A staff development programme for merged and incorporated South African higher education institutions

[摘要] English: Mergers and incorporations in higher education institutions are a world-wide phenomenon. The reasons why higher education institutions merge are not different from those of companies in the corporate sector, however, the initiators of the mergers/incorporations differs in the case of higher education institutions, because it is usually the government. When higher education institutions merge/incorporate, these institutions undergo major transformation. This transformation may include changes in the physical environment and resources, the location of the higher education institution, the administrative system of the higher education institution, its support structure, student and staff composition and as well as academic programmes.The South African higher education sector had to transform because it was characterised by fragmentation as a result of the previous political dispensation. The result was that the South African higher education sector consisted of 21 universities, 15 technikons and 96 colleges of education and was characterised by racial and gender inequalities. After the first democratic election of 1994, South African government departments became more integrated and started to function as a coordinated system. The South African higher education system started its transformation process with the establishment of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) by presidential proclamation. The central proposal of the NCHE is that higher education in South Africa must be conceptualised, planned, governed and funded as a single, coordinated system.The change proposed by the NCHE is disruptive and traumatic, especially for people involved in the changing process. When mergers/incorporations occur, the corporations or identified higher education institutions are unaware of the impact of the merger/incorporation on staff. Staff may experience feelings of shock, denial, fear, anger, sadness and blame during the initial phases of the merger/incorporation. Staff may also lose a sense of loyalty towards the institution.This study addresses the problems staff experiences during a merger/incorporation process with a literature review on the history and transformation of South African higher education sector, international experiences of mergers and theoretical perspectives on mergers. It continues by describing how staff perceives a merger. The second stage of the study provides an empirical investigation on how staff perceives mergers/incorporations. The investigation focuses on staff and management, especially the interaction and communication between staff and management regarding the merger/incorporation. It concludes with the development of a staff developmental programme for merged and incorporated South African higher education institutions.One of the main proposals of the programme is the appointment of an independent merger/incorporation facilitator, who would be without bias towards any of the higher education institutions. This programme is also characterised by identifying staff and management needs during a merger/incorporation, for example:�?the identification of management and staff needs;�?training for management and staff;�?psychological services for management and staff to assist with the merger/incorporation; and�?addressing cultural diversity from an institutional and staff perspective.The merger/incorporation process is a changing process. In order for the changes to be as painless as possible, the programme proposes that continuous assessment should be built in throughout all the time-frames to ascertain if the merger/incorporation process, especially how the staff component is integrated, is going according to plan.The study concludes with recommendations on how staff should be accommodated through the different stages of the merger/incorporation process. It reiterates the fact that staff is one of, if not the most important, resource of any institution and should be given the attention it deserves.

[发布机构] University of the Free State