[Editor's Letter]: Welcome to the seventeenth Study SA, compiled as IEASA celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Study SA is the South African publication that provides an overview of South African Higher Education issues and developments. This edition has a special Commemorative section, celebrating 20 years of IEASA, as well as the standard sections found in every issue of Study SA, consisting of Higher Education in Context, Features and Medical Aid and the updated profiles of the 26 public Higher Education Institutions. Universities South Africa, USAF, kindly provided partial funding for this edition of Study SA and we are delighted to include a message from the current CEO Dr Ahmed Bawa, a consistent supporter of internationalisation in Higher Education. We also have a message from the former Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande (2009-2017). A voluntary organisation supported by a small secretariat, IEASA is testament to a group of people who saw the need for an organisation to support the South African Higher Education’s re-entry and engagement with the rest of the world, once it became a democracy in 1994. This edition includes articles by two of the founding members: lEASA’s first President, Dr Roshun Kishun and its first Treasurer, Dr Derek Swemmer. Our sincere thanks to all the committed individuals in South African Higher education, who have kept IEASA going from strength to strength. Thilor Manikam, lEASA’s longest serving staffing member and the Office Manager has provided continuity and institutional memory over the best part of the twenty years. Guided by lEASA’s Constitution, Thilor has ensured that regardless of the change in the Management Council over the years, IEASA operations are impeccably managed and that IEASA has received an unqualified audit every year since its inception. In its history, IEASA has had seven Presidents: Dr Roshun Kishan, Ms Fazela Hanif, Mr David Ferrai, Ms Merle Hodges, Mr Lavern Samuels, Dr Nico Jooste and the current President Leolyn Jackson, whose term will run until the end of 2018, when the current President Elect, Ms Orla Quinlan will serve a two-year term from 2019-2020. IEASA has facilitated the development of a close knit community of practice in South Africa with members drawing on each other’s strengths and skills; inviting each other to our respective institutions to share knowledge, skills and ideas on appropriate internationalisation, within the South African context. More than that, we have become friends and have developed a collective responsibility to present and represent South African Higher Education to the rest of the world. Sadly, we lost three of our very dear colleagues and friends in recent years: Mr Len Mkhize, Mr Jimmy Ellis and Professor Stan Ridge. We pay tribute to the energy and joy they brought to IEASA in all their endeavours. They are missed. Others who have supported IEASA over the years include PWC, who have provided free audit services up to 2017, as a contribution to South Africa’s Higher Education; ABSA and the Medical Aid companies, who have provided sponsorship to IEASA. Finally, its volunteer Management Council, members of which serve two-year terms, with the possibility of being re-elected, and each one of our members who participate in and support IEASA activities and events. IEASA continued its work with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to clarify the visa application procedures, communicate the processes and to request interventions when visa processing is unduly delayed or if there are extenuating circumstances, which require intervention. IEASA and DHA have held one joint workshop with universities in 2016; a second was held following the IEASA 20th conference in August 2017 and an initial meeting called by USAF was held with DHA, HR Directors from universities and IEASA in late 2017. Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) have introduced a new mobile biometric service for campuses who do not have a VFS office in their locality. IEASA will continue to work on behalf of the international students and the rest of the international Higher Education community to improve the clarity of immigration requirements and to help overcome any difficulties faced. An article providing an update on progress is included in this edition. The international landscape has shifted enormously in recent years, where previously unquestioned democratic principles are being contested in some of the world’s most established democracies. lEASA’s 20th Anniversary Conference theme was “Advancing internationalisation: overcoming hostilities and building communities”. While in reflective and celebratory mode about the achievements of the last twenty years during the the Colloquium, the conference attendees switched mode and engaged in robust debates, about the current challenges in Higher Education including economic and financial challenges, xenophobia, the lack of equity in existing partnerships, institutional strategies, opportunities for engaging with partners interested in South African Higher Education. IEASA is cognisant of its responsibility to build capacity for the upcoming professionals in the sector and workshops on themes pertinent to the professionals in International Offices included immigration, partnerships and developing internationalisation strategy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:28620 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA), Quinlan, Orla |
| Publisher | International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, book |
| Format | 112 pages, electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from IEASA. Permission to use material contained in the university profiles must be obtained directly from the institutions concerned. The information in this publication was compiled from a variety of sources, and opinions expressed should not necessarily be taken to represent those of IEASA or HESA., International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) |
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