The role of an ICT research professor in South Africa

Abstract

Until recently it has been assumed that all lecturers at tertiary institutions should teach, conduct research and do community service. Due to heavy teaching loads, this assumption has become evident as a very idealistic goal, especially in smaller universities where few academic staff members have to cope with various programmes and a high student to teacher ratio. Some universities seem to have realised this predicament and have started to advertise positions for research professors. According to authors' knowledge, NWU (VTC) was the first institution in South Africa to create a full-time research professorship in a School of Information Technology. This short paper is an attempt to clarify the expectations, roles and duties of such a position.