An evaluation of a developmental programme for young academics at the University of South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to evaluate and report on a developmental programme for young academics at the University of South Africa (Unisa). Unisa, one of the world’s mega universities, is a comprehensive, open-and-distance-learning higher education institution in South Africa, which provides a combination of technikon- and university-type programmes. The university employs some 1 200 academics. An important challenge for the university has been its large cohort of ageing academics who have provided the institution not only with its academic memory, but also a substantial portion of its research output. Because of this challenge and the need for succession planning, the university decided to launch a Young Academic Programme to develop and build the capacity for young academics at Unisa.