NEW (2017) Introduction The CHE has over the past 13 years, since the publication of the Framework for Programme Accreditation in 2004, applied a rigorous peer driven evaluation of new and existing programmes of both public and private higher education providers. The framework has included the approval of the extension of accredited programmes to existing sites of delivery, the relocation of institutions and/or programmes to new sites of delivery. During this period, the majority of higher education institutions (HEIs) have established internal systems and acquired the necessary resources and capacity to meet the requirements for programme accreditation. Over the past few years, there has been a steady increase in the number of programmes accredited to existing HEIs but new HEIs have had the highest number of unsuccessful accreditation application outcomes. These new providers are mostly from the burgeoning private higher education sector. For existing providers, the completion of the HEQSF alignment process has resulted in the consolidation, realignment and resubmission for accreditation of programmes by institutions. Currently, new applications for programme accreditation are only considered if the programmes are aligned to the HEQSF and from 2020, all HEIs will be offering only HEQSF aligned programmes to first time enrolling students. The alignment project was a massive undertaking of the CHE in partnership with HEIs that resulted in the alignment of more than 11,000 programmes being registered on the HEQSF and the alignment process being completed in 2015. The evolving maturity of the higher education sector and the completion of the HEQSF alignment process has led the CHE to strategically plan for the next phase of programme accreditation to be conducted as part of an integrated CHE quality assurance framework. This new framework provides an opportunity for HEI s to play a greater self-regulatory role and to increase their accountability for the quality of their programme offerings. Therefore, whilst the CHE and the HEQC will continue to exercise their mandates in terms of the Higher Education Act (1997) and the National Qualifications Act (2008), they will increase the degree of 1
responsibility of institutions with well-established quality assurance systems to ensure that new and existing programmes offerings meet the standards and criteria of the HEQC for programme accreditation. Philosophy, approach and principles of the new programme accreditation model HEI s are responsible for the quality of the programmes they offer. It is incumbent upon an HEI to be able to conduct its own institutional and programme reviews as part of a regular internal quality review cycle. Thereafter, it is expected of an institution that it would analyse the results of such a review, develop an improvement plan and regularly monitor the progress towards the achievement of the improvements stipulated in the plans. The CHE acknowledges that after two decades of the introduction of quality assurance in higher education in South Africa, that the majority of well-established public and private HEI s have embedded quality assurance systems, policies and procedures into their governance, functional and operational structures and processes. The CHE has reinforced and promoted the development of institutional quality assurance mechanisms through its engagement with institutions on institutional audits, the quality enhancement project, national reviews and programme accreditation. The HEQC is confident that most HEI s are able to internally link their quality assurance, planning and budgeting processes for optimal efficiency and effectiveness and are therefore ready to increase their level of authority with regard to programme accreditation. Greater independence will be given by the CHE to well- functioning HEI s to participate in a well- defined partnership model with the CHE for the accreditation of their programmes. Whilst the CHE will continue to exercise its mandate of programme accreditation, it will increasingly rely on the HEI s themselves to conduct rigorous and credible peer driven evaluations of their institutions and of new and existing programmes, and following its analysis of the findings and follow-up processes, provide detailed self-evaluation reports to the HEQC. The CHE will continue to confirm and verify the outcomes of the institutional review processes and will closely monitor progress where improvements are necessary. This kind of flexible approach allows the CHE to award a variable period of accreditation per programme for both public and private providers. Programmes would remain accredited for the specified period. 2
In the event that other CHE processes (Institutional Review including sample of programmes, a national review of programmes, investigation of a complaint or review of programme arising from a complaint) identify serious shortcomings in quality the HEQC could place the programme on notice of withdrawal or withdraw the accreditation of the programmes The public is growing increasingly aware of the rights of students to good quality programmes and the demand for value for money has resulted in an increasing spate of complaints to the CHE about poor quality provision of programmes. As part of its quality assurance system, institutions should have a fully functional dispute resolution mechanism. The CHE will investigate a complaint only after the institution has failed to resolve an institutional or programme quality complaint. Should a CHE investigation result in the identification of a serious breach of quality by the institution, the accreditation status of the programme may be withdrawn. The CHE will continue to regularly report the accreditation status of programmes, as approved by the HEQC, to SAQA and the DHET for purposes of registration. It will also confirm the accreditation of professional programmes to professional bodies. The CHE will through collaboration with professional bodies reach an agreement about the process and period of accreditation of new and existing professional programmes. In a bid to improve transparency and usability of accreditation outcomes by students and the public, all final outcomes and reports of investigations will be published on the CHE webpage. The CHE will engage with an institution as a whole, in an integrated manner that combines the outcomes of programme accreditation, national reviews and institutional reviews. Programme accreditation and reaccreditation will depend largely on the analysis of the institutional profile and direction provided by the unit analysing the submission of institutional data. The engagement of the CHE will be through the office of the DVC: Academic or the DVC: Learning and Teaching, or the equivalent. Through these offices, the CHE will maintain its relationship with the managers of academic, quality assurance and institutional planning units. 3
Accreditation of new programmes by a new higher education provider When a potential new HEI applies for accreditation of a programme for the first time, its application will be considered within the context of the institution as a whole to provide higher education. This will include a thorough examination of the site, facilities and physical and human resources, learning materials, the mode of delivery, and teaching and learning strategy for offering the programme. Thereafter, the institution will still be required to submit individual programmes for peer evaluation and accreditation by the HEQC until it has established an effective institutional and programme review system and proven that it has the capability to conduct its own institutional reviews of new and existing programme offerings. Thereafter, the institution will be permitted by the HEQC to conduct its own reviews (of an accredited programme) and submit the reports thereof to the HEQC for awarding of the accreditation status. The period of the accreditation of the programme will depend on a variety of factors and will include the outcome of the CHE s institutional and national review processes, as well as the outcomes of the investigation of any serious complaints received by the CHE. Accreditation of new programmes by an existing higher education provider When a self-regulated higher education provider intends offering a new programme, it will need to provide evidence that it has followed its own documented policy on programme design, development and approval. This needs to include an external appropriate peer review process following an international and national benchmarking exercise. The results of the peer review and the internal institutional approval would need to be submitted to the HEQC for consideration of awarding of accreditation of the programme. In determining whether the programme ought to be accredited, with or without conditions, and the period of the accreditation, the HEQC will consider the track record of the institution with regards to programme accreditation, institutional reviews and national reviews. 4
Re-accreditation of existing programmes by an existing higher education provider Prior to the expiry date for the accreditation of an institution s programmes, the CHE will review the institutional submission of its self-evaluation reports on all of its programmes. This may require a site visit to be conducted as part of an institutional review. The CHE will provide the institution, SAQA and the DHET with the outcome of the reaccreditation status of the programmes of an institution. Such an outcome could include the verification and confirmation of the previously accredited status, or have new conditions attached to the accreditation of the programme or have programmes placed on notice of withdrawal, or the withdrawal of accreditation. The rigour and authenticity of the institution is own review process of its existing programmes, its improvement plans and progress reports and its demonstration of its capability and capacity to quality assure its own programmes with a high level of integrity, and provide credible outcomes and reports to the HEQC, will influence the HEQC s decision on the term of reaccreditation of an institution s existing programmes which could be up to a period of 10 years. Institutional data submission Institutions will submit data relating to the institution and its programme offerings regularly, to the CHE. The CHE will further require institutions to maintain specified information on its programme offerings that could be requested by the CHE at any time and for a variety of different purposes, including research. In addition, the CHE will obtain information submitted by the institution to other sources such as HEMIS, HEQCIS, the DHET and professional bodies. As the Quality Council (QC) for higher education in South Africa, the CHE will liaise closely with SAQA in terms of its information on the SAQA database and the National Learner Records Database (NLRD). 5
Collaboration with Professional Bodies As the QC for higher education in terms of the NQF Act (2008), the CHE has the responsibility for accrediting programmes in higher education. In recognition of the important role that professional bodies play in quality assuring new and existing programmes, the CHE will work in close collaboration with professional bodies on the accreditation of programmes. However, greater standardisation in terms of the processes, the period of accreditation and the fees charged to institutions will need to be agreed upon. Changes to sites of delivery, programme titles, credits and module structure Applications for such changes will be approved through the institutional processes of internal approval prior to submission to the CHE for HEQC approval and amendment of the records of the CHE, DHET and SAQA. Certification of programmes for graduation purposes will need to indicate the site of delivery in order to distinguish the programme from similar cross-border offerings which may not conform to the HEQSF requirements and the structure of the programme as approved by the HEQC. Further, an academic transcript confirming the structure of the qualification obtained must be provided to every student. Application of RPL, CAT and Curriculum change of 50% or more (and the accreditation status of a programme) In all cases, the CHE, HEQC and HEQSF policies and guidelines need to be followed and records of such applications maintained by the institution for a period of five years. Institutions are required to seek the approval of the HEQC for any deviations to these policies and guidelines. According to these policies and guidelines, not more than 10% of a cohort of students may be admitted through RPL in a single year. Application of an appropriate assessment of the portfolio 6
of evidence for RPL purposes, or any other acceptable relevant assessment method needs to be demonstrated by the institution during a CHE review of the institution and its programme. In terms of the CAT principle, not more than 50% of the modules and credits may be transferred from a completed or uncompleted qualification to a new qualification, provided that the credits are at the same NQF level and equivalence of the learning content has been established. When the curriculum of an accredited programme is changed by more than 50% from the time of accreditation, it should be considered a new programme and be approved by the institution and accredited by the HEQC as a new programme. Mode of delivery In acknowledging the advancements in technologically assisted learning and innovative modalities of provision, the HEQC will no longer insist on separate applications for accreditation for the contact and distance mode of provision for the same programme. It will however still need to indicate the percentage of time spent on contact teaching as this will be required by the DHET for the funding of public HEI s, and by the CHE for research purposes. The learning and teaching strategy and academic student support constructively aligned to the programme outcomes, the selection of modules and module content, the NQF level and credits of modules, the structuring of the learning experiences and assessment practices and quality of the online and/or distance provision will be a primary determinant in the accreditation of a programme by the HEQC. In other words, programme design which is criterion 1 in the current Criteria for Accreditation Framework remains the main organising principle of programme provision. Implementation of the new accreditation framework Following internal approval by the CHE and HEQC of the individual frameworks for programme accreditation and institutional reviews, and approval of the integrated quality assurance system 7
of the CHE, a process of consultation will commence with the HEI s and stakeholders, including the DHET, SAQA and professional bodies, as well as with the public. Upon finalisation of the framework, the new integrated CHE online system will be developed for processing all applications. It is anticipated that the new accreditation framework as part of an integrated Quality Assurance system of the CHE will be fully implemented by 2021. Arrangements in the transition phase In the years leading up to the full implementation of the integrated QA system of the CHE, the accreditation of programmes will continue as is currently done although some internal operating changes will be necessary to deal with the anticipated influx of applications prior to the last date of offering of non-aligned programmes to first-time entering students, i.e., 31 December 2019. During this period, awareness of the new Integrated CHE Framework for QA will be raised among institutions as well as a few pilots conducted. Conclusion In an economic environment of severe austerity, it is obligatory of all role players involved in the accreditation of programmes to simplify the processes and costs for the institutions, the CHE and the professional bodies. In upholding the principle of a peer driven national quality assurance system, and non-profit approach needs to be adopted. Based on a principle of cost recovery and with the primary aim of ensuring the quality of programmes in the most efficient and effective way for all, will result in an improved national quality assurance system in our country. 8