Internationalisation and the pursuit of a developmental settlement : the case of a South African university

This study analyses the manner in which a higher education institution (HEI) – namely, the University of Pretoria – is internationalising, while taking into account the dual imperatives of national development needs and of competing and integrating with an increasingly interdependent and globalised world. These dual imperatives and the challenges they pose are referred to in this study as the “dual development challenge”. By focusing on the responses of one university, the study provides useful insights into how other HEIs might understand their role and ability to internationalise and address both national needs and global issues. The study thus has several key findings relative to HEIs and how they might address the “dual development challenge”, as well as findings regarding the internationalisation of higher education (HE). In terms of addressing the “dual development challenge”, the study demonstrates how one university’s ambitious and enthusiastic pursuit of its international research agenda and its focus on individual agents and collective individual agents as facilitators of that research agenda, allows it to pursue a “developmental settlement” while internationalising. Although it is marked by contestations and contradictions, the pursuit of this developmental settlement consists of a communal ambition that the university’s international activities and actions provide key catalysts to its contributions to both national development and global competitiveness and integration. With regard to internationalisation of HE, the study challenges notions that individualism is negative and that holistic, campus-wide and/or comprehensive internationalisation must be confined to a specific set of criteria. These two findings are linked, and thus the study’s key finding and argument is that a primary method of engaging with internationalisation within the context of the dual development challenge is through the pursuit of a developmental settlement, which can depend greatly on the development of individuals, their research and the building of their individual capacities. As such, the participation in international research activities and networks by individual and collective individual agents at an HEI can build their capacity both in terms of their professional abilities and their influence on other individuals, institutions and the nation, while at the same time allowing them to contribute to the global competitiveness and integration status of the HEI. Ultimately, the central thesis of this study is that internationalisation, via the support and activities of individual and collective individual agents, is a primary facilitator of a university’s abilities to address and contribute to both national and global developmental imperatives.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008.Education Management and Policy Studiesunrestricte

A conceptual model of community dynamics during the transport stage of the invasion process: a case study of ships’ ballast

Aim: After J. L. Lockwood, P. Cassey and T. Blackburn (2009, Diversity and Distributions, 15, 904–910) first described a theoretical relationship between propagule pressure and colonization pressure, two empirical studies demonstrated that the transport stage of the invasion process can profoundly influence the strength of the relationship among multiple events, as well as predictions of introduction risk. However, studies exploring dynamics of transported communities are rare, as repeated-measures sampling during transportation by any vector is logistically difficult. We constructed a conceptual model of community dynamics during transportation and supported it by empirical data for propagule pressure and colonization pressure of plankton. Location: Global. Methods: A conceptual model of community dynamics was developed based on lognormal species abundance distribution and the simulation model of J. L. Lockwood, P. Cassey and T. Blackburn (2009, Diversity and Distributions, 15, 904–910). We considered four cases: case ‘A’ – no reduction in propagule nor colonization pressure; case ‘B’ – strong reduction in propagule and mild reduction in colonization pressure; case ‘C’ – mild reduction in propagule and strong reduction in colonization pressure; and case ‘D’ – strong reduction in both propagule and colonization pressures. Results: The cases ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ were supported by empirical data for invertebrates, dinoflagellates and diatoms from ships’ ballast tanks, respectively. Propagule pressure of invertebrates, dinoflagellates and diatoms decreased 99.95%, 80% and 94% in 25 days, respectively, while colonization pressure decreased 34%, 57% and 64%. Main conclusions: Transport affects both propagule pressure and colonization pressure of taxa, with the magnitude of change dependent on length of transport and taxon-specific survival and reproduction. Our model demonstrates that introduction risk varies substantially across and within taxa depending on the occurrence and severity of selection pressures during transportation which serve to change species abundance distributions

Diverging on diversity and difference : the mask of inclusion

In this paper we argue that the clichéd phrases, ‘dealing with difference’ and ‘dealing with diversity’, despite their commitment to accepting and appreciating difference and diversity, may be used in counterproductive ways to camouflage resistance to change and transformation. In a small sample of interviews conducted at a South African university, the appropriation of these phrases for the purpose of practicing sameness was apparent. While pointing to the possibilities of asserting diversity and difference and simultaneously practicing sameness, the paper also proposes the possibilities for the acknowledgement and embracing of the ambivalence toward diversity and difference as valuable opportunities for transformation

Assessing invasion risk across taxa and habitats: life stage as a determinant of invasion success

Aim  Many aquatic invertebrates produce dormant life-history stages as a means to endure inhospitable environments and to facilitate natural long-distance dispersal, yet we have little understanding of the role of dormant stages as a mechanism for human-mediated introductions of non-indigenous species. We explore the survival of invertebrate dormant eggs in collected ships’ ballast sediment over a 1-year period to determine relative invasion potential across taxa (i.e. rotifers, copepods, cladocerans and bryozoans) and different habitats (freshwater, marine). Location  Canadian Atlantic and Pacific coasts and Laurentian Great Lakes. Methods  During 2007 and 2008, 19 ballast samples were collected as a part of a larger study. The degradation rate of dormant eggs was assessed by enumerating dormant eggs and by conducting viability hatching experiments. Results  Taxa examined included rotifers, copepods, anomopods, onychopods and bryozoans. Dormant eggs of rotifers degraded at the highest rate of all taxa examined, with no viable eggs remaining within 10 months. Copepods showed a less rapid degradation rate than rotifers. The degradation rate of anomopod dormant eggs was significantly slower than that of both rotifers and copepods. Onychopods and bryozoans did not visibly degrade at all over 12 months. Viability hatching experiments were successful for rotifers, copepods, and anomopods. Onychopods and bryozoans did not hatch during any of the three hatching trials. Main conclusions  Dormancy is not equally beneficial to all invertebrate taxa. Our results indicate that dormant eggs of rotifers and copepods degrade at a rapid rate and may not pose high invasion risk. In contrast, the slow degradation rate of anomopod dormant eggs and the lack of degradation of onychopod and bryozoan dormant eggs could result in high invasion risk because of their accumulation in ballast tanks. Species having resistant dormant eggs mostly belong to freshwater taxa making freshwater habitats at higher invasion risk by dormant invertebrates than marine habitats