New Dean of Research at College of Law and Management Studies

BY: .

The new Dean of Research at the College of Law and Management Studies, Professor Marita Carnelley, is committed to improving the College’s research output. She plans to do this by increasing the number of staff with PhDs, increasing the amount of research and journal publications produced through the improvement of academic capacity, skills development and training.

Carnelley, who recently held the position of Academic Leader Research in the School of Law, said: ‘When I applied for the post I thought it would be useful to consider a variety of strategies that could be implemented to assist the College in meeting its research goals and objectives. The main objective will be to focus on the individual academic, his or her academic capacity. We need to concentrate on helping academics to refocus on what is important: their PhDs and accredited, quality publications.’

The first part of her strategy is to “grease the wheels”, to ensure that staff and students are well informed about research policies and procedures. She aims to achieve this through setting up a new College research website which will serve as a resource portal for College staff and students. ‘Part of the website will be to provide information, also for students to access opportunities for scholarships and grants. Because of the turnaround strategy in the CLMS, we need to think outside the box for solutions to assist students,’ said Carnelley.

The second strategy would be to focus on mentoring. This is a vital component for research success and it matters not whether it is formal or informal mentoring. This support and encouragement serves not only to inspire on an individual level, but also has the potential to add to the cohesive nature of the Discipline within a School.

The third strategy is skills development and capacity building in a variety of areas and at all levels.  To ensure staff get the training they need, desire and which will be beneficial to them, Carnelley will gauge their development needs through an assessment form that should be sent out in the near future. These needs may include word processing skills, library and research methodology issues or the sharpening of writing skills. Existing programmes such as the in-house editors will be continued as it enhances the turnaround time of articles for academics.

Lastly, the College will again host a College Research Day as well as various research seminars throughout the year.

-          Thandiwe Jumo