Engaging alumni in institutional advancement at African universities

¶ … Alumni in Institutional Advancement

At African Universities

The work of Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja (2006) entitled: 'Within the Realm of Possibility": From Disadvantage to Development at the University of Fort Hare and the University of the North" states that African universities are facing "strategic dilemmas...in their quest for institutional sustainability against the backdrop of major transformations in the global economy and structures of knowledge production at the beginning of the twenty-first century." In fact the African university traces the interplay of two contradictory but intersecting pressures - globalization and democratization - in reshaping the terrain upon which universities today are struggling to redefine their mission and role in wider society." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006) This work states that "the capacity for long-term sustainability of African universities...depends crucially on the reciprocal character of their external linkages." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

PURPOSE of STUDY

The purpose of this study is to explore academic engagement of alumni at African universities in terms of the importance of this engagement and its affect upon the university and the community.

SIGNIFICANCE of STUDY

This study is significant in terms of the additional knowledge that will be added to the already existing base of knowledge and the current review that will be conducted of recent literature in this area of study.

RESEARCH QUESTION

What is the importance of academic engagement at the African universities?

LITEATURE REVIEW

If the African universities are to survive they must view these relationships "as opportunities for extracting new revenue to supplement their income; but African universities, more than their counterparts in North America and Europe, also find themselves having directly and actively to support strategies aimed at stimulating growth of that wider environment. In other words, sustainability in this context implied relationships that are mutually rewarding." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006) the African universities are stated to "...support more complex multidirectional linkages -within which universities directly help to create and transmit new (economic, cultural and social) value in communities." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

In 1989, the apartheid system in Africa fell and resulting was the "emergence of a democratic social and political order" which is stated to have "coincided in contradictory terms with the emergence of a new global economic and social order forged under the forces of globalization and the end of Cold War rivalries." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006) Democracy in South Africa is stated to have arisen in the context of "the emergence of a new globalizing world order; and these two intersecting processes - democracy and globalization - in complex and contradictory ways were to shape the ground of political and social transition, and with this, the South African higher educational system." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

The result was a completely different "set of social realities" for new rulers of South American than that which had "confronted Africa's first generation of post-colonial leaders at the height of the independence struggles of the 1950s and 1960s." In 2002 and 2003 it is related that there was a focus on "restructuring the institutional landscape of higher education" in a call by the government for universities to "play a much more direct and comprehensive role in supporting the 'national development agenda' its efforts to stimulate economic growth through job creation and poverty reduction, social development, institutional development at local, provincial and national government levels, and South Africa's integration into the African continent." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

There has been a failure however to actually implement this policy concept. While there have been attempts by organizations, universities and others and yet no such consensus in terms of a partnership has been formulated as of yet.

It is noted by Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja (2006) that the University of the North (UNIN) and the University of Fort Hare (UFH) "are today faced with different sets of challenges from those they encountered before the advent of democracy in 1994. " (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006) Stated to be at the core of those challenges is "the National Plan for Higher Education (NPHE) and the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS). NPHE objects are inclusive of:

1) increased participation rates and graduate output;

2) expansion of the social base;

3) recruitment from southern African Development Community (SADC) countries;

4) focusing on priority fields of study;

5) increasing cognitive skills;

6) equity in access and success;

7) staff equity;

8) mission and programme alignment;

9) research concentration and funding;

10) outputs at masters and doctoral levels;

11) programme and infrastructural collaboration; and 10) encouraging new institutional and organizational forms." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

It is noted in the work of Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja (2006) that student participation rates fell at these two universities as well as did study of research output during the period between 1984 to 1991. Student participation also became a problem most dramatically during the period between 1996 and 2002. However, it is related that UNIN has experienced success in "increasing its student participation rate and meeting NPHE requirements." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006) However, underlying factors are "poor schooling background, medium of instruction barriers, perceived lack of commitment by students and difficulties many poor students have in sustaining themselves through their courses of study." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

Stated as the focus of UNIN is the production of "...graduates in the fields of Management, Information Technology, and Natural and Health Sciences." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006) UNIN states its vision and mission as striving to "be a quality institution of higher learning and critical reflection, which is innovative [and] responsive to change, is rooted in the issues of the society it serves, and is recognized world-wide as the centre for relevant theory and practice of people-centered development and to achieve distinction in scholarship, professionalism and community renewal amongst staff and students in order to improve the quality of the life of the community it serves through: appropriate focus areas of specialization; appropriate educational policies, infrastructural and physical development; creation of a culture of work, teaching, research, learning and...a development orientation that is rooted in the community in which we operate." (Nkomo, Swartz, and Maja, 2006)

The work of Tettey (2006) entitled: "Staff Retention in African Universities: Elements of a Sustainable Strategy states: Governments should increase financial support to universities; International and private sector efforts at strengthening the research infrastructure in African countries should be mobilized; African universities should continue to cooperate among themselves in ways which give them the ability to share resources and draw from the synergies that collaboration among scholars brings; the large number of graduates, from African universities, living abroad should be mobilized, through alumni and other networks, to support library acquisitions for their home institutions."

Tettey (2006) additionally notes: "The African Diaspora has a vital role in this respect as well. A large number of Africans living abroad are products of their countries' institutions of higher education, and can be mobilized, though alumni and other networks, to support library acquisitions for their alma mater. The support of the countries' missions abroad is necessary to facilitate some of these initiatives. In the past, some groups of Africans have managed to coordinate the collection of books and journals, but have been unable to send them home because of funding problems. Appeals to their embassies and high commissions to facilitate the transport of the material have not yielded the needed support, because the missions claim that they have no funding for such purposes. Governments should allocate some funding to these missions to enable them provide such support. Universities in the industrialized world should also give their alumni, working in African tertiary institutions and research facilities, access to their library systems. This will help these graduates to keep abreast with knowledge production in their various fields."

Tettey states that the cost to mobilize alumni and other networks will vary "across countries and Diaspora networks, but email can be used." (2006) Stated as responsible in this initiative are "Africans in the Diaspora; Networks of Scholars and professionals abroad as well as country associations abroad." (Tettey, 2006) Tettey (2006) additionally states that universities "... In the industrialized world should also give their alumni, working in African tertiary institutions and research facilities, access to their library systems." The cost is stated by Tettey to be minimal for universities in the industrialized world and actual cost is associated with meeting time to work out the details and for information technology assistance, if needed, in configuring the university computer system to allow such access." (2006) Stated as responsible in this matter are "African alumni" who should "raise the matter with university management through their respective university alumni associations." (2006)

The work of Francis R. Bartels (2003) entitled: "The African University at the Threshold of the New Millennium: Potential, Process, Performance and Prospects" states that the African Universities should give consideration to "maximizing, within a specified time-frame, a measurable flow of managerial effectiveness and efficiency into the public and private sectors through university alumni." Bartels additionally states that there are two impressions which "...stand out in the material consulted regarding the critical closing years of the twentieth century. First, the external audiences of African universities, including UNESCO, had a sympathetic understanding of the problems that assailed them, a number of which could be said to be world-wide. One could look forward to a future that produced concrete propositions for recovering from the crisis that was being experienced. Secondly, a pattern of three generations of scholars was emerging. It comprised:

1) postgraduate students of outstanding caliber and suitable for training as future university teachers;

2) their incumbent professors, and 3) an older generation of alumni and scholars - emeritus professors and seasoned retired university teachers and writers like JF Ade Ajayi, Lamech KH Goma and G. Ampah Johnson, whose wealth of experience gave us, three years after Alexandria 1993, an unrivalled summary of the fortunes of the African University in their book, the African Experience with Higher Education. (Bartels, 2004)

Bartels states that this "...remained for the three generations of scholars to exploit their separate potentials and to turn them into mutually reinforcing capabilities for promoting a creative engagement between the life of learning and the life of humans - within and outside the African University." (Bartels, 2003)

The work of Daweti (2006) entitled: "Society and the Multiple Communities of Higher Education" relates that long established within the traditions of universities are "...professional interests, affiliations, roles, and conditions of service that identify and separate groups have long been established within university traditions. As new social and institutional imperatives emerge, however, professional comfort zones are disturbed. Traditional communities of practice are gradually becoming more open and more participatory." According to Daweti (2006) the university is presently under an obligation to "...reposition itself to support efforts to meet essential human needs, build a post-colonial and post-apartheid society, and engender a vibrant intellectual culture is, nevertheless, critical of the transformation discourses that define the social role of a university primarily in terms of national needs: These calls for the transformation of higher education in the name of national development, however, also represent statements of political intent whose utilitarian notions of a university's function have given rise to the movement away from elitist to mass and universal higher education. Such utilitarian perceptions of a university's role in society need, however, to be treated with some reservation because there is an explicit narrowness in these goals which ignores the inherent value of democracy in education." (Daweti, 2006)

Daweti (2006) additionally relates that there has long been established "within the university tradition...the identities, affiliations, roles and conditions of service of separate groups." The Vygotskian perspective, according to Daweti (2006) is one in which "learning is a social process in which people learn from one another through participation in the construction of knowledge."

Daweti defines a community of practice as one consisting of "...a set of interactions and specialized activities performed by a group of people who share a common sense of identity, purpose and roles. Individuals belong to more than one community of practice, and perform multiple roles that are guided by the norms and discourse of each community. The community-maintaining function of discourse is intertwined with meaning-making, identity, and control over ways of interacting with people and objects. Discourse signifies the social practices that members of a community account meaningful, worthy and acceptable. Therefore, acquiring a discourse means developing the ability to represent knowledge appropriately in a specific domain and at a particular historical moment." (Daweti, 2006)

Daweti notes that there are various other "cliques, specialization areas, points of convergence and tensions...within and across such communities of practice." (2006) the work of Daweti speaks of "Academic Tribes" and states specifically that this is defined as the "institutions, disciplines, and the people who make them" and their eagerness to "preserve their distinct cultures and identities." (2006) Daweti (2006) states that institutions and organizations "...are more than just the sum of the people in them. There are social elements that shape individuals' interactions at work and their perceptions of self in relation to the job and the organization. Since many people spend most of their lifetime in the workplace, it is clear that they need to participate in the creation of the discourses which regulate and represent their selfhood." Daweti relates that engagement of alumni includes promotion of the diversification of staffing of universities which is viewed as the "response to the social, political, economic and cultural needs and demographics of our country." (2006)

Daweti states that for the largest part "...black, female and disabled persons continue to be the targets of employment equity policies. However, once appointed, the recruits are expected to adapt automatically to existing cultures and structures. Once-off orientation sessions and cultural awareness courses are expected to produce cohesion and collegiality. Creating the circumstances for broader cultural awareness and greater professional satisfaction is important, but more is needed. Rather than seek to empower people by "giving" them power or "allowing" them the freedom to act within clearly defined parameters, those parameters or traditions must be opened up and shaped anew. The challenge is to transform educational institutions from monolithic centers of power to democratic constellations in which organizational structures reflect diverse cultures and perspectives." (2006)

The work of Catherine Burnheim (2007) entitled: "External Engagement and Institutional Autonomy in Higher Education" states: "Universities have become more interested in their alumni over the past five years. This interest has been primarily driven by the rising potential for repeat business in the form of postgraduate enrolments and donations or sponsorship. International alumni relationships are particularly important to student recruitment. Alumni relationships strengthen the 'brand' of the university, as individuals associate themselves with the cultural capital of their institution, and the social capital of their peer group. Universities hope that in turn they can draw on the social and economic capital of their alumni. Each case study university had or was in the process of establishing, a substantial alumni office as well as faculty based and offshore alumni groups. In several cases, staff or consultants from North America were used to try to replicate the success of U.S. And Canadian universities in 'leveraging' their alumni relationships." (Burnheim, 2007)

The work entitled: "Report by the Committee on Service Learning and Engaged Scholarship" published by Rutgers University (2007) states in relation to service learning at universities that service learning can be reinforced "in specific disciplines...if former students (alumni of the program) return to provide insights and personal reflections to help the current students. This provides supplemental learning from former students with first hand experience. The former students can also relate how the program helped them advance their own careers. It will be important to maintain relationship with such alumni to help grow the program and keep it viable."

The work of Jonathan Marks (2004) entitled: "Expatriate Professionals as an Entry Point Into Global Knowledge-Intensive Value Chains: South Africa" notes the importance of university alumni and reports a study in which "...surveys were mailed to U.S.-based expatriate alumni of the University of Natal." Marks reports that the goal of SANSA is connecting "highly skilled expatriates in the field of science and technology with their counterparts in South Africa to create an environment for collaboration and skills transfer. This provides the means for expatriates to play a role in the development of South Africa without having to uproot and return home. The network was formed through accessing the alumni networks of all major South African universities and Technikons. The aim of SANSA was to provide the opportunity for local academics, researchers and scientists to form connections with their counterparts in the Diaspora. No charge was levied for listing on and/or accessing the SANSA database." (2006)