But by the first sentence of the next paragraph it had slid into something else altogether.
"Research," it proclaimed (see more, below) "is not part of the job description of PASS staff". Leaving aside the offensive term "PASS staff", and focusing on the rest of the sentence, one is obliged to ask: is this descriptive, or normative?
Is it saying, "we've surveyed all the job descriptions of people on conditions of employment other than academic, and have found that research is not part of these job descriptions"? because this is patently not the case. I can, within a short space of time, lay my hands on several examples (including my own) to disprove this.
Is this then a description of the ideal world, such that "no member of staff not on academic conditions of employment should engage in research as part of their job description"?
Which raises two questions:
1) who picks up the research already undertaken / committed by these staff who are now banned from further engagement?
2) what does one do with these staff who may now no longer do that part - which, in some cases, is 100% - of their jobs which comprises research?
It seems a little as though someone hadn't really thought this through.
Still, one has to admire the ingenuity. The whole draft policy thrust approached the brilliance of the old Aparthed State: unsure how to classify the child of a cross-"race" couple, hit upon the brilliant idea simply to ban marriages across "racial" categories. What the law doesn't recognise, doesn't exist, after all.
(The convenient loophole of allowing the acknowledgement of research output by such staff, if they masquerade as graduate students, also echoes the extension of "honorary white" status to some under deserving cases...)
It did seem a bit out of step with other trends though - such as the acknowledgement of indigenous knowledge in the development of pharamceauticals such as Hoodia, the acknowledgement of the role of the Sherpas on all those Everest expeditions, and even the granting of an honorary degree to Hamilton Naki. But given the alternatives, isn't simply wishing it away the most sensible solution?
Effective date: 2006
Last updated: August 2006
Policy owner: Deputy Vice Chancellor accountable for research
Enquiries: HR Adviser
Applicable to
Professional, Administrative and Support staff on permanent and T3 contracts of employment.
Policy principles
• The University of Cape Town is a research led institution where the creation of new knowledge is of paramount importance.
• The University of Cape Town is also a learning environment where all staff and students are encouraged to learn and grow.
• All staff including PASS staff should be encouraged to develop themselves in terms of their current and future job performance.
• Professional PASS staff must by definition maintain professional competence, and are individually responsible for doing so, and cannot claim an obligation to undertake research to do so.
Policy details
1. Research (in the academic sense, of work leading to peer-reviewed publication) is not part of the job description of PASS staff. (Professional PASS staff must by definition maintain professional competence, and are individually responsible for doing so, and cannot claim an obligation to undertake research to do so.)
2. Where a PASS staff member wishes to undertake research (whether as a higher degree candidate or not) he or she will do this outside of his or her work; i.e., in his or her own time.
3. Where a PASS staff member wishes to undertake research in his or her own time he or she must be encouraged to seek –
(a) registration at UCT for a suitable higher degree; or
(b) honorary academic affiliation with an academic department or, preferably, a recognised research group within an academic department, where QA issues, collegial support, etc are provided;
in context of the University’s research-led goal.
4. where 3(a) or 3(b) obtains –
(a) all publications will be recognised by UCT, and will be listed in the research reports; and
(b) the staff member may apply, in the capacity of graduate student, or in the capacity of graduate student, or in the capacity of affiliated researcher for such research support as is available in the faculty concerned.
(c) Publication subsidy will by definition accrue to the faculty concerned, as it would for any research student or affiliated researcher.
5. Study and research leave is by definition related to an academic’s job; and by definition never applies to PASS staff in any of the above categories.