About us

Vision

Enhancing institutional effectiveness through evidence.

Mandate

The mandate of the department includes:

• Formulate clear strategic plans and annual plans through a participatory strategic planning approach;
• Assessment and identification of critical strategic initiatives that are innovative, entrepreneurial and viable contributing to the sustainability of UP;
• Promotion and translation of the plans / strategic initiatives at all levels of the institution;
• Rapid decision making and agility during the execution of the plans/ strategic initiatives to adapt to changes in the environment;
• Provide recommendations to Executive with regards to strategic initiatives that no longer support the university’s strategy;
• Influence staff across the institution as well as external stakeholders to achieve the strategic initiatives’ desired objectives;
• Drive the required change throughout the institution by creating shared meaning;
• Ensure performance management outcomes and metrics are met and addressed timeously in consultation with relevant stakeholders; 
• Provision of accurate and timely institutional management information to support Executive decision making;
• Identify, engage and employ staff within the department, with the necessary skill set as and when required

Goals

The key goals of the department include:

• To assess and analyse the internal and external environment in order to formulate strategic direction, intent and clear strategies, goals and objectives in consultation with UP’s management team;
• To undertake targeted institutional and market research to enhance our understanding of the environment and provide business intelligence for evidence based decision making;
• To generate understandable and concise strategic plans and annual plans with clear targets and KPIs in collaboration with key stakeholders;
• To translate strategic information into readily available reports for engagement and scrutiny by the executive and faculty management;
• To fulfil the University's statutory obligations in terms of the provision of HEMIS and subsidy-related information through accurate and timeous reporting;
• To identify and assess critical strategic initiatives, at all levels of the institution that are aligned with the UP Strategy with the aim to enhance sustainability and the competitive positioning of the university both locally and internationally;
• To foster new relationships, networks and synergies across the institution as well as with key external collaborators; 
• To support the successful formulation and execution of strategy processes through proactive championing, providing oversight, resource allocation, driving change and monitoring and tracking progress;
• To establish greater accountability and transparency across the institution to those tasked with carrying out the strategy;
• To provide accurate and timely management information to inform strategic decision making;
• To develop performance measures that will steer UP towards attaining its strategic goals and the assessment of the extent to which the University achieves its strategic goals;
• To coordinate the quality reviews and evaluation of programmes, units and departments as well as accreditations tin order to promote continual improvements;
• To facilitate and co-ordinate UP’s risk register through risk management processes;
• To build world-class strategy development and implementation talent and capabilities within the university;
• To maintain credible and positive relationships with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Council on Higher Education (CHE), South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Universities South Africa (USAf) and other important agencies.