New leader for varsity

ANDREW CROUCH: AIMS TO DRAW RURAL AREA’S BRIGHTEST TO STUDY

The goal for Sol Plaatje University is to ultimately become research-intensive institution.

Reaching out to rural communities is high on the list of priorities of the newly announced Sol Plaatje University vice-chancellor. Speaking more than three months before he takes up the position at the Northern Cape tertiary institution, professor Andrew Crouch revealed that engaging with rural communities forms part of his strategy to ensure student success, which is among five of the goals he has set himself for the next five years.

Crouch – a Kimberley native – is the current vice-principal and deputy vice-chancellor responsible for academics at Wits University in Johannesburg. He was named as the new vice-chancellor of the six-year old Northern Cape University in mid-December.

In addition to plans set in motion by his predecessor, professor Yunus Ballim, to establish a Sol Plaatje University campus in the Carnarvon area, he planned to visit as many schools as he could in the rural Northern Cape to spread knowledge of the institution and attract the youngest and brightest minds in the province.

Asked on the inspiration behind the jump from an institution nearly 100 years old, like Wits, to one that is still developing, albeit at a rapid pace, Crouch said pragmatically the two institutions could not be compared.

“Wits is a research-intensive university while at Sol Plaatje, programmes are being established.

The university is growing rapidly and a big infrastructure programme is being developed to keep up with this growth.”

He said the Northern Capebased institution needed to focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning, in part by establishing niche-based programmes and building the reputation of these programmes.

Having been dean of the science faculty and vice-chancellor responsible for academics at Wits, Crouch is well acquainted with “establishing teaching and learning and entrenching it”.

Ultimately, the aim is for Sol Plaatje to become a research-intensive institution and, because of this, one of his five goals was establishing structures for research, in particular, desert studies.

“Kimberley is in a semi-desert area, a water-stressed environment, a very arid environment.

I think desert studies is a niche area for this country.

“We know so little about our deserts, but half the country is in a semi-desert area,” said Crouch.

In 2014, Sol Plaatje University registered 124 students. This year, almost 2 000 students, will be registered, including 72 postgraduates, an indicator the institution was growing rapidly and must be steered with expansion in mind.

Crouch takes over from Ballim in April. –