Annual Research Report 2020

30 Academic Capacity Development Sol Plaatje University (SPU) has conceptualised academic capacity development in a programmatic approach, the interventions and initiatives of which are based on the objectives of the programme. This has meant that academic staff are categorised into groups or communities of practice based on where they are in their career path. In approaching capacity development in this way, SPU is able to target its development interventions. The approach has also allowed for the holistic development of the academic, with the nexus between the core activities of research and teaching being embraced and highlighted. Additionally, the approach has allowed for better resource distribution, support and tracking. The research and teaching capacity development of academic staff is brought together under the Career Path Development Portfolio which straddles both the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Programme Development (CTLPD) and the Research Office. The two departments jointly ensure effective implementation of capacity development, which in 2020 was mainly funded through the University Capacity Development Plan (UCDP). In order to have a targeted approach to capacity development, it is important to have an understanding of who the staff to be developed are and what their specific needs are as researchers. A baseline profiling survey of the academic staff of SPU was carried out in the early part of 2020 where all academic staff were invited to respond to a 50-question online survey. The survey was suffi- ciently comprehensive to give a holistic picture of the academic profile and not just the research profile of the staff members. By working together with the Career Path Development Manager and with the help of the Heads of Schools and School research committees, a response rate of 89% was achieved. The most important use of the survey results was to put together a training schedule based on the categorisation of staff members according to the following generally used groupings: i. Emerging academics ii. Early career academics iii. Senior academics Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and the various national lock- downs, most training, workshops and seminars were conducted online via the Microsoft Teams platform. The pandemic also has- tened the need for training on some aspects of teaching capacity, with training on online teaching and online assessments being delivered speedily, allowing SPU to be one of the few universities which managed to complete the academic programme in 2020. The research-related workshops and courses are highlighted in the table below. Other types of support include: 1 Higher degree qualification improvement support – seven academics graduated in 2020 2 Lecturer replacement support 3 Journal publication support 4 Thesis/article editing support 5 Conference attendance support Figure 6. 2020 Academic staff profile by rank and gender 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Junior Lecturer Lecturer Senior Lecturer Associate Professor Full Professor Male Female 5 7 41 40 27 5 2 1 1 0 41% 59% Staff Complement: