The HEQF Implementation Plan: Details and Dates Tamara Bezuidenhout Higher Education Quality Committee 25 January 201

1. COUNCIL ON HIGHER EDUCATION The HEQF Implementation Plan: Details and Dates Tamara Bezuidenhout Higher Education Quality Committee 25 January 2011

2. Purpose To provide an overall guide to the HEQF Implementation Handbook To explain the processes, details and dates that will be followed as part of the HEQF Implementation To provide a basic explanation of the HEQF Implementation Template

3. The HEQF Implementation Handbook To provide institutions with the tools and information necessary to implement the HEQF as effectively and efficiently as possible Version 1, additional Versions will be made available as the need arises Includes: HEQF Implementation Handbook and Template information CHE-HEQF Communiqué 1 HEQF Joint Communiqué 1 – 4 SAQA Draft Level Descriptors Criteria for Programme Accreditation The Handbook and all related attachments have been made available on the HEQF-Online webpage

4. Time-frames: Short-term and Long-term Re-curriculation Implementation of Phase One: categorising, capturing and uploading / submitting January – March 2011: offline allow institutions to become accustomed to the Handbook and Template and raise any specific queries HEQC will finalise piloting and testing the HEQF-Online system April – September 2011: online Begin uploading programmes onto HEQF-Online in bulk 30 September 2011 HEQF-Online closes for submission October 2011 – February 2012: Category A Assessment by HEQC’s Accreditation Committee

5. Phase One

6. Time-frames (Cont.) Implementation of Phase Two: Category B October 2011 – December 2011 Reflection, information sharing, planning, workshops January 2012 – July 2014: Phased submissions January – July 2012 universities – Blue Group July – December 2012 universities – Purple Group January – July 2013 – PHEIs July – December 2013 Comprehensives – Red and Orange January – July 2014 – UoTs Dates and time-frames are subject to amendment depending the outcome and publishing of the HEQF Review.

7. Phase Two

8. Other CHE Functions Naming Conventions CHE will consider all applications and motivations for renaming of existing and HEQF-aligned qualifications proposed by institutions and will apply the principles of HEQF and Communiqué 3 Standards Setting Consultative discussions begun and establishing the necessary infrastructure In the interim, institutions are advised to make use of the SAQA Level Descriptors Short Learning Programmes Currently this is being effected through delegation to institutions rather through the establishment of a national infrastructure for short course accreditation. Note: qualification types designated in the HEQF are protected for whole qualifications only

9. Private Providers PHEI and Re-accreditation As part of re-registration cycle, PHEIs undergo a process of re-accreditation By the end of 2011, over 90 / 116 registered institutions will have had their programmes re-accredited As of 2009, only HEQF-alignable programmes could be re-accredited, all other accreditation status simply extended until HEQF implementation complete HEQF-aligned v HEQF-alignable HEQF-alignable is used to identify programmes and qualification that with minimal or minor changes could be re-curriculated to meet the requirements of the HEQF. Once these changes have been made, the programmes will be considered HEQF-aligned.

10. PHEI: Re-accreditation 2011-2012 Re-accreditation 2009 and 2010 institutions will receive feedback on HEQF-alignable programmes and make necessary amendments to align these programmes with HEQF prior to September 2011. To reduce bureaucratic duplication, Re-accreditation 2011 and 2012 institutions are permitted to submit HEQF-aligned programmes for both Re-accreditation and the HEQF alignment processes January 2013 all Category B submissions from PHEIs will be received regardless of Re-accreditation status

11. Co-ordination: DHET, SAQA and CHE CHE responsible for the implementation of the HEQF (HEQF, Joint Communiqué 4) To manage this task, there will need to be clear channels of communication between the various stakeholders, specifically the between CHE, DHET, SAQA and Professional Bodies (PBs) DHET and SAQA were consulted on the development of the HEQF Implementation Template and have agreed to portions of their respective forms being incorporated into the template HEQC will provide access to the information stored on the HEQF-Online database to these stakeholders to make use of to populate their own databases and information resources Institutions are advised to contact these stakeholders directly for more information on their individual HEQF-alignment processes

12. Criteria and Classification of Programmes and Qualifications A Category A programme will require few or no changes to be aligned with the HEQF. Qualification type eg National Certificate converted to a Higher Certificate NQF exit level eg Bachelor of Arts NQF Exit level 6 to Bachelor of Arts NQF Exit level 7, assuming all else remains the same or very similar Naming of the qualification eg Baccalaureus Artium (Language Studies) to Bachelor of Arts in Language Studies

13. Criteria and Classification of Programmes and Qualifications (cont) A Category B programme will require some curriculum development, but not so much as to constitute a 50% change to the programme structure, outcomes or total credits. Inclusion of required credits at specific NQF levels Differentiation between minimum and maximum credits (where necessary) Distinguishing between qualifiers and specialisations/majors: to make use of a qualifier the institution must take note of the 50/50 requirements of the HEQF. A specialisation / major is not subject to these limitations, but is also not permitted to be included in the title of the qualification.

14. Criteria and Classification of Programmes and Qualifications (cont) A Category C programme will require major curriculum development to be undertaken that will result in a 50% or more change to the programme design, and will thus require a new application for programme accreditation to be made. 50% or more change to the programme design eg 240-credit NQF level 5 Diploma ‘conversion’ to a 360-credit NQF level 6 Diploma Top-up, ‘stacked’ and early-exit qualifications eg 240-credit NQF level 6 National Diploma ‘top-up’ from a 120 credit NQF level 5 National Certificate Qualifications that have been removed from the framework eg 120-credit NQF level 7 BTech ‘top-up’.

15. Generic Qualifications, Streams and ‘Internal’ Programmes Programme v qualification definitions A stand-alone programme is one that runs independently of other similar programmes with differing characteristics, purpose and outcomes. Streams, majors and specialisations are typically found within generic qualifications where the purpose and outcomes of the qualification do not change regardless of which major or specialisation has been selected Legacy programmes offered as ‘streams’ or ‘majors’ within generic qualifications but that have become stand-alone, differentiated programmes should be categorised as Category B programmes. Further, institutions must take into consideration the limitations of the HEQF when making use of qualifiers

16. HEQC Capacity for HEQF Implementation Evaluation HEQC will be adopting a phased approach to mirror the methodology of the implementation plan Mid-2011, series of evaluator workshops will be held to train evaluators to assist with the assessment and evaluation of Phase One applications These evaluators will be drawn from Quality Assurance, Academic Planning and Teaching and Learning offices within higher education institutions Training will include identifying and assessing programmes in terms of HEQF alignment and categorisation Phase Two subject matter expert and programme-specific evaluator training will take place in early 2012. These evaluators will be drawn from the within the academic structures of the institutions

17. HEQF ImplementationEvaluation Process Phase One: Applications received via HEQF-Online, then evaluated by a sub-committee of the Accreditation Committee for: HEQF compliance Correct categorisation Category A programmes recommended to HEQC as being HEQF-aligned and deemed accredited Institutions will be informed in writing of final outcome and if any programmes re-categorised as Category B or C Phase Two: Category B programmes, institutions will be requested to submit additional information for subject matter expert evaluation Programmes submitted in a phased approach per institution type and sub-divided and evaluated along broad fields of study This methodology will ensure consistency across disciplines and within institution types

18. Criteria for HEQF Alignment Evaluation This is an alignment more than an accreditation exercise, therefore the HEQF itself will be used as the predominant standard for HEQF alignment However, this process is driven by the CHE, therefore the Criteria for Programme Accreditation will always be applicable. Information required by the DHET and SAQA for their specific purposes has also been included and will be taken into consideration when evaluating a programme or qualification for HEQF alignment Institutions are advised to familiarise themselves with Annexures in HEQF Implementation Handbook and other applicable documents

19. Evaluation of Category C Programmes Although Category C programmes will be taught-out, receipt of information about these programmes is required to ensure: an accurate reflection on the national database of higher education programmes currently on offer, a precise record is maintained of which programmes are being taught-out to allow the HEQC to manage the process effectively. Category C programmes will not be evaluated alongside Category A and B, but reviewed in a separate process Some Category A and B programmes may be determined by the HEQC to be re-categorised as Category C programmes Institutions will be informed of this eventuality and of how to proceed forward

20. Teach-Out Processes If a programme is categorised as Category C, institutions are still required to complete Section 1 of the HEQF Implementation Template, but are not required to complete Section 2. As part of this submission, institutions will be required to indicate the proposed date by when it is anticipated these programmes will be taught-out The institutions will be required to inform the HEQC once this process is complete. Institutions wishing to replace their Category C programmes with new HEQF-aligned programmes may do so as soon as they are ready by making Candidacy Phase applications for accreditation via the HEQC-Online system

21. Accreditation Status HEQF Implementation only applies to programmes and qualifications deemed accredited and provisionally accredited as of 01 January 2011. Programmes that are deemed HEQF-aligned as part of the HEQF Implementation process will also be granted full accreditation This will not apply to Category C programmes Any programmes submitted to replace Category C programmes through the HEQC’s Candidacy Phase Accreditation process via the HEQC-Online system will be required to complete a secondary process to be granted full accreditation.

22. Representations, Improvement Plans and Site Visits Should an institution decide that it is unhappy with a decision taken by the HEQC with regard to the categorisation of a programme, the institution may make a written representation to the HEQC. The HEQC further reserves the right: to conduct a site visit should it be deemed necessary to request improvement plans should it be deemed necessary to commission further evaluations should it be deemed necessary

23. HEQF Implementation Template As part of implementation, the HEQC will be using a combination of offline and online tools: To manage the enormous task of HEQF implementation (8000 – 20 000 programmes) To develop a national database of higher education programmes, both existing and HEQF-aligned Phase One: Institutions will supplied with offline HEQF Implementation Template: complete, upload and submit to the HEQF-Online system

24. HEQF Implementation Template (Cont) Template comprises two separate sections: Section 1: collect data relating to existing non HEQF-aligned programmes or qualifications and categorising as Category A, B, C Section 2: provide data about intended changes to Category A and B programmes to align with HEQF Using template and look-up tables, institutions will complete the necessary information in an Excel spreadsheet Institutions must remember to use the HEQC Reference / Qualification Reference Number consistently in all templates when referring to an individual programme to ensure information integrates effectively.

25. HEQF Implementation Template (Cont) Institutions then upload in completed spreadsheets on the HEQF-Online system for validation Institutions can upload as many or as few applications as required at any one time Applications can be edited before being submitted to the HEQC Once validation and submission are completed, each application will present as separate submissions on the HEQF-Online with a similar interface as is presently available on the HEQC-Online Applications then processed online

26. HEQF Implementation Template (Cont) Public and Private forms are largely the same. However: A small section of information required for HEMIS data collection included for publics Additional information relating to sites of delivery included for PHEIs Phase Two: Institutions will be required to provide additional information which will in all likelihood be submitted directly onto the HEQF-Online system.

27. HEQF Implementation Contact Details: E-mail: heqfonline@che.ac.za Tel: 012 349 3920 URL: http://www.che.ac.za/heqf/