University of South Africa

"Unisa" redirects here. Unisa may also refer to University of South Australia.

University of South Africa
Established	1873
Type	Public open distance learning university
Vice-Chancellor & Principal	Prof MS Makhanya
Admin. staff	4 000
Students	+/- 300 000
Location	Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Website	http://www.unisa.ac.za/

The University of South Africa (Unisa) is the largest university on the continent and attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. The university has a student headcount of over 300 000 students, including African and international students in 130 countries worldwide, making it one of the world's mega universities.

Unisa is a dedicated open distance education institution. Open distance learning (ODL) entails a student-centred approach that gives students flexibility and choice over what, when, where and how they learn, and provides them with extensive student support.

As a comprehensive university Unisa offers both vocational and academic programmes, many of which have received international accreditation. The University of South Africa is an internationally recognized university with an extensive geographical footprint, giving our students recognition and employability in many countries the world over.

History

Founded in 1873 as the University of the Cape of Good Hope, the University of South Africa (or Unisa as it is commonly known, spoken as you-nee-suh) spent most of its early history as an examining agency for Oxford and Cambridge universities and as an incubator from which most other universities in South Africa are descended. In 1946 it was given a new role as a distance education university and today it offers certificate, diploma and degree courses up to doctoral level.

Largely because it was a distance education university, it remained interracial during the years of apartheid in South Africa. In January 2004 Unisa merged with Tshwane University of Technology (formerly known as Technikon SA) and incorporated the distance education component of Vista University (VUDEC). The combined institution retained the name University of South Africa (Unisa), unlike other merged institutions, which underwent name changes. It is now organised by college and by school; see below.

The University

File:Unisa-main-campus.jpg

Unisa Muckleneuk campus

Unisa Muckleneuk campus at night

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Unisa Registration Building - Sunnyside campus

Location

Unisa's Muckleneuk Campus is located in Pretoria and is a major landmark of the capital city. It was in 1972 that the University of South Africa moved into its new home on Muckleneuk Ridge having vacated the old quarters in central Pretoria. The complex of buildings was designed by Bryan Sandrock Architects in the 1960s and expresses an international style characterised by monumental proportions and engineering feats like the cantilevered structures. The most striking feature is the long projection from the brow of the hill, supported by a giant steel girder resting on a massive column. Also in Pretoria is the Sunnyside campus, the main area of student activity. The Florida campus in Johannesburg is set to become Unisa’s science hub. The College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and some departments of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology are already situated there. The university has seven regional centres servicing our students in all nine provinces. The regions are demarcated as follows:

• Gauteng
• Western Cape
• Eastern Cape
• Kwazulu-Natal
• Midlands (serving the Northern Cape, Free State and North West provinces)
• Limpopo
• Mpumalanga

Students and staff

The University currently has approximately 300 000 students in Southern Africa, other African countries and abroad. Unisa now has a staff component of just over 4 000 people who provide tuition and administrative support to students in South Africa and worldwide.

Academic Community

As an Open Distance Learning (ODL) institution, and one of the world’s mega universities, Unisa presents academic offerings associated with both technological and traditional universities. These include, but are not limited to, a combination of career-orientated courses usually associated with a university of technology, and formative academic programmes typically linked to a traditional university.

• College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
• College of Education
• College of Economic and Management Sciences
• College of Graduate Studies
• College of Human Sciences
• College of Law
• College of Science, Engineering and Technology
• Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL)

In addition to the 7 colleges and SBL, Unisa has numerous Bureaus, Centres, Institutes, Museums and Units supporting academic development and research.

Ranking

See also: Rankings of universities in South Africa and Rankings of business schools in South Africa

In 2010 Webometrics ranked the university the 8th best in South Africa and 1290th in the world.

Distance education at Unisa

Accreditation

Unisa received a Royal Charter in 1877. It currently operates under the Statute of the University of South Africa issued in terms of the Higher Education Act (No. 101 of 1997), and is accredited by the South African Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Its qualifications (including those of the SBL) are registered with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

Internationally, Unisa is listed in the Commonwealth Universities Handbook of 1999 and also in the International Handbook of Universities of 1998.

On 12 January 2002 Unisa was granted full institutional accreditation from the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The accreditation lapsed in March, 2007, and Unisa did not pursue renewal.

Entrance requirements

Students need a school-leaving qualification that would entitle them to enter a university or college in their own country.

Advantages

Market research has shown that Unisa is rated as one of the top universities in South Africa (2001) - Unisa qualifications are sought after in the marketplace.

• Courses are offered at one-quarter to one-third the price of residential universities;
• Courses are accessible as students who do not have a university entrance matric can register for Unisa's access programme;
• Courses are flexible, because students can plan their studies to fit into their lifestyles;
• The qualifications are credible, because of the international recognition afforded its qualifications.

Culture

The University of South Africa has been promoting and promulgating culture in all its manifestations since its inception in 1873. Apart from the academic courses offered by Unisa's College of Humanities, practical language, art and music skills have been actively pursued through the setting of curricula and the implementation of special courses and examinations.

• African Centre for Arts, Culture and Heritage studies
• Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology
• Department of Music
• Unisa Space Art Gallery
• Unisa Music Foundation

Unisa Foundation

The Unisa Foundation was established in 1966 and now has approximately 280 active donors, many of them individual alumni with the desire to give back to the communities, South African and international, with a sense of social responsibility. Equally vital is the role played by the Board of Trustees, whose members not only oversee the affairs of the Unisa Foundation but who also lend the weight of their professional and personal reputations in a drive to reach potential donors, without financial reward to themselves.

Based at Unisa's main campus in Muckleneuck, Pretoria, the Foundation has Fundraising and Development Divisions in Gauteng, the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. The Fundraising and Development Divisions support the smooth running of projects being undertaken in their regions while raising additional funding for local community projects.

Vice-Chancellors and Principals

• Mandla S Makhanya
• Antony Melck
• Samuel Pauw
• Marinus Wiechers
• Barney Pityana
• AJH van der Walt
• Theo van Wijk
• Cas van Vuuren

Notable alumni (students and faculty)

The Alumni Relations Office deals with all matters that are related to alumni. All Unisa Graduates or Convocants are therefore the alumni of the University. Unisa has established the Alumni Association which is a platform for alumni to actively participate in the activities of the University in order to contribute to its long-term success and sustainability.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Haitian politician) Walter Battiss (South African abstract painter) David Bosch (Cleric and Professor of Missiology) Sandra Botha (South African politician) Ergun Caner (Professor and Former President and Dean: Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) Wikus du Toit (South African Actor and playwright) Dorita Field (Politician in Northern Ireland) Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwean poet, novelist and essayist) Danny Jordaan (South Africa's 2010 Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Officer) Ahmed Kathrada (South African politician and anti-apartheid activist) Sindiwe Magona (South African writer) Nelson Mandela (Former President of the Republic of South Africa) Tshilidzi Marwala (Adhominem Professor of Electrical Engineering,Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair of Systems and Control Engineering as well as the DST/NRF South Africa Research Chair of Systems Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand) Kaiser Matanzima (Former leader of the then-bantustan of Transkei in South Africa) Kenneth Mopeli (former Chief Minister of the South African bantustan of QwaQwa) Robert Mugabe (Current President of Zimbabwe) Bulelani Ngcuka (first national Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, and is the husband of former Deputy President of South Africa Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.) Georgia Papageorge (South African installation artist) Kevin Pietersen (Current England Cricket Player) Cyril Ramaphosa Mamphela Ramphele John E. Sanders (American evangelical Christian theologian) Tokyo Sexwale (South African businessman and former politician, anti-apartheid activist, and political prisoner) Desmond Tutu (South African cleric and political activist) Jaco van der Westhuyzen (Former Springbok Rugby Player)

See also

• List of universities in South Africa

External links

The University

• The University of South Africa website
• Google Map of Unisa
• Open Street Map
• myUnisa - The official Unisa website for students
• WikiStudent.ws - the unofficial Unisa website for students and by students of the University of South Africa
• - The official Unisa Facebook Page
• - The official Unisa Twitter page

International Cooperation

• The Network for Education and Research in Europe
• Masterstudium in Praktischer Theologie - Theologisches Seminar Adelshofen, Germany