENCES
WITS INST FOR SOCIAL & ECON RESEARCH
FACULTY TOTAL
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TOTALS ONLY incl
retrospective
units for 19982007. 2008
ESTIMATES
HUMANITIES
CLM
EBE
HS
SCIENCE
OTHER
UNIVERSITY
TOTAL
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Estimates
115.60
88.36
60.05
216.12
236.88
6.60
128.81
106.17
34.60
223.77
246.77
4.78
144.43
95.73
69.02
222.07
267.58
4.96
121.49
99.85
40.02
232.00
258.10
3.06
120.44
101.41
51.85
215.44
210.85
0.78
181.23
91.20
83.41
187.00
244.63
3.16
152.06
74.41
62.52
223.32
242.57
4.05
177.54
107.39
72.11
207.44
273.58
5.47
194.70
77.70
94.06
255.46
285.43
3.45
171.39
69.18
62.13
261.77
293.80
2.64
723.61
744.90
803.79
754.52
700.77
790.63
758.93
843.53
910.80
860.91
The first three sets of figures exhibit publication patterns and some of the problems
revealed by these patterns in and for the Faculty. The first figure (in comparison with
the following two) exhibits that many more publications are produced than just the
accredited publications. The second figure (in comparison with the third) exhibits that
a fairly sizeable proportion of faculty publications are in the form of chapters and
books and these are not proportionately accredited in terms of the DE system of
accreditation. This is something that the University Research Office might need to
work on (together with other universities). Sometimes, reputable journals are not
accredited because not on the ISI data base. Nonetheless, it is also evident that
researchers in the faculty ought to be choosing (all other things being equal) journals
that are accredited rather than journals that are not, and ought to be choosing (all other
things being equal) publication in the form of journal articles rather than as book
chapters, at least until such time as the latter are revalued.
The overall subsidy-earning output of the Faculty increased substantially in 2007, but
as can be seen appears to have dipped in 2008. Such rises and dips are to be expected,
the more important question is whether the overall trend is upwards or not? As is also
exhibited (compared with the early 2000’s) the trend is upwards. What also needs to
be noted is that 2008 was the year of the book, both authored and edited. The book in
many disciplines is the gold standard for rating achievements. But as already
indicated the book is undervalued in terms of DE units allocated.
Measured by School, the Faculty has three Schools in the eleven most productive
Schools in the University and one in the top three.
 The School of Social Sciences was the one school to increase (albeit
marginally) its accredited contribution. And it retains its position as the
leading school (by number of accredited publications) in the faculty.
 There is a slight dip in the contribution from the School of Human and
Community Development, but nonetheless the contribution remains
substantially better than the pattern of earlier years.
 While there is a dip in the contribution of WSoE, more heartening is the fact
that more authors contributed to the research output than in previous years.
Since one of the problems with the school was the low level of research
activity in certain sectors, this is an important development.
 There was drop in the contribution of the WSoA which is anyhow low. The
new policy to recognize creative work had yet to take root in 2008. It is hoped
that this will improve in 2009 and onwards.
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The Faculty has aligned criteria for appointment and promotion, and tightened
oversight with regard to sabbatical leave, in line with the aim of improving research
output. The Faculty norm for promotion is 2.0 research units annually. A holistic
approach to the academic load is needed in order to achieve this target. In particular,
teaching and administrative workloads need to be addressed. At School level, there is
some discussion of implementation of workload models, although these remain
difficult instruments in small disciplines. In both WSoE and SHCD, individual staff
have self-identified publication targets in consultation with heads of School. In the
long term, the Humanities FRC is convinced that research productivity will be greatly
enhanced if administrative loads at the discipline and school level are reduced, and if
teaching loads are reduced. What the statistics will show in a very vivid way is that
the number of students has increased substantially since 2000 yet, in most if not all
cases there has either been a decrease in staff or at least not an increase or not an
increase in any way commensurate with the increased number of students. And that
holds true independently of the surge in numbers experienced this year. If there is to
be a substantial increase in research productivity in the Faculty, there will need to be a
lessening in the teaching responsibility. What is typically needed in the faculty for
research, is time, but while the student numbers or staff numbers remain more or less
as they are, that time for research will remain in short supply.
5.1 Completed Graduate Degrees:
While the estimates suggest a decline in the publication record of the Faculty, the
other major research output, completed higher degrees, has increased across each of
the higher degrees in the Faculty in comparison with 2007. Indeed, the aggregate total
research output has increased from 398.2 to 413.89 (counting PhD’s as 4 points, MA
dissertation as 1point and MA Coursework and research report as 0.5).
PhD Count 2006-2008 (Faculty of Humanities figures as per AISU)
Art
Education
Graduate
School
Human and
Community
Dev.
Languages &
Literature
Social
Sciences
GAES
Faculty
Totals:
2006
2007
2008
Totals 3
years
2
4
2
1
10
3
1
6
3
4
20
8
3 Year
weighted
Average
(1PhD=4
points)
5.33
26.67
10.67
2
2
8
12
16.00
10
5
8
23
30.67
14
6
7
27
36.00
4
38
1
28
33
5
99
6.67
132.00
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Coursework Master Qualified Students 2006-2008
Art
Education
Graduate School
for Humanities &
Social Sciences
Languages &
Literature
Human and
Community Dev.
Social Sciences
Graduate School
for Translators &
Interpreters
GAES
Faculty Total
3 Year average
% of University
total
2006
12
20
19
2007
11
32
17
2008
12
20
23
Totals 3 years
35
72
59
31
11
22
64
28
13
24
65
46
6
14
2
28
1
88
9
5
167
1
101
1
131
7
Masters by Dissertation Qualified students 2006-2008
2006
2007
2008
Art
5
5
7
Education
3
2
2
Graduate
1
1
2
School for
Humanities &
Social Sciences
Human and
36
25
24
Community
Dev
Literature &
4
6
5
Languages
Social Sciences 6
1
2
GAES
1
1
3
Faculty Total
56
41
45
3 Year average
% of
University total
133
Totals 3 years
17
7
4
85
15
9
5
47.3
Postgraduate matters are the responsibility of the Graduate Studies Committee in the
Faculty. During 2007, the GSC concentrated on improving Faculty systems to ensure
12
efficient completion rates. This appears to have had some effect if the 2008 figures
are anything to go by.
Supervisory capacity is a problem that some departments and some schools are
experiencing. Some departments, like International Relations, have been forced to
turn down students because of lack of supervisory capacity. Other schools like
Education have limited supervisory capacity because they took over the old JCE
which had very few members with advanced higher degrees. Both sorts of problems
are being addressed where possible.
With regard to postgraduate publication output, the Graduate School has offered a
number of short-term (three months) postdocs to new graduates to encourage
publication of their research findings.
TABLE 3: POSTGRADUATE GRADUATIONS 2002-2007
2002
2003
2004
2005
132
146
161
MA CW 122
26
29
42
MA Res 37
27
16
20
29
PhD
Total
186
174
195
232
2006
169
54
38
261
2007
73
41
19
133
6. NRF Rating
Despite some on-going skepticism in the Faculty with regard to the NRF rating
system, staff continue to apply for rating with good success.
Professor Isabel Hofmeyr received an A-rating (and so together with the other A-rated
researchers, Professors Jill Adler, Belinda Bozzoli, Claire Penn and Thaddeus Metz,
during 2008 the Faculty had the largest number of A-rated researchers).
Professors James Ogude and Bheki Peterson received B-ratings.
Professors Robert Thornton and Michael Titlestad and Dr Elsie Cloete received Cratings.
Dr Grant Olwage received a Y rating.
A major problem that the Faculty and the University now have to face is that having
identified our more productive researchers, other institutions are now trying to poach
them, unfortunately with some success already. In this area as in others, the university
needs to act more imaginatively and needs to reward those who contribute most to
meeting its goals.
7. NRF Chairs
Applications were made for 4 NRF chairs, two in Mathematics Education, one in
Citizenship and Social Cohesion and one in Work, Society and Development. Of
these, it has since been confirmed that one Chair has been granted in Mathematics
Education (to Professor Jill Adler). Together with Professor Bonner’s Research Chair
in “Local Histories, Present Realities” the Faculty now has two research Chairs.
13
8. Research entities:
The Faculty has four research entities:
WISER: Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research
SWOP: Society, Work and Development Institute
EPU: Education Policy Unit
HRG: History Research Group/NRF Chair in History
Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research:
At the end of 2008 Professor Deborah Posel completed her tenure as Director of
WISER. Professor Abebe Zegeye (previously of UNISA) was appointed to succeed
her. (He took up his position in July 2009.)
Society, Work and Development Institute:
Dr Karl von Holdt is the acting director of SWOP as the newly designated Institute
advertises for a permanent director.
Education Policy Unit:
Dr Shireen Motala was the director in 2008
History Research Group:
Professor Philip Bonner was the leader of the group in 2008.
The role of research entities in establishing a world-class university:
Earlier it was suggested that the research entities need to make a greater contribution
to the Faculty’s accredited DE units given the financial contribution of the FRC to
their salary budgets. However one also needs to recognise the contribution of the
research entities to the other strategic goals of the University, particularly its top 100
ambitions.
Apart from the research entities direct research contributions, they contribute in other
ways too. They provide a stable platform for research. Their critical mass and focus
enable them to forge collaborative and research networks, both with scholars within
the institution as well as with scholars nationally and internationally. The standing of
their researchers and their research focus enable them to attract good quality graduate
students and enable them to offer mentoring and support for the graduate students
(particularly, in the case of the entities in Humanities, promising black students). The
entities in the Humanities either because of their focus on policy work or because of
an overtly adopted strategy play a major role in terms of public engagement. This
includes engagement with particularly relevant interest groups, for example educators
or labour groups, as well as with the public at large as part of an entity’s intellectual
engagement. Entities are in position to use their support from the University to
leverage funds from elsewhere. The core funding made available by the University for
the research entities provides the basis for ‘crowding-in’ additional external funding.
14
Finally, to be spelled out in greater detail here, research entities are in an excellent
position to contribute to global knowledge production.
Research Entities are particularly well placed to help establish and maintain
international links and collaborations. SWOP, WISER and EPU in slightly different
ways emphasise the importance of establishing global research networks and
engaging the centres of global knowledge production.
For example, some of WISER's scholarly publications have provided seminal texts on
which there has been significant international debate, notably Mbembe’s book On
the Postcolony, Posel’s articles on the AIDS crisis, Nuttall’s work in cultural studies
and literary criticism, Mbembe and Nuttall’s edited volume, Johannesburg: The
Elusive Metropolis, Walker and Reid’s edited books on aspects of sexuality,
Muponde’s work on Zimbabwean literature, Gunner’s work on Zulu popular culture
and media, and Hyslop’s work on the history of white labour in South Africa. WISER
has hosted many visiting international scholars and research students who have
strengthened the academic culture at Wits through their participation in Wits
academic life.
SWOP's attempt to link the changing nature of employment globally with social
cohesion is reflected in the recent publication, Grounding Globalisation: Labour in
the Age of Insecurity. It has opened up a distinctive research agenda that connects to a
global network of scholars concerned with rethinking development in the era of
globalisation. SWOP's research in this field is recognized internationally for its
innovative approach, and SWOP has over the past few years increasingly being
involved in multicountry research projects in partnership with colleagues in RC 44 of
the International Sociological Association and in the ILO, as well as in Zimbabwe,
Namibia, Mozambique, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Korea, China, Canada, the UK,
Sweden, Australia and the US. SWOP is currently leading a nine country ILO study
of the ‘representation gap’ in the informal sector. Emeritus Professor Edward Webster
has just been appointed the first Ela Batt chair of Development and Decent Work at
Kassel University in Germany. It is a twelve month appointment and forms part of the
new International Centre of Development and Decent Work based in Kassel, which
includes the department of Sociology and SWOP at Wits, the Tata Institute of Social
Science in Mumbai and the CESIT in the University of Campinos in Brazil.
The EPU has been particularly productive in establishing multi-year research
consortia which brings together national, regional and international partners. The
more significant of these include, Education Quality Implementing Curriculum
Change, Research partners: University of Winneba (Ghana), University of Dar es
Salaam, Kigali Institute of Education, Aga Khan University (Pakistan), University of
Bath and University of Bristol, (funded by DfID); Consortium for Research on
Educational Access, Transitions and Equity, Research partners: University of Fort
Hare, CEPD, Sussex University, University of Cape Coast (Ghana), BRAC
(Bangladesh), National University of Education Policy and Administration (India) and
Institute of Education (England), (funded by DfID); Gender and Poverty Reduction,
Research partners: Universities of London, Cape Town and Kwa-Zulu-Natal, (funded
from a research grant awarded by ESRC); Literacy, Numeracy and Quality in South
African Schools, Research partners: HSRC, JET and PRAESA, (funded by RNE).
These research programmes provide a research model which allows for sustainability,
15
post-graduate studies and scholarly publications. The high regard for EPU work
internationally is demonstrated by the increasing number of invited contributions to
prestigious international journals such as Compare and Comparative Education
Review.
Since international links are critical to top 100 standing and since public engagement
is critical to the University’s strategy, contributions of these sorts should be
appropriately recognised by the University in allocating its fund. The former, at least,
could become a factor in the URC allocation.
9. Research Thrusts:
The Faculty participates in a number of research thrusts:
University Thrusts:
South Africa-India Research Thrust. The expanding activities of this thrust led to the
creation of the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) in 2007. The research
activities emanating from these two entities began to flourish in 2008. Together the
two entities have drawn together over 30 Wits academics, representing a diversity of
disciplines, and have overseen a high profile series of research projects, teaching
programmes, conferences, public lectures, literary festivals and publications. In May
2008, Professor Dilip Menon, a most distinguished academic from Delhi University,
was appointed as the Chair of Indian Studies. Prof Menon will help expand CISA’s
teaching and research activities even further.
CISA promotes teaching, research and public activities concerning the Indian subcontinent, its links to Africa and the Indian Ocean, and builds on the multi-faceted
networks developed with Indian universities, research institutions and public
agencies.
Some of the Centre’s achievements include:




Since 2006, Wits has organised six academic conferences on India and the
Indian Ocean (one in India), and produced three special issues of academic
journals with two additional volumes in press.
The Centre has held two literary festivals in the past two years, each with
panels combining leading Indian and South African authors, entitled ‘Words
on Water: India and South Africa in Conversation’. The literary festivals have
been part of a broader cultural exchange called ‘Shared Histories’ organised
by the Government of India’s diplomatic representation in South Africa and
the City of Johannesburg.
The Centre has established relations with a number of higher education and
research institutions in India, and also with relevant centres and institutions in
Africa, the United States and elsewhere
The Centre has been involved in public policy development in both India and
South Africa, via participation in several workshops on foreign policy during
2008: one in Pretoria hosted by the South African Department of Foreign
Affairs, and two in Delhi co-sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs.
16
The Faculty also participates in and contributes to the Cities thrust.
Faculty thrusts:
Transnational Legacies
SLLS Head Prof Leon de Kock led an initiative to launch a research focus in the
School under the rubric of Transnational Legacies, which has since acquired its own
cachet and is drawing broad interest, both national and international, through a series
of events, some of them run in cooperation with CISA. The aim is to create a strong
research focus within the School around transnational studies, leading to guided MA
and PhD research cohort groups. Funds are being sought to keep Transnational
Legacies well-resourced and in a position to deliver on its goal.
Education for a Changing Society
The School of Education has a research thrust Education for a Changing Society. The
thrust comprises ten core thematic areas. These are (together with their conveners)
Curriculum and Pedagogy (Devi Naidoo), Higher Education, Teaching and Learning
(Shirley Booth and Ruksana Osman, Human Rights and Democracy (Kai
Horsthemke), Diversity and Social Justice (Kai Horsthemke), Literacies (Yvonne
Reid), Mathematics and Science Education (Jill Adler), Education Policy and
Planning (Brahm Fleisch), Teachers and Teachers’ Work (Yael Shalem), Teacher
Education (Mary Metcalfe) and Post Secondary Education Alternatives (Peliwe
Lolwana).
10. Postdoctoral fellows:
The Faculty of Humanities has been host to a growing number of post-doctoral
fellows.
A. Mellon Post-docs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Dr Maria Frahm-Arp WISER.
Dr CO Joseph (SLLS)
Dr S Lotter (SOSS)
Dr E Margaretten (SOSS)
Dr I Marques (SLLS)
Dr S Polatinsky (SLLS)
B. URC post-docs
7. Dr B Bagnol (Anthropology)
8. Dr PP Frassinelli (SLLS)
9. Dr KL Geldenhuys (SLLS)
10. Dr AS Schumann (SOSS)
11. Dr I Shani (Philosophy)
12. Dr S Tereblanche (WISER)
13. Dr DV Vigneswaran (Forced Migration)
17
C. NRF/DST post-docs
14. Dr A Lissoni (History Research Chair)
D. US Social Science Research Council post-docs
15. Dr Samadia Sadouni (WISER)
16. Dr Caroline Jeannerat (WISER)
This is an area where there is clearly room for growth. Post-docs not only contribute
to the faculty’s research records, they also contribute to the overall intellectual climate
in the schools and help with postgraduate students. Given that there is a hiring freeze
at most North American universities, this is a good moment to try and recruit suitable
post-docs, good candidates who will need to improve their research records in order to
be employable when serious hiring begins again.
11. BUILDING A RESEARCH CULTURE
The Faculty is characterized by a vibrant culture of debate and scholarship. This is
achieved through seminars, conferences, public exhibitions and productions. The
Faculty plays a central role in establishing the reputation of Wits for critical,
innovative and engaged scholarship, and provides a significant conduit to wider
society. The Faculty is committed not only to the development of knowledge and the
rational appraisal of ideas, but members are ready to use their intellectual expertise
and skills to engage in debate in the public domain.
During 2008, as before the Faculty hosted a number of international scholars of note.
Amongst the international visitors host by the School of Social Sciences were
Professor Peter Evans (University of California, Berkeley), Professor Ching Kwan
Lee (University of California, Los Angeles), Dr Thomas Isaac (Minister of Finance,
Kerala India), and professor John Blevins (Emory University). Professor Thomas
Cushman of Wellesley College was hosted by WISER. He presented a series of public
lectures on ‘The Sentimental Bases of Human Rights’. Amongst the international
visitors hosted by the School of Human and Community Development were
Professors Ian Lubeck, Erica Burman, Jane Callahan and Brinton Lykes.
As normal the faculty also hosted a number of nationally renowned scholars and
important public and governmental figures.
One of the highlights of the year was a Public debate hosted by WISER between the
Minister of Housing and Professor Arjun Appadurai, of the New School for Social
Research, New York. Speaking to an audience of over 400 people (both academics
and members of the public), Appadurai engaged the Minister on housing and its
relationship to the possibility of hope, nationally and internationally.
A number of members of the Faculty contribute regularly to public debate through
appearances on television and radio, and contributions to newspapers (locally and
18
internationally). These include the Dean, Professor Tawana Kupe, Professors Daryl
Glaser, Eric Worby, Sheila Meintjies and Loren Landau.
Conferences and Symposia
The Faculty hosted numerous panel discussions, conferences and symposia, drawing
audiences beyond Wits staff and students, and including significant international
participation. These include:
CISA hosted a literary festival with panels combining leading Indian and South
African authors, entitled Words on Water: India and South Africa in Conversation.
WISER hosted conferences on South African Literary Studies: A Provocation on the
State of the Field and The Life of the Corpse’. This conference involved a mix of
international and national scholars who grappled with the symbolic centrality of death
in the production of ethical, political and cultural life, and the place of mortality more
generally as a horizon of meaning in this country and the wider world. A conference
on Responsibility was hosted by the Philosophy Department and was attended by
many prominent South African-based philosophers. A conference on the Democratic
Developmental State was co-hosted by Sociology, COPAC and RLF, and a
conference on Labour Crossings: World, Work and History was co-organised by the
History workshop, the Centre for Sociological Research (UJ), the International
Association for Labour History Institutions and the International Conference of
Labour and Social History. A conference organized by the International Relations
Department in conjunction with colleagues from the Department of Sociology and
African Languages was held on Conflict Resolution in Kenya. A number of events
were hosted by the Forced Migration Study Programme (FMSP) including a
conference on Migration in Southern Africa and a conference on Political Economies
of Zimbabwean Displacement.
The Faculty takes seriously its responsibility to the wider society. To stimulate
intellectual debate and public engagement, the Faculty initiated and in partnership
with The Weekender newspaper, hosted a series of public debates that were well
attended by the public in Gauteng as well as by staff and students at the University.
The panel debates which include audience participation were held on the following
topics:




The Zimbabwe Elections and Beyond
What Africa means to Obama: What Obama means to Africa
After Mbeki: Whither South Africa?
Is our democracy under threat?
The Faculty also considers local and international conference attendance by
researchers to be a central driver of research productivity. Conferences provide
avenues for the self-assessment of research quality, raise the profile of Wits, facilitate
the development of research networks and impose deadlines on research projects.
Participation in the annual conferences of professional associations enables Wits’
researchers to play leading roles in shaping research and teaching agendas, as well as
attracting postgraduate students and new staff to our university. They draw Wits into
the world of global collaborative research projects. Indeed, many of the conferences
19
and symposia mentioned above arise out of the vast scholarly networks built by Wits
staff as a result of their international travel.
In recognition of these exponential benefits, the Faculty therefore dedicates a
substantial portion of its budget to conference support. The FRC policy is to support
one local conference per staff member per year, and one international conference
every two years. Financial support is conditional on publications. Given the demand
for help for conference attendance and the limited budget available, the support is
capped at R15, 000 for an international conference (as from 2009).
In addition to support for conference attendance out of the Faculty budget, it bears
noting that, in any given year, several staff travel abroad by invitation from foreign
hosts. This is an often-hidden measure of the standing of Wits researchers.
Ongoing Seminar Series
There are a number of on-going seminar series in the Faculty. These include:
Digital Soiree (Wits School of Arts)
“In the Bag” (Film and Television, Wits School of Arts)
Wits Democracy Debate (Political Studies)
Hoernle Research Seminars in Philosophy
SWOP Breakfast Series (SWOP)
Wolpe Lecture Series (SWOP/ EDGE Institute)
Political Studies Forum (postgraduate students)
Platform for Public Deliberation (Constitution of Public Intellectual Life Project/
Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences)
All these events foreground the research culture at Wits and reflect the wide range of
international links, and the respect for Wits scholars in the global scholarly
community.
12. PhD’s in the Faculty:
PhDs employed by Schools 2005-2009
School/Entity
Graduate
Centre
SHCD
SLLS
SOSS
WSOA
WSOE
Faculty
WISER
Wits
Language
School
Sum
May-2005
3
May-2006
5
May-2007
4
May-2008
2
May-2009
2
30
27
48
10
35
1
5
28
27
43
11
36
1
5
27
28
48
11
40
1
3
1
26
28
48
10
36
1
6
1
27
29
49
10
33
1
6
1
159
156
163
158
158
20
The Faculty has been trying to increase the number of staff with PhD’s. The figures
above which were sourced from AISU suggest that there is more to be done to this
end, but unfortunately the figures are not altogether trustworthy. Nonetheless, it can
be pointed out that the two schools that need to do the most to increase the numbers of
staff with PhD’s, Education and the School of the Arts, have implemented plans to do
so. In the School of Education for example, 45 staff members (31% of the total) are
registered for PhD’s or are working towards registration and 13 (9%) are registered
for a Masters degree. In the School of Arts, the first candidates for the PhD in creative
fields are expected to register this year. With projects like this, time is required for
them to work.
Elsewhere in the Faculty, the PhD is increasingly becoming the norm for appointment
at the lecturer level.
13. DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCHOLARS
The Faculty has puts considerable effort and resources into interventions aimed at
building a solid core of able young researchers. In addition to programmes at the
discipline level, and structured doctoral seminars in WISER and SWOP the Faculty
has several cross-cutting programmes, co-ordinated by Prof Sue van Zyl in the
Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences. These initiatives include a
comprehensive series of training workshops for postgraduate students and writing
retreats aimed at improving the writing skills of researchers and increasing the
publication rate of young researchers. The Faculty envisages that these activities will
continue to grow in the coming years, and are in the process of devising a plan to this
end.
In 2008, seven writing retreats were held under the auspices of the Graduate School at
various venues including Otters Haunt in Parys, the Wits Rural Facility in Limpopo
and Mangwa Valley, just outside Johannesburg. 23 academic staff members and 20
postgraduate students participated on these writing retreats and represent various
Schools in the Faculty (History, Speech Pathology and Audiology, Anthropology,
African Literature, Media Studies, Targeting Talent Programme, French, Linguistics,
Social Anthropology, WISER, English, Political Science, AELS, Music, Education,
Social Work, Psychology, German Studies).
Although outcomes are difficult to assess, participants on the 2008 writing retreats
produced the following: 10 journal articles in print/in press; 5 journal articles were
accepted for publication while another 4 were under review; 3 book chapters appeared
in print and another 3 are in press; 9 participants worked on their PhD proposals and
another 2 on their PhD chapters.
One of most important aspects of the Graduate Centre’s activities, in support of
research in the Faculty, is its well established Research Methods Workshop Series
(which is run in conjunction with the Postgraduate Project Office). While this series is
directed primarily to postgraduate students in the Faculty of Humanities, (and more
recently to postgraduates in the University as a whole), it is also attended by a number
of academic staff members who wish to extend or update their knowledge of research
methods.
21

Year


2008

Number of
workshops
32


Number of
participants
596
The order of topics presented in the series relates to the likely unfolding of the
research process as each year’s cohort of students undertakes it. It has been designed
to cater for students of different levels. The programme begins with a series of
‘Starting to Think about Research’ workshops designed to introduce key terms and
concepts used in conjunction with the research process, and the research proposal in
particular. The second cluster of workshops concern proposal writing, with three
separate workshops each directed to Humanities, Social Science or Science students.
The series then introduces students to ways of doing qualitative and quantitative
research before moving on to the covering of research methods that act as umbrella
approaches such as Ethnography or Action Research, as well the research traditions
associated with particular fields such as research on the media. It ends with a series of
workshops concerned with different ways of analyzing qualitative data, including
Thematic Content Analysis, Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis.
The Faculty has also provided support for young researchers through the Research
Promotion Grant and the Ad-Hoc Research Grant, enabling researchers to take time
off from teaching and to conduct fieldwork.
For additional support for young researchers see the entry on Mellon Funds under the
new grants section.
14. Awards and major achievements:
A number of staff received local and international acclaim in 2008:





Professor Claire Penn won the 2008 Shoprite Checkers/SABC 2 Woman of
the Year Award in the category of Science and Technology
Dr Lucy Allais paper “Kant’s Idealism and the Secondary Quality Analogy”
was awarded the prize for best article published in 2007 in the prestigious
Journal of the History of Philosophy. The award was made in 2008.
Professor Thad Metz was the winner of the Vice-Chancellors Award for
Research
Professor Malcolm Nay and Carlo Mombelli had their CD recordings titled
Trio Hemanay and I Stared Into My Head nominated for South African Music
Awards
The book ‘Grounding Globalisation: Labour in an Age of Insecurity’ by
Professor Eddie Webster and Dr Andries Bezuidenhout together with
Professor Rob Lambert of the University of Western Australia, was awarded
the prize for the best book in labour studies for 2008 by the American
Sociological Association.
22

Professor Zaidel-Rudolph’s composition Partials and Pedals was
commissioned as the set work for the 11th UNISA international Piano
Competition.
Journal Editorships
Members of the Faculty edit a number of local and international journals including:
Politics and Society, African Studies, Journal of Contemporary African Studies,
Voluntas, English Studies in Africa, South African Journal of Psychology,
Ergonomics SA
In addition, members of the Faculty serve on an impressive number of editorial boards
of local and international journals including:
British Journal of Industrial Relations, Politics and Gender, International Journal of
Feminist Studies, Politikon, Democratization, Journal of Southern African Studies,
Labour Capital and Society, Labour History, LitNet Akademies, South African Review
of Sociology, Theoria, Work, Employment and Society, English Academy Review,
Acta Germanica, SAMUS: South African Music Studies, International Journal of
Bilingualism, Journal of Social Issues, Ergonomics, Open Ergonomics Journal,
Behaviour and Information Technology.
15. IMPROVING RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
The Faculty aims to improve the level of support to researchers, both in terms of
resources and in terms of administration. School-level research committees have been
much more active than in previous years. During 2008, several Schools developed
three-year research plans that define their priorities and identify areas for
development. These plans have already led to strategic use of sabbaticals and Faculty
research grants to assist staff in need of greater support. The three-year plans will also
help the Faculty Research Committee to refine the use of the Faculty budget. Some
Schools, notably the WSoE and SOSS, are already using external grants to support
their plans. Nevertheless, we are somewhat hamstrung by external conditions.
Some problems to note:

As mentioned earlier, too greater proportion of the FRC budget goes towards
salaries for members of the research entities. This is not sustainable if the FRC
budget is to be used effectively to increase research. At present the Director’s
salary of WISER is paid for out of a URC top-slice. Perhaps, at least one post
for all URC recognized institutes should be paid for out of the URC top-slice.
That would help loosen up the Faculty budget some more and would also be
less ad hoc. At present it is not clear why some entities are funded by the URC
while most are not. Again this appears neither sustainable nor fair.

In 2008 The Faculty awarded R4500 to an individual for publication in
subsidy-earning journals and books (of which 20%) went to the author’s
School or Department. This miniscule amount generates strong feelings,
especially given the needs of individual researchers and the increase in
research incentives at other universities. (This year the total amount has been
23
increased to R6000, but of course this is not much more than a nominal
movement. To make a real difference a much greater shaking up of the FRC
budget is required.)

As this report exhibits, one of the key problems the FRC has is its very limited
budget. But that in turn signals that the University is not making sufficient
provision for research expenditure in its allocation of the Council Budget. At
the very least, it should be giving the URC the 6% earlier identified as the first
target. Anything less than this makes little sense given the importance of
research in attaining the institutions strategic goals.

Another key area of difficulty is the 12-month budget system. It is an
inflexible system that does not allow the Faculty to roll over automatically
unspent money into the following year. Given the relative unpredictability of
demand for conference money, especially, the system makes it difficult for us
to react innovatively with regard to the use of funds. We would request that
the URC advocate for a three-year budget cycle.
16. The Annual review process
The annual review of faculties could play an important role in providing a record of a
faculty’s research performance and achievements, monitoring developments and the
implementation of planned strategies, identifying areas of concern and areas of
success (perhaps for modeling elsewhere) and so on. But if these purposes are to fully
realized there needs to be some modification to the process. On the side of the
research office, the relevant data should be provided with the call for the research
report not afterwards. Furthermore - though this might not be a problem within the
Research Office - the data provided needs to be more reliable. Too often we make
decisions on the basis of unreliable data. On the side of the Faculty, the process needs
to become more systematic and complete. To this end, the Faculty has agreed that in
future each school will do a research report on the previous year’s activities for
review by the FRC at its second meeting. These reports which will follow the format,
as appropriate, of the report for the URC, will be used as a basis for compiling the
Faculty’s report. The objective is not to have an intensive review every year but to
provide appropriate information, and to monitor activities and trends to allow for
early intervention if required. An additional virtue is that these reports will be able to
form the basis for a school’s quinquennial review.
24