How will UB produce third stream income?
The week-long strike by the University of Botswana academic Senior Support Staff Union and University of Botswana Staff Union for salary adjustment has come and gone – but the money is nowhere to be found!
All indications are that however legitimate the Unions’ demands are, they will not be acceded to in the near future – however, there is hope, and that lies in the University migrating from a purely teaching University to a research focused institution of higher learning.
This much was evident in an answer provided by Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe, the Minister for Education and Skills Development to a question in Parliament last week, when he emphasised that government subvention to State Owned Enterprises was dwindling and that SOEs need to start generating their own revenue.
This week, UB Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris fielded questions from Botswana Guardian’s Chief Sub Editor, Ernest Moloi on how this third stream income can be generated and all things in between.
BG: Which would be the sources of such income and can they really augment the government subvention?
David Norris: Apart from government subvention and student tuition which are usually called first and second stream income respectively, the other sources are called third stream income and comprises all other funds that the University receives. These include: 1) income from contract research that is provided for government, business and other organisations; 2) Contract teaching/capacity building for government, business/industry and other entities; 3) Consultancies; 4) short courses and professional courses; 5) Donations from private organisations and alumni; 6) Income from leveraging on University’s facilities. When one considers all these sources, the University can surely augment government subvention within a period of two to three years.
BG: What conditions are required to be in place to generate this third stream income?
DN: The major condition is embracing change and transforming into a research intensive institution that solves society’s challenges. One important aspect about third income generation is that it enhances the University’s economic and social impact. Most of the third stream income generating activities are naturally embedded into the activities of teaching and research. An institution of higher learning that fails to raise third stream income basically means it is not playing a significant and impactful role in society.
It’s critical that we are trusted as an institution with capacity to do quality research. This means raising our research profile as individual researchers within our respective research disciplines and as an institution as a whole.
An institution known for research excellence will attract industry, business, government and other entities such as foundations that are well endowed with funding - this is how income will flow into the University.
I must indicate at this juncture that our research profile as an institution has improved significantly though still below our set target. From a research impact score of 11 in 2018, the latest ranking from 2022 show our score at 43 according to the Times Higher Education Ranking System.
This is a very positive development which shows the good work that is being done by UB staff. What is key is intensifying our engagement with industry, government, foundations etc. Through engagement and forging partnerships, not only will we be impacting society through solving real world challenges but we will also be generating funding for ourselves.
BG: Does UB have the requisite capacity and wherewithal to generate this third stream income?
DN: Given the improvement in our research output and impact and the resources we have both in terms of our facilities and the highly-trained human capital, the university has the requisite capacity to generate third stream income. However, there’s still a substantial need for capacity building particularly in improving researchers’ skills to design and undertake research, write up and publish research. This includes research proposal writing and research project management. This is crucial for enhancing our researchers’ ability to respond to the many funding opportunities that are available.
BG: What level of academic qualification does any University worth its salt require to produce world class research that can shape industries?
DN: A doctoral degree is generally considered essential for one to have the requisite competence to carry out good quality research. However, holding a doctoral degree does not guarantee that one will carry out meaningful research. A researcher’s research ability or impact is measured using quantitative methods such as citation counts, h-index, i10 index etc.
The h-index which is commonly used is an author metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications of an author. Generally, or what has been on average observed is that a lecturer would have an h-index score of 2, a senior lecturer an h-index of 3-5, associate professor 6-10, and full professor 12-24.
This index would also be affected by the period one has been doing research. A University capable of producing world class research that can attract industry funding (and shape industry) and enhance
economic activity will ideally have researchers with high research impact measures.
BG: And how does the University of Botswana fare in this aspect?
DN: The University has not done a comprehensive analysis of the research standing of our staff. Some analysis has been done and in some cases what we see is greatly worrying. We see a few cases where senior academic staff with over 20 years at the university having h-index scores of 0 or 1. Overall however, we’re pleased that we’re making progress in terms of our research impact as an institution which gives an indication that the research profile of our staff is improving.
BG: How does the new UB Strategy address the issue of financial independence?
DN: One of the major goals of our new strategic direction is to strengthen and diversify the university’s financial base to ensure financial viability and guarantee long term financial growth and sustainability. In the very short term, we are not in a position to augment government subvention because of the nature of how we understood our role as a University.
Despite global trends that emerged many years ago where Universities due to diminishing government public funding, intensified third stream income through intensified research and leveraging on infrastructural and other resources, we moved too slowly in transitioning from a teaching University to a research focused institution of higher learning. The University has no alternative except finding other sources of revenue which primarily hinge on intensified research and innovation.