INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING DEPARTMENT - University of Cape Town

Volume 4 Issue 2
FEBRUARY 2012
INSTITUTIONAL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
U P D A T E O N K N O W L E D G E C O - O P P I L O T P R O J E C T
T
he UCT Knowledge Co-op
acts as an avenue for external
constituencies to access
the resources and professional
expertise within the university
around problems they experience.
Based in the Institutional Planning
department it draws on expertise
from all faculties.
The facility was officially launched
on 22 August. Some 100 guests
representing community groups,
academics and a few students attended
the event.
The programme introduced the
Knowledge Co-op by showcasing
some of the projects underway
through the experiences of these
different stakeholder groups as well
as the project manager. The University‟s
expectations and perspective
were reflected by Vice Chancellor
Max Price and two of his deputies,
Prof Crain Soudien and Prof Danie
Visser. (See
(http://www.uct.ac.za/mondaypaper
/?id=8763 for a detailed report.)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Postgraduate Cohort 2
Teaching & Learning
Internship
Rhythm Generation
Student Quality Forum
2
3
3
4
BARBARA SCHMID — PROJECT MANAGER
During 2011 the first round of ten projects
were conducted. The topics ranged from difficulties
in adhering to anti-retroviral treatment to
conditions for starting as an entrepreneur in
Cape Town; they examined exit models for prostituted
women and the design for low-cost fencing
or an electronic database.
With most of the 2011 projects completed we
are looking for students to take up some of the
over 30-project ideas submitted to the Co-op by
a variety of new community partners.
S A A I R F O R U M
O
ne of IPD‟s highlights in 2011 was
acting as the host of the eighteenth
annual Southern African Association
for Institutional Research (SAAIR)
Forum which took place from 11-13 of October
at the Milnerton lagoon beach hotel.
This year‟s theme was „enhancement‟ - designed
to provide opportunities for critical selfreflection
for institutional researchers, planners,
quality assurance professionals, administrators
and academics, on how evidencebased
practices can be used to improve the
quality of teaching practice and graduate attributes.
The key note speakers included: Dr Saleem
Badat, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University;
Prof Geoff Scott, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Quality)
of the University of Western Sydney, and Prof
Ulrich Teichler, based at the International
These range from requests to
support officials responsible for
tourism development in local municipalities,
to studying the perceptions
of risk related to smoking
a hookah pipe; from the
evaluation of educational interventions
of NGOs to development
of websites for community based
groups or a new knowledge management
centre for a municipal
department.
In September the Co-op hosted
Dr Henk Mulder, long-time director
of a science shop in Groningen
University and one of the
leaders of the international network
of Science shops. His expertise
was helpful for the various
groups responsible for taking the
UCT Knowledge Co-op beyond a
pilot project and for exploring
possibilities for projects in the
Faculties of Science and Engineering.
(See
http://www.knowledgecoop.uct.ac.za)
Centre for Higher Education (INCHER), university
of Kassel, Germany.
Altogether 36 papers were presented at the
conference. Two workshops on „Quality Reviews
of Service and Support Divisions‟ and
„Offering of joint and double degrees with foreign
universities‟ also took place prior to the
main forum.
A selection of the papers will be published in
a Special Issue of the South African Journal of
Higher Education in 2012.
At the end of the forum Prof Gerrie Jacobs
from the University of Johannesburg said “A
Forum like this doesn‟t just happen - many
people spent hours and days on organization.
Judy Favish and her UCT team deserve our
much appreciated gratitude and felicitation.”

PAGE 2 IN STI TUTIO N AL PL AN N IN G DEPAR TMENT
T
racking postgraduates can be quite
complicated as essentially two or
even three different databases are
used.
The HEMIS (Higher Education Management
Information System) database gives
a base or audited number of first time entering
masters and Doctoral students (EP
FP and TP) for which faculties receive subsidies.
However, if students register in the second
semester they will only appear in the
following year‟s HEMIS submission as NP
Masters
Faculty
Completions
T
his report is intended to give a
snapshot of teaching and learning
at UCT in 2010. The theme of this
particular report is assessing the
quality of teaching and learning at UCT, an
issue that has arisen during Senate discussions
of previous Teaching and Learning
Reports (notably the 2008 and 2009 reports).
By its nature, teaching is a transient, and
often very private, undertaking. This is
unlike research, where outputs tend to be in
the public domain, commonly reflect quite
directly what it is that has been achieved
and how it was undertaken, and show
clearly the contribution to knowledge.
Teaching activities, on the other hand, are
very indirectly manifested through proxies
such as student marks and student course
evaluations. Because of this, reporting on
„teaching and learning‟ in a relatively large,
comprehensive institution is a daunting task.
Following extensive consultation with
Deans and relevant committees, it was decided
to structure the 2010 report in two
main parts. The first part aims to enable
readers to gain a quick idea of some of the
P O S T G R A D U A T E C O H O R T R E P O R T
Potential Completions
Attrition Total
Com 68% 4% 28% 484
GSB 86% 2% 12% 952
EBE 60% 8% 32% 1156
Health
Sci* 30% 20% 50% 1300
Humanities
71% 4% 25% 1347
Law 74% 2% 24% 710
Science 66% 4% 30% 979
entrance category and so are never tracked
in this report. In addition, until 2006 it was
not possible to differentiate between
course work and research masters, which
have different trajectories.
The PG (Post Graduate) Cohort report
was first presented to the Board for Graduate
Studies in 2009, tracking first time
entering masters and Doctoral students in
the years 2002 to 2006 up to 2008. The
third update was completed in September
2011, removing year 2002, and adding
year 2007. The cohort years of 2003 to
Doctoral
Faculty
Completions
challenges and successes in the teaching
and learning arena,
and the second to provide a much more
detailed record in the form of appendices
containing comprehensive information on
the main teaching and learning related
structures at UCT: the faculties, CHED, the
IPD, space and infrastructure, the main
teaching and learning committees.
It is believed that this approach will provide
a comprehensive record for 2010, while
remaining a reasonable length.
The body of the report draws heavily on a
paper entitled “Assessing the Quality of
Teaching and Learning at the University of
Cape Town”, presented by IPD Director,
Judy Favish, at the 2010 conference of the
Southern African Association of Institutional
Researchers (SAAIR) (see Annexure 1 of the
report).
This paper was written in response to
questions posed by members of Senate
regarding how the university evaluates the
quality of teaching and learning.
The IPD also compiled the underlying
quantitative data and provided the high
level analysis of this in the annexure entitled
2007 were tracked up to the end of 2010
and include the 2011 June graduates (who
were backdated to show as qualified in
2010).
Thereafter, Heritage or People Soft provides
a more nuanced source of information
on academic standing. These cohorts
were tracked exhaustively, as misconceptions
on what constitutes re- registration
can result in a misleading scenario of a
high drop out rate. A high level Summary
(including June Graduates 2011) is presented
in the table below.
Potential Completions
Attrition Total
Com 35% 18% 47% 125
GSB N/A
EBE 39% 26% 35% 186
Health Sci 53% 27% 20% 274
Humanities
38% 30% 32% 266
Law 40% 31% 29% 48
Science 50% 25% 25% 361
The MMed students in Health Science need only complete the coursework component in order to practice as a specialist
T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G R E P O R T : 2 0 1 0
“A high level summary of the quantitative
indicators”. (See Annexure 2 of the report).
Having reflected on the detailed content
of the report, the closing paragraphs debate
the issues of whether or not UCT, in its
teaching and learning activities, be described
as being „good‟ or of a high quality,
and whether or not it matters that there is,
in fact, no simple answer to this question.
The Report concludes that it would seem
logical to have clearly defined teaching and
learning strategies with agreed indicators
where these are possible, attendant timelines
and achievement target dates to assist
the institution to assess its standing and
progress in this regard.
Our current inability to do this is construed
as a risk, even if the nature of this
risk is essentially that of possibly missed
opportunities and poorly understood (or
somewhat opaque) challenges.
The 2010 Teaching and Learning Report,
including Appendices and a set of quantitative
data tables, is available on the IPD
website.
(http://www.uct.ac.za/usr/ipd/IIU/intreports
/tlreport/WedTandLrep.pdf)

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 2 PAGE 3
T
he positioning of the department
and its service work in the university
attracted me to the internship.
It works in coordination
with other UCT departments
and external stakeholders and services
various committees and working groups
on academic planning, academic reviews,
quality promotion and providing institutional
information.
The internship has been an empowering
and developmental experience.
Within this short period, from May until
now, I have been exposed to the work of
all the units and gained some practical
experience in areas of interest like social
responsiveness and quality assurance.
Sitting in on meetings of the various
committees like the University Social
Responsiveness Committee, the Poverty
and Inequality Planning Group , the
Quality Assurance Working Group, has
enabled me to follow current debates,
projects and developments in relation to
the work of the university on issues of
teaching and learning, quality promotion,
academic planning, planning and budgeting
and on poverty and inequality. My
colleagues in the department have ensured
that I participate and contribute to
the significant work of the department
C
urrently I am making a contribution
to the Rhythm Generation
project as my area of social responsibility
because I feel I have
something useful to offer some of
the youth living on the Cape Flats, and in
so doing I hope to make a difference in our
society in a small but significant way.
A key focus of the Rhythm Generation is
to educate the youth about the existence of
traditional music. My involvement in this
Project is not just about recording and
documenting the research, but also about
creating awareness of the traditional music
of these artists. I also provide educational
workshops; develop dedicated musicians
with specialized training and performance
opportunities for youth.
The Project would like to find ways to
make some of the youth in the Cape
Flats community gainfully employed, and it
is hoped that the activities in the Rhythm
Generation project would take many
of them out of a poverty-trap in Cape
Town, which is known for its high unemployment
rate. The majority of the poorer
communities in Cape Town have limited
recreation facilities, if any at all.
The uniqueness of the "Cape Town"
sound, can be traced to a distinct rhythm,
tone and harmony and there is a special
I N T E R N S H I P E X P E R I E N C E
and learn from their work in the sharing
sessions during staff meetings.
Amongst other experiences, I attended
and reported on the 2011 Student
Quality Forum, a student project which
aims to give students a voice in the
INTERN: MBASA MGUYE
quality assurance of their teaching and
learning experience. Most of my work
S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y W I T H R H Y T H M
G E N E R A T I O N
tone in respect of the sound in terms of its
quality and origin that has lasted for three
generations in Cape Town so far.
ELAINE HENDRICKS
It is a Cape sound that was created by
the so called "Coloured" dance bands of
Cape Town. As described by John Mason
(2011): "...in Cape Town there is a specific
sound that brings out the ´ghoema´ and
the ´banjo´ as an important ingredient of
the Cape Town sound that you hear only
in Cape Town".
I felt that this project has a lot of meaning
to me because these traditions are something
that I grew up with and it is very
important for me and it moulded me into
being the person I am today.
has focused on helping to organise the
Academic and PASS reviews- coordinating
the briefing sessions and review sessions
of various departments and I even
had a chance to sit in during the Libraries
review. I count myself as fortunate at
being part of a team that is responsible
for the nature, demand and significant
amount of work carried out in the department.
The department and staff have helped
to develop skills and acquire knowledge
acquisition that is unique and relevant to
higher education, specifically those that
can not be acquired through tertiary
qualification. I was encouraged and allowed
to enrol in some of the courses
offered at the University for Staff Development,
which served to enhance my
work efficiency in the department.
Developmental opportunities like internships
play a significant role in the knowledge
and skill transfer that enhances
employability for graduates especially in
view of the high rates of youth unemployment
in South Africa. In view of this,
more of such opportunities should be
made available in higher education
institutions.
The project is very important for the
youth, too, as it strives to explore
continuous awareness in the quality
of the music that is available to them.
When thinking back on how our parents
and grandparents for so many years in the
apartheid days managed to tolerate the
injustices brought on them when people
due to apartheid were separated in this
country, the community depended on recreation
throughout the year like music to
keep them entertained and it gave the
community a sense of belonging, an income
as well as a sport. The music served
to give back the dignity to an impoverished
community by offering everyone the best
possible musical experience at the time.
Today, reviving this culture should be a
very important part of the youth‟s lives.
Today we find that many people are writing
about post-apartheid poverty widening and
the burdens and brutality of drug abuse.
Yet we are not focusing enough on social
upliftment. Establishing projects like
the Rhythm Generation project is one
way of helping to improve the quality
of people’s lives in the Cape Flats.
Please donate ANY unused musical instruments
to this project so that we may continue
to reach out to our talented youth.
Contact elaine.hendricks@uct.ac.za

I
n 2008, the UCT Institutional
Planning Department, the Department
of Student Affairs and the
Student Representative Council
entered into an agreement to
strengthen student involvement in
quality assurance.
This was in line with the HEQC‟s
„Student Participation in Quality Assurance
Project‟. The three parties agreed
on the objectives and strategies for the
project.
As part of this initiative, the third
Student Quality Forum took place on 13
August 2011. Themed “Promoting Diversity
through Teaching and Learning”.
The forum discussed the advantages
and disadvantages of making UCT‟s
course on Global Citizenship compulsory
for most, if not all, students, and
IPD Website
www.uct.ac.za/services/ip/department/
www.socialresponsiveness.uct.ac.za/
S T U D E N T Q U A L I T Y F O R U M : 2 0 1 1
how to createan enabling environment
for students, especially those with disabilities.
Dr Helen MacDonald of the Department
of Social Anthropology delivered
the keynote address, Diversity as a
central theme in teaching and learning
at UCT.
Hailing from New Zealand, she
shared her experiences as a lecturer at
UCT, noting that she very quickly
learned how much of a factor race –
her own included – is in South Africa.
In turn, guest speaker Claire Kelly,
diversity literacy co-ordinator with
UCT‟s Intercultural and Diversity Studies
group, spoke of the university‟s pilot
programme on diversity literacy.
And in keeping with its central concern,
the forum also launched its Students
Quality Assurance Handbook,
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
Institutional Planning
Department
Room 229.3
Bremner Building
UCT Lower Campus
Lovers' Walk
Rondebosch
7700
aimed to encourage students to contribute
to the discussion.
“Quality assurance is not only now
discussed by the academics or the
management of the university,” said
the SRC‟s Insaaf Isaacs, “but has now
also branched over to its student leaders,
and guidance is sought from fora
like these and incorporated into university
policy.”
Special guests at the event were students
and staff from the University of
Namibia, notably its Centre for Quality
Assurance and Management, with
whom the IPD had signed a memorandum
of understanding in 2010.
A full report of the 2011 Student
Quality Forum is available on request.
Contact Mbasa Mguye on 021 650 2615
or email mbasa.mguye@uct.ac.za
STUDENT QUALITY FORUM INITIATIVE: (Back, from left): Insaaf Isaacs (SRC), Johanna
Aipanda (University of Namibia), Zone Mdledle (IPD), Helena Taapopi (UNAM), Jimmy Namutenya
(UNAM) and Jerome September (DSA). Front: Marthin Mutumba (UNAM) Department of
Student Affairs; Aina Kamati (UNAM) and Saima Nghihalwa (UNAM).
IPD Units and Acronyms:
Institutional Information Unit (IIU)
Social Responsiveness Unit (SRU)
Quality Assurance Unit (QAU)
Academic Planning Unit (APU)