An information piece by Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategy and Internationalisation Prof Hester Klopper, 26 May 2021:
Stellenbosch University's stance on current affairs, such as gender-based violence, higher education funding, transformation and language, regularly receives wide coverage in the traditional and social media.
These issues require timeous and well-conceptualised responses. Often, different discussions run concurrently in both traditional and social media, which requires focused and clear messaging. Stellenbosch University (SU) must be able to make its voice heard in order to state the facts and correct inaccuracies and misperceptions about the University. That is part of good governance, and one of the ways to engage with a variety of audiences and communities of interest.
To this end, the responsibility centre (RC) for Strategy and Internationalisation at SU, which also oversees corporate communication, has set up a structure to coordinate issue-based communication. This is nothing out of the ordinary for large organisations such as universities. The goal is to ensure consistency in our key messages, effective responses to media enquiries, and meaningful contributions to public debates.
The new structure involves SU's Corporate Communication and Marketing Division (CCMD) as a key role-player, along with the SU divisions and specialists directly involved in the particular issue at hand. Different issue-based communication committees will also be embedded in this coordinating structure.
Language at SU
Since March this year, when the public engagement phase of the SU Language Policy revision started (click here to read more), issues of language at the University have been making headlines. While we had been communicating with both internal and external audiences, Council – at its meeting of 13 April 2021 – requested that the University expand its communication in this regard with all communities of interest. It was clear that additional, proactive communication and further engagement would be needed.
Language Communication Committee
A Language Communication Committee (LCC) was established to provide input and strategic direction to our messaging relating to the implementation and revision of our Language Policy. The LCC observes how the public debate unfolds, and also considers the perspectives of different role-players and communities of interest, internally and externally. Core themes are then identified, based on which SU can communicate the facts and present its views to enhance the discussion.
It is unfortunate, therefore, that the LCC has been framed in the media as a “secret propaganda committee" of some sort. Evidently, this is not the case. The University has a responsibility to communicate clearly, deepen the discussion and engage constructively about language, which is an important issue, and the LCC is a consultative structure to achieve this end.
LCC members
The LCC consists of staff members from relevant environments at the University, which is a vast and complex institution that must engage with various partners and stakeholders.
At Rectorate level, I serve on the committee (as LCC convenor in my capacity as the executive management member responsible for corporate communication), along with Prof Deresh Ramjugernath, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching (who is responsible for the Language Policy).
Other members include Dr Antoinette van der Merwe, Senior Director: Learning and Teaching Enhancement (responsible for the implementation of the Language Policy and chair of the Language Policy Revision Task Team), and colleagues from divisions such as Student Affairs (Dr Choice Makhetha), Legal Services (Mr Gerhard Lipp), Development and Alumni Relations (Ms Karen Bruns), and CCMD (Ms Christelle Feyt and Messrs Desmond Thompson and Martin Viljoen). Dr Wayne Muller, manager of the RC, serves as coordinator.
Dr Leslie van Rooi, Senior Director: Social Impact and Transformation, is also a member and has been designated SU's spokesperson on language due to his institutional role in engaging with various communities of interest and stakeholders.
Committed to multilingualism and engagement
Our Language Policy advances multilingualism, taking into account “the diversity of our society and the intellectual wealth inherent in that diversity". SU embarked on this route in order to increase equitable access, foster an inclusive campus culture and support student success, and remains committed to stay the course. We are confident that our students have more choices, broader access and a better future as a result of our approach to language.
We welcome a diversity of opinions and viewpoints. As required by the Constitution as well as our institutional values, civility should always be maintained in public debate, with due regard to the freedom, equality and dignity of all.
Conclusion
As a leading South African higher education institution, SU is a national asset. As such, we should continue to ensure that we are transparent in our processes, and that we communicate effectively with our partners, stakeholders and communities of interest.
We must be part of the conversation about public issues at our institution because, as the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie put it: “The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story."
We look forward to inputs from the Language Communication Committee on how we can better share a variety of viewpoints and enrich the discussion. Ultimately, this will enhance further engagement and allow us to go forward together, saam vorentoe, sonke siya phambile.
Prof Hester Klopper
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategy and Internationalisation
