Professor Wim de Villiers has been reappointed as Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Rector and Vice-Chancellor (VC) for a second term of 5 years after being unanimously voted in by the SU Council on 25 September 2019. His second term will start on 1 April 2020.
The last 5 years have seen South African universities go through many circumstances of protest, change, and challenges, which SU was not immune to.
MatieMedia journalist Mike Wright sat down with Prof De Villiers to speak about the challenges, both positive and negative, that come with being a Rector and Vice-Chancellor at an academic institution, especially in South Africa, how he arrived in his role, and what he expects the next 5 years to bring.
Professor Wim de Villiers, recently re-elected Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Supplied
In a complex environment due to a number of tensions; from financial tensions, a changing world, technological change, and different generational expectations, De Villiers says that he is most happy that the University is thriving and is on the right track.
De Villiers is from Stellenbosch, having grown up, gone to school, studied medicine, and specialised here; however, his journey back to Stellenbosch as VC and Rector was unplanned.
“At first, I was a physician, then a specialist physician, then a physician-scientist, and then I became a subspecialist in gastroenterology, and then I became more of a medical administrator, and then an academic administrator as the Dean of Health Sciences at UCT, and now I am a university administrator,” says De Villiers, explaining how a practising physician became a VC.
“Coming back to Stellenbosch was not part of my playbook, it just happened,” he continued, before quoting John Lennon’s words, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
One of the student protests that initiated change in the University early in De Villiers’ first tenure (2015) was that of Open Stellenbosch, resulting in SU’s language policy changing due to it being seen as exclusionary.
When touching on student activism, De Villiers says that he is very encouraging of critical thinking and student involvement, just as long as it doesn’t infringe upon the rights of others if they should want to continue with their classes and studies.
“I would like to think that we are a value-driven university. Whenever we deal with student protests we think of what our values are; excellence, compassion, accountability, respect, and equity,” De Villiers says.
“So, the important words there are accountability and respect. We are a university of 32 000 students on 5 campuses, so you have to be careful with how you deal with [protests].”
Recently, amongst the anti-GBV protests that were held on campus, De Villiers’ presence on campus was questioned, with #WhereIsWim becoming a local trending hashtag. De Villiers was overseas at the time, which prohibited his voice from being heard on campus.
“There is always an expectation that the VC should be available at the drop of a hat, and I understand that; however, the VC is the “CEO” of a university, and SU has a very competent leadership team that can deal with [various issues].”
“So, where was Wim? Well, Wim was representing the university overseas,” he says, confirming that he was on university business creating funding and other opportunities for students.
“As for the cycling,” he says while chuckling, speaking about his cycle from London to Brighton, “it was fundraising where we raised money to fully fund 2 students through Stellenbosch University, so it was a success.”
Prof Wim de Villiers pictured after completing this year’s Cape Town Cycle Tour, where he cycled in aid of #Move4Food. He highlights the importance of being philanthropic in his leadership role at Stellenosch University. PHOTO: Henk Oets.
The common thread that continues throughout all that De Villiers says reinforces the need to be locally relevant, regionally impactful, globally competitive.
“If you look at all the top universities worldwide, location matters. We have a wonderful location. It is beautiful, it is fairly prosperous, but it also has some interesting societal challenges. We are a South African microcosm.”
Stellenbosch students live in this microcosm that De Villiers speaks about, and have the ability to be hands-on in creating societal change in the area.
“Students who currently receive National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding are actually required to do 80 hours of community service annually; that’s a requirement,” says De Villiers, “We are in the process of formalising that and institutionalising it. But I don’t want only those students to do it, I want every student to do it,” he says.
When touching on how to remain relevant amidst rapid change, De Villiers prioritises looking critically at what SU offers in terms of curriculum renewal and current topics such as decolonisation.
“We also look at a multidiscipline interfaculty approach, not just in a siloed fashion,” says de Villiers.
“The other point is we can’t accommodate more than we currently have, we have reached the limit as to the number of students that we can have at SU; so how are we going to increase our offerings? We will do that through hybrid learning (online distance learning) but which, very importantly, includes contact time. Online learning alone is not sufficient, it has to include some contact time,” he continues.
De Villiers concluded by encouraging students to contact him at any time and make use of his open-door policy.
“I would like to think that I am approachable,” he says with a smile (before throwing the interviewer out of the room – joking).