Faculty and support unit coordinators are hard at work ensuring that it’s all systems go for the much anticipated virtual site visit by the national review for doctoral qualifications panel.

The panel, under the authority of the Council on Higher Education (CHE), aims to measure the extent to which institutional strategies, policies, protocols, and procedures for postgraduate study meet the Doctoral Qualification Standard for both public and private higher education institutions.

The virtual site visit is scheduled for 19 to 22 October.

The National Review of Doctoral Qualifications Institutional Coordinator at CPUT, Dr Siyanda Makaula, says a national review is a quality enhancement exercise, which provides the University with an opportunity to be evaluated by external doctoral education experts in order to ascertain the extent to which the institution meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of the CHE's national doctoral qualification standard.

“This exercise will help us improve in areas that would have been identified by the review panel to be in need of improvement while providing us with an opportunity to demonstrate significant improvements that took place in our doctoral education environment in the past few years,” Makaula explains.

The preparations include electronic evidence files and video clips on a virtual tour of facilities for doctoral students. All participants (including doctoral students, supervisors, examiners, alumni, and many more) have been invited and informed about the doctoral review site visit.  Makaula says the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, and executive management have given them tremendous support.

“All hands are on deck and we are ready to take off. We welcome the national review; we welcome the CHE review panel to CPUT. We are looking forward to a review panel report that will give a critical impression of CPUT's quality of doctoral provision,” he remarks.

During the launch of the institutional CHE review of doctoral qualifications last year, Nhlapo said the University was proud of the research and postgraduate brand “we have created what CPUT has achieved in this short time”.  He said the institution has seven focus areas for applied research: climate change and environment, space science and technology, economic growth and international competitiveness, design for sustainability, human and social dynamics, energy, bio-economy, and biotechnology.

“To date, we have the proud achievement of launching two satellites and setting up our own company, Amaya Space, the first black-owned space technology company,” he said.

Furthermore, in April this year, CPUT submitted the institutional Self Evaluation Report (SER) to CHE based on the Faculty Self Evaluation reports that were all consolidated to one institutional SER. The report reflected the status of doctoral qualification in the institution that pointed out some acceptable practices and facilities available to support students in achieving their qualification.

With this, it is required by CHE to provide all evidence of acceptable practices and resources available to support students. Faculty coordinators have been approached to make evidence readily available during the time of the review.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo has endorsed the launch of the forthcoming Institutional Audit by the Council on Higher Education (CHE).

In his opening address, at an Institutional Audit Virtual Launch, Nhlapo said in 2010, five years after the merger, CPUT underwent the first Institutional Audit. He said the recommendations from the CHE were incorporated into the Institutional Quality Improvement Plan and quality improvement activities were initiated in crosscutting areas such as governance, transformation, institutional culture and communication, as well as in specific functions such as library provision, research, human resources, security and residences. Nhlapo also acknowledged the Council's support for the institutional audit with the presence of its chairperson Adv Zuko Mapoma and his deputy, Dr Laurine Platzky.

The Institutional Audit Coordinator, Dr Siyanda Makaula outlined the processes that the Institution will undergo in preparing for this audit. Makaula said the “overarching purpose of an institutional audit was to evaluate the coherence and effectiveness of the institution’s internal quality assurance system in enabling student success and improving its core academic functions”.

He also added that the outcomes of the Institutional Audit will provide baseline information for an institutional track record that will form the basis for the implementation of the recently published CHE Quality Assurance Framework.

The Institution will be the main unit of analysis. The CHE will apply a review methodology based on reflexive praxis and peer review as the tools in conducting institutional audits.

The institution will be evaluated in terms of its “fitness of purpose, fitness for purpose, value for money, transformation and student success as a view of quality” – At CPUT, our definition of quality would not be sufficiently extensive if it did not encompass the interface of people (oneness) and technology (smartness).

Nhlapo said: “The main focus of the Institutional Quality Improvement Plan was to encourage integration across the many faculties, units and campuses of CPUT and to concentrate on activities that enhanced the teaching and learning processes, the student experience and student success. This plan was successfully closed out by the CHE on the 5th February 2014,” he continued.

“In the words of the CHE to CPUT: The Institutional Audits Committee, a sub-committee of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), was impressed with the thorough way in which all of the recommendations from the audit report were addressed. The HEQC indicated that the progress report was a mature and courageous self-reflection.”

Nhlapo emphasised that the University’s vision has been revised. “We developed the goals for the University and have embedded these firmly in our qualifications and academic project. At that time, we were mindful that we had to choose our goals appropriately. We set out to develop the research framework that sets today’s foundation for our 2030 strategy embodied in “One Smart CPUT”.  He added that in the midst of the pandemic the University took part in the CHE’s Doctoral Qualification Review and now the Institution is preparing for the second HEQC’s Institutional Audit.

Reflecting on the function of the institutional audit, Nhlapo said: “In a sense, it takes a snapshot of our academic and strategic activities and through reflexive praxis and peer evaluation, evaluates our actions against the student experience and student success. It helps us to develop along a line of continuous improvement, as long as we are open and honest with declaring our strengths and weaknesses.”

The Vice-Chancellor pledged his full support to the Institutional Audit while ensuring a valid process. He requested staff and students alike to give of their expertise and experiences and provide a robust reflection that will take the University towards achieving the mission set out in Vision 2030.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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