Although much has been written on the need to integrate HIV into tertiary education programmes, very little research has been done in terms of how it should be done. This article will report on the first phase of a larger action research project designed to research, develop and evaluate best practices for the transformation of the curricula of higher education programmes to make them more relevant and responsive to the realities of living and working in the age of AIDS. Using a phenomenological design, academics from three faculties were interviewed to generate baseline data around their feelings, perceptions, attitudes and practices regarding HIV education in their fields of study. The findings reveal that, while academics recognize the importance of HIV integration in principle, in practice several barriers exist. On the whole, a narrow conceptualisation of HIV and AIDS precludes them from recognising the many possibilities that exist for meaningful integration of HIV education. Implications are drawn from these findings to inform the intervention phase of the project.