Sol Plaatje University (SPU) is delighted to introduce and celebrate the appointment of Prof Debra Meyer, our new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): Teaching & Learning.
Prof Meyer, holder of a PhD from the University of California Davis and an MSc from the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), is no stranger to academic excellence and strategic leadership. In her role as DVC, she is tasked with steering the teaching and learning ethos at SPU, while also overseeing research and postgraduate studies.
Her journey to this esteemed position is one of determination and strategy. Prof Meyer had a clear vision to join the management of a tertiary institution, but not before establishing a solid grounding as a scientist. Upon completion of her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, she commenced her academic career as a lecturer at RAU, later transitioning to the University of Pretoria as a full professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry. Her substantial contribution to science, leadership and community engagement led to her recruitment as the Executive Dean of Science at the University of Johannesburg. This role, in addition to executive management training and service on several boards, equipped her with the skills and experience necessary for her current role at SPU.
As the DVC: Teaching & Learning, Prof Meyer is at the helm of the academic and intellectual projects of the university. She is tasked with ensuring an integrated student support system and promoting career development opportunities for academic staff. Her office also focuses on monitoring the quality and expansion of SPU’s programme qualifications mix (PQM). In addition, her role extends to enhancing the research profile of the university, a task well-aligned with her role as active researcher.
For the upcoming academic year, Prof Meyer has clear goals to foster an environment where academics and students can rediscover the joy of teaching and learning. She also aspires to spark an interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) among academics and to create opportunities that will encourage the expansion of their track records, subsequently increasing the seniority of the academic cohort and enlarging SPU’s research footprint.
Prof Meyer also recognizes the importance of innovation in a rapidly changing world. Leveraging SPU’s strategic goal of becoming a digitally empowered institution, she aims to fully embrace new technology that will benefit students and facilitate a more engaging and convenient academic life. This includes expanding existing initiatives, such as the use of chatbots in student support and the ethically sound incorporation of generative AI in postgraduate proposal writing.
Despite the excitement of starting this new role, Prof Meyer is keenly aware of the challenges facing higher education today. She is committed to addressing issues such as budget cuts, increasing competition for online education offerings from large corporations leveraging technology, student retention, and the need for diversity and inclusivity in the student body and the staff cohort. She also acknowledges the need to adapt curricula quickly enough to meet employers’ demands and to encourage and support entrepreneurship among the youth.
“I am impressed by the fact that SPU embraces social justice in its vision, mission and values because it demonstrates the university’s commitment to opening the doors of access and opportunity to all who selects us to facilitate their preparation for a just future. I also appreciate the locally relevant programmes that are already part of the PQM and the plans to expand on these in the research arena. The university acknowledges the KhoiSan history of the area where it is located and will highlight the contributions to society of the first people of southern Africa for recognition countrywide,” said Prof Meyer.
In welcoming Prof Meyer to the SPU community, we look forward to the passion, experience and leadership she brings to her new role as DVC: Teaching & Learning.
