Cape Town - Brian O’Connell, vice-chancellor and rector of the University of the Western Cape (UWC), is set to retire next year.
O’Connell, 67, has held the position since 2001.
UWC spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo confirmed on Monday that O’Connell’s contract would come to an end in December next year.
His post was advertised at the weekend. Tyhalibongo said this was because there was a long process involved in filling his position.
O’Connell’s career in education spans more than four decades. He has been a schoolteacher and a principal, a lecturer at UWC and head of the Western Cape Education Department – the position he held before his current post.
His role at the university also extends to being a professor in education leadership and management.
O’Connell has served two five-year contracts at UWC, the second of which ended in 2010.
However, Tyhalibongo said, his contract had been extended for two years to coincide with the ending of the Institutional Operating Plan (IOP) – a five-year plan that identifies strategic goals in accordance with the university’s mission and vision: among them financial, infrastructure, leadership, and research and innovation goals – and “the strategic transformation goals embedded in the IOP”.
Cape Times