​Within the context of a global knowledge economy, universities' reputations are indeed important. But the criteria and indicators by which that reputation is measured extend widely - from rankings to funding - writes PROF HESTER Klopper in Die Burger of 31 July 2021.

• Read a translated version of the article, that appeared under the heading  “Measure SU against this as well"

The importance of the reputation of universities as a strategically intangible asset has risen sharply over the last two decades in particular. The increasing number and variety of rankings seems to be an academic gold standard of this. Critics say it is merely marketing, but universities that do well often sing their praises, because they point out that this is an indication of the prestige that the institution enjoys; on top of that in an international arena.

Rankings list universities according to their performance, outputs and reputation, and measure aspects such as research outputs, student-lecturer ratios, funding and even website marketing. The aspects carry different weights to eventually reach a ranking of sometimes more than a 1 000 universities.

But a higher education institution's reputation extends far beyond just ranking positioning and can be quantified in different ways. In his article in Die Burger of 24 July 2021, Jannie van der Westhuizen refers to integrity in decision-making as a perspective from which reputation is measured, and then evaluates Stellenbosch University's (SU) reputation according to the handling of a number of issues.

Statements about how issues are handled are mostly based on perception. However, Van der Westhuizen fails to point out the outcome of those issues, each of which has been investigated by independent entities and SU has been relieved of all blame. Equally important is that these independent investigations did not cast doubt on SU's handling of them.

It seems that Van der Westhuizen measures reputation in a single way, therefore it compels one to set a wider context, also on the basis of examples.

Reputation is a perceptual phenomenon, built on observers' collective judgment of a particular institution. Within the context of a global knowledge economy and from the perspective of internationalisation - and today universities have to pursue their reputation beyond their national borders – aspects such as international partnerships, the involvement of alumni from around the world, and the investment of international funders, contribute to building reputation capital.

International partnerships

Universities worldwide build partnerships with other institutions, join forces in international networks or consortia, and enable student exchanges and joint qualifications between institutions.

How you choose partners and who approaches you, is based on reputation. It is also your reputation that engages international networks and consortia in their activities, why overseas (and of course local) students choose to study with you, why renowned and world-renowned researchers want to work with you on projects, and why funding through research agencies and foundations continue to support quality academic work.

These aspects are part of SU's internationalisation strategy, and they are bearing fruit. Since 2018, there has been an increase in meaningful partnerships at institutional, faculty and departmental levels with partners in Europe, Asia, the Americas and especially in the rest of Africa.

Where SU had a total of 250 different types of partnerships in 2018, it has grown to 298 in 2021. Building such relationships often takes years, but in the past three years, SU has added 48 partners, mostly at their request, building on SU's positive international reputation. For several of our leading university partners, SU is a preferred partner.

SU is also part of a variety of international networks, such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU), the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) and the consortium of the Venice International University (VIU). The involvement in networks such as GAUC and VIU is by invitation – and SU is the only partner from Africa.

At present, SU has about 4 000 international students. Research shows that international students choose universities based on reputation. In terms of joint degrees (degrees awarded jointly by SU and a partner), SU is currently the forerunner in South Africa, with 41 PhDs and 63 master's degrees awarded since 2016. Some of our partners here are the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, KU Leuven in Belgium, Leiden University in the Netherlands and Macquarie University in Australia.

Alumni involvement

Alumni's contribution to society is an excellent indicator of reputation, as it shows you are delivering top students who are making an impact on society. Likewise, alumni carry the image of a university to the world – a relationship that benefits both parties.

Contrary to the norm, SU alumni's involvement (measured by donations of time, money and talents) is high. What is also a great indicator of his reputation for SU, is the involvement of its alumni abroad. Since 2015, the number of alumni nodes abroad has doubled – from 12 in 2015 to 24 this year. This shows that alumni still value their alma mater highly and want to be involved.

In 2015, 883 alumni attended SU events abroad and in 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic made such events impossible) it increased to 3 518 alumni. This is a clear indication of alumni who keep their association with SU internationally based on its reputation.

Funding

Universities' financial sustainability mostly depends on three revenue streams: a government subsidy, student fees and research funding. But these days, philanthropic and corporate social responsibility donations are equally important. This is the role of the Vice-Chancellor (or Rector) to drive such funding locally and internationally, whether from alumni, companies or foundations.

The competition for such funding is great, and a university's reputation often prevails, although economic factors also play a major role, especially in the midst of the pandemic where companies and foundations channel funding to COVID-19 projects.

Between 2015 and 2021, SU raised R1,7 billion in philanthropic funding, of which three-quarters come from trusts and foundations, individuals and companies. Since 2015, SU's international donors have grown significantly from 13% of all donors to 19% at present.

More than a third of the R1,7 billion goes to bursaries and the rest to education, infrastructure, research and social impact projects.

But raising money also costs money – including international travel (before the pandemic) to build personal relationships and making presentations to major donors. This obviously results in costs such as flights and accommodation. Over the past six years, SU has invested R6,17 million to make it possible for SU's main fundraiser – the Rector – to be able to achieve the reach he has. The advantage is that a comprehensive approach is followed for this expenditure and these visits include fundraising among alumni, representation of SU at international network meetings and visits to international universities – all activities that build SU's reputation and contribute to making a qualification obtained from SU sought-after worldwide.

The return on this investment makes the expenses worthwhile over and over and a university's expenditure on fundraising is a fraction of the total raised. In fact, the Bureau for Economic Research in Stellenbosch calculates that the funds raised by SU between 2015 and 2020 are 50 times more than the expenditure to raise that funding.

In addition, the Inyathelo study on fundraising shows that SU's team fundraisers spend only 11 cents for every rand raised.

Universities regard their reputation as precious, and over the past decade, the way it is measured has improved significantly so that it can be quantified. That there are many perspectives on and indicators of reputation is certain. Yet one gets a good indication of your reputation when you look through the glasses of internationalisation and take into account the involvement of partner universities, networks, alumni and donors. SU's reputation is healthy and will only be strengthened by the current vision and strategy over the next few years.

• Prof Hester Klopper is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategy and Internationalisation at Stellenbosch University.