COUNCIL ON HIGHER EDUCATION HEQF Implementation: An overview of preliminary data and the Way forward: Category B

HEQF IMPLEMENTATION HISTORY October 2007 HEQF Gazetted 2008 – Joint Communique 1 and 2 on the HEQF Implementation June 2009 – Joint Communique 3 on HEQF Implementation (Interim arrangements) April 2010 – HEQF Think Tank October 2010 – CHE-HEQF Communique 1 HEQF Implementation Plan January 2011 – HEQF Implementation Workshop August 2011 – HEQF-online goes live

HEQF ALIGNMENT: IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATIONAL PLAN ALL HIGHER EDUCATI ON PROGRA MMES AND QUALIFIC ATIONS SUBMITT ED VIA HEQC ONLINE FOR APPRAISA L AND CATEGORI SATION CATERGORY A MINIMAL CHANGES: EG NAMEOF QUALIFICATION CATEGORY B MINOR CHANGES: IE LESS THAN 50% CHANGE TO QUALIFICATION CATEGORY C MAJOR CHANGES: IE MORE 50% CHANGE TO QUALIFICATION UNIVERSITIES Blue Group UNIVERSITIES Purple Group UNIVERSITIES OF TECHNOLOGY COMPREHENS IVE UNIVERSITIES Red Group PRIVATE PROVIDERS EST. 60 – 70% OF APPLICATIONS LARGE SCALE EVALUATIONS OF APPLICATIONS IN AC-STYLE MODEL EST. 60 – 70% OF APPLICATIONS LARGE SCALE EVALUATIONS OF APPLICATIONS IN AC-STYLE MODEL OUTCOME: APPROVED AND ‘DEEMED’ ACCREDITED EST. 30 – 25% OF APPLICATIONS ‘ACCREDITATION-STYLE’ EVALUATION BY INSTITUTION TYPE, DISCIPLINE AND QUALIFICATION TYPE EST. 30 – 25% OF APPLICATIONS ‘ACCREDITATION-STYLE’ EVALUATION BY INSTITUTION TYPE, DISCIPLINE AND QUALIFICATION TYPE EST. 5% OF APPLICATIONS MAKE NEW APPLICATION FOR CANDIDACY-PHASE ACCREDITATION EST. 5% OF APPLICATIONS MAKE NEW APPLICATION FOR CANDIDACY-PHASE ACCREDITATION OUTCOME: APPROVED AND ‘DEEMED’ ACCREDITED OUTCOME: PROVISIONAL ACCREDITATION NOT APPROVED NOT ACCREDITED COMPREHENS IVE UNIVERSITIES Orange Group

HEQF IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS Phased approach Phase 1 – to be completed June / July 2012 Categorise qualifications as Category A, B or C Complete offline HEQF Implementation 2-part template S1 – existing qualification information (A, B, C) S2 – amended qualification information (A, B – delayed)

HEQF-ONLINE DATA RESULTS Preliminary data extracted in May 2012 – will change as institutions continue to submit – should not be considered auditable data at this stage Data needs further analysis and disaggregation Summarises info received largely from S1 Provides broad overview of public sector and some PHEI data Provides indication of areas where dataset is incomplete and requires clarification, repopulation and ‘clean-up’ Specifically, PHEI data appears incomplete in some areas and will need further review and requests for clarification Existing qualifications categorisations (A, B, C) Overview provides an indication of future changes in the sector

QUALIFICATIONS RECEIVED

UNIVERSITIES

COMPREHENSIVES

UOT’S

PRIVATE PROVIDERS

PRIVATE – UG/PG SPLIT

PRIVATE - HIGHLIGHTS

CESMDISTRIBUTION CESM DISTRIBUTION

CATEGORY A SUBMISSIONS

CATEGORY A PROCESS EVALUATIONS Processed over 4100 Category A qualifications via HEQF-online Majority have been approved by the HEQC Doctorates, diplomas, MBAs parked until HEQF Review finalised Currently finalising details such as content of automated e- mails, report formats available to institutions via the HEQF- online, outcomes letters, etc Some data clean-up is required prior to the release of outcomes such as spelling and title corrections After initial clean-up is completed, institutions will be informed of approvals in principle After approval, additional clean-up may be required including info for CESMs, major fields of study etc

IMPLEMENTATION WAY FORWARD Analysis of data – determine CESM (disciplinary), institution type, qualification type differentiation Only Category B Phase 2 – begin in September 2012 HEQF-online submission of curriculum change information for evaluation (user-experience survey conducted to assist in improving the system) Accreditation-style evaluation HEQC approval Challenge – HEQF Review finalisation

PHASE 2 CATEGORY B TIMEFRAME January 2014 – June 2014 July 2013 – December 2013 September 2012 – June 2013 July 2014 – December 2014 Universities –submit Category B + S2 Applications (1089 qualifications) Private Providers submit Category B + S2 Applications (89 qualifications) Comprehensives – Orange Group submit Category B +S2 Applications (514 qualifications) Universities of Technology submit Category B + S2 Applications (246 qualifications) PHASETWOPHASETWO PHASETWOPHASETWO

CATEGORY B PROCESS September 2012 – release HEQF Category B questions – Word version ( and HEQF Implementation Handbook 2.0http:// November 2012 – Category B questions for submission on HEQF-online system, submitted in 2 parts  S1 submissions locked but ‘viewable’ and S2 available for submission or amendment  Category B questions in Q&A narrative format (similar to HEQC-online system) HEQF-online system will be open to all institutions once system goes live until indicated deadlines

CATEGORY B PROCESS 2 September 2012 – June 2013, CHE = train subject-matter experts as evaluators to evaluate the Category B submissions After each deadline, specific institution type will be evaluated per discipline and qualification type Submissions will be processed in an Accreditation-type evaluation and will tabled at HEQC for final approval Outcomes will be communicated to institutions once approved Anticipated all evaluations and outcomes will be released by end of 2015

HEQF-online USER-EXPERIENCE SURVEY Conducted an online user-experience survey irt using the HEQF-online system as an effective ICT tool to implement the HEQF – apply to moving future development for Category B 38% response rate Still analysing the data Broad issues:  Better communication, RSS feeds, automated s  Clarify processes and workflows, including checklists  Pilot future templates more rigorously, Finalise the template and stick to it  Needs to be user-friendly – online and offline??  New online systems are always intimidating

CATEGORY B QUESTIONS Purpose and characteristics of programme irt HEQF Curriculum and programme design changes Learning activities Professional body requirements Assessment Articulation and progression WIL RPL Widening access Category B Template circulated widely to members of public and private sector for comment. Comments will be collated and considered into final Category B Template (Word and HEQF-Online)

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Tamara Bezuidenhout Tel: URL: