Johannesburg — THE University of SA's (Unisa's) School of Business Leadership will be run on business lines from early November, when a charter giving it operational autonomy is to be signed.

The school's acting director, Prof Johan Rall, said yesterday the charter would end years of "continuous battle" as experienced by all universities and their business schools because of fundamental differences between them and university administrations.

The charter, which sets up the school as "an integral, yet separate and autonomous" part of Unisa, has been approved by the university's management and the school's board . It is expected to be approved by Unisa's council and signed on November 8.

"It's a more intelligent, smarter way of running a business school," said Unisa principal Prof Barney Pityana .

Rall said a business school had to be run on business lines and have a culture that reflected the business world.

"Business schools have different clients and different needs. The business world changes quickly and business schools deal directly with the corporate world. We need to build a culture where we reflect that world," he said.

The charter, which meets King 2 recommendations, allows the school to make decisions faster and leaves it free to determine its own programmes, internal structures and staffing needs, as approved by its own board.

The board falls under the direct authority of the Unisa council and is a council standing committee. Most of the members are nonexecutive and independent

"We are now masters of our own destinies. I think this is almost the best way you can manage a business school," Rall said.

The School of Business Leadership and the Wits Business School were among six universities in SA whose MBA programmes won full accreditation from the Council on Higher Education in May this year.

The University of the Witwatersrand's acting vice-chancellor, Prof Richard Pienaar, yesterday announced the appointment of Prof Patrick FitzGerald as acting director of the Wits Business School and of the Vice-Chancellor's Wits Business School advisory group.