REPORT ON HERS-SA ACADEMY 2008
“It was a life-changing week for me. A sincere thank you to (university name) for giving me this opportunity to develop myself and to HERS-SA for putting together a programme that no one of us will be able to walk away from without being a better, more inspired and motivated academic, manager and leader”.
“HERS SA gave me a new perspective on the scope of possibilities in higher education as I come back with refreshed thinking on carving my destiny! I was inspired to see women making it to the very top in HE against all odds”.
“Thanks to HERS-SA team for putting together such a wonderful professional development academy; this has contributed tremendously to my personal growth and professional development.”
“The lesson that I brought home from HERS-SA is that we should invest more time and energy in developing and nurturing ourselves and other women within the higher education sector.”
“The conference has been an inspirational, educational and motivating event. I enjoyed the warm and welcoming environment this special event brought to women. It's a wonderful opportunity to network with many diversified, successful women, and it's awesome to see them recognized.”
Quotes from participants (HERS-SA ACADEMY 2008).
For the sixth consecutive year the HERS-SA ACADEMY met and exceeded the expectations of women employed in academia. The annual HERS-SA ACADEMY took place from 21-27 September 2008 at the UCT Graduate School of Business in Cape Town, South Africa. Once again this unique opportunity focusing on the development of women leaders employed in Higher Education Institutions in Africa was a great success. This year, in addition to African delegates, the ACADEMY was enhanced by the active participation of delegates from HERS USA who came to South Africa to share and learn about common and diverse experiences.
This year (2008), a total of 56 delegates from all over South Africa plus ten from Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and Malawi and nine from the USA gathered together to share experiences, hear from experts in the field and learn from each other. A total of 37 speakers and facilitators generously shared their time and experience in a variety of forums thus providing not only information, but mentoring and exposure to role models which are critical elements of the ACADEMY experience. Four of the international speakers, Dr. Judith White and Makeba Clay from the USA; Professor Akosua Ampofo from Ghana and Professor Funmi Bickersteth from Nigeria participated for the whole week which further enhanced access to senior women in the sector for other delegates.
In March of every year HERS-SA invites the Vice-Chancellors and Development professionals from all 23 publicly funded South African university to nominate and sponsor senior women or those possessing the potential to hold senior positions in future to attend the ACADEMY. This year 18 universities sent representatives to the HERS-SA ACADEMY. This report offers a summary of the events that took place during the week, together with descriptive feedback as received from the delegates’ anonymous evaluations about each set of activities.
Objectives. As stated in the principles that underpin all interventions, HERS-SA has a particular philosophy towards development interventions that does not evolve from a “deficit model” (i.e. that the women present lack something which will be provided to them). Rather, we try to provide a stimulating environment in which women can learn from inputs provided by experts in the sector and from interaction with each other.
The objectives of the ACADEMY 2008 remained, as in previous years:
Programme. The format of the HERS-SA ACADEMY 2008 programme was similar to that used successfully in previous years. Three plenary sessions were held in the mornings, parallel, personalised career development interventions were offered in the afternoons, and dinner guest speakers, who are regarded as role models in the sector, were invited to address delegates in the evenings. Some speakers who were available and who received very favourable ratings from delegates in 2007 were invited to participate again in 2008. However the programme also offered fresh insights on certain topics and a number of new or revised workshops were included.
The demographic profile of speakers and facilitators for the ACADEMY 2008 was as follows:
Participant Feedback
Once again the feedback from delegates was overwhelmingly positive. In addition to the official anonymous evaluation form a number of delegates have since emailed the organisers to thank them and highlight elements that they found personally enriching.
This report is structured according to the feedback received around each of the four objectives mentioned above followed by feedback about the facilities, logistics and future plans. Areas for improvement have also been identified and special highlights are recorded. Specifically, delegates are asked to rate all aspects of the ACADEMY according to the following scale:
4 - Excellent, very valuable, repeat in 2009
3 - Good, useful, repeat in 2009
2 - Fair, not particularly useful, only repeat in 2009 with modifications
1 - Of little value / no value, definitely not worth including in 2009.
Opening evening. As in previous years the ACADEMY was opened informally on Sunday afternoon by the Chair of the HERS-SA Management Board, Dr. Lesley Shackleton, who shared a short history of HERS-SA and encouraged delegates to participate fully and derive maximum benefit from ACADEMY week. However, unlike previous years where this introduction was followed by a formal dinner, in 2008 it was decided to rather use the opportunity to increase delegate networking and engage delegates in active discussion about advancing gender equity within Higher Education. Following on from the highly successful joint conference entitled “Institutional cultures and higher education leadership: Where are the women?” (co-organised by HERS-SA in March 2008) delegates were invited to network in small groups and offer concrete action programmes to respond to the challenge posed by the official conference declaration. These actions were later presented at the opening dinner creating instant connections and setting the tone for serious issues debated with enjoyment. Of the 68 delegates who rated this exercise only 3 did not find it worthwhile while most described it as an “excellent ice breaker, enjoyable fun” and “a good networking opportunity”.“Ideas on implementing the declaration on women in higher education leadership emanating from the ice-breaker exercise have subsequently been forwarded to Higher Education South Africa (HESA), the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the Department of Education (DoE).
Formal presentations. From the Monday through to the Friday morning, 15 speakers were invited to present papers on a range of topics from the external, academic and institutional environments. Each speaker is an active leader in their field. All speakers were requested to provide the organisers with copies of their presentations prior to the commencement of the ACADEMY for inclusion into the ACADEMY documentation which was given to the delegates.
As was the case in previous years, the presentations that were perceived to offer the most value were those that detailed practical as well as conceptual areas, those that allowed sufficient time for questions, those that offered specific suggestions for implementation, those that were respectful of others working in the sector, those that revealed signs of good leadership within the area and those that appeared to relate to more than one institution. Delegates particularly like to hear from women leaders who integrate a little of their own success story into their topic.
As always, certain speakers appealed more to some delegates than others. Most speakers were consistently rated 3 or 4. Regular favourite speakers who support the ACADEMY nearly every year included Dr Ingrid Miller (University of the Western Cape); Prof Adele Thomas (University of Johannesburg), Prof Jan Botha (University of Stellenbosch), Naziema Jappie (Durban University of Technology) and Shelagh Gastrow (Inyathelo – South African Institute for Advancement).
On Saturday morning Dr. Judith White, President and Executive Director of HERS USA spoke to delegates about the founding organisation and their activities and invited women from Africa to attend their annual Summer Institute at Bryn Mawr College. The ACADEMY concluded on the Saturday morning with a panel of two women Deputy Vice Chancellors from South Africa, Prof. Mariette Lowes from North West University and Prof. Nqabomzi Gawe from the Durban University of Technology; one Deputy Vice Chancellor from Nigeria, Prof. Funmi Togonu-Bickersteth from Obafemi Awolowo University; and one Vice Chancellor from South Africa, Prof. Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The panel addressed the topic of “Top Jobs” and were invited to share their personal experiences in these demanding roles. This session was very highly rated by the delegates who described the speakers as “great, the best inspirational story I have ever heard”, “lovely motivating, exceptional” and “a true role model, delightful, real, determined”.
Although the format was successful, a critical look at feedback from some delegates suggests that the themes for each day could benefit from some revision in 2009.
Afternoon Workshops. On each of four afternoons during the ACADEMY, delegates were able to attend a career development intervention perceived to be personally valuable. In total this included a choice of 16 interactive workshops for up to 25 women or 7 Career Café mentoring discussions for up to five women each with a dedicated mentor. All delegates are asked to make their selections prior to the start of the ACADEMY based on their personal development needs (they are provided with workshop summaries and biographical sketches of every facilitator). Almost all the workshop recommendations from 2007 were included in 2008. Based on the popularity of the IT workshop in 2007, it was offered twice in 2008, Career Management was offered earlier in the week and a workshop on Conflict Management was added. The Career Cafés were also included in response to recommendations from 2007.
Workshops were well-attended and each workshop enabled delegates to engage with a range of challenging issues in Higher Education. The most highly rated workshops in 2008 were: “IT for busy women”, “The Dean as Academic Leader”, “Career Management”, “Presentation skills”, “From the margins to the centre: the development of strategies to support women in their publishing endeavours”, the “Selection Experience” and “Strategies for Advancement: Women in Higher Education in the U.S. and Africa”. As with the morning presentation, the workshop offerings will be revised for 2009. One specific suggestion is the inclusion of a workshop on Professional Practice.
Evening Speakers. On the Monday evening Makeba Clay, President of the Association of Black Women in HE (ABWHE) in the United States shared some of her own career journey which was enjoyed by many delegates. The Friday dinner speaker, Prof. Anusuya Chinsamy –Turan, an internationally acclaimed, NRF rated scientist and long-time supporter of HERS-SA, shared her career story which delegates described as “inspiring, now I feel I can do anything I set my mind to” and “great example, awesome”.
On the Tuesday evening the ever popular cultural evening had delegates sharing little of their history, culture, traditional dress, music, dancing and in the case of the US delegation, gifts for all delegates.
On the Thursday evening a number of delegates enjoyed the screening of the award-winning film “Iron Ladies of Liberia”.
Networking. Once again networking commenced as soon as delegates arrived on the Sunday afternoon. The Sunday exercise expedited the establishment of connections and list serves have already been established between Africa and the USA. As always all delegates received a contact list of all other women attending the ACADEMY in their files and as in previous years, a significant degree of networking took place amongst the delegates both formally during workshops and informally during breaks and mealtimes. The Eastern Cape chapter of HERS-SA appears significantly strengthened as a result of the 2008 ACADEMY with firm commitments from the women from the region to continue working together.
Once again, feedback received from the delegates indicates that networking was a very valuable aspect of the ACADEMY for all the women.
Facilities, Logistics and Materials. Most of the delegates were satisfied with the food, location and venues of the ACADEMY. In particular HERS-SA was commended for “efficient, prompt responses” and “professional excellent service” pre-ACADEMY communication. This was due to the usual efforts of the original Board of four members but their task was considerable lightened in 2008 with the very welcome addition of Ingrid Fourie who joined the Board in May and Phyllis Webb who joined HERS-SA as Administrator in February 2008. Overall the organisation of the event was highly praised and a number of delegates noted with approval that everything ran on time and all starting times were adhered to strictly. Two speakers who were unable to attend at the last minute were replaced with substitute activities. HERS-SA was delighted to have the assistance of HERS-SA Members, Charmaine Klein and Prof Denise Zinn, who each willingly chaired a morning session. Denise also facilitated the popular ‘Selection’ workshop.
The venues were criticised by some as being difficult to find although others were pleased that accommodation was located at the ACADEMY venue. A specific offer was received by UNISA delegates to host the ACADEMY in 2010 which will be fully explored. Most delegates were happy with the structure of the programme and the free Wednesday afternoon was welcomed by all.
As in previous years all delegates were given a HERS-SA ACADEMY 2008 file. This contained general programme information, a biographical sketch of each presenter and when received, copies of all the formal presentations. Further copies of presentations were made available during the ACADEMY. The file also contained references to and copies of, relevant articles (copyright permission received). It was intended that the file would become a useful resource instrument for the delegates on their return home. All delegates were given a comprehensive Evaluation Form and requested to complete it for each session as the ACADEMY progressed. All delegates received a carry bag for their files. Once again this was very popular and the bags were sourced from a Street Children empowerment project. A second empowerment project was supported again by the ACADEMY this year in that very attractive, beaded, name tag holders were sourced and purchased for all delegates.
Funding. HERS-SA remains very grateful to the Carnegie Corporation of New York for its generous sponsorship of nine women from Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana. HERS-SA through the generosity of previous delegates was able to offer a sponsored place at the ACADEMY 2008 to a delegate from Malawi. All South African and USA delegates were funded by their respective universities or personally.
International delegates. Feedback from the anonymous Evaluation Forms indicates that the delegates from outside South Africa felt that their participation in the HERS-SA ACADEMY had been valuable. A special meeting was held with the international delegates to explore further links between HERS-SA and Carnegie sponsored ACADEMY alumnae. It is hoped that HERS-SA will be able to make a presentation to the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa’s University Leadership Forum which will take place in Ghana in November 2008. . It is hoped that this may lead to the organisation of an ACADEMY in West Africa by ACADEMY alumnae.
Once again, the international delegates were ably assisted by Carnegie sponsored liaison officer, Patience Mungwari, who helped the organisers during the week and facilitated extra–ACADEMY activities for the delegates.
Conclusion. The HERS-SA ACADEMY 2008 was a great success and met its objectives. Once again the comprehensive feedback is welcomed and will inform the content and structure of the 2009 ACADEMY including the generous offers by some delegates to facilitate workshops next year.
The 2009 ACADEMY will take place from 13-19 September 2009 at the same venue.
Report compiled by Dr. Sarah Riordan
For HERS-SA
03 October 2008.