College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2022 22 Finance and Resource Management CBE manages its finances transparently and prudently. This is fundamental to long-term sustainability, together with efforts that generate additional income, contributing to the University’s resources. CBE’s financial position remains stable, and we have maintained reasonably strong income streams to support the academic project and the institutional objectives. CBE is well-placed to be still able to invest in its strategic priorities, including helping students who are academically deserving but who carry historic debt. Environmental sustainability An unstable climate, increasing carbon emissions, and accelerating biodiversity loss require urgent action. CBE is building on the experience of the pandemic and the potential shift to more environmentally sustainable working practices. We are an increasingly all-digital office committed to continually improving our paper use. Research shows that the most effective way to reduce the climate impact of diet is to consume less meat and dairy and eat more plant-based foods. Through the School of Tourism and Hospitality operations, CBE makes vegetarian food options available at most outlets. The Food Evolution Research Laboratory is involved in research projects that influence thinking, choices, and health, nutrition, and food waste management decisions. Our Programme Qualification Mix includes curricula on sustainability and how to account for environmental rehabilitation. THE WAY AHEAD The 2022 achievements of CBE are attributable to the hard work, dedication, and resilience of all staff members, students, and the rest of our stakeholders. Even with the achievements, there are challenges ahead. Presently the CBE needs to establish a stable leadership team where all vacant posts are filled on a more permanent basis, which will build on the College’s previous successes to address current challenges. Graduate output and module success rates are down, and academically deserving students need help to fund their studies. We will work collectively as one CBE to provide a humane environment in which everyone can contribute and flourish and where differences are valued while we stay devoted to the following strategic commitments: • Attract and admit students from all backgrounds with outstanding academic potential. • Raise funds to support the best students and other CBE strategic initiatives to ensure financial sustainability. • Attract, recruit, and retain high-quality staff. • Work towards an increasingly diverse staff profile that reflects the demographics of South Africa in senior academic and leadership positions. • Invest in tools with digital capabilities for responsive decision-making and timeous interventions and streamlining administrative processes. • Promote and enable ambitious research of exceptional quality, while providing experienced researchers and visiting scholars’ opportunities to contribute towards capacity building. • Engage with the public, industry, and policymakers to inform our research and teaching to produce graduates equipped to leverage emerging digital technologies for societal impact. At the core of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a set of 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The holistic, interdisciplinary approach of CBE’s research programme will underscore the ability to integrate expertise and knowledge across multiple disciplines to address goals and illuminate their interconnections through establishing research themes based on SDGs. I look forward to another full year of significant events and impactful research.
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