4.3 North West University a) Overview of the North West University Dr T Ellof: Vice-Chancellor led the presentation which highlighted the following key issues: . Management system: The university adopted a decentralised system of management whereby all the three campuses were headed by different campus managers who reported to the Vice-Chancellor. Each campus had its own targets and the campus manager was responsible for achieving those targets sets. . Campuses: The university had three campuses namely; Potchefstroom, Mafikeng and Vaal Triangle. The merger would be 10 years this year and it had been successful thus far. . Staff Profile: The university had a total of 5158 staff with 63.8% being white, 31.1% Africans, 4.2% Coloured and 0.9% Indians. Female employees were majority in the university making 56.8% while males were 43.2%. . Budget: The university managed a budget of R2.3 billion in 2011 and that had increased to R3 billion in 2013. Majority of the income was from government about 44% of the total budget and 25% from tuition fees. Staff cost were kept at 55% of the total budget of the university. The Department informed the university that its multi- campus subsidy is going to be cut. . Student Enrolment: The total number of students as of 2011 was 56 641, with 85% of them being undergraduates. The first year drop out rate was 12% (among the lowest in the country) in 2011 and graduation rate was 26% (third highest in the country) above the national average of 22%. The university could not admit 2000 prospective students owing to limited space. . Performance: The university was rated second in the country in terms of graduates produced, fifth in number of PhDs produced and sixth in Masters produced. . Infrastructure: The enrolment growth of the university had been 5.4% from 2009 to 2013 owing to the available infrastructure. The university had a 5 year infrastructure plan and majority of its building were designed by internal architects. . Transformation: The university had a Transformation Oversight Committee that had been in existence for the past five years. Ten transformation indicator goals had been developed namely; access, alignment, diversity, equity, increased unity, quality, redress, resource allocation, student experience and success. . Campus niches: The Mafikeng Campus would become a balanced teaching- learning and research campus, Potchefstroom Campus was in the process to become a research-directed campus and Vaal Triangle Campus would be a reputable regional campus with relevant and expanded academic offerings to address local and national needs.