Leadership and Management
Prof Peter Mbati
Director: HELM
Prof Peter Mbati
Professor Peter Mbati is the Director of Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) programme at Universities South Africa (USAf), bringing extensive experience in executive leadership and governance within higher education. He has held numerous prominent leadership positions across the higher education sector and science councils, including Vice-Chancellor of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Venda, Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor: Academic at Botho University in Gaborone, Botswana, Group Executive: Livestock Business Division at the Agricultural Research Council, Campus Principal of the QwaQwa campus of the University of the Free State, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UFS QwaQwa campus, Acting Executive Director: Academics at UFS QwaQwa campus, and Acting Director of Biomedical Sciences Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute. Prof. Mbati holds a PhD in Parasitology from Kenyatta University, complemented by post-doctoral training in Molecular Parasitology from Obihiro University in Japan. An accomplished researcher, Prof. Mbati was an NRF-rated scholar for over 15 years. He has presented widely at national and international conferences, supervised numerous honours, master’s, and doctoral students, and published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals, particularly in the fields of parasitology and diagnostics. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, he has received several national, continental, and international awards, including the prestigious RUFORUM IMPRESSA Award for excellence in research, institutional transformation, and capacity building in Africa awarded in 2017 in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Michelle Buchler
Senior Manager: HELM
Michelle Buchler
After working in academe for 8 years, Michelle worked at two leading NGOs in middle and senior management positions; both NGOs focused on education and training research and development, policy analysis and policy influence and advocacy. Michelle is currently Senior Manager: Higher Education Leadership and Management at Universities South Africa (USAf), the association of South Africa’s 26 public universities, with the 26 Vice Chancellors as its board of directors.
Michelle’s specialisation is in higher education, and she has conducted research inter alia in access issues (including the Recognition of Prior Learning and adult learning, and articulation between TVET and HE), HIV/AIDs and graduate competencies, teacher development, as well as monitoring and evaluation of HE projects. Apart from her work in higher education, Michelle has also managed and/or undertaken evaluation, research and development projects in ECD, ABET, articulation and pathways for some occupations, the TVET colleges, etc. She has managed programmes funded by the European Commission, the Ford and Kellogg Foundations, Royal Netherlands Embassy, US Embassy, various SETAs, Department of Higher Education and Training, and the National Skills Fund.
Michelle has served a term on the council of the Durban University of Technology as a Ministerial appointee and has chaired a Ministerial Task Team on the Recognition of Prior Learning. Michelle has also served a term on the Research Committee of the South African Qualifications Authority, and currently represents USAf on the National Coordinating Committee and National University Teaching Awards – a national university collaborative programme aimed at supporting the national policy Framework for Enhancing University Lecturers as Teachers.
Michelle holds a Master of Arts in Development Sociology, and a Higher Diploma for Educators of Adults, both from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Dr Tebogo Tsebe
Senior Manager: HELM
Tebogo Tsebe
Tebogo Tsebe is the Senior Manager of Student Success & collaborative Forum at USAf. Before his role at HELM, he served as the Manager of the Student Support Unit at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) and serving as an acting Director for Center for University Teaching and Learning at SMU. He also served an institutional leader for the Siyaphumelela Student Success national project, a collaborative effort among universities to implement data-informed strategies for advancing student success. Tebogo holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and a Master of Philosophy in Practical Theology both from the University of Pretoria. This unique combination allows him to holistically understand the intricacies of the human psyche and spirit. His expertise is further solidified by his status as a registered Psychologist, and he runs a Private Practice alongside his primary work responsibilities. His expertise has been celebrated through numerous achievements and accolades, including his appointment to the Academic Board and Student Support Service (SSS) Committee of the Tshwane North TVET College in which he has been serving to date. Tebogo’s multifaceted career reflects his unwavering commitment to enhancing the educational journey of students and promoting their holistic development.
Molatelo Motswe
Programme
Administrative Officer
Molatelo Motswe
Molatelo Clara Motswe is currently the HELM programme Administrative Officer. She joined USAf in 2019. She brings with her, project administration experience from the Centre for Education Policy Development, which she joined in 2008 and served it until it closed down in 2017. A stint at the Wits University’s Centre for Researching Education and Labour, where among other projects she co-ordinated the student leadership programme, broadening her exposure to the higher education sector. “I enjoy devising solutions to challenges arising from planning an event, be it a conference, a workshop or a social gathering.” In her spare time she enjoys reading political leaders’ biographies (local and international) and outdoor activities.
Tiisetso Mahlaela
Administrative Officer:
Student Success
Tiisetso Mahlaela
Tiisetso Mahlaela has been with the University of South Africa for more than nine years. He has accumulated experience in different roles he occupied with UNISA, including being a champion for Disability matters and advocating for students with special needs. He further worked closely with the Project Management Office of UNISA and was required to look into issues of project governance and Support projects in executing deliverables. Mr. Mahlaela looks forward to engaging and interrogating issues of Student Success on a national level and working with the various universities in achieving this. He brings the right skills required and knowledge of the Higher Education sector.
Programme leaders and associates
Prof Denise Zinn
Programme Leader
Prof Denise Zinn
Prof Denise Zinn is the HELM Programme Leader for the Women in Leadership Programme. Previously she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Learning & Teaching and Nelson Mandela University, and before that served for two terms as Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, first at the University of Fort Hare, and then at Mandela University. She has spent the last 3 decades in Higher Education in South Africa, after completing a Master’s and Doctorate in Education at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in the USA. She has served on several boards including the Harvard Educational Review (where she was also co-chair), Umalusi, HERS-SA, the USAf Deans Forum, and DVC TL forum. As an educational consultant she has been engaged in a range of research and support projects, with the largest being the Tertiary Education Linkages Project (TELP) where she was responsible for the Gender Equity Milestone over a period of 5 years, and worked with 17 HDIs to support development projects.
Prof Birgit Schreiber
HELM Senior Associate
Prof Birgit Schreiber (PhD)
Birgit Schreiber was the senior director Student Affairs, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She has worked in Higher Education for the past 25 years, in South Africa (UCT, UWC and others) and across the Southern African region in a variety of leadership positions and leading trans-national research projects. She received her MA in Psychology and PhD in Educational Psychology. She has served and read at universities in Europe and the USA, including University of California, Berkeley, UK Leuven, NYU, and some others. She serves on the executive of various national and international professional organizations including the International Association of Student Affairs and Services (IASAS), for which she served as the Africa Chair and now as the Vice President.
Birgit has published over 50 articles and chapters on the topics of student affairs, student engagement, higher education policy and social justice. Birgit edited a global reference book for UNESCO on student affairs across the globe and is currently involved in a monograph for New Directions in Higher Education. She was the founding member and is on the editorial executive of the accredited academic Journal for Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA), on the board of the Journal for College Student Development (JCSD) and she is the column editor of the Journal for College and Character (JCC). Birgit is an associate of the higher education umbrella body Universities South Africa (USAf) and a member of the Africa Centre for Transregional Research at the Albert-Ludwig-Universität Freiburg, Germany.
Patrick FitzGerald
Programme Leader
Patrick FitzGerald
Patrick FitzGerald is an independent consultant working in the areas of Higher Education and Public Management. Until end-2019 he served as Executive Director: Special Projects at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley, Northern Cape Province. After a period in exile he returned to South Africa in 1990 when he founded the Graduate School of Public & Development Management at Wits University (now renamed Wits School of Governance). His former positions include Head of the (Gauteng) Premier’s Strategic Management Team, Chair of the Gauteng Provincial Service Commission, Director-General of the national Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, and co-ordinator of the extensive academic and support service restructuring of Wits University in the capacity of Director: Wits 2001. In 2001/2 he served as Administrator and Interim Vice-Chancellor of the University of the North (now University of Limpopo), where he facilitated the reconstruction and transformation of the University.
Re-joining Wits University he served another term as Head of the School of Public & Development Management, as Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Law & Management, and for 6 years as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Finance & Operations. He was the founding Chair of Council for the merged Walter Sisulu University and was also appointed for a year as the Administrator of Vaal University of Technology (VUT). He is the author and/or editor of several books and has authored a number of Journal Articles. Patrick holds the degrees of B.A. (Wits) and MPA (Liverpool).
Prof Ihron Rensberg
HELM Senior Associate
Prof Ihron Rensburg
Prof Rensburg is mentor and consultant on higher education. He is the former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg. He is also Chairman of the READ Foundation in Johannesburg, Councillor of St John’s College in South Africa and Director of Higher Education South Africa in Pretoria. He has a PhD from Stanford University in the USA, where he completed his Thesis with distinction on Collective Identity and Public Policy: From Resistance to Reconstruction in South Africa, 1986-1995. He also has an MA in Political Sociology from Stanford University and a BPharm from Rhodes University, South Africa. He holds an honorary professorship in Education from the University of Johannesburg as well as a Global Executive Development Programme from the Global Institute of Business Science, Pretoria University. Prof Rensburg has received several awards and fellowships from, amongst others, the Ford Foundation, the Human Sciences Research Council (of South Africa), the W K Kellogg Foundation, Merck, Sharpe & Dohme Pharmaceuticals, and Rhodes University.
Prof Anne Mc Lennan
HELM Associate
Professor Anne Mc Lennan
Professor Anne Mc Lennan is an independent consultant with experience in conceptualising and setting up programmes, as well as designing and implementing degree, short course and executive or practical development programmes. She was part of the team that established the Graduate School of Public and Development Management, now the Wits School of Governance, and worked there for 25 years, focusing on education leadership and management, governance, public service change, public policy and the politics of delivery. Anne is an academic and a practitioner, able to traverse the pathways from policy to practice. She was seconded as Deputy Director-General: Executive Development to PALAMA, now the National School of Government for two years. She is experienced in senior and executive management in university, government and NGO contexts. Anne works with government departments and the legislative sector to design and implement institutional change and learning programmes.