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Centre for Higher Education Transformation and HEMA

This article reflects on the role of academics and intellectuals in the struggle for transformation in South African higher education. It discusses key publications, policy initiatives, and the formation of networks to advocate for evidence-based decision making. The Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET) is highlighted as a key player in gathering and analyzing data to inform policy development.

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Centre for Higher Education Transformation and HEMA

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  1. Centre for Higher Education Transformationand HEMA SIU Bergen, June 2012

  2. History/Development of Approach Reflecting on the role of academics/intellectuals in the struggle (Habermas) • Muller and Cloete. 1987. The white hands: academic social scientists, engagement and struggle in South Africa'. Social Epistemology, 1,2, 141-154 • Cloete and Muller. 1991. Social scientists and social change in South Africa. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, 28, 3-4, 171-192. • Muller and Cloete. 1993. Out of Eden: modernity, post-apartheid and intellectuals. Theory, Culture and Society, 10, 3, 155-172 From protest to policy • National Education Crisis Committee (Wikipedia – Internal resistance to apartheid (1987) • Education policy units (Wits, Natal , UWC- 1989 – activists on campus ) • National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) – restructuring SA higher education started with NEPI (web) • Union of Democratic University Staff Associations -1991(back to the street • UDUSA Policy Forum (1993) – prepared for NCHE • National Commission For Higher Education – Mandela appointed participatory policy framework

  3. Chet - Capacity building vs research policy Capacity building without a theory – Strengthening HE Governance (1997) (building the boat on the sea) Reviewing first 5 years of post Apartheid HE (2001) – performance indicators Policy formation has been SA local/Global (Manuel Castells – The Rise of the Network Society , 2000) Finding the rest of Africa – Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) (2009)

  4. Networked Higher Education Policy InvestigationS Loosely and tightly coupled networks High profile Board, two person office, outsourced services (pay for services) and commissioned experts (academics work for little – no consultants – must be employed elsewhere) and designated project managers Service providers Publishing: Compress/African Minds News: University World News Events: Millennium Travel IT: Tenet Financial Support services: CHEC Construct research programmes with historical/new networks – local and global Connect capacity building – empirical research - training - advocacy See Herana slide

  5. 1. Evidence-based: e.g. HERANA HERANA Higher Education Research & Advocacy Network in Africa RESEARCH ADVOCACY The HERANA Gateway An internet portal to research on higher education in Africa Higher Education and Development Investigating the complex relationships between higher education and economic development, and student democratic attitudes in Africa University World News (Africa) Current news and in-depth investigations into higher education in Africa The Research-Policy Nexus Investigating the relationship between research evidence and policy-making in selected public policy sectors in South Africa Nordic Masters in Africa (NOMA) Collaborative research training by the Universities of Oslo, Makerere, Western Cape, and CHET FUNDERS Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller, Kresge, DFID, Norad

  6. Seminars and presentations Seminars are strategically inclusive • 10 to 15 seminars per annum over 1 or 2 days • includes multiple system levels, i.e. supra-national, government, university management, academics, funders • Includes experts, university representatives and policy-makers Informational Development and Human Development: Creative Synergy or Mutual Destruction (August 2010) • Participants – Castells, 2 NEC members of ANC (coordinator of policy), 3 academic economists who advise minsters or Presidency, Deputy Director General of Budget in Treasury, 2 serious capitalists (Africa’s richest woman), 2 VC’s, 2 environmentalists ( SANBI), 2 ICT (researcher and director general), 6 academics and a political commentator (Mbeki’s brother) • Main outcomes: why ICT failed and R300million grant to Sanbi  Differentiation: Diversity and Stratification (January 2012) • 7 senior officials from DHET, 1 National Development Plan (Presidency), 1 Higher Education SA, 3 university directors of planning, 8 Chet network • Outcome: DHET ask Chet to organize Differentiation Implementation meeting

  7. CHET website : www.chet.org.za

  8. Publications

  9. Relentless reliance on data rather than ideology “Covert and overt political and ideological agendas will always be there, but data is the starting point for a dialogue Leads to “empirical independence” of the organisation rather than it being an ideological hand-maiden (of government or others) CHET adds value to raw data collected by government and/or universities by cleaning, verifying and analysing source data Data is made public and focused presentations are made to government on key issues (e.g. differentiation; doctoral output, etc.) as well to the universities In doing so CHET • fills the capacity void in the ministry of HE and in many of the universities’ planning departments • provides government and institutions with an empirically-based picture of post-secondary education in South Africa

  10. Data on South African HE

  11. Data: Public

  12. Data beyond South African context

  13. News: University World News UWN Special Africa editions and fortnightly Africa newsletters launched in 2008 in collaboration with the HERANA project. More than 27 000 people in 150 countries receiving the weekly global edition. Of UWN’s total of 27 026 registered readers, 13 280 receive the Africa edition. More than 6 000 of UWN’s readers are based in Africa, in 29 countries. (Figures as at December 2010)

  14. Announcements: launches, conferences, mailings

  15. Origins and Goals of HEMA • HEMA  Higher Education Masters in Africa programme • Builds on previous masters programmes at UWC, UIO and MU • Main goal: “to build research capacity and expertise in higher education studies in Africa” • Research-focused degree • Targeted at current and future researchers, policy makers, managers with interest in higher education in Africa

  16. HEMA degree programme structure

  17. HEMA Degree Programme at UWC • Cohort 1: Jan. 2008 (10 students) • Cohort 2: Aug. 2009 (6 students) • Cohort 3: Aug. 2011 (5 students) • 5 graduates (2 cum laude) Picture: Cohort 3 at University of Oslo (Helga EngsHuis), August, 2011. Randall, Ntimi, Lineo, Thierry (coord.), Theo, Agnes.

  18. HEMA Students: Dissertations & Progress (1)

  19. HEMA Students: Dissertations & Progress (1I)

  20. HEMA Students: Dissertations & Progress (1II)

  21. HEMA Evaluation Survey 2011 - Objectives • Conduct a critical and holistic self-evaluation of the current operation of the HEMA programme at UWC • Evaluating the programme against the goals of HEMA and NOMA • Review of programme documents • Survey staff and student perceptions and experiences • (Conduct in-depth interviews with staff and students; - still to be completed).

  22. Conceptualisation and Methodology • Is the HEMA programme achieving its main objective of increasing higher education research capacity and producing a new generation of HE researchers in Africa? • Formative evaluation improvement focus • Critically reflexive practice  subjectivity! • Asking pertinent questions about: • Programme structure • Student and staff experiences • Research training, course work, supervision, management, • Quality and outcomes • Resourcing and programme sustainability • NB. Qualitative dimension still to be completed (in-depth interviews with students and staff)

  23. Student respondents to HEMA survey Student respondents by • Cohort 1: 6 (of 10) • Cohort 2: 5 (of 6) • Cohort 3: 5 (of 5) by international mix by gender: • Males: 10 (of 10) • Females: 6 (of 11)

  24. Staff respondents to HEMA survey • 13 staff respondents • permanent and part-time teaching staff. • 10 academic, 3 admin • All academic staff/tutors have PhD or are PhD candidates (4). • 2 professors of HE Studies

  25. Goal Achievement: Programme Overall • Is the HEMA programme achieving its main goal of building research capacity and expertise in higher education in Africa? • Almost all staff respondent are very positive about • the achievement; half of student respondents DK yet.

  26. Quality: Programme Overall • On the whole, how would you rate the academic quality of the HEMA programme? • Therefore: very positive overall evaluations. • All except one student and all academic staff say they would recommend the programme to students.

  27. Research training • Learning outcomes: Are students successfully acquiring key research skills through HEMA?

  28. Supervision • Is the co-supervision model a strength or a weakness? • Responses from senior students and staff are mixed on the merits of the co-supervision model.

  29. Student-Supervisors relationship • How do students perceive their relationship with their supervisors? • Most students perceive their supervisors in a very positive light; while supervisors themselves are more critical of their ‘empathy’, expertise etc.

  30. Relevance of Coursework • Is the HEMA course work / seminars at UiO/UWC relevant to prepare students for research? • Most students (8 of 11) and academic staff (6 of 9) indicate that they consider the course work relevant.

  31. Quality of Course material • Is the HEMA course material and additional academic resources of high quality?  • All student respondents considered course material as “excellent” or “good with minor problems”; • Some academic staff (5) answered they “don’t know” while the other three academic staff respondents also consider course material and additional academic resources to be of high quality.

  32. Presenting, publishing and networking Presenting & publishingas learning opportunitiesand outcomes? Are HEMA network links considered asstrengths of the programme?

  33. Where to from here? Expected graduate destinations Some possible improvements

  34. Summary and Conclusions • HEMA programme seems to be doing well overall & quality from staff and student perspective (self-evaluation) • Staff seems to be more critical than students • Research training overall seems to be working (key skills) • Need to look at • Overall programme structure / examination • Co-supervision model • Financial sustainability & resourcing • Look at partnerships • Institutionalisation in academic core of UWC is NB. • Regular review and continued reflection • Track graduate destinations • Consider developing a Doctoral-level programme

  35. Thank you. Please Save Our Planet. University of the Western Cape Centre for the Study of Higher Education Dr Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela Coordinator HEMA 2012

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