There is rebellion afoot, and revelry: the nascent reformation of intellectual integrity within south african universities

Abstract

Across the world, the “university is infested by the managerialist cultures of strategic planning, staff appraisal and quality control” (Waters, 2000:xiii). The way in which the role of the Vice- Chancellor has in practice come to be defined, namely as a medium term managing director, is perhaps a prime example of this trend. This is the case too with many South African universities. Particularly at the bilingual universities (that is, the former Afrikaans language universities), academics have been managed into carrying an unduly large administrative and lecturing load, and as such are unhealthy for the academic integrity of the university. In this paper, this state of affairs is briefly described, and some signs are indicated which show a growing sense of resistance against these developments. The classic role of the academic remains the most valuable to the university and to society.