Unam Vice Chancellor guns for a stronger, more cohesive University that is ready to tackle complex 21st century challenges
Linda Machinga
The University of Namibia (UNAM)’s new Vice Chancellor Prof. Kenneth Matengu this week addressed the university staff and students at his inauguration event in Windhoek.
At the event Matengu, said his ultimate objective is to create a stronger, more cohesive University that is ready to tackle complex 21st century challenges and maximise on the benefits of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“That’s why our new mission is to contribute to the achievement of national and international development goals through the pursuit of translational research, quality training & service,” added Matengu
“My vision is for UNAM to be a sustainable international hub of higher education training, research and innovation by 2030. We have less than 12years to achieve this vision. This great vision shared, by many becomes effective today. From today on-wards everything we do must be aligned to this vision. I invite you to contribute to its achievement. It is my commitment to draw on our collective strength, intellect and courage to make this vision and its ensuing plans a reality,” said Matengu
Matengu assured his audience that he will continue to create an enabling environment for everyone to realize and maximise their potential and turn every potential into opportunities.
“Together with my colleagues in management, I am committing myself to work very hard with all stakeholders; students, staff, trade unions, other HEIs, our government, the private sector and NGOs, UN agencies as well as our international strategic partners, to ensure we achieve our new vision and implement our strategic plan in order to deliver on the objectives we have set to achieve,” he added.
Meanwhile, Matengu acknowledged that current challenges are many and complex. “Graduate employability for example remains a challenge in some disciplines. For this reason, it is now time that we re-examine the relevance, quality, standards and cost-effectiveness of the academic programmes and administrative structures we have,” he said.
Matengu said that as of August, he will take the approach of Management by Objectives.
“It is a performance management system that seeks to align employee objectives to the institution’s goals. In other words, we will enter into a process of defining objectives within UNAM so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what you need to do in the organization in order to achieve our objectives,” he explained.
According to him every month, each individual manager will be expected to report on how they are doing on the targets that they will set.
“If you don’t achieve your objectives we will provide remedies through train or facility provision, but if you still don’t achieve you know you are not best-fit,” he said.
