1. Academic excellence, quality, and impact
We will strengthen our reputation among our peers and in society as a University of excellence. We will do this through the excellence of our scholarship, by enhancing our knowledge networks, and by highlighting the University’s academic achievements and research impact. For this reason:
• We will make bold choices to develop and invest in academic programme offerings of the highest quality that are sustainable and that provide 21st century graduates with meaningful pathways to personal and regional development.
• We will recruit and retain internationally recognised academics in fields relevant to the UFS’ local, national, and international context. Promising young postdoctoral scholars with established academic records will be appointed to ensure that all academic staff are research active. We will equally increase the proportion of academic staff with PhDs who are research active, as well as increase the citation impact of their research. Our aim is that 75% of academic staff will have doctoral degrees by 2034. We are committed to significantly increasing the number of research chairs and establishing a few internationally benchmarked centres of research excellence.
• We will recruit internationally, nationally from the pool of top matriculants, and locally from the top performing Free State students, with a view to creating a platform for a strong cohort of graduate and postgraduate students.
• We will use knowledge impact as an important barometer of excellence, referring to advances in understanding, interpretation, methods, theory, application, and related advances that bring about positive change within and/or across disciplines and fields. We acknowledge that knowledge impact cannot simply be a quantitative measure, as it varies by discipline; however, it remains important for the University.
• We will participate in global ranking systems that measure the academic standing of the University, including the employability of our graduates, for benchmarking and visibility as well as to reflect on progress over time.